Inverter\House Bank on Trojan International

gardnersf · Post by **gardnersf** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 2:06 pm

I have a Xantrex Inverter\Charger (MS2000) from my last boat. I would like to install the unit along with a house bank during the off season.

Currently, I have the original battery setup. We spend a lot of time on moorings or at anchor and I had two times where my port motor as difficult to start due ot low battery voltage. I woud like to isolate the startig batteries from the house loads. The inverter is also nice for running a coffee maker or microwave without starting the gen set.

I have a 1986 Mid-cabin express model. I was thinking of putting the inverter in the stbd side locker near the shore power connections. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas where to put the extra batteries.

I was thinking of adding 2 AGM group 27's, which would allow me to put them in the cabin area. I also considered putting in golf cart batteries but don't think I can fit any more batteries into the battery housing in the ER.

Has anyone added a house bank to their international?

g36 · Post by **g36** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 8:16 am

i know you will be much happier using golf cart batteries as your house bank. they offer way more reserve capacity. if you spend much time at all running things at anchor and draw the group 27s way down their life span wont be that long. very deep discharges of any battery will shorten its life. i just went through the same thing the previous owner had 2 27s set up for the house bank and by the end of the 2nd day i would have drained the batteries to where the engine would not have anything left so i would have to use the emergency start. those batteries are gone and i have 4 t105 trojan golf cart batteries and can stay out without any problems now. just stayed 4 nights at anchor and still had voltage of 12.2 on them, also the actual footprint of the golf cart battery is a size 22 which would take up a little less than the 27s. of course they are little taller. just my opinion of course but on my f32 its made a huge difference not having to worry as much about turning something on and running down the batteries.

gardnersf · Post by **gardnersf** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 8:33 am

Did you replace the main group 27's with golf cart batteries and use them for all loads including engines?

i was looking at leaving the batteries for the engines and adding two additional AGM deep cycle. The international series has a fiberglass battery box that contains the two group 27 engine batteries and the generator battery.

The AGM's woudl allow be installation flexibility.

g36 · Post by **g36** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 3:08 pm

i havent used agm batteries before, but, no i left one engine with just the starting battery which is a 27 that was already there. i installed the golf cart batteries on the other engine with a switch to seperate/or combine them. i still have my original emergency start solenoid in the "black box" just in case its needed. i bought cheap 22 size battery boxes a at walmart to set the batteries in. the golf cart batteries are taller but the dimenisons of them are fine for the battery to sit in it. i was not going to pay a ton of money for battery box made for a golf cart battery. the boxes are secure and they wont go anywhere.

RWS · Post by **RWS** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 8:49 am

Hi Scott,

Whatever you do, if you adda new battery bank, don't forget to have a method of dealing with off gassing if that's an issue for the battery of choice.

My 10 meter had the twogroup 27's (replaced with 31's) and a 24 which is isolated for the genset.

THe original factory wiring provided a 2 bank house charger, and the port battery was tied to the genset battery. (I assume as a method of charging it from a2 bank charger)

Yours may be different, but mine was not factory wired for a seperate "house" battery. It seems that the port/stbd batteries are wired to pretty much split the 12 volt breaker panel, which caused some grief until I figured out how to deal with it.

First I tied all the house breakers to one battery, but with the stereo amplifier, lights and other draws, that battery wouldn't last too long.

I ended up replacing the house charger (which boiled out and swelled a couple of expensive AGM batteries) with a nice Xantrex three bank charger, and added a new direct leg from the charger to the group 24 generator battery which I then isolated completely from the system. I then put the two house sides back as originally intended from the factory.

I then added an analog voltmeter to the dash bulkhead, this has a 3 way toggle switch built into it which I directly wired with a nice wiring loom to each battery with a .5 amp inline fuse for each of the 3 hot leads. This allows me to instantly monitor the exact voltag of each battery and keeps me out of trouble.

I then aded the Xantrex remote LED charging indicator panel just below the voltmeter, which tells me what the charger is doing atany given time.

Finally, having isolated the genny battery, I added a positive battery cable back to the port house battery, as the factory had, however I put a manual battery isolator switch on that line so if needed, I can tie the genset battery to the port battery.

So here's what I ended up with, avoiding the inverter issue completely.

1. All 3 batteies are totally independent.

2. The genset battery is totally isolated and runs ONLY the genset and emergency 4th bilge pump.

3. The factory emergency start solenoid can be used to tie the stbd and port battery together.

4. by switching over the manual battery switch on the center battery I can tie the center battery to the port battery.

5. By doing #4 above and then hitting the emergency start solenoid on the dash, I can tie all three batteries together if needed.

6. The magneto on the genset charges the center battery when the gen set is running (and the magneto toggle s also on)

7. When the genset is running I can charge all three batteries simultaneously.

8. With the genset off and port engine running, I can charge both the port house batery AND the genset battery if I leave the battery isolator switch on.

9. Having all three batteries totally isolated gives me the reliability of at very worst, of having the center battery to start the gen set or tying two or three batteries together to fire off the port engine, whose alternator would then fast charge either just the port battery or the port and genset battery with that battery switch left on.

It seems that the biggest drain at anchor for me is tha amplifier for the stereo. Even at low volume it draws a great deal of power, and I've seen the lights get dim and the stbd voltage fall to 8 volts a few times, so I simply fire up the genny and do a recharge. Th reliability of the diesel genset has a bearing on the peace of mind issue as well.

With this setup and given my own type of use, I have no need to add inverters and batteries which will require additional maintenance and battery replacement every 3-4-5 years or so and add additional weight. Of course, who am I to talk about weight with a dinghy, outboard motor and small air compressor on board!

I know this doesn't really answer the original question, but it may be an alternative for you.

I hope you are enjoying that great 10 meter!

You can do just about everything with this amazing boat.

RWS

ltbrett · Post by **ltbrett** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:52 am

I managed to fit three goup 31 batteries in the box. I think these are the biggest, highest reserve capacity batteries that will fit. $85 each at Autozone. I think I have the same Xantrex charger as RWS, but the original genny. I didn't even think to see which batteries carried which loads--I assumed the boat was factory wired for a house bank. Well, that's one more off season project.

Brett