Do these engines have charging systems?

[jstang209]

Sorry if this is a dumb question but i'm very new to boats. I have a 88 bayliner capri with a 85 hp force. I've installed a 1200w amp and 2 kicker L7's and I do not want to end up stranded anywhere. I just got a new marine battery and my question is, if im just posted somewhere in the water and listening to music should I keep the motor running or does it matter?

 

[harkawy]

Re: Do these engines have charging systems?

Check out .... http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=252684

 

[john from md]

Re: Do these engines have charging systems?

The 85hp engines typically have an 8 amp alternator and a rectifier. Voltage goes to 16+ with a rectifier. Your electonics would be better served if you converted the rectifier over to a regulator.

John

 

[keepNitreel]

Re: Do these engines have charging systems?

The 85hp engines typically have an 8 amp alternator and a rectifier. Voltage goes to 16+ with a rectifier. Your electonics would be better served if you converted the rectifier over to a regulator.

John

I would hook up additional electronics to a second battery as suggested by the manual. 1200W amp will eat more than the stator can regenerate.

 

[JTRUSH]

Re: Do these engines have charging systems?

Thats a bit of over kill for a boat, but cool. If wired correctly at 2ohm's and the amp is a mono not 2 channel, its going to be pulling close to a 100 amps.
To do it the right way buy two batteries and use a battery diode isolator able to handle 2 batteries. it works like a regular 6 amp diode like used in alarm systems. It isolates the batteries from each other but ables them both to be charged. use 4 gauge wire to and from diode isolator.

 

[jstang209]

Re: Do these engines have charging systems?

So I'm barley bringin my boat back out for this summer and I still havent resolved this issue. The voltage gauge is broken so I dont no my batterys voltage at idle and WOT. I still have the sound system and I'd just like to know if I should do the change over to the voltage regulator. I have since then added another batteries with the isolator. I'm trying to avoid all charging issue. All input is appreciated!

 

[Shife]

Re: Do these engines have charging systems?

Most (nearly all) outboard motors just don't have the capability to replenish an Ah draw that big. The isolator is a great idea if you have a 60+A alternator such as an I/O or inboard, but it is useless in your current setup. Ditch the isolator and run the stereo off a dedicated battery that gets charged either by an onboard 120v marine charger or on a charger in your garage. I have my fishing boat set up to run everything including sonar, interior lighting, livewell pump, and a stereo with amplifier off the trolling motor bank. The only thing the outboard battery runs is engine loads, nav lights, and primary bilge pump. Each night the boat gets plugged in and recharged via the onboard charger.

Edit: Do not use a plain jane automotive charger to recharge your batteries. Use a 3 stage charger that has automatic bulk/absorption/float. Using the typical 10A/2A auto charger is pretty much guaranteed to boil off the electrolyte in your batt and if you're using a gel or AGM batt it will not be outputting the correct voltage to prevent premature failure of the battery.

 

[maxum_man]

Re: Do these engines have charging systems?

L7's draw a lot of power through that amp...I dont think 1 battery will be sufficient!!

 

[Shife]

Re: Do these engines have charging systems?

Battery qty/size will directly relate to how long he wants to run the stereo on steroids.

The amp hour rating of a battery will tell you roughly how long a battery is good for. Since running a battery below 50% begins to permanently damage it, cut the amp hour rating in half. Most decent deep cycle batteries are rated at 20hr rate of X amps. A 100A @ 20hr Group 31M-PC2150 Odyssey AGM will provide 5 amps for 20hrs. Since taking a battery below 50% charge is a death sentence you can shorten that to 5 amps for 10hrs if you want your $300 battery to last a decent life span. Going beyond that will begin to permanently damage that battery.

Playing the big stereo game ain't cheap. If the amp the OP is running is truly a 1200w RMS high current amp, he's going to need at a minimum two very large, heavy, and expensive deep cycles if he wants to have even a brief amount of fun. Gels are too voltage sensitive and flooded lead acid is a really poor choice on a boat. Spend the extra few bucks on AGM batts. They are voltage and vibration tolerant and they don't leak. If the Odyssey's are a bit pricey for ya a cheaper option would be Deka Sea-Mate AGMs. We're running a pair of the group 24s on one of the racing sailboats as a house bank that powers an embedded mini ITX PC setup for navigation and racing software and it has given us excellent service (this will be season 3 for that bank). We are religious about checking voltage levels and not taking the bank below the 50% mark though.

 

[birdman00]

Re: Do these engines have charging systems?

So many applications...So many differences. I have two deep cycle batteries and one cranking. My crank bat's sole purpose is to start the 90 hp Force. The other two bats are for electronics and starting a 10 hp Yamaha which charges at 8 amps. The two amp hogs ar my elec down riggers. One hooked up to one of the deep cycles and the other hooked up to the other deep cycle. The trick seems to be and seems to work is that the 10 horse is charging three bats. I troll 90% of the time so all three bats are charging while I'm trolling. I have run with this application for three years now with the same bats. Oh and none of the bats cost any more than $65.00 ea. The charge from the Yamaha seems to takes care of all three bats just fine even with continuous use of the downriggers in a bumpy bottom situation. No Perko Switch no Isolators Just three bats wired in series. Also wired each bat to one volt meter via three switches. Bat one, Bat two, Bat three. May be too simple? But sure works great!!!

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: Do these engines have charging systems?

Two year old post!