PDQ OWNERS FORUM

Hello Group:

I'm the current steward of PDQ 34002 newly renamed "SUNSHINE." The battery system seems unusual and I'd like to rearrange the system for long distance cruising. I'd like to have a seperate battery for each engine (yamaha 9;9's) and at least three house batteries for the lights, stero, water and sump pumps and refrigeration. The boat has a charger and a two bank battery switch. I'd like to be able to charge all of the batteries if I'm plugged into shore power. When not hooked into shore power, I have a Honda eu2000 which I hope to be able to plug into the shore power connection for charging the batteries.

Anyone care to to share how your system operates or alternatives to my thoughts? Thanks for your replies.

I have 36089 with outboards. One marine starting battery covers the port engine and 4 golf cart 6 volt batteries that cover the house and the starboard engine. I use a heart Interface 2000 for charging and inverter and have had no issues. When cruising the Bahamas, I used my honda 2000 to recharge every day and a half to two days. I installed a Link 10 battery monitor. It is most beneficial in making you aware of when you need to recharge.

hi,

there are 2 possible configurations that i can think of: 1) we have this on our mv/34. it uses a battery combiner which automatically links batteries when any one of them reaches 13.2V. this is oem on mv/34. 2) have all charge source charge house bank and "echo" charge start batteries. if i were to redesign our boat, this is what i'd pick.

good luck.

Allezcat, 36010, has two 9.9 Yamahas. I have two 4D gel batteries which are used for both house and starting. Each engine is wired to its battery thru a 50A breaker. House power feeds from a battery switch (1-both-2). Solar charging and battery charger (50A) from a Freedom 10 feed to the house system and back thru the switch to the batteries. I normally keep the battery switch on both paralleling the batteries. This charges both batteries and draws from both batteries. By running them in parallel in this fashion, I do not draw them down as low as if the entire house was running on one. This lenghtens their service life as they are not cycled to a deep discharge. If for some reason they were run flat by house loads, I have the option of plugging in the Honda EU2000i to recharge or pull-start the outboards. I just replaced the batteries after 12 years although they were "still goin!"
Lots of options!
Chet / Allezcat 36010

Hi Chet, What made you decide to change them? I have 4- 6V gels that are now 10 years old and seem to be going strong. I use them for starting and house. I have a dedicated 12V gel for my genset. I think the main reason they are lasting this long is that I have cold plate refrigeration, which only needs to charged up once every 24-36 hours. This is done by running the genset for about 30 min., so no drain on the batteries.
Did you replace them with gels?
Marc

Second Wind uses 2-135 AH engine start batteries, which are isolated and switched (Guest) separately from the house batteries. (We have 2-18HP Yanmar diesels). The house batteries are 4-105 AH Golf Cart batteries, wired to provide 12v (2-each in series) and switched through a Guest switch. Our shore power is wired through a 3KW Heart Inverter, which also charges the battery banks. We also have 2-100amp alternators, 220 watts of solar panels, and a Fourwinds wind generator. In addition we carry a Honda Ei2000. The batteries are monitored through the solar/wind controller and the a Mark 10 previously mentioned. We have spent over a week on the hook without firing up the diesels, and used refrig., stereo, water maker, and lights (with careful monitoring and good wind). We're good for two days otherwise if we want to run the engines, which we often do, since they provide our hot water.

Hi Marc,

I replaced the 4D gels (West Marine) with similar 4D gels (Dekka) last Jan in Marathon. We were on the way to Bahamas for 3 months and I didn't want to "push my luck" with the old batteries. I was also noticing one battery was discharging and charging more than the other which indicated it was getting tired.

Chet