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Spending my first night on board my new home. Everything seems in order but I can't work out my battery % has dropped to 89 when I am connected to mains power. Not my area of knowledge so any help would be much appreciated : )

i have 3x 110Ahr new domestic batteries and a smaller starter battery. i have a 295 W solar panel with a 20 A MPPT charge Controller that has a feature to turn on a load for an hour before sunrise or an hour after sunrise, (probably for lights). i lay the boat up for winter with all batteries fully charged; and the solar keeps the domestic batteries well topped up through out. but last spring the starter battery was down to 11.1V. so I'm thinking of using the load timer to top up the starter battery for an hour daily after sunset when the voltage will probably be around 12.5 V, I'll include a 10A fuse with 4m of 16A cable. will this work? and will it cause any problems/damage? some years i have permanently connected the batteries together with no problem, but if there was i would then have all batteries flat!

I have been working on a series of four articles on Batteries and Battery monitors based on my experience researching them and fitting one on Floydtilla.co.uk They are now complete and can be read in the correct order at:- Part 1 – Battery Monitors Why I wanted one https://floydtilla.co.uk/2022/03/01/batteries-and-battery-monitors-part-1-why-we-needed-one/ Part 2 – Battery Selection https://floydtilla.co.uk/2022/03/07/batteries-and-battery-monitors-part-2-battery-selection/ Part 3 – State of Charge and Lead Acid Batteries https://floydtilla.co.uk/2022/03/14/batteries-and-battery-monitors-part-3-the-state-of-charge-soc-calculation/ Part 4 – Shunts and Monitors https://floydtilla.co.uk/2022/03/21/batteries-and-battery-monitors-part-4-battery-monitor-the-shunt/ I hope you find this useful Thanks David

Hi! I have two 12V 230Ah domestic batteries with two large big solar panels, a beta marine 43 that seems to charge the battery well (I’m pretty sure it’s not an alternator problem). The issue is that my batteries seem to drain SO quickly. Just charging phones the level sits around 12.9ish but I can put my lights on (LED) for literally 3 minutes and my voltage will go from 12.9 to 12.2. I don’t have an inverter, I use a plug in 12v inverter to charge my laptop and I cant use that at all without the engine on. I turned my 12v fridge off at the end of summer as the days got shorter but as the suns put more the battery health seems worse than ever! The batteries are 6 years old but maybe they’re just old but I’m not sure. Any comments would be incredibly appreciated! And any advice on maintaining battery health ❤️

Came back to the boat yesterday in the hope that we could get out for a short trip. We've never left the boat this long without running the engine before. Starter battery was new in March last year. While we've been in the marina the domestic batteries have been kept on charge, unfortunately not the starter. Result: domestic 13.3V (will drop when I disconnect), starter 11.7V. Starter turns the engine over but doesn't have enough oomph to start it. Is it a good idea to use a jump lead from the domestic bank to the starter? What are the possible problems with this approach? In particular is there a danger of causing damage to either alternator when the jump lead is disconnected?

Hi all, next thing to go wrong on my boat... My battery charger seems to have overheated and melted itself! After about 15min of charging this morning my breakers tripped and upon investigation I found brown bakelite smelling goo coming from the unit (top of image) You can see it's dripped down onto the sockets. Not great! I'm guessing either something has stopped the fans or the temperature control in the unit has died. Either way, I am reluctant to turn it back on and my it potentially worse, so no battery charging for me. Anyone have any advice? Is this beyond repair? Cheers!

Has anybody experienced this problem before? Let me know if you need any more information. I am no electrician, so might have used the wrong terminology here and there, do forgive me! We live on a 60ft 2009 narrowboat in a marina, always connected to shoreline when moored. Problem: 230V power will suddenly cut out when connected to shoreline, regardless of time of day/temperature outside/what is running When power has gone off, lights (indicating battery on float charge/fast charge/inverter on) on inverter (Sterling Pro Combi S) not displaying Power can be turned back on by switching from shoreline power to inverter, which comes on, then switching back to shoreline - BUT has also switched itself back on When shoreline power is back on, inverter shows battery is on fast charge - takes approx. 1 hour to reach float/trickle charge Last occurrence: 21:30 Tuesday: 230V power turned off, 12V remained on. Nothing special turned on using 230V apart from usual fridge/freezer etc. Reading on DC Distribution: 12.7 and -07 Didn't check inverter panel Switched to inverter - working, and back to shoreline - working again Checked inverter panel - battery on fast charge (Switched between BATT 1/BATT 2 on DC Distribution. BATT 2 (starter battery) not showing on panel - discovered that was because isolator had been switched on. Switched off isolator and starter battery working as normal, engine started. Probably not related, but noting here just in case.) 22:30 Tuesday: battery on float charge 07:00 Wednesday: battery still on float charge Later on: Switched engine on, unplugged from shoreline, switched inverter on - working 08:50: Plugged back into shoreline while engine still running - no 230V power, 12V still working. Inverter panel lights not showing 09:00: 230V turns itself back on, engine still running, inverter panel - battery on fast charge 10:00: inverter panel - battery back on float/trickle charge Might also be relevant: When connected to shoreline, inverter won't switch on. Will only switch on when disconnected from shoreline - so when we are able to switch the inverter on when the 230V power goes off, does this mean that the inverter isn't registering that it is connected to the shoreline? Is one battery on its last legs/dead and causing the whole thing to cut out/drain so suddenly? I have pics of 230V/12V circuit I can attach if needed. Could there be a problem with an isolation switch for the domestic batteries, hence why 230V still off when engine running/connected to shoreline? Batteries last changed 3-4 years ago. Why did the power cut out while the engine was running, and the battery was on fast charge when it came back on? Why does whole inverter system go off when power cuts out?

Hi all, we’ve recently installed 4 new leisure batteries on our narrow boat. All connections are fine and all batteries, including starter battery, are reading over 12v with a multimeter, as well as on our panel in the boat. After putting isolators back on engine started fine. We let it run for 10 mins then turned it off. When we went to start her again, the engine turned over and sounded like it was trying to start but then gave up. The battery light circled in the picture attached stayed on. Diesel level is fine and we haven’t touched anything else. Any ideas greatly appreciated ?

Hi, Just wondering, where do people keep their battery banks on the boat? Mine are in the engine bay and I've noticed they lose their charge a lot quicker now it's cold. Does anyone keep them in the living area to keep them at a more stable temp. How does this work with the BSS regs? George

Hi all, Firstly, a quick shout out to everyone in this forum for all their help and advice to date. This really is a great community! I hope I will be able to pay it back with my own advice in the future when I become a little bit more clued up! I wasn't sure whether to post this in the boat building and maintenance, but considering I'm still a boat baby I thought it best to start here ? 1) I sprung a leak from a jubilee clip on my inlet into my engine radiator today, nothing major and crisis averted thankfully. The experience made me realise how important it is to have a socket set on board. What are people's view on drive size? 3/8, 1/4 or 1/2 inch? 2) Regarding keeping my acid lead batteries happy over the winter. Someone I met mentioned it's prudent to insulate the battery bank with rubber. Is this good advice? 3) I need to install a mains battery charger for when I moor up in a marina for the winter. Any recommendations? Thanks ya'll George x

Hi All Just a quick one as lots of conflicting information out there. Am revisiting my Solar MPPT regulator in the belief the Absorption and Float voltage settings are incorrect, I have maint free lead acids Numax XV31MF. My question is what should the Absorption and Float Charging voltages be. Absorption Volt Charging = 14.6v ?? Float Volt Charging = 13.5v ?? Thank you for reading Andy

Hi everyone, ive had my narrowboat for about four months and have been happily living off the leisure batteries. However I now have the opportunity to access shorepower and would like to have access to a few luxuries from time to time (like tv, or the ability to charge my laptop onboard). I have no idea what to do though. My boat has no power sockets whatsoever. As far as I know the only things that run off 12v are the lights and water pumps (shower, oven, fridge etc works off gas). there is no external socket for shorepower. I assume that in order to access shorepower I need quite a bit of work done on the boat. Can anyone explain - slowly - what I need to do? Many thanks for reading.

Hi, I have a charging issue it seems. I have just bought 4 new leisures at £600.00 and had them proffesionally fitted. But they are down to 11.5 v . The weird thing is the engine battery is getting fully charged. I have not used the inverter as that's how I killed the last lot. Only had the new ones on 3 days and I have been very careful. My system is 24v so they are linked - to + in the bank. The alternator is quite new and it's pushing out 17v. Not sure if that's right. The control panel says my batts are at 100% but that's obviously incorrect. And on another setting my amp hours said 280 but every second it dropped 2 hours until eventually saying zero hours left. I have a split charge relay and it reads the same as the alternator in motion. I'm just getting fed up now trying to sort this out as it's ruining my time on the boat. There's more info I want to add but I can't remember atm. So guys what dya think? Alternator, fuse, spilt relay or control panel.? Oh yeah when the last lot of batteries died my voltmeter shot up into the red zone as I reved the engine. Thank's.

Hello, apologies if this question has already been asked, I've had a good trawl through the pages already though.. Basically, I need to know, what is the proper use of the leisure battery isolator switch? I'm on shore power currently. Thanks!

So lesuire batteries How do you guys test them. I have four 110ah leisure batteries on a 200watt solar mppt setup. currently waking up to dead batteries in the morning's around 10v DC out ! Only thing running in the night hours is the fridge about 3Amps when it is on . Drop test says batteries are fine .... Yes I did take them out for a good few hours after full charge cycle ! Don't want to buy new batteries if don't need to.... But wondering if maybe drop test not the right test ? Help !!!! Thank you for reading Andy

Spurred on from another thread, I have 3x 230 ah batteries, my bmv tells me they are 100pc when the tale current is about 25, so I ignore that and keep charging when running the engine to under 1pc , it gets to about 5 something, i do this weekly whilst running the engine, easy at the moment through summer. Even then I spoil myself and plod into a marine to give it a good charge every couple of weeks.or a pub with eleccy hook.in winter I visit a marina more often just for a night, or if forced to by a freeze coming, but basically the same thing, give the batts a good charge. So everything is fine, (I only know what I know from reading on here) i have two solar panels , think there 100 w when I leave the marina etc and bmv is reading around 0 amps, as soon as I put it on inverter it jumps to , tail current 4v. When it's a sunny day and I haven't ran the engine, it can show being 100pc when, if I start the engine the tail current would show about 70,amps, that's against running the engine till it gets to 100 pc then it's 25a, why is there a discrepancy between the two figures? i do charge to as far as I can , regularly and have no prob with batteries, I probably protect them too much, but why do I get two different readings as 100 pc, both wrong I know, just wondering.?

Hi there, I’m wondering if someone can help me. I’ve just installed 2 solar panels (in series) and they don’t seem to be charging my batteries. 2 x 320w panels (mono crystalline) 1 x 60A outback MPPT charge controller 4 x 6v Trojan t-125 240AH batteries in series and parralell connection giving 480AH in total. Ive checked all the connections. Seems fine. Battery monitor is saying the voltage from the charger is what the batteries are at. However the perctage on the monitor has stayed the same. Can someone please help?! I thought I’d have full batteries everyday with 640W of solar but so far nothing! Hope thats enough info, thanks in advance!

Hello Any advice or tips on the following energy problem would be much appreciated! We recently bought a dutch barge that we've just cruised down to it's new mooring. On the way down the the inverter only worked occasionally, most of the time the 'low battery' light was on. It has a 'Victron Energy phoenix multi plus' inverter with a 'Victron multi control' panel. I assumed the batteries were spent, but we'd be fine once hooked up to shoreline (32 Amp) And we were...for a few days. All was well but we no longer have any power - the inverter is once again just showing 'low battery' So....does shoreline bypass the batteries making it irrelevant if they are in good condition or not? (making it a problem with the inverter?) And should we still have the inverter on when using shoreline? (The switch options are 'on' 'off' and 'charger only') Thanks for your help, sorry if it's obvious!

Those of you who followed my epic "new batteries - problem" thread, might remember that I mentioned a company I found called Aceleron. They are all about re-purposing lithium batteries https://www.aceleronltd.com/ I wrote to them some time ago, to express an interest and inquire regarding suitable batteries for us boaters. I have received an email from them saying that they have a production run of 12v leisure batteries scheduled for March, and would like to talk with me regarding getting them out to boaters. I expect to have a chat with them next week to find out more - actually they are in Hayes (London) and by coincidence that is where I am right now so a phone conversation could well turn into a meeting if I have time. Your thoughts please, and any questions, also any potential takers/test pilots? I know many of you are concerned about safety as well as real world performance. They were talking about pricing them at standard leisure battery price, but I will find out more of course. The future awaits.

Having been through the pain of trying to understand my battery requirements as an off grid CC'er I thought I'd share my currwnt thoughts. Battery life is adversely affected when there is no means to trickle charge them up to near 100% capacity after each cycle. Solar panels do help (mainly in the summer) but I doubt the batteries will ever get close to 100% if the batteries are used on a daily basis. Those who have access to a shore line each night are in a much better position to keep their batteries healthy for a long time as they can be trickle charged for long periods at low cost. Diesel and petrol is very expensive way to trickle charge and you can't easily do it overnight. Find out what your daily power requirements are in amps. Someone here suggested I buy a clamp meter to measure the demand from the battery. It was very helpful in helping me check my estimated useage and voltage drops. Try to find ways of reducing your battery demand. The whole exercise has resulted in us changing to LED lights and getting a 12v TV which runs on only 1.5 amps. We also have a gas fridge which reduces our electricity consumption by a lot but obviously costs more in gas! Our consumption is now around 15-20 amps per evening. Once the power requirements are understood, choose the best battery to suit your needs. My current thoughts on this are that domestic batteries are more expensive than starter batteries and take longer to trickle charge them up to near 100% so are more likely to degrade quicker. We are experimenting with a single 12v , 75 ah silver/calcium starter battery. Cost just under £100. So far it has met all our needs. It never drops below 12.3v (70% capacity) after an evenings use and charges back up to 13.0v (measured after 2 hours settling time) with 2-3 hours engine running per day. It also seems to handle heavier loads like pumps with less voltage drop. I understand that starter batteries like to work between 70-100% capacity unlike deep cycle domestic batteries which are happier down to 50%. So I guess it's important to make sure they don't drop below this As I say, it's all a bit of an experiment at the moment and it's early days. Even if this single 12v battery cops out after 2 years. It cheaper to buy another one than 4 new domestics (which is where I started from!).

Dear Fellow Boaters, Soon to purchase 4x Trojan T145's. This will be configured in series (to go from 6v to 12v), and parallel (to go from 260AH @ C20 to 520 AH @ C20). So should give me approximately 250 AH usable capacity based on a 20 hour discharge assuming a 50% DoD. Will be having new cables made up. There are a selection of different terminal posts available. Since I am cabling from scratch I can choose the best post type for the project. Would be grateful to get feedback and opinions please. Will be a short cable run, probably 70mm cables running 1.5 metres to a 3kWH inverter. The manufacture recommends x2 50mm2 cables for connections (two for positive and two for negative) . That is on the basis that the inverter would be pulling its full load (6kWH burst, 3kWH continuous @ 25 degrees C) , which in reality will never happen. Therefore, I plan to get one 70mm2 cable which should more than suffice. Presently using some tatty old 35mm2 cable. This is just additional information in case its helpful. Many Thanks

Hello all, Unfortunately despite my best intentions I am need of some advice regarding my battery bank... I have only just become aware that I need to equalised my batteries some how this information slipped my mind during all my research and planning for my batteries. I think I thought my controller or multiplus did it automatically as its soo bloody expensive I have also been relying on my battery monitor telling my my SOC, I now understand this may not be the case. And would appreciate any advice on what I can do now... My system is: 6 x T105 Trojan 6v 225ah batteries that are just over a year old. I rarely run them below 80% and regularly check and top up water. 930w of solar and Outback FastMax controller Victron Multiplus 12/3000/120 Inverter/ Charger Victron BMV700 Battery Monitor Honda eu20i for charging This issue which recently arose... my inverted has started flashing low battery when running my washing machine on a cold wash (which used to be fine) I thought it could be the washing machine malfunctioning as it is an old one but someone said its my batteries and has lead me to learn despite me thinking I am taking good care of them perhaps I am not :/ So, I have bought a hydrometer : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pro-Hydrovolt-HYDRO-VOLT-Lead-Acid-Battery-Hydrometer-Electrolyte-Tester/322082591860?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 But don't really know what to do with it and would appreciate any advice, I know this is lots written about batteries and I have been reading it but any advice specific to my situation would be greatly appreciated as I don't want to do any more damage to my expensive and rather lovely batteries. Which I am hoping I haven't done too much damage too. I am going to charge my batteries now using my genny and look at the amps going into the batteries to see when a tail current (1-2% of capacity, 6.75 - 13.5amp for my 675ah battery bank) is reached this should hopefully tell me when it they reached 100% more accurately than my battery monitor. I will then run an equalisation charge, I have looked at how to switch this on with my Victron Mulitplus, I will set equalisation to 8.10v (indicated on the trojan website) I am then planing on setting my float charge (on my multiplus settings) to the same as my absorption charge 7.05 - 7.35 as this will bring my batts to 100% state of charge quicker when I am charging as I only charge using a generator I will not leave it running on float for very long. If I have made any errors please let me know, thanks again for any advice. Martin

I had hoped to resolve this by myself - knowing how heated battery discussions can become. I fitted new batteries a few weeks ago, limited access made it near impossible but in the end I was satisfied that all connections were good. What a joy - leaving the fridge on at night means I can buy stuff to keep in it! And the lights don't dim when I give something a quick blast in the microwave Anyway, I'm already seeing signs of trouble. My regime has been to never let them go below 60% / 12.2v, usually recharging much sooner. I charge up to at least 80%, usually 90% or more. Even then I'm running the engine a lot less than I used to - 2 hrs a day and a longer one every week or so, roughly. The last time I got to 100% I left the engine running for another hour for a "really good" charge. Lately I have seen the charge% dropping off quickly, but also some very erratic readings from the smartgauge. For example, I woke today to find the batteries at 12.15v / 57% (I always check both readings as it gives me a better picture of what is going on - I know if the fridge is running, or other equipment to make allowances on the expected voltage). Anyway, a quick 1 hr charge to get me through to the evening and the batteries read something like12.6v/63%. A bit later by themselves they have gone up tp 13.15v/67%. Now at 12.9v/69%. I do have solar panels and I know they can affect the voltage reading but there is no sun and they are basically not doing anything today. I've checked the smartgauge wiring for loose connections, seems ok. I've checked all the battery wiring, seems ok. I have observed a very slight build around one or two places on the posts - just in the gaps between post and fitting. I had to take out the smartgauge fuses to inspect the crimps etc so it might be confused now. When I enquired about the snake oil - sorry battery desulfator, the reply I got was quite helpful and suggested that the batteries (my old set) may not be suffering from sulphation but that something else may be going on. Well, I'm hearing those words in my head now - overcharging? The batteries never read more than 14.4v with engine running, but I wonder if it is worth disconnecting the alternator to see what it is really putting out? Or perhaps there are other suggestions. Both my previous and current batteries are 4x110ah sealed. This is another reason why I want to get a generator - to use the good charger on the Victron. thank you guys

Hi there new to the community so I hope it's alright to create a new thread. The narrowboat I'm currently looking to purchase is set up with an alternator, 3 new 12v batteries, no inverter, mains cabling throughout. There is also a generator on board. I'm sorry I can't provide specifics at this point, but even general advice much appreciated. If I continue with the purchase, I'm intending on putting on 4 Renogy 100 Watts 12v Monocrystalline Solar panels and doing my best to use the engine for power as minimally as possible (going into winter I realise that the solar is not going to give much power). The current owner will also be putting on a new 12v Fridge if I go ahead with the purchase. The appliances I intend on running would be a toaster, iron, TV, record player, iMac (I already own this and not looking to replace it), Laptop charger, Mobile charger. I'll be replacing all the current lighting with LED. There is currently a Washing Machine on board but the owner says its best to remove it as its on the mains (makes sense, although I would consider keeping it if anyone could provide a realistic solution). Stove and oven will be gas, have yet to decide on a water heating system. The current gas boiler is defunct. Currently considering a new gas boiler or a back boiler for the burner (no burner currently on board looking to purchase) to fuel hot water (taps, shower) and heating (there are radiators throughout but I'm not sure if they would be necessary once I purchase the burner - she's 63'. To be clear I will not be mooring up and 'plugging in', so everything needs to be off grid power. My knowledge is limited so being completely open, I apologise if my questions appear naive any support appreciated: Is it better to consider investing in a good inverter, or should I look at transformers on an appliance by appliance basis? If primary usage was 12v, would installing an inverter affect functionality or can you run both 230v and 12v with an inverter? I'm not particularly keen to keep the generator but would anyone advise that I do and why? Instead of an inverter or transformers would anyone's opinion be that I simply run the engine (with alternator) when using non-12v appliances, and why? I want to reduce emissions and costs from over using the engine unnecessarily wherever possible. Will the current 'all mains' wiring cause any problems with purchasing 12v appliances e.g. the fridge. If I wanted to consider keeping the washing machine what would you recommend having in place? Thank you for your advice.

Four sparkling new leisure batteries fitted . What a dreadful job due to the quite ridiculous inaccessibility of their location, on the swim under the deck but the deck isn't removable so you have to... well, swear a lot basically, as one angles them perilously between the exhaust and other gubins, at arms length. Then there is trying not to weld the spanner on in one big glorious short out as one tightens the connections. Anyways... I'm hoping to get a bit more longevity out of these, and am wondering on what would be a suitable regime? Would it be advisable to let them go to 50% or 60% then charge to 80% with a charge to 100% every week or fortnight? I've gleaned something like that from the forum in the past. I have 300w solar so they get a bit of a top up most days plus I need to run the engine for 90 mins every day for hot water. The result being they are only gradually creeping down. Is that acceptable? I'll soon be getting a generator to save engine hours getting them back up to 100%. I know batteries can be a bit of a hot topic Just after a half sensible regime that I can keep up with. Smart gauge is fitted. thanks