Trojan Boat Forum

Hi Everyone, I'm a proud new owner of a 1976 Trojan f-32 Sedan. I'm already a trojan fan for life.. lol
But I'm trying to get familiar with my new boat. And I've read everything I can about the battery set up and I'm stumped. I just want to be sure my batteries are hooked up right. I've used the boat briefly three times with no issues. And I was hooked to shore power in between. I know there is a charger onboard but I failed to get a picture of it. Can someone look at this battery set up and tell me if its right?I see positive cables all hooked together and I seems like the batteries aren't isolated like they are supposed to be. And yes I plan on cleaning up al the connections and tidying up the wire runs before next summer. Thanks in advance attachment=0]IMG_4641.JPG[/attachment]

Do you have two 12v battery switches on the panel ? What you should do to help yourself would be to use the right coloured cables for everything, that way visually it is easy the follow and avoids mistakes. Grounds are always black, red is positive. You need protective caps on the positives to stop accidental shorts.

Assuming you have the 2 switches then your bigger battery there should only be connected to one of those others whichever you decide as the house side. You will still have the other two as starboard start and port start with the paralleling switch they can be put together.One of those sides will be start and house.
There are much better ways of building battery banks but that will work for now after you clean things up, its a start....Mike

Thanks Mike, I hear you as far as wire color. This is how I purchased it and cleaning things up means putting everything back to the way it was meant to be...

All 3 are hooked together . Rewiring is in order for sure

I agree with rewiring. I just wish there was some kind of diagram for a twin engine, three battery set up. Trojan didn't do that from the factory as far as I can tell. But correct me if I'm wrong and point me in the right direction for a diagram. I have four or five Electrical Diagrams in my original owners manual. But it doesn't show the battery set up.

Here's what I want to accomplish by next season. I would like to be able keep my 120 volt mini fridge cold for 4-5 hours, 8 to 10 hours would be a bonus. We don't plan on being off of shore power any more than that. We just want to be able to make short trips and not have to worry about food going bad. I would like to purchase an inverter/charger and the necessary house battery or batteries. Keep the two start batteries isolated per engine but be able to use the emergency start buttons on the console. I'm pretty sure that's still intact. So I guess my question is what kind of battery or batteries do I need and what size of inverter charger. And can keep a maintenance charge the start batteries while on shore power. We may not run the engines for weeks at a time... I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction... Thanks in advance

BradZ wrote: ↑Thu Nov 01, 2018 12:02 pm I agree with rewiring. I just wish there was some kind of diagram for a twin engine, three battery set up. Trojan didn't do that from the factory as far as I can tell. But correct me if I'm wrong and point me in the right direction for a diagram. I have four or five Electrical Diagrams in my original owners manual. But it doesn't show the battery set up.

Give Beacon a call the site sponsor, they have all the knowledge and paperwork. The problem is that over the years people change things, stuff wears out so hard to find factory original, It looks to me like you are missing the box that held the paralleling solenoid and some aux breakers, although that might be the solenoid just barely visible there.Basically like I said you have a start for the port and a start for the stbd then you can tag on the extra battery to what ever side you choose, just not both.I used the same setup for years and worked fine, mine was on the port side, but on my boat there were the 2 original 12volt on /off switches for the engines etc.
Another consideration would be if you don't have a generator and are going to anchor out.

So I see your new post, that changes things.You calculate your planned amp hour usage then size your battery bank and charger accordingly.Here is an example.

If you have a 400 A/hr bank and you pull it down by 50% ( max ) then you will have to put 200A/hrs to put back....so with a 50amp charger with the assumption that all 50 is going to the bank then it would take 4 hrs to get back to full charge. In the real world that doesn't happen, it will probably be closer to 6-8 hrs. Ok its a start.Remember with all this comes wiring sizing upgrades to handle the increases.

Thanks again Mike, things are getting clearer... lol

Welcome!

I recommend that you treat yourself to a copy of nigel calder's boatowners mechanical and electrical handbook. Not only answers this question, but lots of the one's you havent thought of yet....

Feel free to keep asking here though. You are among friends.

+1 on Calder's book -- I keep it on a tablet with other boat related documents.

Another good reference is Peggy Hall's book on marine sanitation systems and other sources of odors: https://www.amazon.com/New-Get-Rid-Boat ... boat+odors

For what it is worth, we don't run our generator on 4-5 hour trips. If the refrigerator is mostly full (beer and soda cans are perfect) and you don't open the door too many times, there is no need to worry about it. It doesn't even defrost much in that amount of time...

I dont run my generator while underway either. I got me an inverter to make coffee at o'dark thirty without waking the anchorage or family. Side benefit, even without proper large battery capacity for longterm inverter use, is that it takes just minutes for the alternator to replace the starting charge. After that, the alternator is at near idle output. With an inverter, i can run my fridge underway using excess alternator capacity, i.e., when i get where im going, my beer is colder than WayWeGo's.....

Thanks everyone for the comments. I just need to figure out exactly what I need to keep the fridge running for 4-5 hours or again running for 8-10 hours would be the most I would ever need. I just don't want to tax my starter batteries and not be able to start the engines. But there will be times that we aren't at the boat could be two weeks between visits... I would want a maintenance charge going to the starter batteries while its idle at the dock.

For charging while at the dock, ProMariner chargers seem to be a good balance between quality and price. We have a ProMariner ProNautic 1230P charger that is charging three batteries individually with a total charge rate of 30A. After a couple of years, I couldn't be happier.

If you are serious about having an inverter, it might be worth it to consider a unit that is both a charger and an inverter. There are tradeoffs between a combined unit and separates, so it is probably worth some research to see which fits better for you.

One thing I am sure of, and that is not to use an automotive type charger that is not ignition protected if it is mounted below decks.

P-Dogg wrote: ↑Sat Nov 03, 2018 2:38 pm when i get where im going, my beer is colder than WayWeGo's.....

I believe I detect a challenge here! We'll have to experiment on this.