Battery Charger

[bobholthaus]

@bobholthaus - Where are you going to drill? I'd like to add an external port as well, just not sure where.

As far as drilling through fiberglass there are some posts on this forum. I recall folks taping the entire area before drilling (blue painters tape). I think they used just a regular hole saw blade. I would use a mask and glasses of some sort just to be safe.

I wasn’t going to go to the outside; I was just going to put a port on the front “wall” of the battery compartment, behind the port captain chair.

The problem I quickly saw the other day is where to mount the charger in that compartment!

The painters tape on the Fiberglas is whatI thought as well

 

[boyd3010]

This is what I am doing.

On board charger.

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NOCO through Hull Plug

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Did you ever end up putting the NOCO through Hull Plug into your boat? I am interested in doing this for ease of access to charging.

My only concern (which I am admittedly ignorant on this) is leaving the chargers plugged in long-term with the latch covers closed where my batteries are at (three batts in storage helm for troll motor; 2 batts for start/house in portside jump seat compartment). I read in battery charger manuals that batteries charging need ventilated area. Not sure if the batteries could get overheated or not with the latch closed or if the batteries won't get that heated and it is some sort of legalese/liability transfer from the battery charging company.

 

[212s]

My only concern (which I am admittedly ignorant on this) is leaving the chargers plugged in long-term with the latch covers closed where my batteries are at (three batts in storage helm for troll motor; 2 batts for start/house in portside jump seat compartment). I read in battery charger manuals that batteries charging need ventilated area. Not sure if the batteries could get overheated or not with the latch closed or if the batteries won't get that heated and it is some sort of legalese/liability transfer from the battery charging company.

Any non-sealed lead-acid based battery will release hydrogen gas during charging, which is normal but highly flammable. That's why you must use an ignition protected charger inside the boat, so it can't ignite any fumes that might build up. Regular car battery chargers are NOT ignition protected but they don't need to be because the car battery under your hood vents easily into the air, not trapped in an enclosed seat or similar compartment area where it could build up and ignite.

On another note, after discussing with my father how the DVSR works (retired EE) months ago, using a dual-bank charger is a waste of time/money as the DVSR will automatically parallel the house and start batteries when it senses a charge current. I have since returned the Promariner and bought a Noco 4amp single bank charger at 1/3rd the price to do my charging and maintaining (mostly maintaining really as I've always had a full house by the time I get back to the ramp).

So if you use a dual-bank charger, you need to modify the DVSR so it isolates the batteries and the dual-bank will work correctly charging each one house and start on it's own circuit. However, the modification takes away the automatic parallel charging so when you're running the engines, only the start battery is charging unless you remember to flip the yellow combine switch. That means when you're floating, you need to flip the yellow combine switch off or you risk running the start battery down while floating. This mod means you must maintain manually which I don't want to do, so I went to a simple 1-bank charger. My dad says that if you're using the same type of battery, it will allow the current to float so both batteries will be fully charged at the end of the charging process and 4amps is more than enough to keep both batteries full over the winter storage period. I thought one battery would be higher than the other, but the natural process of electron migration will balance both batteries at 100%.

 

[white2kstang]

The BEP DVSR only requires a switched +12v line to be wired to it to allow controlled activation of the DVSR if you'd still like the functionality. When this 12v line is not hot the DVSR will not activate when receiving charge voltage keeping the batteries separate. So if it is wired to key on circuit. When the key is off the DVSR will not activate. This could be wired to the switched side of the battery switch directly as well so it only activates when 1, 2 or both is selected. I believe I also read that removing the DVSR common ground wire also prevents activation.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

White2kstang,

Thank you for the diagram and the explanation of how the isolator works!

And all the other posters in this thread for some great input!

I have two MinnKota on board chargers, a three bank charger is for the three bank trolling motor battery, the two bank charger is for the house and start battery. This makes life very simple, park the boat and plug in the extension cord to the MinnKota pass through receptacle mounted on the port side of the center console, and the batteries are fully charged when the next outing happens.

The two bank charger that I have wired for start and house battery can be seen charging the two batteries independently. The engine battery takes very little time to reach fully charged, while the house battery takes much longer. Easy to see with the status lights on the charger. I installed this charger because the house battery was not getting a full charge due to the short run back to the ramp...maybe 20 minutes or so.

On my boat, the house battery is feeding the live well, stereo, and the accessory switches. One of the accessory switches is wired to feed the Humingbird Solix 10”. As mentioned earlier in this thread, if the run back to the dock is not that long the house battery is not going to get charged up. From what I can find it appears that the TR-1 engines put out 14 amps from their stators... I don’t know what the load is to run each engines component, fuel pump, injectors etc... as well as the touch screen etc.

The charging strategy from the stock regulator/ rectifiers will be such that a battery being charged will have an initial bulk charge but will back down significantly to keep from boiling off the electrolyte.

Having the on board chargers will condition the batteries so that a full state of charge is achieved. Leaving the the onboard chargers plugged in all the time will off set the normal 4-10% a month discharge rate (maintenance charge) of lead acid batteries as well as performing regular equalization charges, which is very necessary to “mix” the electrolyte in the batteries as it becomes stratified over time.

I had wanted to try and set my boat to have engines recharge the trolling got motor bank while underway for extended and off grid boating expeditions, like the MinnKota alternator charger. However after some reflection, experience is a great teacher, and the fact I cannot find the necessary technical information on the stock charging system, I decided to not modify the stock charging system in any way.

Yamaha spent a lot of time and money developing this system to be reliable, and reliability is not something I want to compromise on the propulsion system. It’s not like the old days where the motors ran off of a separate magneto for the ignition and a mechanical fuel pump once started, our engines require electric power for the ignition, fuel pumps, injection system,fly by wire throttle, bilge pump etc..

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

A friend of mine found this device and forwarded it to me.. Yandina Trollbridge36 Battery Combiner

This looks like a good device to charge your trolling motor battery bank and will not overload the stators on the TR-1 engines.