Some of you questions how I have achieved 12 years from my battery bank. I've had the boat 8 years so I can't comment on the P.O. but I suspect these were very well cared for. Here's my story. We charge with a Freedom 2000 inverter/charger. We use an eMeter monitor to watch the system. The Freedom 2000 has never hiccupped. The eMeter is the second most important instrument on my boat. It's the first thing I look at when I come aboard and when I get up in the morning on a cruise. We leave the boat / Freedom charger plugged in and on 7 x 24 x 365 except when we are cruising. We equalize the bank(s) about every three months. When we are cruising we use a combination of simple, twin 100 AMP alternators with three stage charging regulators built-in, hard wired in parallel (from the Battery Shack in Florida)and our venerable old MCCK 6.5 Onan generator which powers the Freedom 2000 charger on anchor. We never run the banks below 50% capacity. A day's run on the engine alternators pretty much recharges all the way back. The AC buss is split (as required) so that we cannot inadvertently connect very heavy AC loads to the inverter. We use the inverter for fry-pan cooking, microwave, coffee maker, entertainment center, toaster, and all AC outlets, etc but by design, it is not possible to connect it to electric heating or water heating or electric cooking with the range. (we do not have A.C.). Because we have 720 AH of capacity we have never discharged below 50%. I check the water twice per year. We add about 2 quarts over the six T-125's each time. The water has never been down to the plate level. We use the standard purified water from Safeway. Sometimes we just use tap water when we can't get the good stuff. The M.E. start batteries are two marine Grp 27 12 volt and are connected via a 100 amp three-position Heart combiner. The generator start battery is also a Marine Grp 27 connected via the same combiner. This works great too. The start batteries are now at four years. The generator battery is at three years. We check the water on these twice a year but have only had to add a tiny bit of water. All of these batteries are combined and included in the equalization process. We don't have hydro-caps or other gizmos, just dumb Trojan T-125 lead-acid batteries. We run about 200 hours per year. Some of this time is on Auxiliary patrol where we are drawing a lot of power for patrol lights and amenities while running at slow speeds. That's it. The batteries and connections are kept clean (actually they stay clean - no corrosion apparent), they are wired together well, everything is fed or connected by Ancor wire, usually one size over the chart requirements. Connectors are crimped but not sealed with shrink tubing, just good electricians tape. We use "power posts" extensively for the 12 volt high current feeds to and from inverter and batteries. I don't see any magic here at all. I think the key is not overcharging and not discharging below 50%. Usually more like not below 30% for us. We might run through 250 AH over a typical afternoon and night at anchor. One caveat that might apply. We spend most of our time in the Columbia River which is fresh water. In the PNW we have hot summers but cool to cold the other seasons. The ER seldom gets over 100 degrees even with a long day's run. Joe Engel Portland, OR -----Original Message----- From: trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces@lists.samurai.com [mailto:trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces@lists.samurai.com] On Behalf Of R C Smith Jr Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 6:44 PM/ To: trawlers-and-trawlering@lists.samurai.com Subject: Re: T&T: RE: AGM Batteries - Real World Experience Joe Engel wrote on 8/20/04 6:28 PM... > FWIW I am not an advocate for Trojan but our T-125's are now 12 years > old and doing fine. Joe, My Annapolis "Arild" estimates that the AGMs will give you about half that lifespan...6 yrs. Watering batteries is no fun, but, with hydrocaps, twice a year ain't bad. Bob ___________________ R C Smith Jr M/V MARY KATHRYN Hatteras 58 LRC Chesapeake Bay _______________________________________________ http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/trawlers-and-trawlering To Unsubscribe send email to trawlers-and-trawlering-request@lists.samurai.com Include the word Unsubscribe (and nothing else) in the subject or body of the message.

Hi Joe, Sounds like a good formula for prolonged battery life. One question for you: What are "power posts"? I'm guessing perhaps short lengths of really heavy-duty cable, but perhaps not. Thanks, Bob Peterson 47' Lien Hwa CMY "Lopaka Nane" San Francisco -----Original Message----- From: Joe Engel Sent: Monday, August 23, 2004 9:55 AM To: trawlers-and-trawlering@lists.samurai.com Subject: T&T: Extended battery life commentary Some of you questions how I have achieved 12 years from my battery bank. I've had the boat 8 years so I can't comment on the P.O. but I suspect these were very well cared for. Here's my story. We charge with a Freedom 2000 inverter/charger. We use an eMeter monitor to watch the system. The Freedom 2000 has never hiccupped. The eMeter is the second most important instrument on my boat. It's the first thing I look at when I come aboard and when I get up in the morning on a cruise. We leave the boat / Freedom charger plugged in and on 7 x 24 x 365 except when we are cruising. We equalize the bank(s) about every three months. When we are cruising we use a combination of simple, twin 100 AMP alternators with three stage charging regulators built-in, hard wired in parallel (from the Battery Shack in Florida)and our venerable old MCCK 6.5 Onan generator which powers the Freedom 2000 charger on anchor. We never run the banks below 50% capacity. A day's run on the engine alternators pretty much recharges all the way back. The AC buss is split (as required) so that we cannot inadvertently connect very heavy AC loads to the inverter. We use the inverter for fry-pan cooking, microwave, coffee maker, entertainment center, toaster, and all AC outlets, etc but by design, it is not possible to connect it to electric heating or water heating or electric cooking with the range. (we do not have A.C.). Because we have 720 AH of capacity we have never discharged below 50%. I check the water twice per year. We add about 2 quarts over the six T-125's each time. The water has never been down to the plate level. We use the standard purified water from Safeway. Sometimes we just use tap water when we can't get the good stuff. The M.E. start batteries are two marine Grp 27 12 volt and are connected via a 100 amp three-position Heart combiner. The generator start battery is also a Marine Grp 27 connected via the same combiner. This works great too. The start batteries are now at four years. The generator battery is at three years. We check the water on these twice a year but have only had to add a tiny bit of water. All of these batteries are combined and included in the equalization process. We don't have hydro-caps or other gizmos, just dumb Trojan T-125 lead-acid batteries. We run about 200 hours per year. Some of this time is on Auxiliary patrol where we are drawing a lot of power for patrol lights and amenities while running at slow speeds. That's it. The batteries and connections are kept clean (actually they stay clean - no corrosion apparent), they are wired together well, everything is fed or connected by Ancor wire, usually one size over the chart requirements. Connectors are crimped but not sealed with shrink tubing, just good electricians tape. We use "power posts" extensively for the 12 volt high current feeds to and from inverter and batteries. I don't see any magic here at all. I think the key is not overcharging and not discharging below 50%. Usually more like not below 30% for us. We might run through 250 AH over a typical afternoon and night at anchor. One caveat that might apply. We spend most of our time in the Columbia River which is fresh water. In the PNW we have hot summers but cool to cold the other seasons. The ER seldom gets over 100 degrees even with a long day's run. Joe Engel Portland, OR

<<Connectors are crimped but not sealed with shrink tubing, just good electricians tape.>> "Good electricians tape" for me means 3M, about $5 a roll, available in about 6 colors at Home Depot and almost everywhere else. Don't even think about using the cheap imported stuff at $.99, it turns to sticky goo in a few months in the marine environment. Mark Richter, Winnie the Pooh just returned to FL from 4 weeks on the "Left Coast"