460 Sundancer Power distribution question

[Carpedmman]

Hello-
I'm still working through the kinks on my new to me boat 4 months after the purchase. Here is something that I just can't figure out-
While on the hook, my 8D house battery runs down completely overnight. This weekend it got so low that it shut itself OFF! To me, it appears, there are a few items which could cause this problem.
1) Bad battery-at 185lbs for this monster I really don't want to pull it out and find out it is good! Not sure of age, but it is a gel cell and about $775 to replace!
2) Strong draw on the battery. Refrigerator? Bilge lights? My Bilge light switch is right inside the cabin door and it isn't an on/off switch, but rather it is a switch that you can't tell it is off OR on! There are four lights in the bilge and short of lifting the hatch before going to bed, I'm not sure how to surely shut these lights off.

Any suggestions on how I should troubleshoot this problem?
Thanks,
Stuart

 

[cod]

Do you run the generator overnight? If not, you should be shutting the refrig. switch off on the 12 volt side of the panel. That will definately drain the battery. Also, don't be afraid to constantly run the generator now that you have moved up to diesels.

 

[Carpedmman]

Thanks Cod. No, I typically don't run the gennie all night since the "rule" is that when on the Columbia River the gennies get shut down between 10:00pm and 8:00am. No overnight running while at docks or in harborages with other boaters.

I would think there would be a lot of melting and warming of food if I shut the refrigerator off for the night. Is this your common practice? Or do you keep your gennie running all night?

TIA

 

[cod]

My boat has sub zero (household type) refrigerator and freezer that only operate on 120 volt, so we keep the gennie running all the time while cruising and on the hook. I start it before we leave the dock and it doesn't get shut off until we return. There are many systems that need to run on 120v besides the Refig and freezer, (tv's, 4 a/c's, ice maker, w/d) I do have a 12V/120V refrig on the bridge but I leave the 12 volt switch off since the gennie is always running anyway. Diesel generators have a much greater lifespan than a gas gennie and the concern of carbon monoxide is greatly reduced.
Due to the no gennie running issue, you may want to consider setting up an inverter for the refrig. Basically it converts battery power to 120v and you set up a separate bank of 12 v batteries. I'm not an expert but I think it would give you longer life for the batteries and I think it can have a shut-down when the batteries get low so that they do not run completely down. The refrig will stay cold for several hours if not being opened if it did shut down during the night. Then you start the gennie the next day and charge the batteries.
Another option is to simply have a separate battery(s) for the refrig. for overnight. You would need to have someone look at the load requirements of the refrig to calculate how long a battery would last and how many and size of batteries needed.
Hope this helps.......

 

[BRBSTA]

You have a bilge light breaker on your main power panel flip it to off and you will not have to worry about the bilge lights , if you turn your fridge to the lowest setting and dont open too much you should no problem running all night on house battery I run 8-9 hours during the day with the stereo running non stop and we have no battery issues. I would replace your batteries sounds like they are going dead pre mature. I get non gel batteries for about 265.00 each and they are going strong for 3 years now ......

 

[Carpedmman]

You have a bilge light breaker on your main power panel flip it to off and you will not have to worry about the bilge lights , if you turn your fridge to the lowest setting and dont open too much you should no problem running all night on house battery I run 8-9 hours during the day with the stereo running non stop and we have no battery issues. I would replace your batteries sounds like they are going dead pre mature. I get non gel batteries for about 265.00 each and they are going strong for 3 years now ......

Much appreciated! Sounds like I need to flip the switch on the power panel to shut the bilge lights off. Do you know if that is all that is on that breaker?
Appreciate the advice on the Non-Gel batteries, too!

 

[Jaws]

I put a tiny idicator light (Radio Shack) beside that bilge light switch just to prevent leaving those lights on accidently. Since I installed a 110v fluorescent E.R. system, I no longer use the 12v lights.
I agree with BRBSTA about the batteries. Unless you want to spend the big bucks on AGM, get a pair of Dekka 8D flooded cells and change them out every three to four years max.

James

 

[The Bill Collector]

my er light switch has a led indicator light in it..... replace all 12v bulbs with led bulbs..... get a battery load tester and check your batteries..... I leave my fridge running overnight and it has never drained my batteries dead...

 

[Carpedmman]

I put a tiny idicator light (Radio Shack) beside that bilge light switch just to prevent leaving those lights on accidently. Since I installed a 110v fluorescent E.R. system, I no longer use the 12v lights.
I agree with BRBSTA about the batteries. Unless you want to spend the big bucks on AGM, get a pair of Dekka 8D flooded cells and change them out every three to four years max.

James

Thanks James! Was your addition of the little light difficult to do? Seems like something SR should have done from the get go! I like Bill Collector's idea about replacing the 12v lights with LEDs. One concern about replacing the battery is that I don't believe you can have one GEL and one WET, Correct?

So far so good as far as enjoying the vessel! She is a wonderful cruiser!

QUOTE<my er light switch has a led indicator light in it..... replace all 12v bulbs with led bulbs..... get a battery load tester and check your batteries..... I leave my fridge running overnight and it has never drained my batteries dead...>QUOTE
Appreciate the feedback Bill Collector! Some good advice!

 

[Jaws]

"Was your addition of the little light difficult to do? Seems like something SR should have done from the get go! I like Bill Collector's idea about replacing the 12v lights with LEDs. One concern about replacing the battery is that I don't believe you can have one GEL and one WET, Correct?"

It was easy to do. I just got a small green indicator light (they come in red or yellow as well). I wish I had a picture but unfortunately the boat is put away for winter. The light is only 1/8" maybe and looks like it came from the factory. Just wire the leads into the back of the bilge light switch. I rarely use the 12v lights any longer however because I installed five C.F. bulbs in fixtures from Defender around the engine room. Tons more light than the little 12v ones. I don't have an indicator yet for this (won't drain a battery because it's 110v) but I may place an automatic switch for them on the E.R. hatch.

Yes you do have to stick with the same battery chemistry on a charging circuit because of the differing charge profiles between flooded cell, gel, or AGM. I would replace both 8D batteries at the same time. I may switch over to AGM for the bow thruster 24v circuit but that's separate from the main batteries which I will probably keep as wet cells.

Hope that helps.

James