what is a battery regime ?

[Alan de Enfield]

Living in a marina one can connect to shore and rely on a marine battery charger plus a solar system to look after the batteries.

 

Unfortunately, from the little information given, it is living in the marina that has caused the problems, with the necessity to replace 3 battery chargers and 3 battery banks.

One would have thought that if he didn't know 'why', he would have wanted to provide information as to 'how' to avoid having to spend out on a 4th set of batteries and a 4th charger.

 

As much as many of us wish to help :

 

You can lead a horse to water ......................

[mross]

I used a CTEK intelligent charger on my Fiat 500 to keep the battery alive over the entire winter when I was working abroad. When I got home, the car started easily. I disconnected the charger and the battery died the next time I needed to start it. I don't think these chargers are very good but the battery was quite old. Perhaps the OP should get a Sterling?

[Greylady2]

God knows OP, i have 500w solar panels but they are working like a chocolate fire guard in the dull weather.

 

I put 4 new leasure batterys on and the forum helpies freindly's advised me to charge to 5amps on a battery smart gauge.

 

Am still flumaxed.

 

Add : hmmm i hear battery blankets help a lot in this cold weather = my next venture.

 

Good luxs

[Tony Brooks]

I seem to recall Gibbo saying that in his tests of pulsed de-sulphating devices the outcome was uncertain. Sometimes it just killed the battery, sometimes it seemed to work and sometimes it seemed to work and then the battery died quickly. A while ago I tried to find independent academic research of the things and only found tow. One German and one Australian, bith said much the same as I recall. Loads of stuff from the USA from off grid enthusiasts though, but not very scientific.

[WotEver]

The Battery FAQ says much the same thing - inconclusive.

[Dave_P]

While I understand why members can get frustrated in threads like this where information doesn't come as readily as you'd like, I don't see why accusations of doppels or other forms of subterfuge are helpful. If you have any genuine evidence of doppels/sock puppets, then report it to the mod team. The OP has contributed to numerous threads over the last year and has not, to my knowledge, broken any forum rules.

 

As a general point though, especially for new members, it is best to provide the as much info as you can about your boat and your boating if you want detailed answers to questions like this. This forum contains a huge amount of useful knowledge in its members, but it will only fully come your way if requests for more details are fully responded to.

[mross]

I wonder if we could develop a questionnaire for battery problems, or a spreadsheet to fill in. This way, all the info required would be in the first or second post.

[dmr]

Its often said that if you can formulate the question correctly then the answer will become obvious.

Asking questions correctly is not easy so its no surprise that people who don't understand the subject struggle to ask the question in a way that satisfies the experts. Sometimes the experts should use their expertise to try to understand what the question really is.

 

...but those who ask an initial question then fail to provide more detail when asked can be a bit frustrating.

 

...............Dave

[Murflynn]

you mean the 'experts' should be mind readers?

I don't agree, because they will make assumptions which will tend to confuse the issue further.

 

no, the solution is for the OP to reply to queries as quickly and as helpfully as possible within his range of knowledge and expertise.

if the reply is repeatedly 'I don't understand', then he should pay for an experienced boat electrician to attend the boat.

[WotEver]

Its often said that if you can formulate the question correctly then the answer will become obvious.

Asking questions correctly is not easy so its no surprise that people who don't understand the subject struggle to ask the question in a way that satisfies the experts. Sometimes the experts should use their expertise to try to understand what the question really is.

 

...but those who ask an initial question then fail to provide more detail when asked can be a bit frustrating.

 

...............Dave

Nobody (well, certainly not me) expects someone to ask a question whilst supplying all the required information to enable it to be answered immediately. I answered the OP as fully as possible given what the question was. Post #3 expanded on that.

 

No response from OP.

 

Questions were asked.

 

No response from OP.

 

Some contributors then wondered what was going on, which is perfectly understandable under the circumstances.

[Greylady2]

How can anyone be an expert in anything ?

 

Were all daft at times.

 

All anyone can do is pass on their knowledge/mistakes they have made with batterys and everthink else.

 

Batterys need charging 4 hours plus a day if live aboard shy on turning on the 'lights'

 

Dont touch my light switch dad aggggghh !

[Tony Brooks]

God knows OP, i have 500w solar panels but they are working like a chocolate fire guard in the dull weather.

 

I put 4 new leasure batterys on and the forum helpies freindly's advised me to charge to 5amps on a battery smart gauge.

 

Am still flumaxed.

 

Add : hmmm i hear battery blankets help a lot in this cold weather = my next venture.

 

Good luxs

 

Grey Lady - I am confused by this post although I note you do not capitalise smart gauge.

 

Smartguage is a proprietary name for a battery state of charge meter. It only reads Volts and percentage of charge so it can not read 5 Amps. It is probably the most accurate of all such gauges but can still be up to 10% under charge.

 

If by smart gauge you mean one of the gauges that have readouts of Amps, Volts, percentage of charge, and time left to flat or some such then it is far from smart -in fact in most boaters hands it tells downright lies apart from Amps & Volts. If your gauge is one of these then 5 amps is about right for a 500Ah battery bank.

 

It would be better if you continued charging until the charging current (Amps) stopped falling over roughly an hour. That will be fine with an alternator but may not be fine with a battery charger.

 

Modern "smart" chargers will lower the charging voltage at some point so the charge just about keeps up with the self discharge of the battery. This is typically 13.4 to 13.6 volts. Unfortunately they all too often drop to the low voltage (float) far too early so the batteries never get fully charged and also confuses the boater by dropping and stabilising the charging voltage.

 

If you charge from alternator then ignore the above unless you also have a Sterling A to B charger. If you charge by a battery please turn it off for a few seconds and then turn t on again if it drops the voltage before the charging current stabilises. This will force it to do its calculations again so it will charge at around 14.4 Volts for a while longer.

 

i am also concerned about the mention of battery blankets. They will help keep the battery warm so it can produce a higher discharge current but that implies that you are suffering from low voltage/current problems which I do not think you should be in the UK, even in the depths of winter, unless you are over discharging your batteries and not fully charging them. I would suggest that within half an hour of charging the batteries will be slightly warm simply from the charging action.

 

I am not sure what help that may be, but it sounds to me like much shoreline or engine charging is needed.

[Greylady2]

Maybe the op just got overwhelmed and struggle's with communicating online.

 

It happen's

 

Dont judge a painting on its frame.