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No engine, have mains, new battery set up


MartOBeirne

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Hi guys. My boat is a bit dead, currently in a Marina for the first time. 

I have mains electricity, what a treat.

My 3 leisure batteries have died.

My 3 solar panels are still functional.

I assume starter battery is dead.

The engine for the sake of this conversation is dead too. It may be revived one day. But not in near future.

The 12v circuit has to deal with:

*1 water pump to pump water heated by the morso to the radiator

*1 water pump for shower, and kitchen and bathroom taps.

* LED ceiling lights.

All other things, fridge, phones, TV etc can come from Mains.

So in summary, No engine, functioning solar panels and available mains hook up, but no functioning leisure batteries.

What are my options for a an all year round electric supply ? What do I need to buy? How many? What do I need to install?

Thanks

Mart

 

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I succesfully ran our 12v pumps etc from a battery charger for a couple of years with success.I also picked up a 240V to 12v caravan transformer which also works. 

But you may just be better off buying another battery (s) and a charger.

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Could 1 battery be enough? I used 3 batteries and an inverter, running a 240v fridge and Tele for years. Now my load from the batts is relatively very small, I was wondering if just 1 battery would do it? I'd need to investigate chargers, have not used one before

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Yes, one battery will do, provided it is backed up by a  3 stage battery charger which will act as a power supply and put out enough amps to power everything you may have goinoing at once.  From your list a 25A output should be enough.

N

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If the engine is dead then presumably you will be in the marina 24/7 using 230V ac shore supply.  So long as the 230V to 12V unit you have is big enough to run all the 12v stuff at once there will be no problem, though a battery would give you a buffer should you lose shore power for an hour or two.

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Yep marina, 24/7

Should have mentioned

*Also, there is a gulper pump that ejects shower water

*Engine bay has a pump to eject water also

Ok I'll have a look for a single leisure battery and a 25amp charger.

Also, I'm thinking I could bring the battery inside the boat for easier access, but will have to do some re- wiring work

Thanks for advice so far

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If you bring the battery inside you will need to put it in a airtight box vented to the outside. If you don't it will fail BSS and probably invalidate your insurance as well. This is because when charging batteries give off hydrogen which is explosive.

 

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9 minutes ago, Detling said:

If you bring the battery inside you will need to put it in a airtight box vented to the outside. If you don't it will fail BSS and probably invalidate your insurance as well. This is because when charging batteries give off hydrogen which is explosive.

 

Next question may well be "what's a BSS ?"

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32 minutes ago, Detling said:

If you bring the battery inside you will need to put it in a airtight box vented to the outside. If you don't it will fail BSS and probably invalidate your insurance as well. This is because when charging batteries give off hydrogen which is explosive.

 

Not true for private boats.   The bss specifically states that a battery can be in an accommodation space and may vent into the accommodation space, but if it does it must have fixed high level ventilation.  See  bss rev2 apr2015 section 3.1.1 for more detail

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2 hours ago, MartOBeirne said:

Could 1 battery be enough? I used 3 batteries and an inverter, running a 240v fridge and Tele for years. Now my load from the batts is relatively very small, I was wondering if just 1 battery would do it? I'd need to investigate chargers, have not used one before

I’m guessing you don’t have much money, and not much income?

If you are on shore power 24/7, no batteries can be enough. My Sterling charger will act as a power supply with no batteries connected.

Having said that, I would still get 3 batteries and a decent charger, and skimp elsewhere

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3 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Next question may well be "what's a BSS ?"

Alan you may not be aware, but the person asking the question remains a part of the conversation. Hope you feel particularly smug and intelligent. Well done you. Hey maybe I even know more about some things than you do. In which case I will try and remember to laugh at your lack of knowledge. 

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2 hours ago, Richard10002 said:

I’m guessing you don’t have much money, and not much income?

If you are on shore power 24/7, no batteries can be enough. My Sterling charger will act as a power supply with no batteries connected.

Having said that, I would still get 3 batteries and a decent charger, and skimp elsewhere

Yep I'm skimping at the moment, looking for low cost solution, hoping to identify the actual product for purchase within  next few days. Maybe no batteries would be good for the time being. As opposed have just one now that will deteriorate and be joined by more in the future. I.e all new won't be compensating for 1 older.

I'll search for sterling chargers.

Thanks for advice

Mart

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13 minutes ago, MartOBeirne said:

Yep I'm skimping at the moment, looking for low cost solution, hoping to identify the actual product for purchase within  next few days. Maybe no batteries would be good for the time being. As opposed have just one now that will deteriorate and be joined by more in the future. I.e all new won't be compensating for 1 older.

I'll search for sterling chargers.

Thanks for advice

Mart

http://www.sp-shop.co.uk/Sterling-Power-12V-30A-2-outputs-Pro-Charge-Ultra-LITE-PN-LPCU1230.html

Double check the bit about no batteries connected... In the blurb it says it will act as a power supply and not deplete the batteries, so maybe it needs to send the power through a battery?

Someone else may have the definitive answer.

Having said that, it costs just over £200 for the 30A lite, (2 outputs, rather than 3), so it may be more than you want to spend. You can probably get a cheap 110Ah Battery and a cheap charger for not much more than a hundred quid.

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If you are trying to balance costs, then the Victron blue power 30A charger is circa £150 and will work with no battery as a power supply. It would be a good charger to have long term. It also does an equalization charge so you may be able to bring one of your dead batteries back to life saving you the expense of buying any batteries. I've recently fitted one of these and it is very good.

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On 12/04/2018 at 17:35, MartOBeirne said:

*Engine bay has a pump to eject water also

 

If by this you are referring to the bilge pump then this item is IMHO perhaps the most important issue to address. 

Good luck with sorting it out. 

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