Solar Panel What Size for Sailboat Nauticat

[pmagowan]

You need to draw a schematic. The wiring is definitely atypical and your answers do not provide sufficient information to understand it.

 

[pmagowan]

I'd be careful making simple statements like that, there could be all sorts going on, on a boat of this vintage that's been modified over the years.

Amended thanks

 

[graham460]

Hi Tranona Pmagowan..

Thanks for the reply I did know the 1st Section about ,
Bank 1 to Start Engine - then Switch to Bank 2 for Domestic.
and if Battery is Low USE bank 1 and Bank 2 To start the engine.. -
Not forgetting to Switch bank to Bank 2 to use the Domestic..

However I did not know you have to Use - Select switch to Bank 1 & 2 to Charge BOTH when running the Engine.

-------

I see no fuses on your battery terminals but I see quite a few cables connecting to one terminal. There are a number of approaches including manual 1/2/B switches and automatic VSR battery combiners.

I did not know you need fuses On Engine cables etc.

However I have 4 Dead batteries at the moment Need to Buy New ones

IT IS A TOSS UP BETWEEN EXIDE EP1200 THEY ARE ON THE BoaT NOW
OR
EXIDE 165AM HRS. BAT412151084 165ah 12 485 x 172 x 240 47 600 220

But a friend said he had heard of One of the Connecting Lugs snapping. Then it wuld be a pain sending them back to Supplier.
I'd like to use Victron Display and Products plus Global link 520 so I can see my battery at home in uk (Not that you can do much when boat is in Sardinia)

 

[Tranona]

Really difficult to get a proper feel for what powers what because there are so many cables on the battery terminals that could go anywhere. Don't think the green cable is anything to do with the bow thruster as from your photo its battery is charged by that mains charger. If it was being charged from the domestics (which would be unusual) it would be through s DC-DC charger and only small cables. However there are no signs of any other cables apart from those from the charger and out to the thruster. It could well be that the windlass is off one of the banks with heavy cables running from that bank forward through a fuse and a breaker.

As to batteries. Either replacements would be satisfactory, but the lug and bolt type are arguably better as they give more secure contact than the older type tapered lugs. Not a lot of point changing the type of terminal unless you are rewiring to use bus bars for distribution rather than all cables going to the terminals.

 

[pmagowan]

You need to take it back to basics IMO. For a start we have given info on a typical (if old/obsolete) way of wiring. As pointed out there is no knowing how your boat is wired without a schematic. Your batteries have failed so there are problems somewhere and your system is obviously too complicated for you to understand easily/intuitively.
All wires that have potential to be fed more amps than they can handle need a fuse. If, for example, (as is not uncommon) there was a failure of the connection at the starter or alternator then that big red cable could fall onto the engine block and then you have a dead short and will make molten copper very fast along with the resulting fire.
There are fuses designed to fit on battery terminals which prevent this. I personally like to have minimal cables on the battery and use a heavy duty bus bar if lots of stuff needs connected. I would change your system to a switch cluster or just individual switches with a VsR for parallel charging

 

[graham460]

Hello Tarona Oops I forgot your Question.

BOW THRUSTER Powered By the Domestic Batteries THAT IS the GREEN cable runs from Domestic Batteries through the boat to the BOW where is connects to a Battery and Battery Charger. The Green Cable is Only used to Charge the Battery in the Bow.
It was installed 2017 In Torreveja as the old one Corroded off.. The Mechanic that installed the New one Did not provide enough Power he installed 2 x 15mm Cable It blew the 500amp fuse a few times - So in PALMA a Company installed a Battery and Battery charger in the BOW

WINDLASS I have only ever used the Anchor Once.
YES it draws a lot of Energy I kept the Engine Running The Battery charger 9Sterling Power then works overtime)

Hello Tarona What is a SHUNT is that a splitter? Your text the shunt is fitted between the house negative terminal and the cable as it measures all the loads going out to provide the data for your monitor. The Solar company suggested a trickle charge from the Domestic to the Starter batters maybe around 1 or 2 amps Salesman says it may take approx 2-3 days to charge
CUSTOM 240W KIT - 2 REGS REGULATORS

2.00 100W Flexible PERC Range - SSP100MF 838mm x720mm FROM UK BUT MAY PURCHASE IN ITALY



2.00 70W Flexible ETFE Range 530mm x 735mm - A BUT MAY PURCHASE IN ITALY IF I CAN FIND THE CORRECT SIZE



2.00 SCC075015060R – Smart Solar MPPT 75V/15A - (12/24V) may change to

VICTRON BLUESOLAR MPPT 150V/45A - (12/24/48V​

2.00 Black Solar Cable 6mm Single-Core (2 x 12m ) with MC4

PROBABLY source this Locally

• ASS030543020- Victron Energy GlobalLink 520 With Aerial extension 2metre

1.00 BAM030712000R- BMV-712 Smart Battery Monitor-Bluetooth



1.00 PMP121800000- Multiplus 12V/800VA 35-16A - 230V



1.00 16mm sq RED Battery Cable - 1000mm - 10mm LUGS



1.00 16mm sq BLACK Battery Cable - 1000mm - 10mm LUGS



2.00 1M - 4mmÇ Battery to Controller Cables & Fuse Kit - 10,20A



1.00 BATTERY MASTERS 58.290 58.29





Total

 

[Tranona]

No. A shunt measures the current flow in and out of the battery bank and the net flow (loads minus charge) is displayed on your battery monitor. A splitter as its name implies splits the charge from the source (usually the alternator) between the 2 (or maybe 3) banks. a trickle charger from the house to the starter is common - I have one. That is because I don't have a mains charger to the start, only to the domestic. However because I have a dedicated high power start battery which is charged within minutes from start up by the alternator it is always near fully charged and has low self discharge. When the boat is not used for longer periods I use the mains charger periodically for the domestic and when that is being charged up to 1A goes to the start battery. This would not really work for you because you do not have automatic split charger and you can use both your banks for all loads so you could run your start batteries down below the point where a trickle charger is useful.

You do seem to have a charge splitter as it is part of the Sterling Power A2B charges controller which provides a stepped charge to the domestic and a float charge to the start bank. So your 1,2,B only selects which bank is used for loads.

Your photos in post#19 suggests that your bow battery is charged only by a mains charger as there is no sign of heavy duty cables to charge it from the engine, only the heavy cables to the thruster motor and lighter cables from the battery charger. it is not totally clear because the battery is in a different compartment from the thruster and charger

 

[Sandy]

What is a SHUNT is that a splitter?

May I respectfully suggest that you purchase a few books on basic DC/boat electrics and take time to read up on the topic.

This will allow you to better understand what you are trying to achieve and, more importantly, give you the skills to fault find when something fails.

When a post asks what is a shunt alarm bells ring out in my mind that the poster has no understanding of the topic and given the length of time the thread has been running has done little to read up on the subject.

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I have been on so many boats where things are botched and when things go wrong have taken some considerable time to work out what and how things went wrong.