| Author | Message | ||
     Stephen and Lu Ann Yoder Username: Syoder Registered: 09-2005 |
What are you W28ers using for battery banks? I currently have 2 group 27 "deep cycle" batteries for everything. For serious off-the-grid cruising we need to improve this set-up. I'm planning on installing at least 2 Trojan T-105 6V (225 AH) golf cart batteries. This would be the house bank and one of my group 27s would be dedicated to engine starting and the other dedicated to the SSB radio. Now, my question: I think I have enough physical room to do this as well as maybe another pair of T-105s to double my storage capacity for house use. The SSB battery will find a home on the port side of the engine room. All the others will be on the starboard side. So, since the 27s will counterbalance each other, the extra weight will be 268 lbs (4 x 67 lbs). All on the starboard side. Granted, the existing battery shelf isn't too far off the centerline but it isn't on the centerline either. Any ideas as to how this might be reflected in boat trim? Think it'll make any significant difference in a boat that's pushing 7 tons? If 4 T-105s don't fit, I could use 2 L-16s at about 120 lbs apiece with a capacity of around 450 AH. Same weight issue but in a smaller footprint and each individual battery gets very difficult to move. So, who's using what and how's it working out? -Steve | ||
| Stephen and Lu Ann Yoder Username: Syoder Registered: 09-2005 |
(nudge)... Don't any of you other W28ers use batteries? -Steve | ||
| Ken and Debra Bridger Username: Kenonsatori Registered: 04-2006 |
You can carry batteries on a 28?  Ken | ||
| Stephen and Lu Ann Yoder Username: Syoder Registered: 09-2005 |
Ken, Some of them might still be wind-up but mine has a couple batteries. Probably a retrofit by a previous owner. In the interest of saving space, they double as settee seats. Not very comfortable, but efficient.  -Steve | ||
| George and Rayna Shaunfield Username: Georges Registered: 12-2005 |
Steve, I am pondering where to mount more batteries. Now that I am starting to make some offshore trips I plan to add a couple of Trojan T-105 6-volt batteries to serve as the house bank. There is a Group 27 deep-cycle marine battery for a starting battery. For those who don't know the W28 has 2 stepped recessed areas to starboard of the engine to accomodate 2 batteries. One section is not large enough to accomodate 2 6-volt batteries. So, I see three choices: 1. put 2 6-volt batteries to starboard of the engine and move the starting battery under the companionway ladder. 2. put 2 6-volt batteries under the companionway ladder and leave the starting battery to starboard of the engine. 3. build a partial box to hold 2 6-volt batteries and bolt it in the outer formed battery section and put the starting battery in the section closer to the engine. George | ||
| Stephen and Lu Ann Yoder Username: Syoder Registered: 09-2005 |
George, I've been doing some measuring and here's what I've come up with: If you raise the height of the recessed areas with plywood so they are all the same height, the resulting area measures out to be big enough for two T-105s side by side (long sides parallel to the centerline), then two more T-105s side by side aft of the first pair but this pair is set so their short sides are parallel to the centerline. Then, if I really want to push it, I could put 1 group 27 aft of those two. But I prefer your "under the ladder idea for my starting battery. If two T-105s will fit in the available space under the ladder, I might choose to put me second set there instead of as described above to get more of the weight closer to the center of the boat. I want to have a four T-105 house bank and a separate Group 27 starting battery. The layout I've described is based on the measurements of the "2-6V" battery boxes sold by WM and Defender. But it would be a tight squeeze. The PO of my boat already installed the plywood to make the battery "floors" a uniform height so I know that part works. You've given me food for thought. I'll be breaking out the measuring tape when I get back to the boat on Monday. -Steve | ||
| Stephen and Lu Ann Yoder Username: Syoder Registered: 09-2005 |
Spent all day installing half of my new house bank. Thanks to George's suggestion, which I hadn't even thought of, I put the first 2 T-105s under the companionway ladder. I installed them inside a commercial battery box to contain spills. And there's enough air space above the batteries that the original box wasn't tall enough. So I ripped everything out and started from scratch. My ladder lands on top of the new box which acts as a bottom step. I still have some fine-tuning to do to get the ladder length exactly right. I really like this solution because it leaves me plenty of room in the engine room for the other half of my house bank as well as room for a starting battery without crowding things too much or putting too much weight on one side of the boat. It took awhile but once again, this group came through with a solution I hadn't thought of. I don't care what anyone else says, I think y'all are cool.  | ||
| Stephen and Lu Ann Yoder Username: Syoder Registered: 09-2005 |
Let's try that again. I got some weird error about a problem "with the board skin" when I uploaded. Hmmmm. -Steve   | ||
| George and Rayna Shaunfield Username: Georges Registered: 12-2005 |
Steve, Thanks for the pictures. You really get after these woodworking projects. Nice clean battery box and it looks like two 6-volt Trojans fit well. Above those batteries and aft of the ladder is the place for a fair side trash receptacle of some sort. Don't know if I will buy or make, but that seems like the best place - accessible from the galley or the cockpit. You will probably have yours done before I even get started, but hey, I had the idea :^). George | ||
| Stephen and Lu Ann Yoder Username: Syoder Registered: 09-2005 |
George, Since the picture was taken I've changed the top of the box to one made of red oak. Much prettier. We used to keep our wastebasket behind the ladder like you mentioned. But the original ladder that allowed that made getting into and out of the nav station kind of a pain, and we're pretty small people. So I made the ladder steeper. Of course, that pretty much eliminated my trash spot. Haven't located a good substitute yet. Maybe I'll have to make a tall, skinny custom trash box that does fit behind my new ladder. BTW, one of last week's projects was turning the hanging locker and dresser in the fwd cabin into two clothes lockers with 2 shelves in each one. I cut away some of the plywood behind the drawers and gained a lot of room. I have to build new doors this weekend. I'll post pictures when I get it done. -Steve | ||
| Stephen and Lu Ann Yoder Username: Syoder Registered: 09-2005 |
After I dug a bunch of rotten wood out of the battery wells, I tried the T-105s on for size. As you can see, the wells are more than large enough. I might put a pair of group 27 starting batteries in the wells instead and put the Trojans in a box in the lazerette. Then I could use the space aft of the starting batteries to store the Honda generator. BTW, the rotten wood I dug out was put there to fill the battery wells and make a level floor. The only reason I can see for this would be because the battery tray/hold-downs wouldn't fit in the wells. But, seems to me that the wells preclude the need for a separate tray and all that's needed is some sort of tie-down. How hard can that be to devise?  | ||
| Ben Wiseley Username: Wiseleyb Registered: 11-2007 |
When you guys were doing this - did you remove the cockpit floor to get access to the batteries in the engine area? Love the starter battery idea - thanks for the pics! | ||
| Ben Wiseley Username: Wiseleyb Registered: 11-2007 |
Steve, The previous owner of my boat did this for trash - a fully gimballed trash t-shirt  The only modification I'd make is make the shirt removeable for washing. Pic http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiseleyb/3771922147/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiseleyb/3771922147/ | ||
| Stephen and Lu Ann Yoder Username: Syoder Registered: 09-2005 |
Ben, Yes I removed the cockpit floor while doing the engine room battery work. Too claustrophobic and difficult to maneuver around in otherwise. However, the floor is VERY heavy and somewhat awkward to get in and out because it has to clear my engine controls on the side and the pull-out kill switch forward. I'm currently building a wooden hatch to mount to mount to the cockpit floor which can then be sealed and bolted down properly. I priced ready-made hatches but, between the expense and not finding just what I wanted size-wise, I decided to build my own. I'll post pictures when it's finished. Should be done in a couple weeks. BTW, my second set of T-105s ended up in a box in the lazerette. I can access them for service from the engine room. This left the very nice space aft of my starting batteries for storing my Honda e2000 generator. -Steve | ||
| Stephen and Lu Ann Yoder Username: Syoder Registered: 09-2005 |
Ben, Love the trash bag T-shirt. You gotta love sailors' ingenuity. However, since I built a new pedestal with small drawers in it, I have no room for the gimballed t-shirt. We've pretty much solved the trash problem, though. There are only 2 of us aboard and there are normally 3 places we sit when down below (nav station, fwd settee seat, aft settee seat) and the legroom in any of them is high enough for the trash can, we just move it ti wherever we're not sitting at the moment. Otherwise, it's home is under the nav station. -Steve | ||
| Randell 'Randy' Kocurek Username: Kocurek Registered: 09-2006 |
Great thread. You have motivated me to move battery box building up to #1 priority. We had a battery cell break, leak, and plastic box break leak, luckily at the dock and luckily while we were present and trying to maintain the battery. Easy cleanup. Not something one would love witnessing at sea-- could be really nasty and Really Dangerous, too, all that nice Sulfuric Acid and fumes. I need help with two items: #1 what are the dimensions of the Trojan 6 volt batteries, including the topposts and gear? #2 how will you exit the box for the cables connecting battery to boat stuff? My thoughts are to build dual purpose battery boxes, each adequate to house the current battery plus the Trojans I'd like to install after my new batteries expire. Thanks for all the info and pics. | ||
| Randell 'Randy' Kocurek Username: Kocurek Registered: 09-2006 |
Bud directed me to the trojanbattery.com website which had a wealth of info, including battery sizes and terminal options. The website also directed me to a dealer 4 miiles from my house. So, I'll go inspect Trojan batteries in person before I build boxes. Also, the dealers sell the Hydrolink system installed on batteries if you want to get it. EZ watering. Guess I can figure out how to get the cables into my soon to be custom made boxes. | ||
| Stephen and Lu Ann Yoder Username: Syoder Registered: 09-2005 |
Randy, My battery boxes are made of heavy poly like the Ronco water & holding tanks Bud sells. They had holes in them for routing the cables out but they weren't where I wanted them. A little judicious use of a heavy duty utility knife fixed that although a jigsaw or holesaw would have done a prettier job of it. -Steve | ||
| Bud Taplin Username: Bud Registered: 03-2004 |
If you want, I can get the heavy duty polyethylene boxes from Ronco. Let me know the dimensions needed. | ||
| Randell 'Randy' Kocurek Username: Kocurek Registered: 09-2006 |
Thanks for the poly box ideas and offers, but two plywood and epoxy boxes are curing nicely in the garage. Man, they were a lot of work and not done yet. That poly idea sounds mighty smart right now, especially since I have close to $70 per box in materials alone. They are going to be way stronger than I thought, though. I may leave them and their batteries on the after side of the engine room for awhile. They should make nice seats. Oh, by the way, turns out the Trojan 105 golf cart battery would fit nicely in the boxes, one 6v/ 3 wet cell battery per box, with about 3" of room left lengthwise. Those Trojans are big. |