Trojan Boat Forum

My 1971 F26 came from the factory with just the engine starting battery (Group 24). Somewhere along the line someone added a large (Group 29 I think) house battery, battery switch, and two battery charger. Both batteries are charged when plugged in to shore power. The system works well for what I do, but I'm not on the hook very often or very long.

BobCT wrote: I bought TV's that have approx. 13v power supplies and just hard wired them.

You should be able to go all day on the stereo for sure....


Bob

Do you mean that you bought a "house" type TV flat screen and cut the wire before the box (I think it's a AC/DC converter) and wired it to the boat's DC?

I always wanted to try this but never had a old TV to test it.

You guys are awesome! Im going to make a diagram of my electrical system and show you guys what i plan on doing.

If you guys have any (simple) diagrams of your setup, please post it here or email them to me at leocurield@gmail.com

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jimbo36 wrote:

rossjo wrote:A house battery with an isolator, so it charges from your engine (along with your other battery(s)), but the stereo will only draw form this house battery....

Why would you need an inverter to run a 12VDC stereo?

You wouldn't. But it is a good size boat. Maybe to plug in a computer, coffee maker or, heaven forbid, a blender.

Well, he was wanting to a) run the 12VDC stereo (which did not require an inverter) and b) keep costs down, so why confuse him? An isolator is very important though, as it keeps everything charged, and keeps load off your starter batteries.

You can use a 12VDC lighter plug for your laptop, and shake your drinks ... coffee ????

Now - if he wants AC, we have a whole new ball game and $$!!

Summerstorm, that's exactly what I did. I have two identical Coby 19" LED TV's installed.

Coby wouldnt' have been my 1st choice but the DC output narrowed my options quite a bit. They work great, I'm on my 2nd season on the first one, added another one in the v-berth over the winter. I fused them both with 2a fuses if I recall.

They run on 12v whether I'm plugged into shore power or not.

you can install the 6 battery system project im working on I should be able to beam scotty up from any where with the power im going to have... On a serious note, I was wandering where the 400watt system is coming from. Is this a 400 watt AMP or speakers alone with no amp. I am putting 8 dual speakers in the my boat with a switch to seperate deck from cabin but I only bout a 200 watt amplifer. should be perfect for loud music or movies if I ever would want to. Ive out grown the car stereo days now but from what I remember It didnt take alot of juice to run 75 watt dual speakers... im just curious about yours now

NOT to highjack this, sorry Leo if I did, Is it ok to tap dc into the battery bank so your stereo is not running off of engine batteries? My papers dont say and Its been on my mind. Say you have 2 batteries on an inverter/shore with all the goodies. Is it safe to just wire the stereo system to the bank like you would in a car? And if you have 4 or 6 batteries does it matter wich battery you tie into? maybe the last one?

haha no problem man, I read that you should put you batteries parallel. I plan of doing that plus sending everything to the panel and control everything from there... Nothing will go straight to the batteries. j

Sorry rossjo, I did not intend to "confuse him" and seriously doubt I did. The original post mentioned not wanting to install a generator. I was only suggesting an lower cost alternative. geeezzz.

IMO, the best way to go these days for charging two banks off one alternator and maintain bank isolation is with an ACR rather than diode isolators. There are a few advantages and options available.

http://bluesea.com/category/2

Yes, the Blue Sea ACR is nicer, but it starts at $150, while a simple isolator starts at about $20 ... just focusing on his desire to keep costs down.

Budget is most definitely a consideration but let's look at it this way; you pay good money for a set of batteries that you will be relying on for entertainment and getting you home safely. Then you throw a cheap isolator into the circuit that has diodes and thier inherent voltage drops which will never allow the alternator to charge them properly....not good for the batteries or fun factor. I know they've been around for a while but if you're going to go that route, pay more and get the ones that compensate for the diode voltage drop, they are out there and are much better for charging considerations. Having said that, if you pay a little more for that feature, you may as well go ACR and have the benefit of a good option like manual remote emergency starting etc.

Big D wrote:Budget is most definitely a consideration/ pay more and get the ones that compensate for the diode voltage drop, they are out there and are much better for charging considerations./ go ACR and have the benefit of a good option like manual remote emergency starting etc.

+1

Hey guys! This is what we have done to the electricals of the boat. I think i might change the "battery 2" for a deep cycle battery i have here at home that a friend gave me. So that when i start the engine i start it with "Battery 1" then after that I switch to "Battery 2" while i am crusing. Let me know what you guys think!