Trojan Boat Forum

Thanks, Boppy

I have one deep cycle now set up for the inverter which is a good deal of the house load
The port start battery runs the lights so I don't know if a deep cycle will have enough cold cranking amps to double as a start battery
That's why I was thinking dual purpose
I don't understand the reasoning behind the original set up
Everything I am reading suggests it is not a good idea to use a start battery for a house load

My more immediate concern is if it is ok to have the genset set up the way I do.
I am not understanding what "do not make any connection to these batteries while they are connected to the generator, or damage to the generator will result"
What is that all about?
thx
rr

I’m not sure what that statement means, also. Suggest you give Bob a call. Before I converted my 2 house bank FLA batteries over to Lithium (Battle Born) I used 3 Everstart MAXX group 29s from Walmart for years and had no problems, other than replacing them every 3-5 years. Each one was 100 deep cycle, but with enough cold cranking amps to start the engine (a single 318). My alternator is 70 amp and can recharge the batteries while underway. I spend a lot of time off the dock and shore power and have added 340 watts of solar panels to my hardtop. These keep my batteries charged after 8-10 hours of use overnight. I agree with previous statements about having a monitor to keep track of power consumption, etc. I use a Victron BMS that has a mountable meter as well as Bluetooth so I can monitor everything from my iPhone. I think your diagram looks OK, but still think a call to Bob might help you out.

The generator should have its own battery it's your backup when all else is dead. Switch the lights over to LED that will lessen the load on the port start battery.

thanks guys
big help.
I agree with prowlersfish, dedicated battery for the genset.
just have to figure out what size.
maybe solar panel for charging.
lights are mostly led now but I added a bunch so I think I will be at 110watts full load (guessing we will probably
average 50).
even with changing out start batteries to 100ah dual purpose or deep cycle,
with lights, fresh water pump, and radio on the port battery I'm guessing it's not starting anything in the morning.
house battery (75ah) runs tv and mini-fridge off inverter.
all other loads can be restricted to daytime use when genset is running.
simple voltmeter to monitor batteries, one with 3 way switch or 3 separate?

rr

Are you going to be running all the lights and radio all night long? You can always go to dual battery on that bank or a larger one.

I can imagine using 50 watts for 5 hours
with that scenario a 100ah battery might still have enough reserve to start the motor
right now when my start batteries need replacing plan "A" is to go with 100ah dual purpose
thanks for all your help
rr