110v System on Beneteau 311

[erik...@comcast.net]

Hi all,

I just purchased a 2000 311 and am very new to this group - just joined
today, in fact. Please forgive the newbie question, I'm new to
electrical systems on boats (last boat was too small and old for one).

Does anyone know if the 311 (made in US) came with an inverter as
standard equipment? The surveyor had it all working when connected to
shore power, but I wasn't able to figure out how to switch it over to
battery. If it does have an inverter, do you know where it is
typically located?

Again, sorry for the seemingly simple questions, have to start
somewhere!

Thanks,
Erik

[George Goldenbaum]

My 311 did not come with an inverter. It was not an option that I am
aware of although I suspect if I requested one the dealer would have
found one to install. It does have a battery charger that plugs into
shore power. Assuming you don't have an inverter you switch to battery
power by turning on one of the red switches over the engine in the rear
bunk. On my boat the left switch is the engine start battery and the
right switch is for the house battery, i.e. cabin lights etc.
George

[Rick Itenson]

Erik,

They don't come with an inverter. Most inverters are installed as an
option, often by the dealer. The batteries run most of the electrical
stuff on the boat, lights, instruments, gas solenoid, 12v fridge etc.
The 110 side will run the 110 stuff on the boat such as a microwave
and, of course, powers up all the 110 outlets. If you have an inverter
there will be a switch somewhere on your electrical panel to turn it
on. A hardwired inverter, when switched on, will send power to all the
110 outlets. If there is no inverter switch and there is no power to
the 110 outlets when you are not plugged in to shorepower you do not
have an inverter. If your lights worked when the surveyor was aboard,
your batteries are on. Beneteau battery switches are wierd. There is
one black toggle thing and two red ones. I usually leave the black one
on all the time and switch the red ones on as needed. Normally one is
the house bank and the other is the start battery. To tell which is
which switch them both off, then turn one on and switch a light on, if
it lights up this is your house bank, if it doesn't this is you start
battery and the other red switch is your house bank. Hope this wasn't
too simple. Don't want to sound as if I'm talking down to you.

Rick
B393
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/beneteau393/
393 group

[b3...@comcast.net]

Thanks for all of your help and the quick responses! I do have two
batteries on board, both are house batteries and also used for starting
the deisel. It seems like that is the standard setup on this model.

Another question, has anyone installed an inverter? We'll be spending
the majority of our time on a mooring and/or anchor, so we won't have
access to shore power all that often. I don't think our power
requirements are all that great, a portable dvd player for the kids
(with very limited use) and occasional phone charger or similar. We
are not planning to run a microwave or other appliances. I started
looking around a little, it looks like you can get one that doubles as
the charger from shore power with an automatic switch. It seems like
it might be easy enough to replace the existing charger with a
charger/inverter? Am I way off base?

Thanks!

[bgriffondog]

Erik,

I'm not that familiar with inverters, so the others on
this group will have better information. I was under
the impression that they draw a lot of power from the
batteries, and unless you have large battery bank (its
all about "amp hours"), you may not get a lot of 110
power from the two batteries you have.

There are a lot of issues here.

First: I assume you have two group 24 size batteries
in front of the engine. At least I did on my 311.
Your engine won't start unless you have battery power.
I can't tell you how unhappy I was the first time I
was out for the long weekend, drained the batteries by
using house power, and had to come up with a plan to
start the engine to get out of the anchorage.

Everything costs money, so this may not be an option
for you, but I would strongly recommend looking into
the following: replace the 2 group 24's you probably
have now with a single bigger AGM battery, its the
size "4D." It will just fit in the space forward of
the engine. That will be your house battery. (PS: the
one 4D AGM battery will have more amp hours in it that
the 2 group 24 batteries combined.) Then, move one of
your group 24's to the cockpit lazertte, against the
head bulkhead by the charger, and have that wired for
a dedicated engine start battery. This way, you can
drain your 4d using up all your house power, and can
still start up the engine. Once the engine is
started, the engine alternator will charge the 4D.

Second,

Think about your power needs. I'm betting you won't
need 110 at anchor. You can get a 12 volt charger for
your phone and you get a nice flat screen tv/dvd
player that runs on 12volt too. So all you need is to
make sure you have battery power.

Third,

My typical crusing routine involved sailing all day,
and therefore drawing down the house battery. At the
end of the day, I would motor into an anchorage and
setting the anchor and what not. I found that about
an hour of running the engine in the evening getting
into the anchorage and setting the anchor would
re-charge my house battery from the day's draw (and
heat the water). Then overnight I would draw down the
house battery again. Then, in the morning, the engine
starts again to get out of the anchorage and recharage
the battery for the day. If I stayed in one place
more than a day, I just ran the engine for a short
each day to keep the house battery charged.

Richard
s/v no problem

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[Max Lynn]

You are not off base, but I would ask you why you would want to replace your existing charger?   The combination units are nice, but if you do some shopping around you will find that you can probably find a small inverter for a very modest price which would cost a lot less than the combination units.  I have a 300 watt inverter that plugs into a cigarette lighter socket which would probably suffice for the needs you described.  It cost something like $50 a few years ago.  I purchased a much larger 1700 watt inverter at Costco last year which only cost $82, and which I would not recommend for your application.  A combination unit would cost much more than either of these.

 

Max Lynn

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[b3...@comcast.net]

Thanks everyone for your help! You've convinced me to forget about the
inverter and install a couple of well located DC outlets. Everything
we'd like to use will work just fine with those.

BTW - Great web site Rick!

Cheers,
Erik