Running Lights and battery

[Bub]

I am the new owner of a 2012 SunDay Cat in excellent condition. However the brand new looking battery is DEAD and will not accept a recharge. Is there any trick to this?
Also I will never cruise in the boat, but would like operable lights if motoring home at dusk occasionally. Is there a work around to the new battery, such as a Solar powered clip on pack to provide a couple of hours charge for running lights.?
Thanks
Bub

[DanM]

I'm in the same boat, so to speak... have a SunCat that we mostly daysail, it has the electrical package, hardly ever need the running lights but want them available for occasional need. We don't use the electrical for anything else, so there's little demand on the battery. When the big marine battery died, I replaced it with a jumper pack like you carry to jump-start a car. I think I have this one:

https://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-marine--700-amp-jump-starter--15808504?recordNum=3

Yes, of course you don't need to get it from WM, but they had it on sale. No need for a charging system on board, just keep an eye on the charge indicator and occasionally just take it home and plug it in. I can describe how I set it up if you're interested. Out of curiosity, I wrote to WM and asked their opinion of this application for this product and eventually got this answer, which they, in turn, must have got from the manufacturer of the jump pack: Answer:
"Wagan has advised that this jumpstarter is not intended for this purpose, but it may be used for it. This device has a 55.5Wh reserve capacity, and it may be discharged fully and recharged with no issues."
By the way, I also replaced all the bulbs with LED's so there is even less electrical demand. Honestly, I haven't used this much beyond testing it out so I can't vouch 100%, but seems to be a cheap easy solution to our situation. - Dan

[Jim in TC]

With little expectation of cruising or heavy battery use, our solution was a smaller deep cycle battery. Actually put in 2, but probably will not do that when these go south - unless usage patterns change. We picked up the (seemingly) high quality DuraCell 35 AH deep cycle battery (DURDC-12-35j) at Batteries + Bulbs for about $95 and I hope/expect to get 3-5 years service. I also changed bulbs out to LED. I figure this setup will keep us legal, and visible if I ever stay out late enough. Can also charge up the VHF radio and a cell phone as needed and run a small reading light (also LED) in the cabin. It does need to be charged from time to time, and the onboard electrical system included a good battery charger.

[slode]

12-18Ah AGM deep cycle batteries commonly used for electric mobility scooters and the like are available for under $40.  That should give you 4-6 hours even with halogen lights.  Keep it charged properly and you should get at least 4-5 years out of it.

[Jim in TC]

Those sound like an interesting option. When I went to a wheelchair place in town I was discouraged about their utility, though I do not now recall exactly why. Just make sure they are a truly deep cycle battery for maximum life.

[Bub]

Thanks to all! Good options.
Dan.. Since I could get multi use from the Jumper PAC, can you tell me how you connected it to the factory electrical system? I am no electrician so don't want to do it wrong and haven't contorted my body inside far enuf to remove the dead one and examine the layout.

[DanM]

Bub- I'm not much of an electrician either, what I set up hardly qualifies as a work of electrical genius, just an intuitive mechanical solution. I'll try to explain it, measurements approximate, from memory. Everything is mounted on the bulkhead inside the bow compartment, behind the chain locker, where the wiring is already mounted. [The wires for the electrical system each have a flat terminal with a hole in it for the original marine battery attachment].
  Port side- I made a bracket of sorts, with a strap to hold the jump pack upright, flat against the bulkhead. The attachment should be a secure but easy to undo, so you can easily take the pack out to recharge.
  Starboard side- Removed the battery tray. Made a mounting block about an inch wide and  6" or 8" long (I had a scrap of Corian, obviously it must be non-conductive). There is a  1/4" hole on each end, countersunk from behind. (Also two small holes for screws to mount the piece on the bulkhead.) In each of the two 1/4" holes, a flathead 1/4-20 machine screw, about 2" or 2 1/2", comes through from behind. In front of the block, a nut to hold the screw, then the terminal from the wiring, then maybe another nut, then a 1/4-20 threaded rod coupler, which is like a nut but about an inch long.  OK, so now you have a block mounted on the bulkhead with the red and black leads each connected to a post (the coupler). The jump pack is secure on the bulkhead and I store the the jumper cables just clamped on the bulkhead. To use the electrical system, just move the jumper cables to the two posts (making sure that red/black are correct), and switch the jump pack to "on".
   I got the idea of using the jump pack from earlier posts on this forum, so do a search for pros and cons. I admit I have not used this extensively, but it did certainly light up the lights and I expect it will meet my requirements to provide enough juice for an evening sail. Nice to not have to deal with a big marine battery, recharging, solar panels, etc., if this is sufficient for your needs. Not sure how it would do in real cruising or if you were also powering a chart plotter, depth finder, radio, etc. As I said, I only need this for running lights.
   I await critiques from my more-knowledgeable fellow ComPac Forum readers.

[Bub]

Thanks to all for the options. I'll eventually find time to look at my set up in the SunDay Cat and see which one is best for my application.

[slode]

I just noticed the spec on the jumper pack Dan M listed.  55.5 watt hours is only 4 5/8 amp hours.  That'd be pushing it for an evening cruise.  It would work fine for a trip back to the dock at dusk I guess.