Questions about the Catalina 34 Electrical System Upgrade

[Stu Jackson]

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The charger on my boat (Soliton), is a Heart Interface Freedom 10, which documents says is 50 Amp (not sure how that can be since my AC input is only 30 Amp).

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Yes, The Freedom 10 is a 50A charger.  It charges DC at 12V  50A, which is only 5A at 120V.

[ptidwell]

ptid, with a house bank of 4 T105's you want your AC charger to be 40 to 50a range. If yours is 50a you're good.

When I was doing my upgrade I was given the guidance that the AC charger should be sized at ~10% of the bank it is directly charging.

The diagram showing the T105s and the 20A charger is from the original article.  I do have a 50A charger on my boat. It would be good if the article could be updated and corrected.  It was last touched in 2004.

[ptidwell]

I'm wondering, why do you feel you need a "starting" battery, opposed to a "reserve" battery to be used only in an emergency (the house back is down?

We're did you read that about the battery used only for starting, nothing else?

The diagram itself, near the top, describes how the switch positions work with the phrase "Battery isolated and used only for starting."

I feel the need to have a starting battery to relieve the anxiety that comes with managing the house banks to ensure I always have enough to start.  Call it what you will, it is "reserved" for starting.

[ptidwell]

Is your AC charger 20A or is that a typo?

Jon, the image attached to the post is a recreation of the original from the article.  That showed 20 Amp.  The charger on my boat (Soliton), is a Heart Interface Freedom 10, which documents says is 50 Amp (not sure how that can be since my AC input is only 30 Amp).

I am not sure what values are most likely.  Is 20A uncommon?

Are you understanding electrical circuits or just following an A B C upgrade like a paint by number?  You can't equate current @ 12v to current @ 120v in that manner.

50 amp output @ 12v would require 5 amp input @ 120v. That's a perfect world with the efficiency of the charger being 100%, which it's not. If it's more like 80%, the draw would be like 6.3 amps.

Not paint by numbers, but not 100% proficient either. Learning as I go. It was not clear to me which side of the circuit the 50A notation was referencing.  Your explanation was very helpful.

[ptidwell]

I am curious where you mounted your starting battery.

I too am curious to know where you put it.  I am planning this project for the winter.  Present location I'm looking at is under the aft bberthdirectly aft of the footwell bulkhead.

That is where I put mine.  I am not very happy with the way I secured it, so that will likely be the topic of future projects.

[KWKloeber]

Not paint by numbers, but not 100% proficient either. Learning as I go. It was not clear to me which side of the circuit the 50A notation was referencing.  Your explanation was very helpful.

Gotcha!  I didn't mean that how that probably came across!

This is just IMO and no doubt are different opinions here, but I'm not sure marine electrical is one of those things to learn on the fly (without professional hand-holding anyway.)

[Stu Jackson]

The diagram showing the T105s and the 20A charger is from the original article.  I do have a 50A charger on my boat.


It would be good if the article could be updated and corrected.  It was last touched in 2004.

Hi,

The article as written should stay as it is as was determined by the original author.  I think that's only fair.

Just so you understand, the very purpose of the wiki when we introduced it was for people to contribute in a format that is more suitable for "article & picture" presentations than this daily forum.

Along with that is the welcome for anyone to be able to contribute their own material to the wiki.

I have often presented original material in the tech wiki and linked back to other valuable references, sources and resources.  It seems that any update on your part could refer and link (he URL) to the helpful original article that has motivated and assisted you so much so far.

[Kyle Ewing]

ptidwell,

I added the dedicated start battery and high output alternator with external regulator at the same time.  I put the battery under the aft cabin, starboard side.  I used an Optima bluetop group 34 AGM battery because I wanted something that would be completely maintenance free and that I could mount at an angle because of the hull shape.   

The Xantrex echo charge has kept it alive for eight seasons.  Hopefully it'll stay alive for a few more!

[ptidwell]

Hi,

The article as written should stay as it is as was determined by the original author.  I think that's only fair.

Just so you understand, the very purpose of the wiki when we introduced it was for people to contribute in a format that is more suitable for "article & picture" presentations than this daily forum.

Along with that is the welcome for anyone to be able to contribute their own material to the wiki.

I have often presented original material in the tech wiki and linked back to other valuable references, sources and resources.  It seems that any update on your part could refer and link (he URL) to the helpful original article that has motivated and assisted you so much so far.

Stu, I think that is fair too, but Google will turn up the original and there are minor issues that could be easily corrected.  For example, the diagram showing the Echo charger is unreadable.  And as somebody here pointed out here, the 20A charger is likely under powered.  Ideally the original author could agree to, or even make, any update.

I would be happy to compose a fresh article too, but my expertise is questionable.

I have read many of your articles, BTW, and found them all very helpful.

[ptidwell]

ptidwell,

I added the dedicated start battery and high output alternator with external regulator at the same time.  I put the battery under the aft cabin, starboard side.  I used an Optima bluetop group 34 AGM battery because I wanted something that would be completely maintenance free and that I could mount at an angle because of the hull shape.   

The Xantrex echo charge has kept it alive for eight seasons.  Hopefully it'll stay alive for a few more!

Kyle, your battery choice looks like a good one. I will likely need to upgrade mine to something like that.  How did you secure the battery?  Did you build something with fiberglass?  This is a road I have yet to travel.

[Noah]

Here is a link to a thread which has a photo of how I mounted my Group 24, sealed flooded start/reserve battery.
https://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,10974.msg86663.html#msg86663

[Jon W]

Kyle, is your house bank AGM?

[Kyle Ewing]

Jon--My house bank has four flooded golf cart batteries.  The voltage range of the Optima is within range of what my charger puts out.

Kyle

[Jon W]

Thanks. Slight difference between the two on my AC charger. Maybe not a concern since the digital echo charger is feeding my reserve battery similar to you. Good to know for future replacement.

[ptidwell]

Here is a link to a thread which has a photo of how I mounted my Group 24, sealed flooded start/reserve battery.
https://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,10974.msg86663.html#msg86663

Noah, thanks for sharing.  I like the little platform you built.  Do the screws go into the hull?  How deep can you drill into the hull?