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Starting/house batteries?
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Author:  rolex_26_99 [ Thu Jun 03, 2010 2:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Starting/house batteries?
Quick question on batteries?

On the 258 vista 97 what side are the house batteries located on?

I have mine set up 2 port side and 1 starboard.

It appears as tho the port side is the cranking batts since when I disconnect the starboard side the engine still cranks.

My questions is shouldn't the house side have 2 batteries for longer house use?

Now my second question is if I leave the fridge on overnight while on the hook will it just drain out the house batteries? Are they on 2 different circuits? Will I be in dew dew when I come to start in the morning?

Just to test I unplugged the shore power so far I'm at the 12 h mark and fridge is still going and engine also starting.

Hope some one can make sense of this for me.
Author:  cougarcruiser [ Thu Jun 03, 2010 2:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Starting/house batteries?
Odd.

Why would you have 2 cranking batteries on one side, and a single house battery?

Are you sure you don't have 1 house battery on each side, and then the cranking battery on the port as well?
Author:  jrcinnh [ Thu Jun 03, 2010 4:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Starting/house batteries?
did you check the manual for a wiring diagram? The manual should be downloadable from the fourwinns website.
Author:  wkearney99 [ Thu Jun 03, 2010 4:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Starting/house batteries?
The fridge draws a tremendous amount of power. Yes, it will kill a single battery in 24 to 36 hours. Trust me, I know this from experience. Which is why I added two in-series 6V batteries (cheaper than a pair of 12V at the time). Gives me enough added capacity to last a 3 day weekend trip.

Being able to start the engines is a lot more important than people think. Thus many boats are designed to favor that over powering accessories. I have seen some setups where the house bank is shared with one of the starting batteries. There's usually a paralleling start switch up on the helm to allow bridging the banks together should the shared one not be enough for that engine. And then there's the issue of damaging a battery by discharging it too much. Better to ruin only one instead of two.

Your best bet is to manually turn off the fridge when you stop using it for the night (and otherwise avoid opening it too often when on batteries). Then power it up again in the morning. And be sure to keep the freezer section FULL. This usually makes it operate more efficiently. This also helps chill the rest of the box when the power's off. I jam mine full of .5 liter water bottles. They expand well enough and wouldn't cause a stain if they burst. I pretty much NEVER leave any food products in the freezer section, as the risk of defrosting and causing a mess isn't worth my time to clean up (again).

There are lots of compromises that come about when being on a boat. Many people are surprised about the fridge power. I say, pretend there's no fridge and just use a cooler for stuff like beverages.
Author:  mkivbren [ Thu Jun 03, 2010 6:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Starting/house batteries?
Heres my suggestion 8)
Image
Yes, interestingly even the 3xx boats get one house battery per the factory setup. Hence, my first mod. Plus Bills comments 100% Also - careful disconnecting batteries then cranking. Depending how the batteries are isolated you could be doing your alternator a disservice.
Author:  bndfishing [ Thu Jun 03, 2010 8:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Starting/house batteries?
Had the same problem, no matter which bank I had disconnected the house and start still worked. Turned out to be a bad isolator, easy and cheap to fix now I have 2 6-volt house and 1 group 31 starting. I can go 3 nights with the fridge on and watch a couple movies with no problems.
Author:  rolex_26_99 [ Fri Jun 04, 2010 9:36 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Starting/house batteries?
jrcinnh wrote:
did you check the manual for a wiring diagram? The manual should be downloadable from the fourwinns website.



That diagram just gave ma a headache..............LOL!!!!
Author:  Winns For Life [ Fri Jun 04, 2010 12:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Starting/house batteries?
What the hell is all that? :shock:
Author:  jrcinnh [ Fri Jun 04, 2010 1:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Starting/house batteries?
According to the diagram, you have a normal "1" Both "2" Off dual battery switch, you must have two batteries on one side and one on the other. I can't tell from the diagram which side has two batteries. The fridge, radio and engine are all connected to the common point of the switch. So they get power from the "1" side, the "2" side, both sides or they are off, depending on the switch. The bilge pumps are connected directly to the "1" battery side, they are always powered even if the battery switch is off.

So need to follow normal dual battery rules. When stopped, make sure the switch is set to "1" or "2" (preferably the side with two batteries). If you drain down one side the other should be there to start your motor. Just make sure you keep both sides charged.
Author:  rolex_26_99 [ Fri Jun 04, 2010 4:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Starting/house batteries?
jrcinnh wrote:
According to the diagram, you have a normal "1" Both "2" Off dual battery switch, you must have two batteries on one side and one on the other. I can't tell from the diagram which side has two batteries. The fridge, radio and engine are all connected to the common point of the switch. So they get power from the "1" side, the "2" side, both sides or they are off, depending on the switch. The bilge pumps are connected directly to the "1" battery side, they are always powered even if the battery switch is off.

So need to follow normal dual battery rules. When stopped, make sure the switch is set to "1" or "2" (preferably the side with two batteries). If you drain down one side the other should be there to start your motor. Just make sure you keep both sides charged.


Ok so when I'm running the engine I set it to "both" for charging both and when stopped I set it either to 1 or 2 what ever side has the 2 batts on and if power runs out I should be able to start if I switch to the opposite side?

Is there a reason they say not to charge both at the same time? I haven't had any problems so far.
Author:  jrcinnh [ Fri Jun 04, 2010 10:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Starting/house batteries?
A lot of people don't like the "both" position. You can accidently leave it in "both" and then you drain all your batteries down with the fridge, plus if you have a weak battery the "both" connection causes the weak battery to draw down the others. Some people also fear that the "both" position puts too much strain on the alternator, trying to charge all your batteries at once.

So my solution was use "1" on Saturday and "2" on Sunday. Both sides got charged every week and I always had a backup. Others use "1" on the way out and "2" on the way back. If you leave your battery charger connected to shore power, then no worries, the batteries are always fully charged.

My new boat has a battery isolator. The nice thing about that is that all the batteries charge no matter what position the switch is in. You might have one too, I didn't look that close. A battery combiner also serves the same purpose, buts it more efficient.
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