Looking for advice on 3270 house battery setup

[MajorWaves]

Hey all, just found this place while looking for information on this.

Hoping one of you could give me some advice.

Im currently living (and constantly working on) an '87 bayliner 3270, and im having some serious problems with the electrical system,

specifically the house batteries. If I have too many lights on at any point, or run the pump with too many lights on, the whole system will drain the batteries and cut out, sometimes leaving me to juggle around the switches and figure out which light was left on, wait for it to recharge enough to turn on again and then have it happen all over again, its driving me mad. :angry:

The attached pictures show the current setup, which is awful. Im trying to make it work while I save to upgrade the charger to an inline pronautic 1230p 30 amp and two optima batteries to fix this up so i can have constant power again.

https://imgur.com/a/i3p10

What are you all using for your current house battery setup? Would you recommend what Im planning on upgrading to? Is there something obvious Im doing wrong here?

Thanks for any advice youre able to give.


Attached files

[Uncle_Bob]

The factory provided one group 27 for the house. That's not much power if you follow the rules and never discharge below 50%. A group 27 is105 amps so 50% won't run the fridge much beyond overnight. A couple of golf cart batteries would double that, but the more battery you have, the more powerful charger is needed. A 30 amp charger is light.

[green650]

Start switching out to led lights. They require less power. Sounds like you have something wrong though, the 32xx came with minimal electric stuff which should not be taxing the battery. Do you have ancient electronics running? (Old radar, etc)

How much stuff do you have on?

[builderdude]

Are the batteries fairly old? Could be they just can't keep up. Have you looked for a weak/corroded negative connection at the negative bus?

[MajorWaves]

"Uncle Bob" post=826603 wrote:
The factory provided one group 27 for the house. That's not much power if you follow the rules and never discharge below 50%. A group 27 is105 amps so 50% won't run the fridge much beyond overnight. A couple of golf cart batteries would double that, but the more battery you have, the more powerful charger is needed. A 30 amp charger is light.

This is very likely part of the problem, the charger the previous owner was using was a Promarine Powersport 20, at 20 amps. Id like to get something heavy duty enough to where I wont have to worry about it, what amp charger would you recommend? Would 40 be enough?

"green650" post=826606 wrote:
Start switching out to led lights. They require less power. Sounds like you have something wrong though, the 32xx came with minimal electric stuff which should not be taxing the battery. Do you have ancient electronics running? (Old radar, etc)

How much stuff do you have on?

Good suggestion, all of the interior lighting is stock, LED lights could save me a lot of power draw, might help with the constant flickering Im getting as well.

Most of the time right now, im tied up and connected to shore power, most of the time running just one or two sets of lights, more than that and the power cuts out completely. Sometimes it can handle running the water pump and two light sets, but thats usually the max. The previous owner had the damn charger set up so a the power cord ran outside of the boat and back in through the window :lol:, not an ideal setup.

"builderdude" post=826607 wrote:
Are the batteries fairly old? Could be they just can't keep up. Have you looked for a weak/corroded negative connection at the negative bus?

Good suggestion, two of the batteries are supposedly pretty new, so this shouldnt be an issue, right? Ill take a better look at the connections tomorrow regardless, thanks.

[Sunbird]

It would be prudent to load test all your battery's to see if they are good or just marginal. This can be done at the boat with a load tester or most auto centers will test them for free. I would get a 3 bank 60 amp charger. It does not raise the price that much.

Here's a link to get LED replacement lights- The prices are very good but they come out of China so it takes a couple weeks. You can find bulbs for all style lights. Most of your are probably 1156 bulbs.

https://www.lightinthebox.com/index....d&prm=1.5.25.0

[diveguy]

Dhgate.com is another site for direct orders from China. They have all types of LEDs to retro fit existing fixtures.

As for battery suggestions I have a large 8d for my house load. It's not a true deep cycle but suits our needs for overnighters. As you're living on the boat, the ah provided by deep cycle golf cart batteries would be a better option.

[green650]

Are you running an extension cord to your boat to power the charger?

A boat should have a permanently mounted charger that is wired to the shore power box.

And you definitely need a new battery if it cant support a few light bulbs.

Are you able to even start the boat?

[Nikko]

Single Gp 27 for start - not a problem

I'm running qty 2, gp 31's for house (just up'd from Gp 27's) - so far so good, only dropping to approx 88% capacity after a full night of fridge on and Planar diesel heater running

40A charger too small - I put in the ProMariner 1260 (60A) and am loving it

Add a battery monitor - I used Victron Energy - love it, I know exactly where I am for power

Switch to LED lights - you'll never look back

Norcold fridge is a power pig - switch to a Nova-cool (drop in replacement if you order the adapter kit)

[lhighland]

I sent you a PM (Private Message).

[brian95006]

Does anyone know what type of batteries should be installed on a 3270? I replaced my generator battery a year or two ago with a basic west marine battery but now want to replace the two next to the engines. I believe one is for starting the engines and the other is for the house. I bought a smart battery charger but it never turns off which makes me think the batteries are two old so not reaching a full charge to tell the charger to kick off.

[jim.sumi]

If you want to go big, on my 3288 I had 10 group 27 gelcels split between the aft berth and cave. Layer of plywood so I could still use the cave to store/crawl.

[Uncle_Bob]

I would not sleep on top of any battery type. Doubt if all surveyors would pass such an installation. One group 27 works for starting. A few golf carts for house fit beside a group 27 in the lazarette.

[brian95006]

are group 24 batteries too small for the engine battery and house battery? I currently have a deep cycle 75 group 24 to my generator and want to replace the other two. If I go any bigger I will need to buy a new charger since I am told I need 10 amps of charging for the combined battery 100 amp hours.

[Uncle_Bob]

Group 24s are a little light for starting both engines.