There will be an issue if the combined draw of the fridge and the charger is over 10amps obviously.

 

The Battery Tender Jr. doesn't draw more then 1 amp. and a refrigerator shouldn't draw more than 5 amps.

 

Should be fine then.

A charger that small should not boil off batteries so leaving it on won't hurt.
I assume that was your other concern.

 

Should be fine then.

A charger that small should not boil off batteries so leaving it on won't hurt.
I assume that was your other concern.

My concern more or less was do I need individual breakers? Could I get away with combining a fridge and a charger on one circuit? Is there something I was missing? Not concerned about the charger.

 

Shouldn't be a problem currently but if you were to get a charger that could more than maintain a charged battery it could be an issue. I would buy a panel capable of one more circuit.

How are you charging your batteries now?

 

I have one battery and charge it with the same charger (It does charge the battery as well as maintain it). The motor also charges the battery if needed. It is a smaller boat at 25 ft. I don't think I will be needing a larger battery bank or charger.

 

Most shorepower chargers are sized to get a battery fully charged in a reasonable time. If the battery is down much a maintainer at about 1 1/2 amps would take days to full charge a battery. Engine charging is quick to about 80 or 85% state of charge but the last 15 or 20% will take 8 or more hours regardless of alternator size. Fully charged batteries have a much longer life than batteries left partially discharged.

A maintainer is good for keeping a fully charged battery at full charge over a long period of time which is all it was designed to do.

 

This is what I have. Unlike a float charger it is capable of bulk charging too. Since it charges at a slower rate, the battery stays cool, ultimately prolonging my batteries life:

Battery Tender® Junior 12V @ 0.75A - Batterytender.com

It does a good job, and since the only thing that I run off the battery is my depth finder and running lights (cabin lights are LED and use their own batteries), I don't use too much battery. Especially since all my sailing is done in the day time. After a long day of sailing I am down to 90-95%. Now that I have a new motor that charges the battery as well I should be in good standing.

I am adding a stereo this year. That may push me into purchasing a larger battery charger.

 

My feeling is that you should put the refridgerator and battery charger on seperate circuits if only because you may want to have the fridge off at the dock when you are not using the boat. I find it best to turn off the circuite at the breaker rather than the fridge's thermostat.

Just gives more options.

Tod

 

Yes, put the frig on the breaker with the outlets. Just be sure your total draw with the frig and the outlets doesn't exceed the breaker size.

In the pic you posted above, you can't see the back of the panel. I assume it has TWO breakers for the main line. You need a breaker on BOTH the hot (black) and the neutral (white) incoming AC wires.

It this panel doesn't have two breakers for the main shutoff, then can it and find one which does.

Bill

 

That sounds like a good option. I don't really use the outlets much anyway. mainly to charge my phone ect. I may install a small led tv, but

Here is the picture from behind. Can't really tell myself.

I may install a tiny LED tv someday. But I don't think those draw more than an amp or 2. I will cross that bridge when I get there.

 

Can't see very well from that pic.

While it appears that the top two breakers are 20A each, the wiring seems screwy. For example, the white wire (neutral) coming off the second-from-the-top breaker goes to the buss bar. But, there's no white wire that I can see on the other side of that breaker.

What you want to see:

1. A breaker for the hot (black) wire....coming into and going out of that breaker;

2. A second breaker, mechanically tied to the first one so that they both are switched on or off simultaneously, with the neutral (white) wire coming into and going out of that breaker; and

3. A green wire going to the grounding bus....no breaker.

The black wire coming out of the first breaker then goes to power the other two breakers for outlets and for your battery charger.

Bill

 

Bill--

I attached a diagram. Let me know if I am getting the concept (sorry if I am not).

Forgive me for asking the obvious but sometimes the obvious is overlooked. So you must have an AC or an AC/DC fridge, correct ? Since we know you cannot connect a DC fridge to this panel .

AC fridge

 

Forgive me for asking the obvious but sometimes the obvious is overlooked. So you must have an AC or an AC/DC fridge, correct ? Since we know you cannot connect a DC fridge to this panel .

 

Diagram looks correct to me. Your fridge, outlets, etc. would have their hot wires attached the terminals in the lower right side of the breaker group, while the neutrals and grounds would be connected to the two bus bars.

 

Thanks for confirming.

 

I agree with Tap's comments.

The blue color is confusing, though, as is the existing wiring on the panel (black/hot wire going to one of the busses).

I'd start by removing all the old wiring from the breakers and busses. Then, start afresh using the proper wire coloring...much less confusing.

US single-phase AC wire coloring:

black = hot
white = neutral
green = grounding

Bill

 

Yea I agree, it all needs to be redone. The program I used to draw the lines did not have the proper colors. I used bright colors so it would stand out.

 

Do a Google search on "equalizing wet cell batteries."

 

I thought about that after I posted...

I wonder what the difference is between bulk and float when the max output of the charger is either .75 amps or 1.5 amps, even if it is a "4" stage charger.

From what I understand a float charger does not actually charge. It keeps a fully charged battery fully charged. The battery charger I have will charge the battery as well as maintain it once it is fully charged.

 

I wonder what the difference is between bulk and float when the max output of the charger is either .75 amps or 1.5 amps, even if it is a "4" stage charger.