Mahe 36: Batteries And 12vdc Systems

[jean1146]

Thanks for this great info Jeff. I am having problems right now so I will try the D position on the charger and see what it does. We had a great sailing day Saturday,between 9 and 10 knots all day.....a little depression moved trough our area in the gulf of Mexico.

[jean1146]

Jef. I went on the boat today and switched the charger to D position like you said,it takes a second.It went up to 14.5 V.Now my question to you is do I need to leave it on D from now on or go back to the initial setting,by the way mine was on C......Getting anything from FP is almost impossible.
JC.

[Jef & Marin, Netherlands]

Jean, you have to leave it on D. Otherwise, due to the too low float voltage on the C setting, the batteries will slowly (self) discharge bringing the battery status in the red again. This in case the mains is never disconnected.
If the mains were disconnected and connected again, the charger will find that the state of charge is too low and re-start charging according to the C boost characteristics. This will again not fully charge them.
This only goes for the original calcium batteries!

There is one BUT. Batteries need a lower charging voltage at higher temperatures, and higher at lower temperatures. If your batteries are very hot due to being in the engine room with engine running, AND you were in the tropics, the batteries would overcharge. In this case temporarily go back to C setting.
This overcharging due to high temperatures (and undercharging due to freezing) can be prevented by having an external temperature sensor mounted on the batteries. I contacted Tecsup how to obtain this. Well, they discontinued supplying these. This winter I will find out where to get replacements, or I will make them myself as soon as I know what type of temperature sensor is used. It is probably a standard 2 kilo-ohm NTC resistor.

Then just to make you guys and girls envious: (except fo people like Kev & Jo)
After sailing for 3 months we have finally reached St. Petersburg, Russia. We are the only foreign yacht in the city. It is a beautiful city, we will stay for a total of one week. Then we have to sail back to he Netherlands before the winter, we have 2 months for that.
We hope to miss all the autumn storms, which in this region are the remnants of the tropical hurricanes of the Caribbean. So hopefully you did not have to many of these there in the Miami region...
Kind regards,
Jef and Marin

[jean1146]

Jef thank you for the informations,I will let you know what happens. St Petersbourg I am dreaming.....Though I also was in St Petersbourg Florida with the boat ysterday....ah ah ah!
Have a safe trip.
JC.

[Cotemar]

Jeff,

Just to give you some feedback on your post
#42 on TECSUP HI-TEC charger.
Made the "D" switch change on the charger and your right. The batteries do hold a better charge and for a longer time.

Was set to "C" switch with readings at boost=14.2 & float 13.4 volts

Now set to "D" switch with readings at boost=14.6 & float 13.8 volts

Attached a picture for clarity if anyone needs it.

Thanks Again
Mark

[Cotemar]

Mahe’s

I finally found a distributor that will sell just a few Contura II, 12 volt switches.
I am adding a couple of 12 volt circuits to the switch panel, but wanted the original
Carling technologies, Contura II switches,www.carlingtech.com
Contura II
Part # V1D1AH0B-A9C00-000
20amp 12 volts green LED

Pin 8 is + for Green LED
Pin 7 is - for Green LED

Just use a wooden tongue depressor to remove any switch as shown in the pictures.

Stu's Switch Supply
Contact Jerry
jerry.peplau@carlingtech.com
team2@carlingtech.com
860-793-9281

Ordered 2 switches for $26 which included shipping

Mark

[Cotemar]

Rozzie,

Go back to post # 50 and make the "D" setting on your TECSUP HI-TEC charger
If you do not do this your Freedom Marine Maintenance Free calcium batteries
will never fully charge.

I have been using this "D" setting and run my Honda 2000 watt generator for 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour just before bed and my batteries were fine all last season (6 months) with no problems. If it's hotter where you are then 1-1/2 hours in the morning and 1-1/2 hours at night should keep them topped off.

Mark

Quote from Vaya con Dios
Hello Mahe Group
We are having some problems with charging the batteries.
Our knowledge is very basic.
We were told to run the engines for an hour in the morning and night.
We had a generator and thought using the generator with the shore
power cord plugged in for an hour was the same. Have learned that it's
not. Different Amps being put in. It's clear we have not been charging
the battery up, is it possible we have damage the batteries.
Rozzie

[MKB53]

Hi Guys

I have been a bit frustrated with my battery monitor and am wondering whether any of you guys can shed any light.

Firstly I will change my charger to D setting but I am very seldom on shore power. When I am on shore power my Xantrex LinkLite gets to 100% but I guess it is not actually at 100 due to voltage profile of C setting.

When charging on the alternators the monitor almost never recovers the AH lost and never gets to Full charge. Mostly I stop charging when the rate of charge drops off on the basis that I am in the area of diminishing returns but as an example I recenlly motored for about 9 hrs and the monitor was still showing neg 50 AH after staring at about -95AH. The charging rate had fallen right off suggesting that the batteries were "full".

I know the monitor uses the charger float voltage and current to determine when the battery is fully charged and that will not apply with the alternators. That would account for it not showing a full status but surely the current flowing would still reduce the AH deficit? Any efficiency loss factor applied would not offset 9 hours of motoring.

Questions:

1: Does anyone know how to make these monitors reflect alternator charging accurately?
2: Could ageing batteries be a factor? Surely full is full, you just get less out of them. It did the same on my 3 month cruise last year but it seems worse now.
3: What are the pros & Cons of using a Honda generator vs engine charging (I don't like the idea of carrying extra gasoline and the charger only delivers 40A while the alternators regularly deliver 80+ on initial charge).
4: Is it just a mismatch that I have to live with?

Just to complicate things my Solar Panel regulator has a different charging profile!

Cheers
Martin

[svaletheia]

Martin, I think you just hijacked the thread here. Its best if you start a new thread instead of putting new topics into other threads.

However, I would quickly answer you to say that that is a typical problem with AH counting charge monitors and is one that devices like the SmartGauge were designed to solve. Each has their place but telling you amount of charge remaining in a bank is NOT effectively done with an AH counter. For better detail and more discussion, just start a new topic with your question and I'm sure more people will be able to chime in for you.

Note: I am not affiliated with SmartGauge at all other than a satisfied customer, at this time. Who knows, if enough people like them I might start selling them, though!

[MKB53]

Silly me, I thought a battery monitor is part of a 12 volt system!

I won't start a new thread, but thanks for the response the answer is enough for me. I will apply some fuzzy logic when using the monitor.

[DtM]

Martin,

LOL

Saw you in the Hawkesbury a couple of weeks ago.

daniel

[MKB53]

Hi Daniel

Was that you anchored off the beach near Flint & Steel?
I saw the Mahe there when we anchored and then lethargy set in so I did not launch the inflatable and come over.

Took a weeks trip up to Port Stephens from Easter Monday. Very pleasant but as usual the winds up and down the coast were a bit fickle and we had to resort to motoring.

Cheers.

[DtM]

Yes, that was us. I guess the day just made for lethargy. Sorry, we should have made the effort to see you.

We went into Smith's Creek for two nights and into Refuge for a couple as well. During the days we pottered around the river etc.

It is a real pity that Port Stephens is so directly north east of Pittwater. it can make the trip into a motor even when there is breeze.

You have done a fair bit up the coast, very impressive.

[DtM]

Oh, and now we really have hijacked the thread. ooops

Mind you that was one of the joys of the old thread (just saying!!!)

[Cotemar]

Mahe’s

I have notice these little electrical connectors used on the Hot water tank and in both the 110 volt and 12 volt instrument panels. I really liked how simple they were to use and to re-install when some electrical circuit needed testing or replacing.
I wanted to buy some to have on hand for installing new electronics also.

You can purchase them on eBay, so I have some in my electrical spares kit now.

Here is some info on them, so you know what they are when you least expect it.

WAGO 222 LEVER-NUT compact connectors can make new electrical connections inside the Helm control panel, in the Nav. Station power panel and in the Instrument network panel behind the refrigerator. The LEVER-NUT is suited to marine applications where space is at a premium.

The 222 LEVER-NUT is UL/CNL listed up to 600V/20A and can accommodate both solid and stranded conductors ranging in size from AWG #12-28 in the same unit. They provides fast, easy and maintenance-free connections and a maximum temperature rating of 105°C ensures that the 222-412 will reliably meet the requirements for a wide range of applications. LEVER-NUTS protects users against electrical shocks and employs an integral test point for testing/trouble-shooting a circuit. Splicing with LEVER-NUT compact connectors is a simple, tool-free process: lift the orange lever, insert the stripped conductor (check strip length with a built-in length guide) and lower the lever.

Designed to eliminate loose wires as a result of vibration and temperature cycling, as well as provide a highly reliable, corrosion-resistant, and maintenance-free connections.

Mahe’s use all three of these models.
222-412 Two-conductor splice
222-413 Three-conductor splice
222-415 Five-conductor splice

Mark