Batteries and busbars

[Parmesan]

Hopefully a simple question.

I have a yacht with two house batteries and the usual rats nest of direct connections. These include direct loads (bilge pumps, radar, etc) and feeds from solar panels and a wind generator. These seem to be split somewhat randomly between the two batteries.

I would like to simplify these with busbar, but what is the ideal arrangement? I assume that I can rationalise everything to busbar(s) on the positive of battery A and the negative of battery B, but can I put loads and feeds on the same busbar or should they go on separate ones (with each connected directly to the battery or via another short busbar and a single cable to the battery?

Thanks in advance.

 

[PaulRainbow]

Hopefully a simple question.

I have a yacht with two house batteries and the usual rats nest of direct connections. These include direct loads (bilge pumps, radar, etc) and feeds from solar panels and a wind generator. These seem to be split somewhat randomly between the two batteries.

I would like to simplify these with busbar, but what is the ideal arrangement? I assume that I can rationalise everything to busbar(s) on the positive of battery A and the negative of battery B, but can I put loads and feeds on the same busbar or should they go on separate ones (with each connected directly to the battery or via another short busbar and a single cable to the battery?

Thanks in advance.

It's good to have a single connection on the battery terminals

Loads and charging can go on the same busbar. So go from the battery to the busbar, then connect anything permanently positive, usually only bilge pumps, certainly not radar, plus mains and solar charging, and the connection to the main isolator.

 

[Tranona]

Normally 2 house batteries would be in parallel as one bank and all domestic loads taken via the DC switch panel although you may have some direct from the battery like bilge pumps. Solar and wind would normally feed into house bank. You don't say whether you have a dedicated start battery or how the house battery is charged from the alternator. TBH it sounds like you need to rethink the whole system and more information is needed to make sensible suggestions.

 

[Boater Sam]

If you can achieve a maximum of 4 connections on every battery terminal there is no need for busbars which only introduce even more connections to drop voltage and go bad. They look pretty but not the best or most efficient way with low voltage battery connections.

 

[PaulRainbow]

If you can achieve a maximum of 4 connections on every battery terminal there is no need for busbars which only introduce even more connections to drop voltage and go bad. They look pretty but not the best or most efficient way with low voltage battery connections.

What a lot of absolute rubbish !!

All of the wires have to go somewhere, if they all went to the battery terminals it would save the wire from the battery to the busbar, at the expense of having multiple wire connected to the battery terminals.

For the OP, at a bare minimum he'll have bilge pump, shore charger, solar controller, wind controller and the main isolator switch, that's 5 wires.

 

[Boater Sam]

The OP has of course 2 batteries so including the interconnect he has space on the terminals for 8 cables.
keeping as many connections direct onto the batteries is not a load of rubbish and don't be so insulting, everyone has their view that they are entitled to.
Paul you are too entitled! Precisely why I have you on ignore.

 

[PaulRainbow]

The OP has of course 2 batteries so including the interconnect he has space on the terminals for 8 cables.
keeping as many connections direct onto the batteries is not a load of rubbish and don't be so insulting, everyone has their view that they are entitled to.
Paul you are too entitled! Precisely why I have you on ignore.

His batteries will be in parallel, he should only connect positives to one battery and negatives to the other, as he correctly says in post #1

Even if he did incorrectly connect positives to both batteries, that's 6, not 8, there will be a parallel cable.

So, still nonsense!

 

[Boater Sam]

His batteries will be in parallel, he should only connect positives to one battery and negatives to the other, as he correctly says in post #1

Even if he did incorrectly connect positives to both batteries, that's 6, not 8, there will be a parallel cable.

So, still nonsense!

I did say including the interconnects..................... So 6 plus the interconnects = 8
More over entitlement Paul?

 

[PaulRainbow]

I did say including the interconnects..................... So 6 plus the interconnects = 8
More over entitlement Paul?

Still wrong, the positives do not connect to each of the batteries, positives to one battery, negatives to the other.

Nothing to do with entitlement, whatever that is supposed to mean, it's simply about doing the job correctly.

 

[Boater Sam]

What a load of rubbish, the rule is no more than 4 connections on any battery connection, positive or negative.

I am not going to argue with someone who is ALLWAYS right because he is perfect and it would be me that he gets banned from the forum. His self-important and dogmatic attitude is well documented on the forum so I am bowing out of this childish discussion.
But I am correct.