I too am on a mooring. First off - GET SOLAR. I have had fantastic results with my 25 watt solar cell and Morningstar charge controller. It is really nice to know you can leave the boat and come back to topped off batteries. Second - The reason for two batteries is nothing to do with deep cycle batteries not starting engines. It is so when the kids turn every single breaker on right before you go ashore and you come back to the battery at 10 volts, you can still start the engine. I sue a Blue Sea combiner like this and it works well : http://bluesea.com/category/78/79/products/7610
Joe Della Barba Coquina C&C 35 MK I Atomic 4 Power :) -----Original Message----- From: cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of djhaug...@juno.com Sent: Friday, August 24, 2012 9:23 AM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Subject: Stus-List Battery Setup Okay, I'm out on the mooring and the only way of charging my batteries right now is the engine. I currently only have a single battery installed but, I want to add 2 more. The current battery I got last year, brand new and it has seen little use. It is a deep cycle marine battery. I was thinking to get another deep cycle marine battery and have a pair for house power and have another for engine starting. I have a Balmar MaxCharge MC-612 and a Balmar 75 amp alternator and a off-1-both-2 battery switch (pretty simple, right?) I have no AC system, I have no refrigeration or air conditioning or hot water or potable water pumps or pressurized potable water. Just old fashioned light and a couple of cigarette lighter type power outlets. My questions are; 1. do I need a cranking battery for starting with an atomic 4? This single deep cycle I have now seems to be doing the job fine. 2. without a separator, the routine would be, switch to starting battery, start engine, switch to both while running the engine, then switch to house (or off when sailing if no power is needed) when the engine is cut? 3. I think I can get away without the separator for the rest of this season anyway, it is really a convenience, right? Not having to manually switch over to the battery I need. 4. There should be no problem using the A4 engine to charge the batteries if need be, right? I assume thats the reason for the high end alternator and multi-stage marine regulator... I would love to hear all insights, suggestions and comments. We're going cruising to the Buzzards Bay islands for a week and I'm trying to make sure we don't run out of light and cell phone charging during our week in the boat. I'm thinking I'll get some battery operated LED lights as well. I also have these little power pack for phone charging which will also help conserve battery power. I'm just not sure what to expect. Also, I have a little electric trolling motor for the dinghy and picked up a tractor battery to run that. Any thoughts as to whether I can expect to get to shore and back a few times on that? I was just trying to keep the power pack lighter than a full sized deep cell. I do have a gas 4hp engine but it needs work and I don;t have the time to mess with it. Thanks, Danny Lolita 1973 Viking 33 Westport Point, MA _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com CnC-List@cnc-list.com _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com CnC-List@cnc-list.com