Battery Life

I also have a Hanse 400 from 2010. My battery is in very good condition..... I have this charger:
Sterling Pro Charge D
12 V 30 A
Serienr 005328
Battery: Victron 150 Amp, AGM

Hello
Our 545(same for the 470) 2010 have a complete other battery charging setup.There are no diodes(charge current splitter)I do have the complete wiring drawings for 540-545 and 470 from 2010.
Original the Victron Multi plus(we change to QUATTRO)charger-inverter charge, or when motor running the alternator,only the house battery bank 4x165 amp AGM,the starter batt is ONLY charged by the separated second charger output (4A)of the Multi plus charger and never by the altenator, and because the charger-inverter is constantly on,the starter batt is charged 24/24 hours by the 4Amp line.
The bowtruster batt (2x12V =24V)are charged only by a small Victron ORION charger-inverter 12V-24V DC-DC 360Watt(12A) who gets his power directly(not switched)from the house batt and give a constantly 27,6V.(The weakest point of the install IMO)
After 3 years when we started the new season the 4 Victron AGM housebatt. where complete flat.We use never wall power during winter and never disconnect the batterys cables complete for the winter,only switched of the engine and main batt switch and all the panel switches till now.
But in our system are serveral users(heating,aut.bilgepump VHF ,ORION inverter )connected constandly (not switched)to the housebattery bank.I believe one of these have use power during winter and empty the batt. By example if there is a small loss of power from the bow truster 24v circuit, the ORION inverter will running all the time to keep the bowtruster batt loaded even with the main switch off.
When we start charging the flat batt.they become cooked and destroyed.VICTRON reaction:This is normal when older(?) AGM batterys get complete flat even for one time,they are finish.And when the enviroment(we are in Turkey)is constant 30°C or more the AGM battery life time is MAX 2-3 years when you live a board for 6-7 months/year.
From now before winter we loaded the batt. full and disconnect all the battery cables and hope for the best.

Panos
So all three batt banks are charged complete separated I am shure there are now charge current spliters invalved.
I believe in this config we dont have to increase the voltage parameters(the charge setup is now:standard AGM-GEL)of the Quattro Charger?

Edited by Wild - 25 March 2014 at 11:44

@Wild. Of course if there is a charger per bank it is the best and the setup is straightforward.

I do not understand the need of multiple batterie banks besides the safety of a separate starter batterie. When I change the betteries next year I most probably will throw away the diodes and connect the new batteries as a single 700Ah X 24V bank. Since I don't like batteries connected in parallel either, I will use 12 2V cell used in forklifts. Each cell will be 700Ah X 2V flooded traction technology.

When we store our boat for the Winter, our batteries stay connected and we are still visiting periodically. At these times, we switch on various equipment and instruments as we understand that this helps to keep the items dry internally and working. The solar panel will therefore recharge and keep the batteries topped up between visits. We will also connect to the mains with the shore power lead occasionally and run the boat heater, which will also recharge the battery. The battery monitor is a great help in being aware of what is going on.

Charles

We are fortunate at Largs in that we have direct access to power when the boat is ashore during the winter.  I bring the shore power lead direct into the boat saloon and then connect it to a 4 way extension lead block with the appropriate socket.  Into the extension block I put 2 timers.  One is on for a few hours every night for a low wattage heater.  A lead from the other timer goes back to the normal yacht shore power input point and I leave the battery charger on and the timer is set to run for 30-60mins per day just to keep the batteries topped up during the 3 months when I am away from the yacht.