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Shell Seeker - Charging Upgrade PDF Print E-mail
Written by Andy Nurse   
Saturday, 27 November 2010 15:46

Our 1998 Broom 34 had the standard engine-to-battery charging setup when we bought her - 12volt/70amp alternator with built-in regulator/controller and an X-Split charge splitter (to split the alternator output between the engine start battery and the domestic batter bank).

With an electric fridge, relatively small domestic battery bank (2 x 120 amp/hour batteries) and no shore-power at our mooring, I calculated that we were in danger of damaging the batteries through discharging them too deeply. The solution I selected was to install an external, digital alternator controller and to add an instrument to monitor all the charge going int and out of the batteries.

I thought this would be an easy 2-3 day job - HA! It actually took me 10 full days work from start to finish. However, the results have been worth it.

  • Sterling 'Pro Alt' Alternator-to-Battery Charger in its box - this is the box-of-tricks that maximises the charge going into the batteries from the alternator.
  • Sterling 'Pro Counter' Power Management Panel in its box - this is the instrument that tracks all the charge going into and out of the batteries, amongst other things.
  • Serious cables! Some of the 35mm and 50mm cable that was used both to connect the new kit, and to upgrade the original (16mm) cables from the alternator.
  • 16, 35 and 50mm Cables
  • Lugs and Wrench for Cable Connections - the equivalent of the little 'crimp on' connectors we are more used to, but super-sized!
  • Battery Area (top view) before upgrade. The black and red box at lower-left is a small inverter, which had to be moved.
  • Battery Area (top view) after upgrade. The Pro Alt is the black and red item at the lower-left of the photo. The two things with the slotted perspex covers are 200 amp 'shunts', required for the Pro Counter to measure what's going on.
  • Battery Area (stern view) before upgrade. Good view of the X-split charge splitter (lower-left), which was removed as the Pro Alt has one built-in. The two devices to the right of the X-Split are the battery isolation switches.
  • Battery Area (stern view) after upgrade. Same view as previous photo but after the upgrade - another 200amp shunt at lower-left, and a very large fuse at upper-left. Also, note that the battery isolation switches had to be moved to create some space.
  • Battery Area after upghrade - lots of cables and another view of 2 of the 3 200amp shunts in the system.
  • Sterling Pro Alt controller - installed. The light coloured box to the right of the Pro Alt is the original mains battery charger, which had to be moved aft to make some room.
  • Another view of two fo the 'shunts' showing the large diameter cables that run to them - these carry the full load going in and out of the batteries.
  • Sterling Power Management Panel in aft cabin - I instaled the Pro Counter on the aft cabin bulkhead just above the boat's main electrical panel.
  • Example of Power Management Panel display (apologies for the poor photo quality). By pressing the buttons labelled 1 to 4 the display shows measurements from different points in the system.

 
Last Updated ( Saturday, 27 November 2010 17:02 )
 
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