I am trying to take a guess at what to do with batteries.

Gertha 4 is ariving with 1 engine and 1 house, does anyone know how they are split ?

I know the fridge is large, anyone know how many amps ?

At this point in time I have found that Hanse supply a 60 amp alternator and Yanmar offer a 80 amp option, there is no upgrade option, so may spec an 80 and keep 60 as spare.

There are loads of people offering smart regulators and fancy alternator improvments does anyone know which is best.

I am thinking of having the mast head anchor changed to tri-colour LED at launch, will then mount seperate anchor at latter date and use tri-colour for night sailing with pullpit/pushpit as back up and moter sail, has any one else looked at this?

Appologies at my change of name, between me and my computer I am either Ger4 or Gertha (soon to be 4)

Simon

The spec sheet says 100AH for house and 70AH for engine.

On power battery and charging requirements - it all depends on your usage pattern.

You can ignore the engine battery.  It will recharge from the engine soon after it does it's only job - starting the engine.

The house battery of 100AH gives you 50AH to play with.  A battery should not be discharged more than 50% normally.

50AH isn't a huge amount. Good idea to fit low power lights etc.  Save when you can.  You also aren't going to be able to run the fridge for long (say 5amps or 10 hours if that is all you are using).  However it is plenty for nav lights and instruments for most usage.  You might not need to run the fridge when away from the marina.  Keep it closed and it will stay cold.  Shove in a bag of ice if it gets hot.

However - the critical thing is how often and how you charge the battery.  If you go into a marina every night and put on shore power - that will fully recharge you.  Your current setup is fine.

If you wish to stay away from marinas for long then you will be using the engine to recharge the battery.  The standard 60A alternator is fine for your batteries.  A smart regulator is a good idea since "dumb" regulators don't fully charge the battery as quickly.  If you are relying on engine to recharge frequently then the smart alternator will ensure you get the full 50AH.  If engine charging is only for a few nights away in a summer cruise then don't bother - most of the time you will charge from shore power which will ensure fully topped-up batteries.

Upgrading to alternator is only needed with bigger battery banks.  A bigger alternator also takes out more of the horse powers from the engine and reduces thrust for cruising.  Only do it if needed.

If you need more power then think about solar or wind generators.  There is nor "correct" answer.  It all depends on how much power you use and where and how often you recharge.

Hope this helps.

Hi Simon

My advice is to put in a extra battery. I have 2  110AH (house), never problems. I run the fridge all the time and when sailing just in daylight I do not have to charge for 72 hours.

About the tricolor at the topp, great idea, I've done the same on my 371. But I got hold of a tricolor with anchor light on top.

I believe that is two extra 110AH batteries for the winch.  I think you can order it as a sepeate battery upgrade too.  Might depend on dealer.

Colin.

You only get i extra 110 battery if you order anchor windlass, I have 2 one in front and one aft pluss one el. winch. To have enoug power I never touch those things if the engine isn't running.  

Hi Simon,

If you do want more charge suggest you try Yanmar UK again.  We secured an upgrade from 60 to 80 on our 461 and it cost £100.

We also added a Stirling 'smart' regulator and whilst I'm not the expert - our electrician says it has really reduced our charge time to 1/3rd what it was prior.  Cost also around £110 and we sourced ours from Datayacht in Lymington.

Re LED nav lamps.  The current lamps available are very limited and hence relatively expensive.  Next year more manufacturers will have secured CE approval so costs are certain to fall.  In the interim we've purchased a couple of LED tower globes (each has 15 individual LEDS facing up and outward) which only cost £13 each.  One for anchor lamp, one for tricolour.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

JOHN   

Just had a look over the standard 370 charging arrangements on our brand new boat.  We have the extra 2 batteries and the powered windlass.

They look far more than just a standard diode splitter.  We were told it is intelligent and charges the engine batteries and then domestic.  Not sure if a Sterling smart charger is needed?

I've asked for the schematics and will check this out more on our next visit back to our new boat.

The shore charger is the new Sterling Digital Pro 50A.  A serious beasty.   You'll have no problems with battery charging when you can plug in shore power.

Haven't had a chance to check the fridge current.  I'm looking at the new NASA battery monitor.  Very cheap and powerful.  Might just get one.

Colin

Amendment to the above.  After tracing the wires on the 370 (why don't we get a decent electrical diagram ) .... the 2 extra batteries are seperate.  That is, if you order the extra batteries, you end up with 220 AH for the domestic and 110 for the anchor winch.  The 90AH for the engine remains unchanged.

Personally, I'm considering bridging the anchor and domestic curcuits.  But then I don't anchor that much.

I ordered my Hanse without anchor winches or electric winches, but did order the "big" battery pack. Therefore I have (of course) one battery for the engine, and a triple bank for the house batteries. Totally crammed full under the seat.

I have installed anchor winches (or windlasses) myself at each end of the boat, and have routed 35mm2 cabling (a nightmare job!!) to the battery box. I have connected them to the engine battery, which is the recommendation from all winch suppliers (and producers) here in Norway. The idea is that the engine is always running when anchoring, therefore plenty of recharging power.

The deep current draw from the battery when using the winches is akin to the deep draw from a starter motor, and the engine battery is designed for this kind of current drain. The service batteries (house) are not designed for deep current draw, but rather for small currents over a long period of time.

Batteries are not just the rated Ah capacity, but also the profile of the capacity. Key words are also Cold Crank capacity, which should be high for a engine or winch battery.

Dear Hutsch..........,

Tried this one , no Hanse fit only 60A.

The U.K. agent has a deal with the Yanmar agent and swaps them as new.

Personaly I am going to keep the supplied 60Amp alternator as a spare and fit a 100 amp Balmar with a smart charger as this will give max charge, if I find that the engine is not giving full power in an emergency then I will turn off the house bank , although this is very unlikely as I have never found a time to run  a boat engine at full revs.

The other problem is the belt to drive the alternator will be under a large load, so will start with a few spares and if a problem will get local enginer to fabricate better pulleys.

Simon

The other side of the charging equation is that the recommended charging rate for lead-acid batteries is about 10% per hour.  That is, for a 100AH battery at 10 amps maximum.  This preserves the life of the battery.  Anything above that reduces the life of the battery.

Although smart regulators make sense to ensure a battery is fully charged (and hence extend its life) I'm not so sure bigger alternators are always a good idea.  That doesn't say they don't have their place: if you are spending many nights away from shore power and have a need to minimise engine running for example.

You really need to consider your anticipated use of power vs. methods of charging.  Bigger isn't always better.

Hello,

Did anyone consider the Sterling Power PRO Digital alternator regulator?

Luc