Alan, on one hand you say don’t trickle charge but top off with the generator, but if you’re plugged in (as I am) and the inverter is left on, aren’t they getting a trickle charge anyway?
Steve Weinstein S/V CAPTIVA 1997 Hunter 376, Hull #376 Sailing out of Oyster Bay, NY All outgoing mail protected by VIPRE A/V From: Alan Lewis Sent: Monday, December 19, 2011 11:09 AM To: liveaboard@liveaboardonline.com Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] EXT : Any other lists more active? Jim: I've been using Trojan T-105's for many years and leaving them on the boat over the winter without problems (I run four of them in a single bank of 440 AH). They last me an average of about 6 years (5-7) at which time I replace them and move the old batteries to my home genertor where they last another 3-4 years (on 1 amp pulse charger). I do not trickle-charge the batteries on the boat, but rather periodically top off the charge from my Honda EU-2000 portable generator when I check on the cover (I usually dry-store in Maine) --- about once a month. I rarely have to add any water. I leave a cord attached to the 120V inlet and the charger "on" so all I have to do is connect the cord and fire up the generator. I don't have to even go aboard if the snow is abundant and I would have to shovel my way to the ladder. Alan Alan Lewis "Victoria" Gulfstar 41 #160 Lying Kittery, ME K1ALL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2011 09:36:40 -0500 From: j...@fayettedigital.com To: liveaboard@liveaboardonline.com Subject: Re: [Liveaboard] EXT : Any other lists more active? On 12/16/2011 11:23 AM, SteveW wrote: I agree with Skip on this one. While I don’t have to worry about web connection issues, etc. while sitting at home in front of a roaring fireplace I can look through the emails in ‘preview’ and make the decision to engage or not. It seems to me that there’s always as slowdown this time of the year with a lot of the normal ‘listers’ because a whole bunch of us (at least here in the Northeast, Northwest, and upper Midwest) have put our respective boats to bed for the winter – unfortunately! I also know a bunch of the old regulars ( Charmaine, ‘bella, etc...) have migrated to web based or even Facebook, but there are still a LOT of us checking the inbox for list messages. Meanwhile, I’ll be heading out to check on the boat cover, lines, and fenders while Captiva sleeps in her bubbler-equipped slip. But here’s a topic which has been explored before but possibly germane to those of us wet-storing over the winter. Will 6-v wet cell batteries be damaged by leaving the on-board charger activated over 4 months (Dec/Jan/Feb/Mar) so it maintains a float charge? In my case, I’ve got an inverter/charger. I think that while the unit is on and the status panel is on there’s some minimum draw even as the batteries are being charged. It's been my experience that I must add water every 2 months or so when on float. If the water evaporates, you may find the batteries will overhead, depending on your charger. Don't ask how I know. :) Jim. _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list Liveaboard@liveaboardonline.com To adjust your membership settings over the web http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to liveaboard-j...@liveaboardonline.com To unsubscribe send an email to liveaboard-le...@liveaboardonline.com The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/liveaboard@liveaboardnow.org The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list Liveaboard@liveaboardonline.com To adjust your membership settings over the web http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to liveaboard-j...@liveaboardonline.com To unsubscribe send an email to liveaboard-le...@liveaboardonline.com The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/liveaboard@liveaboardnow.org The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
_______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list Liveaboard@liveaboardonline.com To adjust your membership settings over the web http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to liveaboard-j...@liveaboardonline.com To unsubscribe send an email to liveaboard-le...@liveaboardonline.com The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/liveaboard@liveaboardnow.org The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html