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Old Jul-26-2004, 12:47 PM   #9 (permalink)
bertram31
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Name: Jack
Age: 45
Vessel: 48 Egg Harbor "Hakuna Matata" and the 31 Bertram "Reel Keeper"
Location: Oahu, HI
Job:Captain
Bio: Hakuna Matata charters, Oahu Hawaii's only live aboard scuba diving boat
Just a couple notes about this.

any 12 volt battery is not a true "deep cycle" battery.They are more designed for starting.A starting system draws a couple hundred amps real quick to get the engine turning and then recovers only to about 80% via a stock voltage regulator.

six volt batteries connected in parallel to make 12,18,24 volts is a true deep cycle system,etc golf cart.A deep cycle system is designed for a slow steady draw from utilites that need power supply.Because of the slow draw they need to be fully recharged after each duty cycle.

A duty cycle is not completely drained.It is designed to be at a 50% drain and then brought back up to 100%.Dont worry 50% drained is all the power you need at any given time it is just a spec thing.A six volt system can provide up to 750 duty cycles because of the plates in the battery compared to around two hundred in a 12 volt type battery.

For day trips a six volt is over kill unless you have maybe an inverter that will pull a lot af amps.You need to be able to recharge these batteries on a regular basis.Either a shore power charger or what i do recommend also is a aftermarket voltage regulator by Balmar.This regulator will allow a much longer charge to your batteries than a stock regulator.

There is a lot involved regarding this topic and many different ways of setting up a nice redundant system to match many different needs.Feel free to contact me personnaly about any specific designs.I have a lot of experience setting up electrical systems on yachts.

Jack
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