Battery Switch Advice

Well, that brings us back to the thread on what constitutes a yacht. The system works. If they were to address every possible eventuality the entry level boater could never afford to get into boating. Start with that many of these boats have a single bilge pump located under the motor where it can't be gotten to without bloodshed. Remember, most entry level boats adhere to a minimum safety standard, not a maximum. Every $100 added to the initial cost equals a potential sale lost.

Battery switches

Real boats us that battery switch for house loads only, the engine start loads are handled by independent iso switches at ea engine with a parallel switch option, not sure if you may have that without knowing. So, battery charging takes place with each engine running or the gen set charging batt chargers, normal operation would be Batt Sw for house set at both under way, set at 1 or 2 while at anchor, even if the house has dedicated batteries this is good practice.

I guess when your dealing with old boats technolgy is not there. When was your long cruise with your old hatteras, most of the ones I see sit at the dock as condo. People buy what ever they want and thats there choosing. People should buy boats on how they are going to use it.I can say this they sold alot of cavers and sea rays. They all enjoy them very much and I guess it fits there buget.

My 2001 Carver is equipped with twin engines, and 4 starting/house batteries (not including the genset setup).

A single 1/2/B battery switch with dual batteries on each side of the switch. There is an isolator switch built into the 6-bank battery charger that is in the engine room. if most owners would bother to read the spec information that came with the boats, they would know this. This is a standard setup for 30'-40'-ish coastal cruisers. Dedicated starting on 1 bank, dedicated house on 2 bank, and an isolater in the charger to keep them all at optimum levels. As a rule, I leave mine in the BOTH position 95% of the time. The only reason I ever switch it to house batteries only is if I'm on the hook for the day without the genset running. If I did kill them all for some reason, the gennie has a dedicated starting battery (...and a switch...) and is also wired to the battery charger.

My Carver manual also reads to not switch battery banks while under power, but most battery switches (esp. Perko) manufatured later than the mid-80's have a "make-before-break" feature which allows the batteries to be switched while running. This is even listed in the wiring diagram/manual. They also have additional lugs for an alternator field disconnect.

Well you have 5 batteries altogether you must have a slow boat. Anyway if yours are diesel mine are gas engines . I guess there is a dlfferent set up. I read your specs and somebody is afraid to use a generator thats why you need so many batteries. Your boat came with the same package mine did 3 batteries.

That isn't the way to induce the members of this group to provide much assistance. You are off to a really bad start.

I should have wrote it specs on his boat not him. The specs on his boat is almost the same specs on mine.

My boat is not heavier than any other comparable vessel by any means. BTW, it's a gas boat. Carver Voyager 374 (40 LOA), twin Mercruiser 7.4L MPI's, Velvet drive trannys. 675 hours.

The battery set up in my boat is exactly how it was delivered from the Carver factory, I didn't do any alterations on that level. I received it from the original owner this way, who still had all the ORIGINAL BATTERIES(!) after 6 years! Needless to say, I switched them out. The Carver manual also is diagramed for my boat with 4 boat batteries and a gennie battery. 2 additional batteries only weigh in at 105 lbs total, half the weight of one additional adult on the boat. Would my boat be any slower if I took one additional small female on it? Hardly, although my wife would probably have something to say about it...

Regarding the gennie, I run it all the time. Usually 8-12 hours at a time. Summertime A/C, TV for the kids, fridge power, battery charging, hot water, etc. Genset has almost as many hours as the engines do. I think I'm right around 500 hrs on it. It's made to be used, same as the boat engines.

I'm not really sure why your comments were so abrasive. I was just trying to point out that some vessels are factory equipped with a 4 battery set-up and some people don't realize that their charger may have isolaters built in. It was just an informational item for all those reading. No reason for you to start bashing my boat or the way I operate aboard it.

I'm not bashing your carver. The orginal post about the batteries with his carver mariner. I responded what mine was set up has with the 3 batteries. But the guy with hatteras bash the carver. If he thinks carver builds a bad yacht why respond to anyone that has a carver. I guess he piss me off. Anyway I guess I took you wrong. I think carver has nice line of yachts out there and if people don't like them keep Quiet. By the way I did look at your model before getting mine my wife likes the aft cabin.

Two things to remember: 1) The right (best) boat is the one that does what you need and gets you home safe for the least amount of money and 2) if it ain't broke, don't fix it. However, one thing to check on though is your charger. In '98 there were still some not-smart chargers floating around, and a '98 charger is starting to get old. I had one from '02 start a fire about a year back.