www.iFourWinns.com

When we had our 268 we had two battery's on board. We could go all weekend Friday night to Sunday on the battery's. That would be lights ,radio ,and Ref. The water heater does not work off of your battery's. But if you start your engine that will heat your water. But your water stays hot for a long time. Now on our 348 our battery's don't last as long because there is more drawing off of them. We have two ref. And also we have a large AMP on our radio. We can go about 24 hours on this boat with out running the Gen.

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348 Vista ( Last Call )
Raystown PA

You will need a few deep cycle batteries to run all the lights and the fridge for a weekend. I usually run the genny once a day while on the hook. I run it in the am to make coffee and charge the batteries. Works very well. Last year we were in Block Island on the hook for 4 days and never had a problem. We kept the fridge on, music and ran a fan at night to move the air. The biggest thing is, make sure you have a deep cycle battery to run everything off of.

It's the size of the boat as much as it's the number of accessories and THEIR size. The fridge, microwave, number of TV and lights, etc, all add up to a greater draw on the battery setup. My 348 really didn't want to last all day running the radio, tv, fridge and accessories. A trip anchored up around 1pm would end up with the single system battery petering out by around 2am. Just in time to wake my half-crocked soul out of be in a fright when the Carbon Monoxide alarm would trip due to low voltage. Suffice to say, that's not a time, nor state, you want to find yourself rummaging for a manual...

I added a pair of 12v deep cycle golf cart batteries and now get all weekend. Granted, that's with a run of usually about an hour and thus recharging them somewhat. I've never measure to see how long it takes to recharge them, I suppose it'd be worth knowing at some point.

Some fridge units have an easily accessible off switch. Some have a breaker you can flip. Our 348 has neither. You have to manually turn down the thermostat, which of course never gets done. The fridge is a VERY high drain on the batteries. If you can live with turning it off, and not opening it, things stay sufficiently cold in there. Long enough to last, say, from just after dinner until the following morning. That'd help stretch battery life.

But for me it was easier to just add a pair of batteries instead. Including the batteries I'd guess it ran me no more than around $300 in parts, all told. Batteries, the boxes for them, straps to hold them down, strips of molding and screws to make a box-like frame to keep them in position and then a whole bunch of 0/1 gauge wire from the stern to the other batteries and charger. A big hit was buying the tool to crimp the lugs on to the ends of the wire. A local auto battery shop had one that looks sort of like a little bottle jack for $25. You put the lug under the pin and SMACK IT with a hammer to pinch the lug onto the wire.

We've had mixed success with overnight anchoring, such that we're really not likely to spend nights out when the generator would be needed for AC. We'd rather get a slip and use shore power instead of dealing with the noise of the genset (for us and nearby boats) and the CO fume risks. So it really ends up being an accessory that doesn't see much use other than firing up the blender, microwave and coffee pot. Being able to use them is, of course, essential but their short run-time could be just as well served from our extended battery bank. Resale would take a hit though if the boat lacked a genset.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

I use my Genset all the time, I never take the boat out without it (even if it's just a day trip) I make sure my CO detectors are certified (send them back to Fireboy each season for $25.00 each they will rebuild them with new sensors and re-certify thier operation) that's much cheaper than buying two new sensors. So long as all the cabin port windows and hatch and companionway door is shut, CO will not migrate into the cabin from a genset running on the swim platform, CO is lighter than air. That does NOT mean you should ever let your guard down, never run the genset with any windows or doors to the cabin open and make sure those CO sensors are tested each year and I tend not to sleep with the generator running, no matter how safe I am, I just don't trust that.

As for the batteries, I have a dual bank of deep cycles and I can run all day and all night on one battery, that includes running the fridge in DC mode all day, all night usually set to #3 coldness sometimes if i remember I will turn it down at night so I get better sleep (the fridge makes more noise than the generator) and the generator at full swing is only 75 decibels at 7 feet. Increase that distance to 100 feet and it's not even something people on shore, in homes would ever hear.

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Brett DiMichele

It's a very good idea to have the sensors rebuilt. I'll add that to my own To Do list for this season, thanks!

It's a myth to say CO is lighter than air, it's not. at least not in a way that'd make enough difference. It is slightly less dense but nowhere near the difference as, say, propane. That and there's really no such thing as a shut door on a boat. At least not one that would ever block CO intrusion. I've got a handheld CO detector and have been quite surprised to see how much genset (inboard and platform) fumes intrude into closed cabins.

People have DIED based on these assumptions, don't let yourselves get added to the list.

Bear in mind that gensets alter their sound based on load (they throttle up). The more devices you run off them the harder it'll work and the more noise it'll create. That and the cycling of it is often more disruptive a noise than a constant drone. This is often why it's sometimes worth getting a genset that has a bit more capacity that your baseline expected load.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

When we are on the hook for the weekend, we always shut off the refrigerator overnight. It's amazing how cold everything stays overnight especially since we are not constantly opening and closing the door. Then in the morning, I'll turn it on, and we are usually good for the rest of the day.

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'04 FW 268Vista "Andiamo"

Thanks for all the advice; looks like we are all set for a weekend as long as the batteries are deep cycle. I assume the stock batteries on this boat are though I can’t find any literature to confirm it. When we take delivery I will confirm what she as aboard.

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“Growing Older, But Not Up”
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2008 Four Winns V248
2004 Stingray 220CS

They are probably not deep cycle batteries. Mine came with two starting batteries. I just changed one out for a deep cycle. I added two more and ran them in series.

Bill,

Again I make my statement based on fact, Carbon Monoxide is lighter than air (the science backs up the statement it's not up for conjecture). You should ALWAYS have functioning, inspected CO Detectors in any place that houses sleeping quarters so that means the maincabin and the midcabin should (and do) have thier own sensors) also NEVER use "Home" CO detectors on a boat, because unless you own a 50' Flybridge Salon cruiser or a Nordic Tug, a "home" CO sensor will go off after you are dead. Make sure any CO detectors used are time weighted averaging for marine cabins.

As for the sound out of the generator, the Honda EU2000i is 75 Decibels at 7 feet at full load. The same generator is 56 decibels at 7 feet at idle (eco throttle).

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Brett DiMichele

Probably depends on the Dealer, my 248 came with twin interstate deep cycles from the dealer. (Even though Volvo says one should be a "starting battery" and of course I don't agree with that and have ran Deep Cycles as starting batteries in all my boats, even the hipo big blocks.

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Brett DiMichele

I concede

248,

I wonder how they handle the battery thing. Like if two boats come with two different types of batteries. Does FW ship them out with batteries or is it up to the dealer. I have no clue, I always thought that Interstate was a Pennsylvania brand pretty much.

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Brett DiMichele

It's up to the dealer. This means it's inconsistent, at best. Our 348 cooked it's first set of batteries. Two days before delivery I was swapping out the chartplotter and noticed a REALLY bad sulfur smell from inside the cockpit (the canvas was up). I high-tailed it off the boat, as cooking batteries tend to EXPLODE. The dealer replaced the batteries and apparently the charger too. All three of mine are the same. I've no idea of this is 'correct' or not, and given my woefully bad dealer service I've given up on asking. I just added a pair of my own, they're deep cycle 6v in series.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Bill,

I don't think it's "right or wrong" in the eyes of electronics per se.. It's just the power package manufacturers say not to use a deep cycle as a "starting battery" and we've beaten this topic to death on other forums. I think the reason Volvo and Merc say not to use a Deep Cycle is that the engine's PCM requires a certain voltage to operate "properly" and with a deep cycle they can discharge clean down into the 9 volt range and still start an engine but not have enough voltage to operate the PCM. I've never experianced any issues, that doesn't mean in a perfect world that something couldn't happen. It's not enough reason to make me switch to dissimalar batteries, I like having twin 1100 deep cycle group 27's!

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Brett DiMichele

I switched mine over to 1 Cranking battery and 1 deep cycle battery, and then I have a 2nd deep cycle battery that I mounted on the opposite side (starboard) that I use for the inverter. This set up has worked out better for me than the 2 dep cycle bateries that came with the boat.

I think the only issue here, is that it is not a good idea to start the boat with the battery selector in the all position.

I really do not know the technical side of it, but this setup has worked fine for me.

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'04 FW 268Vista "Andiamo"