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Hi there! My sealed lead acid batteries are nearly six years old and unfortunately they won’t hold their charge so Ive done a lot of research and just bought two AGM deep cycle 150aH batteries to replace my current two 200aH lead acid. My battery charger is a fairstone ABC1230 Fully Automatic 5 Stage and I’m pretty confident they’re compatible. My last fear is that I haven’t changed my starter as it’s still in good health but it is lead acid. Will having two battery types negatively effect the health of my batteries?

As the title says I have a BSS due in a few months and my main worry based on my reading of the BSS document is my battery container. It is currently a plastic box large enough to hold 6 batteries that sits on a tray on the swim. Someone replaced the leisure batteries at some time before I bought the boat and put only 3 in instead of 5. So there is a 2 battery space at the end of the box. There is nothing holding the box in place other than the weight of the batteries and the massive connector links. The box seems to be a replacement for the original which was just a wooden board in a recessed rectangular frame, approximately 15mm x 15mm angle iron. Reading the BSS document the batteries need to be fixed in place and unable to move up to an angle of 45 degrees. I cannot see any suitable cages or boxes online so will probably have to make my own. Does anyone have any ideas? Is wood suitable? Should I use all metal? What is a suitable way of holding the batteries down bearing in mind the ends are blocked by the connecting wires. See picture below. At the same time I am wondering if I need terminal covers. Currently the plastic box has a lid and the decking is just above. I have bought the biggest terminal covers I can find but they don't even come close to fitting the massive link cables, ~20mm diameter, or the various other 'always on' wires attached to the terminals. Is there an alternative method of doing this? I'm thinking of using some sort of rubber sheet fixed with cable ties.

Our boat has two banks of batteries. One marked Inverter which the 240 runs off. The second marked domestic which the 12 volts runs off. The boat is only used in the summer months. There are solar panels fitted. In 2019 new domestic altinator fitted. In 2021 new inverter altinator fitted. The inverter batteries were new in 2021. Arrived at the boat today to check everything ok. Both battery readings on the panels were 14 volts. I started the engine to check everything is running ok. The battery reading on the inverter bank went up to 15.5 volts. Knowing this wasn't good for the battery I switched the engine off. On knocking off the engine the reading went back to 14 volts. Any ideas? Thanks

AvE explains battery repairs using epsom salts (some language you might not want your mum to hear) and why it rarely works. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAD_mTtcKSM">YouTube</a>

Hello, I've been having a bit of trouble with charging recently. My batteries are quite low, and the alternator doesn't seem to be charging them enough. The alternator kicks out 13v max (even when charging for a few hours). I don't have a generator or battery charger to whizz them up to full so relying on the alternator. I've ordered a clamp-on ammeter to see what sort of power the alternator is kicking out (and see if something is shorting and draining power), and have inquired with a tacho seller to check if his tacho will work with my alternator, to check the RPM. I was wondering if someone could clear up the connections on the back of my alternator. The connections are on page 33... http://www.prestolite.com/literature/alts/PP1184_Buyer_Guide_alt.pdf I currently have 2 spade connectors coming from the two ++ "European Output Connections", and one from the excitation terminal. What are the AUX and B+ connectors for? Also, I don't have a connector for the battery temperature sensing terminal - should I have one? PS. Does anyone know if this tacho should just simply work by connecting to the W connector? Still waiting on a reply from the seller... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tachometer-Rev-Counter-0-6000-RPM-Alternator-Driven-Type-With-W-Terminal-/371043881967?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item5663f053ef Thanks a lot, mibix

Hi everyone, I recently had a flooded engine compartment (fortunately no major damage) from a leaky weed hatch seal and when I approached my insurance company they said had it reached the alternator or battery bank I would not have been covered. As a student studying an engineering degree I want to come up with a solution to this and thought why not expand it to monitor other systems like the battery, shore power or even security, smoke/fire warnings etc. but my worry in considering the costs of R&D would be "Is this even a real problem?". I'd be really interested to hear of boaters' worries on the water, be it security, batteries discharging, shore power failure, flooding in the engine bay (from rainwater or leaky prop seal)? Or is this merely taken as a risk of boating? If anyone has had a major insurance claim I would like to hear about the circumstances so as to know whether a monitoring system could have alerted and possibly prevented it. I would also like to understand the human cost of a claim like being unable to live on your boat, dry dock costs and just how awkward (or otherwise) it proved. I'd be really interested to hear what everyone thinks, be it pleasure boaters, liveaboard canal boats, hire fleet managers etc. as it will help me make a decision about whether I pursue the prototype to commercial launch. Many thanks in advance for all your help. Chris

Hello all! This question must do the rounds, but i am in the market for new leisure batteries for our liveaboard narrowboat. we have two solar panels, but recently even after cruising we have a shortage of electricity in the evening. seems like they're just not holding their charge (i just got a multi-meter - will test them tomorrow). they are a little over 2 years old anyway. i am planning to fit three new ones - currently we have 2 x 110 ah lesiures but there is space for 3. i have been looking at the numax 110 ah for around 75 quid each, which apparently come off the same shelf as Lucas batteries. What about these traction batteries, although we only have a 55amp alternator. we are pretty careful with the electricity we use, but we have just bought an electric fridge (!) - a Shoreline RR102 (can't find amp/hour usage rates - anyone?). Can we realistically operate this fridge/freezer (along with lights, radio etc) with 3 leisure batteries, running the engine once or twice a day for an hour or two? If not do you have any suggestions? cheers!!

A local supplier has a wide range of Leoch batteries. Leoch seem to be a huge Chinese battery manufacturer, but I can't find any reviews, recommendations or caveats of their brand. Has anyone got any experience of using Leoch batteries, how reliable they are, or any background info on the brand ?

I bought three 110AH Dual Purpose 12v batteries without thinking to ask what type of battery they are. They seem to be sealed (i.e. no place to top up water) and don't have any branding, though what labels they do have seem pretty similar to the Lucas brand of batteries. When setting up my charger and battery monitoring system, though, I need to know what kind they are - would it be safe to assume they're gel-based? Thanks!

Hello If I ran a gennie, and wanted to charge one battery to 100% it could take 8hrs. If I want to charge 6 batteries to 100%, should I connect 3 chargers, each going to 2 batteries. Will this speed up the charging process overall, ending up with the batts having a larger individual charge than trying to connect a single charger to all 6 over an 8 hr period. Basically I have a gennie, and want to charge all 6 batts as much as possible over an 8hr period. My charger is only sized for 220AH batteries....but if I had 3 small chargers, I could do it. Please dont tell me to buy a big charger. Got no cash. Just bought gennie. Easier to buy another small charger for now (which will give me 2) and another next month (which will give me 3). Gennie is 2.8kw Alternatively, what will happen if I just connect the 12V output from the gennie onto all 6 batts for a few hours? Thx.

Wow! So.... the list of jobs as long as all of the amputated and lined up arms of all the lovely people I've ever kissed (but not dismembered) continues to grow. It's four weeks since we bought our boat! Today's job was to inspect and top-up the batteries. We have, or, had, four Trojan 150AH batteries, arranged in 12V parallel. I knew that the wiring was shoddy, as it is everywhere on the boat, but wasn't quite expecting this! This battery was at the accessible end of the bank... as such, it had both positive and negative cables from the solar controller attached to it. There was no electrolyte present when I checked two days ago. The battery drank a good 1.5 litres, and did not smell good. I have looked at the mess of cables that the bank was before, and even noticed that there was corrosion present on this one, though I did not notice the hole. It's possible that the hole appeared in the day since I added water, or that I couldn't see it without pulling it out of the box (fairly hard to get to). The other three batteries in the bank needed topping up, but were not dry. I've now cleaned all the contacts, removed lots of needless cable, and hooked the solar charge cables up to separate ends of the bank. Needless to say, the one with the hole in has been removed from service. Any ideas why this happened? Was it the charging cables attached to + and - of the same battery? Possible leak from a cap?..... it certainly looks like acid....

I am new to my boat and still working out what needs to stay and what needs to go. There are 2 leisure batteries on board but I am not convinced that they are in the best of shape as they run out of charge quite quickly, but they do work . I want to change it to a bank of 4. If I were to buy two new ones is there anything wrong with connecting with the old ones or should it be a case buying 4 new ones?

We have a Victron Phoenix Multiplus 12v/3000 inverter charger, connected to 5 AGM batteries (675ah) monitored by the BMV 602. For the last five years it has worked very well. Normally whilst cruising the domestic bank of batteries is charged up by the large DC alternator (we have a smaller DC alternator for the starter batteries and an AC alternator with a Dometic travelpower). We normaly lose about 18% charge overnight and the DC alternator begins putting in about 80 ah's dropping to about 16 after 4 or 5 hours cruising. It drops lower slowly and if it remains constant for about 15 mins it is considered full (although i know this is not strictly true). I occasionally sync the BMV, once I now the batteries are as charged as they can be, usually when on shorepower and no real load. Occasionaly whilst running AC appliances (washing machine, or carpet sweeper) the Amp/hour rate goes up by 10 to 15 % the multiplus taking the extra energy from the AC alternator. This becomes negligble fairly quickly. Our problem now appears to be that the BMV does not read the output from the alternator. In winter we normally fully charge the batteries and leave some greenhouse heaters in the boat connected to the shorepower. The battery bank has very little load so we visit once a month to run the engine and charge up the batteries amongst other maintenance tasks. On our recent visit the BMV state of charge showed 74% initially but as soon as I started the engine the display changed to 100% in seconds. The rate of charge/discharge showed +3 ah dropping quickly to +1ah not the +80 plus ah as expected and normal. I considered that the alternator wasnt working but it appeared to be doing so, I started up the travelpower and put a load on the AC system and that should have had an impact on the BMV but didnt. I dont think either alternator has failed so my thoughts are that the BMV must have reset itself or shorted out somehow. It later showed a minus value as some of the lights were on in the boat. All indicators show that the BMV is not reading any input. The values held in the memory of the BMV show the same as previously I.E. the total AMP Hours of the battery bank. It seems like the BMV is not reading the input from the alternators. A blown fuse or similar is what we are hoping is the solution but where to look is our problem before we call in a Victron trained engineer This year the boat has seemed colder but we have used the same regime in other marinas. Any thoughts gratefully accepted regards Malcolm & Anne

Is there a way to have leisure batteries automatically isolated when they fall bellow a specified charge? Having the lights go out would be a good fail-safe to know when to charge them up again. Our setup is as follows: BMV-501 battery monitor Victron energy multi plus inverter EP Solar, with MT50 display Many thanks in advance Pete

Just had some repairs and service done on my Lister SR2 engine after it completely packed up and have now noticed that the batteries are reaching up to 17volts when at full throttle with the battery selector switch set to ‘both’ or position 1 (leisure batteries). If I select position 2 (starter battery) then it is around 14v as normal. Both sets of batteries have taken quite a hammering recently with the number of times the engine had been cranked prior to the repair so did wonder whether a fault had developed on one of the leisure batteries causing it to over charge? I then disconnected the batteries and checked the voltage and they were all around 13 volts. I always keep the batteries charged on shore power but it seems strange that it would register such high voltage so was thinking more likely the alternator. As far as I’m aware it wasn’t touched when the repairs were done as the injectors and fuel system were causing the original problem. Any help most appreciated. Wakes.

Hi all, We currently have 3 x 125ah leisure batteries powering the fridge, lighting (mostly LED) and water/waste pumps. The bank is charged by a single solar panel through an EPSolar MPPT charge controller. This was fine during the summer but with winter fast approaching we are finding that come the morning there isn't enough juice to power the pumps for a shower. We are mostly marina based so would like to add in a mains charger to top up the batteries once night falls. Electricity is metered so would only want to charge from shore power when necessary. Currently we achieve this by attaching a car battery charger using crocodile clips - it works but isn't a viable long term solution. The charger only has trickle or fast charge and is manually selected. I was also a little wary that I might be sending current to the solar panel instead of away from it, but it hasn't blown up yet So, my questions are: Is there such a device available that I can connect both the solar and a 240V charger to and it automatically selects which input to charge the batteries with, prioritising the solar? Maybe even with automatic health programming to allow the batteries to discharge periodically to keep them healthy? Failing that, if I just get a decent 240V charger that automatically switches charge mode, will there be any problems permanently connecting that directly to the batteries in addition to the solar, and just turn it on when required? Or should I connect them via, say, a rocker switch to manually change from solar charging or 240V charging? What fuses would be required? Can someone recommend a decent multistage 240V charger? I'm sure I'll think of something else as soon as I've posted this, but it will do for starters :-) Thanks in advance.

Hi. Firstly, we are CC's with no hookup. I have a Victron 12/3000/120 inverter charger, Victron BMV602s battery monitor, 110amp alternator, Honda 1kw generator, Victron 30amp solar controller with 3x 100w solar panels. I have fitted 4x new Yuasa 115amp hr batteries. These are set as first set had faults within a few weeks (from Halfords are the batteries). When I charge the batteries from alternator, the BMV shows about 70amp initially and over a few hours reduces down to about 5-6 amp tail current. Charge voltage is about 14.3 volts. The BMV shows 100%. I always leave the engine running longer to see the tail current low as possible. I sometimes use the Honda generator to top up the batteries making sure they reach float status. Although the BMV shows say 70amps used since 100% charge and SOC still says about 90% charge, the battery voltage is down to below 12 volts. We have a 240v fridge freezer (new) running off the inverter plus some TV, led lights and phone charging, the actual current since last recharge (from the BMV) is correct I assume? Could it just be duff batteries again? Any ideas?

I'm sure everyone remembers my poor charging regime and the lengthy thread that ensued. I'm still using my set of somewhat reduced capacity 4x110ah batteries - a couple hours engine running in the morning, a couple in the evening, and then switch off the 240v (including fridge) at night. This gives me enough laptop time in the evening, led lights and various pumps etc. So, for now carrying on quite happily - but I have noticed a new phenomenon creeping in lately. Today for example: I ran the engine for an hour or so when I got up (with 240v back on as normal). I then cruised for 3 1/2 hrs. A couple hours later, and my batteries are already back down to 12.3v so I have fired up the engine again. What I am saying is this - it would appear that the leisure batteries are not getting much (or any?) charge when I'm cruising. I can't think what this could be but I'm sure someone will enlighten me - be gentle! Just to re iterate - I know the batteries have reduced capacity, but a couple hours charging off the engine normally sees them up to say 12.8v which lasts all day or all evening. Even on longer cruises, they don't seem to get as much charge as when the engine is just running in neutral. I have two alternators, 50a for engine, 175 for leisure.

Hey guys and gals, I'm sure it's something simple I've done wrong here but I've wired a 12v socket that has 3 cigarette style sockets and 2 usb sockets. I've tried wiring it in to two different connection points, where the lights are wired to and when I connect some things, especially my 12v laptop adapter, all the lights flash like a rave. Does anyone have any suggestions? Do I need to wire something in between to stop the "surge" or am I being too simple with my wiring? Thanks in advance.

Can you put a 12v battery onto an inverter and put a battery charger from the same inverter so it loops and provides a continuous charge. I live on a narrowboat and pondering the question. Thank you.

Hi all, sorry to jump on this but you guys seem to know what you are on about. I have just installed a NASA BM1, I have 2 110ah batteries connected in parallel (connected neg to neg), wired up correctly with NO other negatives on the batteries part from the wire to the black and white side of the shunt. When everything is turned off the battery is displaying discharge of 0.01amps and when charging it goes pass 100% (to roughly 105%). I have a 100w solar panel installed (it’s giving me 0.4amps of charge due to living in Yorkshire with crap weather this time of year). The neg from the solar is also Connected to the yellow end of the shunt. Should the neg from both battery’s be connect to the black and white end of the shunt or connected together with one wire going to the black and white end? Is all this right? Have I done something wrong. Thanks in advance everyone.

Hi all Just thought I'd post a battery build that I've written an instructables guide for. I wanted to build a portable battery that I could charge at work and take to the boat to relive some of the usage on the boats battery system as its a little outdated and I'm not ready for the system redesign. Its working nicely running all my low to medium voltage equipment and means I'm not enjoying anyone in the evening with the engine noise and smoke. see the link below if your interested and your thoughts would be most appreciated https://www.instructables.com/12V-Lithium-Ion-18650-55ah-Portable-Battery/

I have recently bought a narrowboat with a semi trad stern where the engine lives under deck boards at the stern. The boat had a battery charger fitted in the cabin that led back to the battery bank in the engine hole via a length of wire that had been cut and joined in several places and as a result was about 8 feet long and then crocodile clips to attach it to the batteries as needed. Having had to use the charger ashore it transpired that it was dead and I have invested in a very snazzy thing with the intention of having it permanently connected as it says it was suitable for this. Reading the instructions it says that if doing this you need to remove the crocodile clips and replace them with rings. No problem with that. It also says you should not extend the wires as the voltage drop would make the unit ineffective - I also understand (I think) why that would be. The charging wires are about 3ft long and wont reach from the cabin to the battery bank. So I am thinking of locating a 240v socket in the engine hole and connecting the charger there. Only thing is do I then run into problems if gas is given off in charging and the presence of diesel etc? In an ideal world I would put the charger in the cabin and then I can see what it is doing without disappearing in the the engine hole. Anyone else had this problem and what solution did you come up with? Thanks

Juno's outboard needs a new starter battery - the old one was my car battery (now departed VW Golf) that had ceased to be in the car when I couldn't rely on it any more, so not that surprising really. What does the forum recommend to start a Yamaha 9.9 long leg outboard? I suspect any small car battery will do the job but would welcome confirmation. The present car doesn't need a new battery. so it won't be a hand me down (although I guess there may be logic in replacing the car battery and cascading the old one - car is a rover 214)

Hi. I want to build a strictly leisure battery bank with two 70Ah batteries and 2500watt inverter that will be used only for things like kettle, low power microwave, digital gadgets like phones and laptops, maybe cool box from time to time. I do not want to connect my new leisure bank to the boat's engines and intend to charge it by petrol generator only. I have an area near helm where I can place batteries and inverter - like a wooden box/cupboard. My question is... do I have to ground the batteries and the inverter? Thanks, t.