Rebuilding My Electrical System - Need Advice

[britsailor]

Planning a 2-3 yr cruise in the tropics next year on my '92 Beneteau First 38s5. Redoing the electrical system is one of big jobs I am tackling right now and would love some feedback on my proposed setup before I pull the plug! ;-)

Here is the proposed wiring diagram



Planning to use the Victron 602 battery monitor and Xantrex echo charger to charge my starter battery since i read good things about it on this board.

I am planning to use 100Ah per day and looking to get 90% of the charge from a 200W solar bank and a wind generator. Am I being realistic?

Initially planning to use the standard 55A alternator and internal regulator that comes with my volvo 2003T. I have been told the max alternator I can put on the engine is 70A because of the 3/8 belt and the fact the belt also rotates the centrifugal coolant pump. Would love to get some validation on this. It is worth getting the 70A high output alternator with external regulator?

I am adding switch 2 to connect the starter & house batteries together if I need to use the house to start the engine. Will this damage the echo charge?

Still deciding between Gelcell and AGMs.. Any suggestions?

[donradcliffe]

1. You should fuse anything connected to the batteries, especially things with smaller than 1/0 wiring, like the bilge pump, windgen, and solar panels.

2. Switch 2 will not damage the echo charger.

3. The 200W solar may put in 50 ah on sunny days, and a good windgen will put in 50ah on days with 15k winds.

4. At a minimum convert the alternator regulator to a 3 stage external one.

5. Gels and AGMs both have their pros and cons, and things like size and price may determine which one you use--you will want at least 400 amp-hours in the house bank.