Battery Location Nonsuch 26c

[Thor Powell, Nonsuch 26, Victoria BC]

I currently have 2  wet cell golf cart batteries in a box located in the starboard lazarette.  Easy to keep an eye on.  

I am thinking of changing to carbon - lead.  Better performance and less maintenance. Given I will not be checking the water levels I was toying with relocating these house batteries.  

I could use one of the storage areas under the quarter berth.  However  I was wondering if anyone has placed batteries in the area under the steering quadrant.  If so how did you install the containment box.  

I am looking at 2 6V batteries . 380 - 400 amps and each weights 125 lbs.  So I am not moving on and off the boat LOL. 

[Tom Schoenhofer 26C#28 North Star Penetanguishene]

Hi Thor

My two old 100ah lead acid batteries are under the Starboard quarter berth. This is where they were installed at the factory. Two group 31 just fit.

If the batteries were under(near ) the quadrant, how would you get to the shaft coupling and rear of the engine?  If you had to , you would need to move those batteries.

Timely discussion because I was researching replacing the lead batteries with Lithium. However this idea appears dead in the water because my insurance company's rules about lithium batteries make it impractical to use them.

Tom

26C #28

Penetang

[Thor Powell, Nonsuch 26, Victoria BC]

I like carbon-lead as they are pretty much a drop in for the way the boat is run electrically and we're happy with that set up.  AS well they offer a step up in performance with out the issues of Li.  I thought of AGM's but I know too many folks who found their life span was very short.  Couple of folks I sail with have used carbon  for a few years and are happy with them 

I have access panels to the stuffing box in each of the quarter beths so I a not using the lazarettos.  I can nearly fit down there to the engine in any event and getting back out would be a nightmare. 

Since the carbon batteries are  sealed there is no real reason to visit them. I'd need access to the battery fuse.

[Mark Powers La Reina 26C Vancouver, B.C.]

Thor,

 on La Reina the area under the quarter berth is not high enough to take a golf cart style battery. My group 31s are located there. They weigh about 68 lbs a piece. I wold not like to try to maneuver 125 lbs batteries in there. I seem to recall seeing pictures of batteries located just in front of the quadrant but I can't remember where I saw the photo. 250 ponds would require a well fastened base and boxes. Lifting the battereis up into the boxes would require a very strong agile person. And no I am not the man for that job.

Mark Powers

[Thor Powell, Nonsuch 26, Victoria BC]

I have two choices,  Go with 4 batteries @ 230 amps each.  OR two at  430 .  The 230 amp one will be 65 lbs each, so 250lbs the 430 are 127 each.  For handling I may use the smaller ones and just have two banks.  I have one battery box, just need to make another one.  I am heading to the boat today to scope out, what how and where to secure them. You are right not a simple task.  

I am disappointed you decline to lift my 250 lbs of lead...

[Rob Cohen "Soave" NS33 Westport, CT]

Hi Tom,

Battery management is a hot topic these days with any battery chemistry.  Longevity and safety concerns aren't entirely based on battery chemistry, power management is also a factor.   

Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) (LFP) with appropriate power management for both charge and discharge seems to be where things are headed.  Eventually insurance companies will catch up.

Insurance companies were probably spooked by stories like the 2023 sinking of Theros.  Which used a DIY setup with a repurposed Toyota Leaf battery.

We're all wondering when the next "new thing" will come along and displace LFP.

Also nothing wrong with tried and true batteries, which also benefit ( especially AGM ) from proper power management.

On Soave, POs have added, removed, and moved stuff.  I'm looking to my next battery refresh as an opportunity to restore fore/aft trim which seems to have favored weight to aft over the years.  

Rob Cohen

s/v SOAVE

NS33 #009

Cedar Point YC

Westport, CT

[Mike]

On a related topic, Thor, do you expect that your stock alternator/regulator will require any upgrades to charge the carbon-lead batteries? I understand that their charging requirement is a little different than flooded lead-acid batteries (for example, the charge voltage should be lower).

Mike

NS30C #26

Port Moody BC

[Thor Powell, Nonsuch 26, Victoria BC]

Nothing is simple , otherwise it would not be a boat as someone once said.  

I have  a 125 amp Powerline alternator and she is a beast.  It uses a Balmar regulator that dials back the output to 80 amps as all I have the  1/2 belt.  So far so good.  

However the 200 amp golf cart batteries rarely get below 75% and at that point the acceptance is about 20 amps and fall off a cliff as it goes to 100%.  So right now kinda over kill.  The previous over had an inverter and a microwave hence the big alternator.  We removed the never used inverter and microwave. 

With the lead carbon and maybe 300 amps the acceptance will be higher but still 80 amps is plenty fast.  I have 100 watts of solar but right now the demand is so low as we do not have refrigeration I really have no idea what they are capable of.  I am guessing 20 -30 amps a day .  But with consuming 10 amp a day, mostly at night with the anchor light and a couple of devices charging I see 3 amps for 2 -3 hours while before the batteries crawl back up to full.

I am going to drag the batteries down to 60% then see how long it takes the 100 watt panels ( 2 -50 watts) to bring them up absent any demand.  Once I know that I'll be able to decide on the refit .

I plan to use the existing golf  cart bank as a start and remove the 13 year old start battery. The lead carbon will be the house bank. I suspect 300 amps will be enough to support refrigeration. 

I'm still in the research phase of converting the cold box.

[Mike]

Thanks for the info, Thor. I'm at the stage where my house batteries are 10 year old 6 volt lead acid (~200 Amp hr) and I have the alternator that came standard on the Volvo diesel.  Likely need to replace or enhance, but am considering the options. 

Mike