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Post by dougall on Jul 7, 2014 23:30:31 GMT
I have a (new to me) 2010 Jeanneau 53. There are five house batteries behind the engine compartment. Behind those are four more series 31 batteries. I don't see any reference to them on the factory schematics. Does anyone know if they would be part of the house system or would they be for the electric winch or the generator, or something else?
There are also four separate batteries up in the crew quarters which I would believe are for the windless, genoa roller, and bow thruster...another question would be whether the battery charger, which is located in the port rear cabin, is the charger for those batteries as well as the house batteries....I wouldn't imagine that they would only be charged by the engine alternator.
any guidance would be great.
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Post by rene460 on Jul 9, 2014 11:19:40 GMT
Hi Dougall,
If the batteries are not mentioned on the schematics, it is most probable that they have been added by a previous owner.
It could be helpful to talk to the previous owner perhaps through the Jeanneau agent who may know who did the work, however it is probably best to trace them through yourself, especially the heavy wires used for bow thrusters etc. Much easier said than done for the smaller wires, but they may connect into something you can identify on the circuit diagram reasonably close to the battery.
The front batteries are almost certainly for those bow thruster, windlass etc as you suggest, to overcome some of the voltage loss if the whole current comes from the back of the boat. Otherwise very heavy wiring is required.
A good way to determine what is being charged by what, is to check battery voltages when the engine and mains charger are both off and most, preferably all loads off. Then switch on the mains charger and see which batteries increase in voltage. The increase will be seen quite quickly as it takes a voltage increase to start the charging process, but could take 15 min or so to be clear. Then switch off the mains powered charger and when the battery voltages stabilise, start the engine, and again see which voltages increase. You probably have to repeat the procedure a third time with your generator running to see what it is connected to.
The system may have a voltage sensitive relay which connects the systems when a charger voltage is detected so that all are charged by either source, so be on the lookout for that. Once you know what charges each battery, you will be able to work out if your normal sailing activity and engine use will keep everything charged, or if you need some additional provisions.
If you have the Cristec charger that is fitted to many of our boats, you will see that it has provision for charging several batteries. If all your batteries are connected in parallel as one bank, only one battery charge connection is used. If some batteries are connected as a completely different system, different charger outlet connections are used, however bow thrusters, windlasses etc are usually only used for a very short period, and generally only when the engine is running and you should expect the bow batteries to be charged by the alternator, similar to the starter battery. The question is whether the mains charger also charges these batteries.
i hope these thoughts are enough to help get you started on understanding your system.
rene460
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Post by rxc on Jul 9, 2014 18:04:44 GMT
Great advice from Rene. I would only add that one of those batteries is probably the starting battery for your electric generator (diesel genset), which I would assume you have on a 53. If not, then just ignore this comment.
My electrical system is also complicated (7 batteries), my wife has no idea how it works, and even I have forgotten to ensure that the inverter, genset, and shore power should only be connected one-at-a-time, and NEVER the inverter and battery charger at the same time....
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