Electrical Upgrade

[john meyer]

Ken, wow, your post really generated some response.  Congrats on your new baby.  Plenty has been said on the electrical from many with a lot more knowledge than me.  I'll simply throw in that when I upgraded, I built a small "leveling" shelf to port of the water heater and installed my starting battery there.  As to the raw water and fuel filter locations,  I'd learned the tough way, the importance of fuel filter access and maintenance.  When I purchased my boat, I moved my fuel filter into the engine compartment (port side bulkhead) and added two cut off valves.  It's worked ok for me and I still have the gravity feed to simplify bleeding after a filter change.

[rirvine]

To come at the cycling problem caused by leaving the refrigerator on 24/7 from another angle.

I have just installed a separate 10 AMP charger and small battery (refrigerator manual says there must be a battery in the refrigerator power circuit) to power the refrigerator when at the dock.

Which battery is used for the refrigerator is controlled by a relay which in turn is controlled by the main DC switch – main DC switch is ON, the refrigerator is powered by the main batteries, main DC switch is OFF, the refrigerator is powered for the separate battery / charger.

[Stephen Butler]

FYI, Lewco chargers have been around for decades, primarily in commercial applications.  More data on them is at www.lewcoelectricinc.com.  Not terribly sophisticated, but they do charge batteries.  Ours has been on board since 1990. We purchased the boat a year ago and have been using it as needed.  As for keeping it on 24/7, we tend to anchore out more often that not.  We use our boat 3 to 4 weeks at a time, and then are away from it for 4 to 6 months, then back aboard etc.  When we are away from the boat, she is stored on the hard and the batteries are removed.  Just wondered if anyone knew anything about Lewcos.  Thanks for the inputs.

[Ray & Sandy Erps]

When we bought our boat a few years ago, our broker noted that it had a Lewco battery charger.  He told us "if you sell the boat, take the charger".  Our broker had considerable experience in the marine industry and appeared to know what he was talking about.  The charger has both automatic and manual charging levels.  I was told that I could set it to one of three automatic charging levels and leave it.  That's not something I practice though.  I typically plug it in overnight after we come back from a weekend and then disconnect the boat from shore power completely the following day.      Between the battery charger and an externally regulated alternator I've never had batteries in such good condition.

[Stu Jackson]

THE QUESTION REMAINS

Lewco and other manufacturers have made “good” chargers for many years, and possible of varying types, i.e., ferro and others.

The issues is whether they are true smart 3 stage chargers – really that’s all the question is.

If you have to use a timer on your charger, or if it only puts out 13.8 volts all the time, or if it’s a tapering charger (like the OEM internal regulators on alternators or car battery chargers), or you don’t have a bulk, absorption, and float charging regimen, that ALL the battery manufacturers recommend, then I simply ask the question: WHY?  (or why not?).

Ferros are still very good if you’re a live aboard.  But MOST of us aren’t and the batteries require a smart charge.  So, if ANY charger was the supreme product of its day, it was only in its day, which was or could have been many years ago.

Kind of like saying a Model T is a great car.  Probably still is, but…

One of our batteries, the starting bank, was purchased in early 1999. That's five years and it's still going strong with a small solar panel charging the house bank and the start battery through a combiner, and, as Ray & Ron have mentioned, & never connected to the dock power unless we're on board (except for a night before we go out for more than a day sail) with a Freedom 1500 I/C (75 A charger to a 315 ah house bank).  That's a great record for any battery bank.

I simply continue to recommend that you match the use to the equipment.