October 2024
Batteries
Installed batteries:
- Starter battery, In a battery box under the quarter berth: Powerplus LP85 Dual purpose 85Ah, MCCA (Marine Cold Cranking Amps, similar to CCA but measured at a higher temperature of zero degrees C) = 850 Amps, AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat, sealed), 500 (deep) cycles. New 2022. 5 year warranty.
- Domestic / Service bank 1, under navigators seat: 2 x Powerplus LP120 Dual Purpose 120Ah AGM. New Nov 2020, 5 year warranty, 500 (deep) cycles. MCCA = 1,000 Amps each. Recommended maximum DoD is 70 - 80%, so 168 - 192 Ah usable.
- Domestic / Service bank 2, under forward part of starboard berth: 1 x Powerplus LP120 Dual Purpose 120Ah AGM. New Jan 2022, 5 year warranty, 500 (deep) cycles. MCCA = 1,000 Amps. Recommended DoD is 70-80% so 84-96Ah usable.
For a total of 252 - 288 Ah usable domestic / service power. As at October 2024 none of the domestic batteries, and probably not the starter battery, have gone below 65% since installed and approached that only once or twice.
There are two domestic banks for historical reasons, in 2018 the batteries were of different capacities, types, makes and too far distance to work efficiently in parallel. This configuration is more complicated and was more expensive to implement than a single bank and whilst some of the reasons no longer apply, it is retained as there are small improvements in efficiency and the configuration gives better resilience and flexibility
Domestic Battery Charging
Charging from all sources is controlled automatically for the domestic batteries, but note when one domestic bank is selected and the DVSR (Digital Voltage Sensitive Relay) is set to automatic, power will be taken from both until the voltage (of both) falls below 12.8 volts which will usually show as 95% on the battery monitors (see below). It is not recommended to select "both" banks on the selector switch, let the automatic DVSR's do their work.
The second domestic bank can be isolated by selecting the Domestic DVSR to off, useful if working on the electrical system to save removing the battery fuse but don't forget to switch off the HDRi wind and solar power controller.
Starter Battery Charging.
The engine start battery is automatically charged from the alternator and from a dedicated feed from the hybrid wind / solar power controller; this should be adequate in all normal circumstances and will certainly keep the starter battery fully charged when the boat is not in use. To prevent the domestic services from discharging the starter battery down to 12.8 volts the DVSR between them is normally only able to activate when the engine ignition is on and the engine DVSR switch on the electrical panel is set to the default "Auto" position.
If the starter battery is depleted or the wind / solar is disabled and shore power is available then set the DVSR override switch to "shore power" whilst connected, this allows the DVSR between the engine start and domestic battery banks to connect the two when power is being supplied to the domestic batteries.
As with the domestic DVSR an "off" option disables the connection although this has very limited use (during maintenance only) as it would only have any effect if the ignition were on and it should not be set to off when the engine is running as the voltage sense of the external alternator regulator is from the primary domestic bank. The option is only there because two way switches have a middle "off" position.
Alternator charging.
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| Pro Reg D Advanced 4-step regulator |
In normal use, about eight seconds after engine start it will cut in and if the battery is not close to fully charged or the anchor windlass is operating the additional load on the engine may make it run roughly at idle, to avoid this engage the neutral button and set the engine to a fast idle which will also increase the charging rate (I haven't increased the standard idle speed as that would cause problems trying to manoeuvring at slow speed in a marina and possibly when changing between forward and reverse.)
The alternator is rated at 55 Amp but with the normal regulator it will not get near this, especially after an initial surge. If the batteries are low the external regulator will keep it at or slightly above 55 Amps for extended periods reducing to 30 - 40 Amps (plus what ever is being used by the boats systems) or lower as the battery recovers or if the battery temperature becomes excessive.
Notes:
The heavy load on the alternator will quickly destroy a standard Yanmar oem alternator belt, a toothed heavy duty belt must be used and checked regularly for stretch, these should then last for hundreds of hours.
A premium "Gates" toothed belt. - The controller is internally set to charge AGM batteries at a conservative rate, this should be safe for most batteries including VRLA (Valve Regulated Lead Acid aka "Sealed"), but if changing to flooded (definitely not recommended) the charge rate would need to be increased. And check what setting is required if changing to TPPL or other types of battery. Having the setting incorrect can damage the batteries or make them perform sub-optimally, the previous owner changed from flooded to VRLA batteries but did not reduce the charging rate as is required, this resulted in those batteries, and the addition ones I had installed, becoming gassed (water in the battery converts to Oxygen and Hydrogen and before the pressure in the battery reaches a dangerous level is vented through the valves (hence VRLA), unlike a flooded battery, the water can't then be replaced) and all had to be replaced.
Shore Power
To prevent excessive erosion of the anodes and potentially to metal components, a "Sterling [Power] "Pro Save A"” 16 Amp Galvanic Isolator is fitted, before this I once went through 2 shaft anodes in 6 months, almost certainly due to faulty grounding at a marina - I probably know which one but I'll not name it as I know their electrical grounding system has since been worked on. Since fitting the isolator I get minimal erosion of anodes each year.
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| Sancerre Shore Power |
12V DC power and charging is via a "Victron Blue IP65, 15A Smart charger " located above and to the 13 amp sockets. Output is hard wired to the primary domestic battery via a MTA midi fuse in the main battery compartment.
Anodes:
I fit two shaft anodes to be on the safe side (from 2024 one zinc, one aluminium) - they have been known to come off, and usually change one each year. The small anode on the P bracket, required because the bracket is not bonded to the electrical system, I change annually although it would probably last for 2 years or more. The engine anodes rarely need changing.
Solar and Wind Power.
Controller:
- Marlec HDRi hybrid controller with two independently controlled outputs, #1 to the starter battery, #2 to the primary domestic bank (and to the 2nd via the DVSR).
The outputs can be switched off, that brakes the turbine but unfortunately it is a single switch that turns off both sources and both outputs.
The controller shows instantaneous current produced and total AHrs since the last reset for each source, the combined number is "net" - the total to the batteries not the total produced.
Solar Panels:
- 75W Alpex Solar panel on Gantry, tilting fore and aft.
- 40W Alpex Solar panel on Gantry, tilting fore and aft.
- 35W Solar panel on coach roof.
Connection to the controller is via dual 110 Amp common cathode blocking diodes. Well over spec to reduce heating (previous ones to specification got very hot) and losses.
Wind turbine:
- Rutland 914i producing:
- 24W = 1.7A with 10 Knots over the deck.
- 143W = 10.3A with 21 Knots.
- 262W = 18.9A with 29 Knots.
The turbine is automatically braked when not needed, e.g. when the engine is running.
Engine Start
The engine can be started from its dedicated AGM starter battery, either domestic battery bank or a combination thereof (not recommended).
Normally select "1" on the aft selector switch (labelled Starter).
If the starter battery has been drained then start from one of the domestic battery banks:
- Select "2" on the starter selection switch.
- Select the required bank on the centre (domestic) selector switch (Bank 1 recommended if reasonably charged for it's 2,000 cold cranking Amps).
- To prevent the starter taking power from the non selected batteries through low capacity, high loss, (but safe @ 170 Amp rated - the Bosh after market starter motor being rated at 1,300 Watts) low capacity cables, it is recommended that both DVSR switches are set to "off" until the engine is running. As the voltage sense is from the main domestic bank, at least the engine DVSR should be set to "auto" as soon as the engine is running.
To reduce voltage drop, the longish cable run from the starter to selector switch and back to the starter battery has 2 parallel 240 amp rated cables, more expensive "high flex" cable is used to reduce the chance of fracture due to vibration. The very short negative run from the engine to starter battery has the original 3(?) strand cable (that was too difficult to get off) plus a 240 Amp high flex.
Heater
The heater can be run from either domestic bank (both NOT recommended as it will over-ride the DVSR). Note that the heater requires a reasonably well charged battery to start, if it won't start from Bank 1 try bank 2 which in any case could probably do with the exercise. As a last resort that I have not had to resort to, run the engine until the heater starts and is stable, once running it does not need as many volts.
When not in use switch it off to remove the parasitic load of the controller.
Domestic Power (Services)
Domestic power can be taken from either domestic
bank, but not the starter battery. However, some items should always have power on
so rather than putting in lots of expensive circuitry / switching they are
connected to the primary bank:
Domestic (Primary) bank 1 (2 x 120 AHr, AGM):
- Bilge Pump.
- Gas alarm.
- GSM intruder alarm.
- Meteoman barograph.
- Navtex with an on/off switch (leave on prior or during serious off shore cruises so that if available forecasts and nav warnings are downloaded ready).
- Battery monitor.
- Memory retention for the Stereo.
If necessary power to all except the bilge pump can be removed by removing the panel fuse (bottom left).
Power to the gas alarm can be removed by removing the dedicated fuse on the front of the electrical panel (bottom right) this may be necessary if using some aerosols that can give false alarms.
Power to the bilge pump, but not to the pump panel, can be removed by removing the fuse from the bilge pump panel, to work on that the main battery fuse should be disconnected, the DVSR set to off and the HDRi controller switched off.
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| The electrical panel (retaining strip left removed so that with the bolt top right released, the panel will hinge forward from the bottom) HDRi controller centre, shore power consumer unit bottom left. |
Battery Monitoring.
The usage / charging integration probably gets confused by the solar and wind power controller, after the boat has been left for a while the monitors are likely to show c 85%. Put some load on the batteries and the reading will slowly increase to c 104% as the units recalibrate. Similarly overnight using minimal power they may show c 85% but run the engine and they will show fully charged in minutes.
Use percentage charge and time to charge for guidance only, in many respects the alternate display of voltage and amps being charged / discharged are more useful and are certainly more accurate.
Fusing:
Batteries are protected by ANL fuses in Sterling Power holders close to each battery. The two batteries in the Domestic 1 bank also have an ANL fuse between them in case one battery develops an internal short. See the diagrams below.
The fusing is designed to "fail gracefully" protecting the wiring in such away that a wiring short or equipment failure will only affect the items below it in the hierarchy, this leads to a lot of fuses but gives the best protection. For example:
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| Two examples of the fusing hierarchy, click to expand. |
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| Fusing as at Oct 2024 prior to installing FB 7 & 8 and some other WIP. CB 1/1 = switch panel 1, top switch. |
Nav Lights:
- Aqua signal LED Navigation lights:
- Mast head tri-colour Lantern & Anchor light (2016), CB 2/5, CB 2/2.
- Steaming light (2016), CB 2/4
- Low level stern light. (2017), CB 2/3
- Low level bow light. (2021), CB 2/3.
- 18W high power LED cockpit flood under radar head (2018) CB 3/4.
- Plug in LED low level anchor light with light sensor.
Diagrams:
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| Main power distribution |
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| Battery Bank 1 compartment. |
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| Connection overview. |
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