Many small batteries?

[pvb]

Must be doing something wrong...

Well, I guess I'm doing something wrong then - because in around 30 years of boating I've never had a problem with battery connections, and I've never used silicone grease. I suppose you live and learn.

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[pvb]

Bow battery dangers...

Be very careful in planning the installation of a bow battery for your windlass. Don't assume you can just use "smaller tinned cables" to charge it. The windlass will usually be used when the engine's running, and the windlass will draw current both from the bow battery and down the charging cables. To prevent overheating in the charging cables, they must be heavy enough to carry a significant current.

You must also protect the charging cables against overload with fuses or breakers. Remember that, as there's a battery at each end of the charging cables, you need a fuse or breaker at each end too. You could isolate the bow battery by having a VSR to feed it.

The other thing to bear in mind is that a bow battery will get shaken about a bit more than the main batteries, so it needs to be very securely fitted, and it will need some means of ventilation.

All things considered, it's often a lot easier not to have a dedicated bow battery.

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[Rohorn]

Re:standing in front of a Cessna

Hi Steve... Snap! My scar is high above the left eye, bled all over the cockpit. Windmill horror stories must be worth a new post. I made a gantry (on Paros) three years back, with a mast on the starboard column. When on a port tack the A6G rotates about the vertical axis on the vertex from the leach of mainsl. Useless. Alarms crew and puzzles onlookers. Saw a German cat year or two back with two on the back like a hovercraft. Guy musta had an electric kitchen and nerves of steel.
Lost a blade last year when a spare haliard came loose and blew around onto the fan at full chat. My beautiful gantry oscillated with an amplitude of about three inches till I lassooed that **** fan. Replaced the blade (where did it go anyway?) but my enthusiasm has waned. Sanity prevails. I'll just add panels from now on.
Cheers....R

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[Rohorn]

Re: Bow battery dangers...

Hi PVB.....you make good points there, thank you. The winch has a breaker next to the contactor, presently next to the main bank, under the cockpit floor. Economically as well as practically then, I'd best stick with the present set up, fat cables going forward with the winch power, and small cables back to the contactor from the local hand controller.
I'm happy about keeping weight aft anyway. Thanks again
Cheers....R

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[Rohorn]

Re: No problems...

Hi Trevethan....thanks for the battery source info. Here in darkest France I don't have a battery specialist nearby who doesn't want to be a millionaire. Perhaps in Lyon but thats 150 kms away. One reason for eyeing 70 ah mass-produced car batteries is the handleabilty, as well as the (relative) cheapness and availability.
Once upon a time I'd have carried a 50 kg battery under each arm but not recently. Sounds like you're quids in with that source. Your battery box must be impressive, too.
Thanks again...Cheers.....R

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[steve_cronin]

Re: Must be doing something wrong...

You are the first I've heard of that doesn't grease battery terminals. The crush of tightening squeezes the grease away from the conducting area and seals the joint so that no moisture can get in - an esential ingredient for light corrosion but it will manage to errode the terminals dry if a heavy current just finds the slightest flaw in the metal.

In that same period (or even more) I've NEVER fitted a lead acid battery to anything without greasing the terminals. Well actually, thinking about it, that isn't quite true: I fitted a new battery to #1 son's MG dry two years ago and got called out a fortnight later to a roadside stop to find a very hot battery post.

Somewhere in the back of the workshop I've got a starter motor lead from a fiesta which has a ring erroded away exactly concentric to the stud hole due to a dry joint.

Would you take the word of Bosch for it?

http://www.boschautoparts.co.uk/pcBatt10.asp?c=2&d=1

or

http://www.f1autocentres.co.uk/batteries.htm

or

http://www.trojanbattery.com/customercare_batterymaint6.html


Maybe your batteries are kept either in a perfectly dry warm environment or in one subject to oil vapour. Strange.

Incidentally, light mineral grease is superior, I was just making the concession towards silicone grease in the interests of cleanliness in the saloon settee environment. Vaseline, i find doesn't stay on the job and ends up migrating all over the battery, like diesel does to anywhere it touches.

Steve Cronin



<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion

 

[pvb]

Re: Must be doing something wrong...

I may be the first you've heard of, but I'm sure a lot of people don't use messy grease on their battery terminals. In my current boat, the batteries have been installed for 7 years and there are no connection problems. The batteries are housed in wooden boxes with ducted ventilation to the outside air. They're also maintenance-free, so they're naturally clean and dry.

Your mention of cars made me wonder about mine, so I just had a look. Interestingly, neither has any grease on the battery terminals. I've owned both from new, so it would seem that the manufacturer doesn't believe in greasing them, either.



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[steve_cronin]

Re: Must be doing something wrong...

BMW and Ford do

Steve Cronin

<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion

 

[pvb]

It seems that...

It seems that Mercedes-Benz don't.

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[andyball]

Re: Must be doing something wrong...

like this?

also more explanation of why <A target="_blank" HREF=http://w6rec.com/duane/bmw/terminal.htm>here</A>

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[MainlySteam]

Re: Must be doing something wrong...

<<<You are the first I've heard of that doesn't grease battery terminals>>>

Well I will be number two, as I never grease nor require to be greased the contact areas of battery terminals also.

As a user of Trojan batteries I should point out to you that you are a bit cavalier claiming by reference to their internet site that they support your view. In my surprise at your claim I decided to check it out and found that this is actually what they say:

5. Reconnect the clamps to the terminals and thinly coat them with petroleum jelly (Vaseline) to prevent corrosion.

That is they say to grease the outside of the clamps after they are connected. That is the practice I am familiar with and in any installation where the batteries are not just plain neglected, corrosion, if any, normally propagates from the outside of the clamps, not from the clamping surface.

John

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[TonyBrooks]

Re: Must be doing something wrong...

Ah - but is that simply to show you they did something whilst it was in for service?

Its bit like greasing the door hinges - there is no way it will find its way into the pin, but if its wiped off & either sprayed with spary grease, or simply smeared with new grease, a picky customer can find evidence of work.

FWIW I always vasaline or, nowadays, use terminal dressing (red vasaline?) on the posts before fitting the clamps, and then smear it around the outside. Giving a lot of attention to where the cable enters the clamp - been out to too many dirty/resisive battery posts in my youth. I have never found it migrates oevr the battery. I conceed it may be useless, but it will not do any harm.

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[steve_cronin]

Wow!

Yours is MUCH bigger than mine!

I rest my case.

But those who assemble dry will continue to do so as will those who grease. I got the vaseline migrating bit from a Florida boat shop where the ambient plays a major role. It isn't significant in a temperate climate.

Since posting about grease I've also checked with a Mobility company who sell electric scooters to the infirm and they tell me that dry joints are their major cause of failure. Also looking at our milkman's float battery box there is clear evidence of greased terminals. people just aren't aware of the cavity errosion so evident in your photograph.

Steve Cronin


Steve Cronin

<hr width=100% size=1>The above is, like any other post here, only a personal opinion