It was my own fault. I picked up the boat last Feb and sailed it to New
Orleans, never once considering if the batteries needed water.

I put 4.5 GALS in 4 batteries last week! The other 2 (double size) are
sealed.

Tried today to start on bank 1, then on bank 2. Nothing out of either.

All the batteries looked old anyway, so I reckon I am going to have to
replace them all. How I'm going to get those doubles out, I have no
idea...

Any recommendations on make, longevity etc?

--
Molesworth

On Oct 1, 6:05 pm, Molesworth wrote:
It was my own fault. I picked up the boat last Feb and sailed it to New
Orleans, never once considering if the batteries needed water.

I put 4.5 GALS in 4 batteries last week! The other 2 (double size) are
sealed.

Tried today to start on bank 1, then on bank 2. Nothing out of either.

All the batteries looked old anyway, so I reckon I am going to have to
replace them all. How I'm going to get those doubles out, I have no
idea...

Any recommendations on make, longevity etc?

--
Molesworth

Ahoy Molesworth,

What do you mean by doubles? Do you know the size of the batteries?
By the size you mention I could guess 8-D size. They are real heavy.
They went in somehow, then they will come out, you might need a block
and tackle to get them out.
How many amp hours are the batteries?

If and when you get them out, you might consider T-105 golf cart
batteries. They are 6 volt and can be handles quite easy. They are a
little taller than standard batteries. Still these batteries are the
best bang for the buck.

If your forgetful you might consider AGM type batteries. They charge
faster and are a sealed type so you don't have to add water. Now this
comes at a price, about 2.5 times the cost of T-105's

This is just a quick reply to your question and I can be far more
specific if you require

Fair Winds
Cap'n Dave

In article . com,
" wrote:

On Oct 1, 6:05 pm, Molesworth wrote:
It was my own fault. I picked up the boat last Feb and sailed it to New
Orleans, never once considering if the batteries needed water.

I put 4.5 GALS in 4 batteries last week! The other 2 (double size) are
sealed.

Tried today to start on bank 1, then on bank 2. Nothing out of either.

All the batteries looked old anyway, so I reckon I am going to have to
replace them all. How I'm going to get those doubles out, I have no
idea...

Any recommendations on make, longevity etc?

--
Molesworth

Ahoy Molesworth,

What do you mean by doubles? Do you know the size of the batteries?
By the size you mention I could guess 8-D size. They are real heavy.
They went in somehow, then they will come out, you might need a block
and tackle to get them out.
How many amp hours are the batteries?

If and when you get them out, you might consider T-105 golf cart
batteries. They are 6 volt and can be handles quite easy. They are a
little taller than standard batteries. Still these batteries are the
best bang for the buck.

If your forgetful you might consider AGM type batteries. They charge
faster and are a sealed type so you don't have to add water. Now this
comes at a price, about 2.5 times the cost of T-105's

This is just a quick reply to your question and I can be far more
specific if you require

Fair Winds
Cap'n Dave

Having posed the question, I thought I'd better have a bit of a search
on t' interweb thingy.. and am more confused than before!

AGM's seem to be the coming thing but there's no way I can afford 8 of
'em.

And there's not a lot of load ampere-wise - florescent lights, mast
lights, hot water (on occassion), laptop, depth meter, GPS, anchor winch
... that's about it, apart from the 4cyl 51HP Yanmar. Oh and I just
bought a portable AC unit and an inverter (3000 amp). I already have a
charger set up. Oh, and a refrigerator and the Lectra-San.

Blimey. it adds up doesn't it?

Sigh. Any guesses on my amperage requirement?

Trouble with sailing is - you have to know everything else too.

Today I was a sanitation engineer. Resited the L/S, drilled holes,
replumbed it all, did the wiring anew and then found the V tube
completely blocked. Like cement. Lawd knows how much of the pipe is
blocked. I shall have to get that out tomorrow.

--
Molesworth

On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:25:48 -0500, Molesworth
wrote:

And there's not a lot of load ampere-wise - florescent lights, mast
lights, hot water (on occassion), laptop, depth meter, GPS, anchor winch
.. that's about it, apart from the 4cyl 51HP Yanmar. Oh and I just
bought a portable AC unit and an inverter (3000 amp). I already have a
charger set up. Oh, and a refrigerator and the Lectra-San.

Blimey. it adds up doesn't it?

Sigh. Any guesses on my amperage requirement?

You won't be able to run an AC unit or hot water heater very long from
batteries, regardless of size. You need a generator or shore power
for that. The only reason to buy a 3000 watt inverter is to get the
extra charging capacity that usually comes with it. To charge at a
150 amp rate you will need a battery bank of at least 600 to 800 amp
hours. The cheapest way to do that is with 6 to 8 golf cart batteries
in series-parallel. Do you have a high capacity alternator on your
Yanmar of at least 100 to 150 amps? If so you can use it as a
generator of sorts, powering your inverter with DC and getting 1000 to
1500 watts of AC out. That will power a small AC.

Wayne.B wrote in
:

You won't be able to run an AC unit or hot water heater very long from
batteries, regardless of size.

"Nothing is funnier than a yachtie with a new 4000 watt inverter carrying
his electric heater down the dock with a big grin on his face."...(c


Larry
--
Please - Turn OFF cruise control when
you turn on windshield wipers!

On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 12:54:33 +0000, Larry wrote:

"Nothing is funnier than a yachtie with a new 4000 watt inverter carrying
his electric heater down the dock with a big grin on his face."

4,000 watts is certainly overkill for a sailboat but we get a lot of
mileage out of the 2,000 watt inverter on our trawler. Both engines
have 120 amp alternators which are bridged into the house bank through
automatic battery combiners. When underway we have almost totally
eliminated the need for using the generator unless we need multiple
zones of air conditioning. Normally we alternate between the freezer
and the refrigeration system, both of which have holding plates.

As an additional plus, the inverter doubles as a 150 amp 3 stage
charger.

I'll probably never do this but it would certainly be possible to put
a 200 amp alternator on each engine and get a 5,000 watt inverter.
That would allow the freezer and fridges to run at the same time plus
a zone or two of air conditioning.

We have reduced generator run time by at least 50% using the
inverter, and that is worth quite a lot in reduced fuel, maintenance,
and increased quietitude.

Molesworth wrote:
It was my own fault.
snip
Any recommendations on make, longevity etc?

Wet cell batteries are a very mature product, so there several
reliable suppliers.

T-105, Golf cart batteries provide a big bang for the buck.

L-16, Floor sweeper batteries would be best overall choice, if you
have the vertical height to install them.

Lew

On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:05:50 -0500, Molesworth
wrote:

It was my own fault. I picked up the boat last Feb and sailed it to New
Orleans, never once considering if the batteries needed water.

I put 4.5 GALS in 4 batteries last week! The other 2 (double size) are
sealed.

Tried today to start on bank 1, then on bank 2. Nothing out of either.

All the batteries looked old anyway, so I reckon I am going to have to
replace them all. How I'm going to get those doubles out, I have no
idea...

You let slip a few details like the weights, and what kind of hole
they are in you might get useful advise. Impossible to advise beyond
sometimes a comealong and a 12 inch plank might come in handy.
Trolling is OK, but you need better bait.

Casady

In article ,
(Richard Casady) wrote:

On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:05:50 -0500, Molesworth
wrote:

It was my own fault. I picked up the boat last Feb and sailed it to New
Orleans, never once considering if the batteries needed water.

I put 4.5 GALS in 4 batteries last week! The other 2 (double size) are
sealed.

Tried today to start on bank 1, then on bank 2. Nothing out of either.

All the batteries looked old anyway, so I reckon I am going to have to
replace them all. How I'm going to get those doubles out, I have no
idea...

You let slip a few details like the weights, and what kind of hole
they are in you might get useful advise. Impossible to advise beyond
sometimes a comealong and a 12 inch plank might come in handy.
Trolling is OK, but you need better bait.

All the batteries are in a deep hole besides the motor, containing the
fuse board, charger, Fridge power unit and hot water heater.

The 'floor' is composed of four 'Trojan B-2' batteries with a lid to
stand on. The other two 'doubles' have no makers name and each measures
20" X 12" (approx) are grey and (I suspect) ex-DoD and are mounted on a
shelf formed from the hull.

My boat is similar to a Morgan O/I without the aft access from above.

My apologies to Cassady if you think I'm a troll, but can assure you
that I'm not, just a newbie to boating - if you don't believe me - find
ONE post I've ever made (in 11 years on usenet) where I've done such a
thing.

--
Molesworth

In article ,
(Richard Casady) wrote:

On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:05:50 -0500, Molesworth
wrote:

It was my own fault. I picked up the boat last Feb and sailed it to New
Orleans, never once considering if the batteries needed water.

I put 4.5 GALS in 4 batteries last week! The other 2 (double size) are
sealed.

Tried today to start on bank 1, then on bank 2. Nothing out of either.

All the batteries looked old anyway, so I reckon I am going to have to
replace them all. How I'm going to get those doubles out, I have no
idea...

You let slip a few details like the weights,

The doubles are probably near 200 LB.

--
Molesworth - who likes the idea of a come-along..