Inverter is on the fritz, maybe

[wandering]

I spent the day cruising and had the engine on from 8am until 5pm and it seemed things were back to normal however after three hours the batteries are draining and the light went back to orange despite nothing being actively on. So it looks like I’ll need new leisure batteries.  

[Guest]

Just now, wandering said:

I spent the day cruising and had the engine on from 8am until 5pm and it seemed things were back to normal however after three hours the batteries are draining and the light went back to orange despite nothing being actively on. So it looks like I’ll need new leisure batteries.  

 

In five years of boat ownership we killed two banks of leisure batteries.

 

Its very easy to do.

 

At the end of the day towards the end of the life of each bank we had the same issue. Notably the 12v fridge and freezer would shut down during the night.

 

You have 'topped up' within the currently available capacity of your bank and used it up.

[wandering]

Yes fridge would shut itself off and the pump won’t turn off either, continually making a noise. Time to head to town tomorrow and get some new ones.  

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, wandering said:

Yes fridge would shut itself off and the pump won’t turn off either, continually making a noise. Time to head to town tomorrow and get some new ones.  

 

After we killed our first bank I started looking into getting a decent solar setup. As by that time we had left our marina mooring and moved to an on line CRT mooring with no mains charging. We relied entirely on cruising or charging running the engine whilst moored.

 

We never got around to fitting solar and two years later when we came to sell the boat we had killed the second bank and replaced them in order to sell.

 

Get some solar ASAP or you will soon kill your new batteries.

 

Others can advise on a good solar set up.

[Alan de Enfield]

20 minutes ago, wandering said:

Yes fridge would shut itself off and the pump won’t turn off either, continually making a noise. Time to head to town tomorrow and get some new ones.  

 

Yes, you do need them, but do you now know how to maintain them correctly ?

If not, you'll be making another expensive trip 'to town' in 2 or 3 weeks time.

[MtB]

1 hour ago, wandering said:

Yes fridge would shut itself off and the pump won’t turn off either, continually making a noise. Time to head to town tomorrow and get some new ones.  

 

 

While you're there, get a BMV 712 voltmeter and ammeter and install it at the same time as your new batteries.

 

Then your next task is learn to scroll the display from voltage to current, so you'll know what is going on.

 

Then you'll have about two weeks to learn how to use these two displays to know for sure when the new batts are fully charged, or you'll be making another trip into town to buy another new set of batts.

 

 

 

Ask here about anything you don't understand. Loads of help freely available if you want or need it. 

 

 

P.S. the BMV 712 is a combined volt meter and amp meter. One single monitor, made by Victron. 

[wandering]

8 hours ago, MtB said:

 

 

While you're there, get a BMV 712 voltmeter and ammeter and install it at the same time as your new batteries.

 

Then your next task is learn to scroll the display from voltage to current, so you'll know what is going on.

 

Then you'll have about two weeks to learn how to use these two displays to know for sure when the new batts are fully charged, or you'll be making another trip into town to buy another new set of batts.

 

 

 

Ask here about anything you don't understand. Loads of help freely available if you want or need it. 

 

 

P.S. the BMV 712 is a combined volt meter and amp meter. One single monitor, made by Victron. 

Are they easy to pick up? There is a battery shop in market harborough 

[Tony Brooks]

55 minutes ago, wandering said:

Are they easy to pick up? There is a battery shop in market harborough 

 

The photos you linked to show that you already have one and can scroll through the displays. Unless you really understand the manual, how to set it up, and regularly recalibrate it just ignore every display apart from Amps and Volts, those two will be accurate.

[wandering]

12 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

The photos you linked to show that you already have one and can scroll through the displays. Unless you really understand the manual, how to set it up, and regularly recalibrate it just ignore every display apart from Amps and Volts, those two will be accurate.

Seems like it shows two leisure batteries on the reader (what about the starter…?)

One battery appears to be holding volts but the other goes below 12 after no time. Is that normal, that one battery might be OK? 

[Tony Brooks]

13 minutes ago, wandering said:

Seems like it shows two leisure batteries on the reader (what about the starter…?)

One battery appears to be holding volts but the other goes below 12 after no time. Is that normal, that one battery might be OK? 

 

Why do you think the voltage displays are for two domestic banks? That is not totally impossible, but it would be very unusual. The values in your photos suggests they are for the domestic bank and the engine battery. It is not best practice to split the domestic bank into two for technical reasons around how LA batteries work and it complicates the charging.

 

This is the reason I say that. You had been on shore power for a long time, and battery chargers are usually connected to the domestic bank, unless the charger has two or more outputs. This means the engine battery probably sat there slowly self discharging. Hence, the 12.5 ish voltage from what I take to be the engine battery and the 11.x from the domestic bank. I am not going back to find the exact readings.

 

Starter batteries last for many years, despite what many people think with a half decent engine they have a very easy life and on a cruising boat spend most of the time fully charged. I would expect an engine battery that will start the engine in the morning to hold charge.

[ditchcrawler]

13 hours ago, MtB said:

 

 

While you're there, get a BMV 712 voltmeter and ammeter and install it at the same time as your new batteries.

 

Then your next task is learn to scroll the display from voltage to current, so you'll know what is going on.

 

Then you'll have about two weeks to learn how to use these two displays to know for sure when the new batts are fully charged, or you'll be making another trip into town to buy another new set of batts.

 

 

 

Ask here about anything you don't understand. Loads of help freely available if you want or need it. 

 

 

P.S. the BMV 712 is a combined volt meter and amp meter. One single monitor, made by Victron. 

I thought the OP had this 

[wandering]

47 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I thought the OP had this 

Aye, the Victorian panel in bedroom. 

[cuthound]

1 hour ago, wandering said:

Aye, the Victorian panel in bedroom. 

 

I didn't realise that battery monitors had been around for that long... 😂😅

[wandering]

3 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

I didn't realise that battery monitors had been around for that long... 😂😅

No wonder my batteries are on the fritz lol… ooops, Victron* 

[roland elsdon]

If you are on the leicester summit its only a day by boat to braunston midland chandlers where you can pick up new batteries canalside. Much easier than taking them by car.

unfortunately the local competition have now ceased trading.

[wandering]

15 minutes ago, roland elsdon said:

If you are on the leicester summit its only a day by boat to braunston midland chandlers where you can pick up new batteries canalside. Much easier than taking them by car.

unfortunately the local competition have now ceased trading.

I need batteries and a some solar. I can pick that up at midlands chandlers? How about help installing for a complete newbie?

[David Mack]

My niece had solar supplied and installed on their boat by these people, who are Leicester based. https://runbythesun.co.uk/off-grid-solar-system/

Although the website mainly covers domestic installations, apparently they have fitted quite a few on boats.

[wandering]

9 minutes ago, David Mack said:

My niece had solar supplied and installed on their boat by these people, who are Leicester based. https://runbythesun.co.uk/off-grid-solar-system/

Although the website mainly covers domestic installations, apparently they have fitted quite a few on boats.

Does she rate her experience?

[Tony Brooks]

1 minute ago, wandering said:

Does she rate her experience?

 

FWIW, I bought a "kit" from them at Crick fairly early in Solar and had no problems apart from they supplied domestic 3 core flex to connect the panel to the controller (Pre wotsit 4 solar connectors) and a simple plastic gland to seal the cable entry through the roof. It was no problem for me, and we must have had that panel for well over 10 years before adding another and changing from a PWM controller to an MPPT.

[roland elsdon]

53 minutes ago, wandering said:

I need batteries and a some solar. I can pick that up at midlands chandlers? How about help installing for a complete newbie?

With care and duplication of terminals and batteries its not a hard job.

Basically turn everything off mark all positives , and remove the connections. Remove batts and replace, as Haynes used to say re assembly is the reverse of the above process.

Take photos of connections and terminals first for reference.

 

As for the solar no idea. Do my own stuff like that.

[jonathanA]

1 hour ago, David Mack said:

My niece had solar supplied and installed on their boat by these people, who are Leicester based. https://runbythesun.co.uk/off-grid-solar-system/

Although the website mainly covers domestic installations, apparently they have fitted quite a few on boats.

I bought a kit for my boat off Simon at run by the sun and he did supply everything including self drilling screws to fix the panels to the roof (which I didn't use). he also gave me some good advice for my home PV panels and sold me a great box of tricks for using excess leccy off the roof to heat hot water at home. 

 

based on my experience I'd recommend them.   

[Francis Herne]

On 28/03/2023 at 17:53, roland elsdon said:

If you are on the leicester summit its only a day by boat to braunston midland chandlers where you can pick up new batteries canalside.

I'm not certain they have batteries, but Venture Caravans near Watford locks carry a lot of boat-relevant parts - electrical, plumbing, cassette toilet bits etc. A bit closer than Braunston and on the way so might as well check.

Edited March 30, 2023 by Francis Herne

[wandering]

Picked up three batteries from the battery store. Gonna install and hopefully end this saga lol (doubt it)

[Quattrodave]

3 hours ago, wandering said:

Picked up three batteries from the battery store. Gonna install and hopefully end this saga lol (doubt it)

 

Good stuff.  Don't take too much out of them, recharge them ASAP, hopefully you won't kill them too quickly.  When recharging be aware it will take many more amps to return them to 100% than you have taken out of them.

 

PS.  And (generally) ignore any 'state of charge' meter you may have.

Edited March 31, 2023 by Quattrodave