My CP 23 Mark I electrical system: I'm not very knowledgeable

[BruceW]

Brackish,

I'm evolving my thinking in your direction already. I do need to have some of those cigarette plug receptacles for things like a fan, charging my various other things that need it, plugging in my solar charger etc. If my cabin lights turn out to be the bulbs, I'll get a couple LED ones and see how they work.

I will give the above more thought, but I think a couple in the cabin and a separate one that the solar charger can reach from it's anticipated spot on front hatch.

Oh, and I fixed the link.

Bruce

[Bob23]

Brack has a very good point. My LED priorty was the anchor light and nav lights. One thing no one ever seems to talk about concerning LED's is that a nearby lightning strike may fry the circuit boards of the LED. It doesn't need to be a direct strike, just close enough to cause a surge. A regular bulb is a no brainer. There was mention of this in a recent Good Old Boat mag. I just decided to go LED because some of the lights were ready for replacement anyway.
Bob23

[Citi853]

Regarding electrical subject.  I've got a trickle charger hooked up to my battery for the winter.  Is it necessary to keep the vent caps off the battery at all times?

Joe B
CP 23
Lewis Center, OH

[skip1930]

Citi853 asks --> " Is it necessary to keep the vent caps off the battery at all times? "

No. That's why these are called vent caps.

Take it from a guy who has de-gassed a very nice and strong battery into a slug of dried crystals and lead incased in plastic box using a cheap solar cell uncontrolled making 19 volts and 300 milliamps for one summer. I am removing the solar cell from my boat for next season.

Had I been diligent and added R/O water [reverse osmosis] keeping the battery cells under water I might have saved the battery. Forget it. Don't need the hassle.

The darn cell has never kept up with the use of the battery on a three day cruise. Even with 100% LED lamps, an extra bulkhead mounted LED red lamp, a compass light, a ST-40 instrument, the big draw was the 435i chartplotter, a VHS radio and a am/fm/dvd player with only two speakers. I don't turn any of this c**p on. Just enjoy sailing with one Davis anchor light on when anchored out for the night. BTW, I wired in an on-off switch to the eye so it won't burn at night while sitting at the dock.

When the battery needs a charge I just plug in my battery charger dockside and set her on 2 amps for two days.

skip.

[Citi853]

Thanks, Skip.  Your advise is very much appreciated.

Joe B

[BruceW]

So, to keep my battery charged, I decided I'd rather copy the solar charge ideas of folks on here, as opposed to go to the shore power route, which I think is also something I may try down the road, but don't need now.

To connect my solar charger I need a cigarette lighter receptacle like this:

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=92813&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=50523&subdeptNum=50529&classNum=50530#

So, with photos above, or maybe info not shown there, what would you do?

a. take off some stuff that is on the battery now, and add the above receptacle there?
b. add it to the control panel in the slot for ACC? (haha, Mizzou is in SEC, but I'm a faninlaw of two ACC teams)
c. try to hook this up where the mast lights connect via some kind of adapter?
d. other?

I guess I would just like to get this going, without screwing up something else, while I learn and decide how to re-do the chickenshit wiring that's aboard now.

Thanks!

Bruce

[skip1930]

I bought my ss 'cig' lighter female receptacle from AutoZone and mounted that with a fuse into the cockpit on the bulkhead below the drop boards.
I can plug my cell phone charger in to it. Or a light. To be truthful I don't ever use he son of a gun. I should have forgot the idea all together.

skip.

[Salty19]

<Sound of an LP record needle scraping over the vinyl>

Skip, you've got to be kidding.  You fry your battery because your setup is poorly designed and dangerous, then recommend the same setup for others, after we have gone over this several times here on the forum as to why not to do what you're doing.   

Solar chargers should NOT be connected directly to the battery. Ever.   This is exactly why skip fried his battery.  It was taking in too much voltage during periods of peak solar panel output, and he didn't know it was putting out higher voltage than what the battery can accept. Last time I checked, a 12V battery cannot take 17Volts without damage. In fact most of them will not want more than 14.7 as a charge current (depends on the battery). The excess charge/heat lowered the water level then guess what, no more battery charge.

Solar chargers MUST USE a voltage controller designed for solar.  The solar panel connects to the controller, the controller connects to the battery or + buss strip.  The controller limits the voltage input into the battery (steps it down from 16-20v to 14-ish depending on the battery and controller) so you don't fry the battery.   

Plugging them into a 12V cigarette lighter outlet that is wired hot the battery is a definitely no-no, it will apply the higher voltage and quickly make death of the battery (in direct sunlight). Well, if it's a small panel, it will be a slow death (as the case of skips battery).  This not only wastes money but the battery could of exploded, sending corrosive, acidic electrolyte all over the place. 

At minimum, based on your photos Tiger you will want a fuse/switch panel, new marine wiring with terminal connectors, solar panel, charge controller, mounting board, wire routing clips (or C-cut wood to capture the wire) and any appliances you want. The charge controller is interesting as you can get them to accept more than one input, so if you add a second solar panel, or a wind generator and a solar panel, if you get the right one it can control both.    You'll probably want a master cutoff switch too. 

Don't hook up more than one thing to a fuse unless they both are low draw items (for example a cig lighter that would charge your phone and a VHF radio). If the appliance must work for safety sake or is high draw, do not share the fuse (like on a bilge pump or a 12VDC to 120AC converter).

Read that book and do nothing until you have a FULL vetted plan.  Bulbs are fine to purchase now.   Right now your wire looks questionable (auto grade), the connector spider web to the battery is a mess and the wires are not routed or secured well, and there is no central fuse box or way to protect the battery terminals from being connected together (like accidentally dropping the winch handle on it) which could be fatal to you or cause a fire. 

Sorry if I'm coming off as a jerk here but it grinds my gears to see information given out that is faulty and dangerous.

[MacGyver]

"Sorry if I'm coming off as a jerk here but it grinds my gears to see information given out that is faulty and dangerous."

I agree with Salty19 on keeping things safe and doing it right as I am sure most know on here, I am really picky about that sort of thing.
A few things I have seen on Solar panels are this controller setup, and a panel with a built in solar controller. Without it, you will slowly bake the battery.
Auto chargers will do the same when the battery goes bad. They read off of a peak, and so the charger constantly tries to get the battery to peak voltage which is impossible when the battery is bad, as it is incapable of achieving the voltage.

There is only a few scenarios (correct me if I am wrong) that a battery ends up going bad. Age, Overcharge, drying out, and undercharging or killing it constantly.
There are a few ways to revive a battery, which can be found in good electrical books that describe the process in detail.

A side note on the Solar, they do make them where they connect to the 12 cig outlet to charge that battery supplying the cig outlet. I have seen them, and sold them. They are just a simpler way to go.
It is best you talk to someone who has the utmost knowledge in the subject like a rep or someone who is in that field, or has a very successful system already in place. If you have a brand you wish to buy I would probably call them and get the info direct from the source.
Frying a battery in a boat and degassing it into your interior is a bad deal, and hard to repair the stink after the problem..... It can kill you according to my chemist friend who has now changed the marina's response plan through his knowledge passed to me and into our weekly safety meetings.

We get one a year at the marina minimum. Some are uneventful, others are a big deal.

Anyway, do research, and paper plans. I and I am sure a few others will be glad to ensure your plan is not over-thought, which is easy to do, and well planned for your application. And couple that with knowledge from different boat related manuals related to boat wiring I think you will have a vast knowledge to tackle this problem head on.

With poor information and lack of detail, you will end up with a nicer version of what you are currently dealing with, and no one wants that, which is something I and several on here strive to help people avoid........

I wish to make one recommendation, which is what I do currently. I use a Schumacher auto charger from Wal-Mart, that plugs into a regular outlet, that charges my Group 31 DEEP cycle battery. When I am prepping the boat I plug it in depending on how much I have used it. For me I can use it several times before each charge, and the charger gives me a readout of 0 to 100 as far as battery life goes when It starts to charge it up.

That is a simple process, nothing extra and easily maintained...... No overcharging because I am always right there. and no extra FIXED items on the boat to be messing with.

Just my suggestion.

Mac  

[skip1930]

Salyt19-->" Skip, you've got to be kidding.  You fry your battery because your setup is poorly designed and dangerous, then recommend the same setup for others, after we have gone over this several times here on the forum as to why not to do what you're doing. <--

What??? Re-read this.--> "Take it from a guy who has de-gassed a very nice and strong battery into a slug of dried crystals and lead incased in plastic box using a cheap solar cell uncontrolled making 19 volts and 300 milliamps for one summer. I am removing the solar cell from my boat for next season."<--

When did I say, ... "recommend the same setup for others" in this string of posts? ... I'm agreeing with you ... Don't do what I did. It's a warning.  Slow down and read the post for what it is. Not what you 'skimmed it to be'.

skip.

[BruceW]

thanks, Skip, Macguyver and Salty.

I am certainly not proceeding at this point.

Here's the panel I got, which I thought would take care of the controller situation. Perhaps I misunderstood the info:

http://www.defender.com/product3.jsp?path=-1|328|2290044|2290049&id=1802131

anyway, I'm still reading and thinking. Got plenty of time to do things, since I am really just trying to understand and take care of the battery I have.

Bruce

[Salty19]

Mea Culpa, Skip I did read it too quick.  The mention of the auto zone cig outlet rather then a charge controller led me to believe that's how you were suggesting attaching the solar panel.  Most marine type panels would not have the controller built in to limit voltage for delivery into the system.     I hope I didn't offend you or anyone else; whenever one is messing with several hundred amps of battery  as you know we need to be clear what to do and not do.