more battery questions

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by Fitz87

Thanks Stu. That's a great link. I'm going with option 2 and the Echocharge.

With AGM's the Echo is a great way to go. My one gripe with the Echo is the crappy in-line fuse holders and crimp connectors Xantrex sends along. I'd rather that they not even ship them and reduce the price of the product accordingly.. They go straight into the trash when I install an Echo Charger.

Originally Posted by Fitz87

I did get some pictures today and have some research to do now on the existing alternator (Motorola?) and regulator (spa creek?) to try and figure out what kind of output it has.

With the older Motorola cases, now made by Leece Neville, the output was usually stamped into them. Usually from the factory they were 35A, 51A or 55A. There was an option with Universal/Westerbeke for a 72A as well.. The "Spa Creek" regulator is most likely an Auto-Mac and you'll want to get rid of that. There are many good external regulators out there and the Balmar ARS-5 or MC-614 would be great options, I prefer the MC-614. The Xantrex reg is made by the same company that builds them for Balmar but you get "Xantrex Tech Support", or lack there of, rather than the super high quality tech support offered by Dale, Rich & Rick at Balmar..

Originally Posted by Fitz87

My shore charger is a Xantrex "Truecharge 10 amp TB". It looks almost new and has 8AWG wires going to the house bank location.

One of the more robust and durable Xantrex chargers but also very, very bare bones. If you have Lifeline AGM's you'll want a charger that can take advantage of their ability to "condition" charge their batteries. If your AGM's are Deka or any other brand of AGM you don't need the equalization feature.

Originally Posted by Fitz87

I'll use 2/0 for all the high current/starting runs and ANL fuses as suggested.

2/0 will likely be sufficient but it is always a good idea to run a voltage drop calculation..

Originally Posted by Fitz87

Thanks for all the help everyone. It's going to be a lot of expensive wire, (and lugs, and fuses, and busses, and switches...) but like most of these projects, in the end, I'll have learned some things I didn't know I didn't know!

As Brian mentioned Genuinedealz has excellent pricing, $6.33 ft for 2/0. Use their Heavy Wall Copper Lugs and the proper tool to crimp them. You can save yourself $160.00 and have them crimp the lugs on. The only problem with this is that you'll need EXACT measurements and wire runs you thought you'd make very often change slightly when you actually run them.. The FTZ crimp tool, they sell FTZ heavy wall battery lugs, can be purchased from K.L. Jack in Portland, ME for about $160.00. When you're done you can probably sell it for $125.00 and it will be gone in minutes...

Don't forget to fuse everything connecting to the battery bank or its main buss.....



I would also suggest adding a battery monitor. Here's a link about installing one:

Wiring & Installing A Battery Monitor

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by Fitz87

1. Thanks Stu. That's a great link. I'm going with option 2 and the Echocharge.

2. I did get some pictures today and have some research to do now on the existing alternator (Motorola?) and regulator (spa creek?) to try and figure out what kind of output it has.

3. My shore charger is a Xantrex "Truecharge 10 amp TB". It looks almost new and has 8AWG wires going to the house bank location.

4. Thanks for all the help everyone. It's going to be a lot of expensive wire, (and lugs, and fuses, and busses, and switches...) but like most of these projects, in the end, I'll have learned some things I didn't know I didn't know!

1. You're welcome. The echocharger is the right choice for your application.

2. OEM Motorola is most likely 55A. That's what we had with our M25 and an Automac. With a depleted house bank you'd see around 20A output with the internal regulator. I could get up to 30-35 A with the Automac. If you don't know how to use the Automac, you could seriously damage your batteries by overcharging. Why look into it if you're getting an external regulator? I have the manual somewhere, if you want it let me know and we can contact each other via pm and email.

3. Sounds like a keeper.

4. Yes, but only you can choose to keep track of costs. I strongly suggest you do a wiring diagram BEFORE you start doing anything on the boat. Folks like Maine Sail can do this stuff in their sleep without one, but not all the rest of us. That's why the second reply in the link I sent has all those details. You'll need 'em to order stuff anyway, right

PS - If you really want to save some $$, use Option 1.

Good luck.