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  • #23789

    KevinS
    Participant
    Vessel Name: PITOU
    Engines: Cummins - QSC 8.3
    Location: Gloucester, MA

    I did a DC refit this past spring which included new battery trays, 3 banks of wet batteries (house, start, genset), home run SMX DVM’s from Seaboard Marine to each battery bank an ACR between the start and house with custom panel at the helm to monitor, new On/OFF battery switches for the House & Genset banks, an On/Off /Combine switch for the Start, added a ProMariner 12-60P 60 amp charger dedicated to the house with a remote display and kept my old 40 amp Pro-Nautic for the start and genset battery charger.

    Previously the original 3 bank Pro-Nautic charger was set-up to charge all three banks and it would kick back to minimal output when it sensed the Start and Genset banks were fully charged making it difficult to impossible to fully charge the house bank when running the generator on the hook. It just made sense to add a separate dedicated House charger and have the Start and Genset banks on the original charger.

    For the first time in 4 years since owning this boat battery management is A+ and without issue! Not once did I need to run the Start/Genset charger as the engine and genset alternators would always bring those banks to 12.7 / 12.8 volts. The ProMariner 12-60 would then be able to do its job quickly and shut itself down to conditioning mode or “0” amp output on the genset or shore power when the house was fully charged.

    I couldn’t be more pleased with this refit and battery management with the Seaboard Marine DVM’s that always let me know exactly where I stand!

    Thank you to Rob Schepis for your article on the SMX DVM’s and once again leading me down the right path.

    2 users thanked author for this post.
Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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  • #23895

    Rob Schepis
    Forum Moderator
    Vessel Name: Tenacious
    Engines: 6BTA 5.9 330's - "Seaboard Style"
    Location: Long Island, NY
    Country: USA

    I knew how “fond” of that gauge you were and figured it was a goner by now!

    #23852

    KevinS
    Participant
    Vessel Name: PITOU
    Engines: Cummins - QSC 8.3
    Location: Gloucester, MA

    Ah, I see one of those slick LED engine room lights you told me about, can you post up the link or info on those here?

    BTW, where did you get that Fisher-Price vacuum restriction gauge, Toys “R” Us ?

    I replaced the 4 original engine room lights with those Lumitec Nevis LT LED’s along with 2 in the aft under deck area where the generator is located and one in the under deck area where the battery chargers are located .. 7 in all. At 1.3 amps and 1000 lumens each of 180 degree light at 5000k each the draw is minimal and I can NOW see! A bit spendy on the list price side, but you can usually find them for about $100 each, but worth it.

    NevisLT – LED Utility Light

    As far as that R2D2 vacuum gauge .. that was on the boat when I bought her and is made by Racor. I can’t believe that they even produce that thing. For some reason, I knew that you would jump on that and rightfully so. I had meant to mention in my original post that it was replaced with a Racor Vacuum gauge with a stainless T-handle this past spring just before launch and just after the DC project.

    #23851

    Rob Schepis
    Forum Moderator
    Vessel Name: Tenacious
    Engines: 6BTA 5.9 330's - "Seaboard Style"
    Location: Long Island, NY
    Country: USA

    Ah, I see one of those slick LED engine room lights you told me about, can you post up the link or info on those here?

    BTW, where did you get that Fisher-Price vacuum restriction gauge, Toys “R” Us ?

    #23841

    KevinS
    Participant
    Vessel Name: PITOU
    Engines: Cummins - QSC 8.3
    Location: Gloucester, MA

    Corey & Rob .. you’re both entirely welcome. I’ve learned an awful lot over the years from Rob after first meeting him at an Albin Rendezvous in “07 or ’08 and reading Tony’s posts and articles and needed to share the project.

    I was looking at battery monitors like the Xantrex LinkPro and the Balmar Smart Gauge, but they needed constant recalibrating and just seemed like a pain in the ass and not to be counted on as accurate when Rob emailed a picture of his in process DVM project. That quickly turned my head fast toward a simple solution that works and is bullet proof! Again, I couldn’t be happier!

    Rob, you’re certainly correct that my Albin is a “tad” better than when she left the Albin factory in so many ways! I’ll get another post up to share the refit that I did on the riser .. again, thanks to the knowledge gained through my interactions with you and reading Tony’s past posts and articles over the years.

    I cleaned up a lot of wiring during thisDC project too:

    #23825

    Larry Backman
    Participant
    Vessel Name: Skipjack
    Engines: QSM 670
    Location: Cape Cod, MA
    Country: US

    My order is done

    Just ordered 3 for my boat after a battery charger fiasco.

    Thanks for the writeup!

    #23814

    Corey Schmidt
    Forum Moderator
    Vessel Name: Rebel Belle
    Engines: Cummins
    Location: Oxnard, CA
    Country: USA

    Thank you…

    Thanks for this post… it really highlights the benefits of utilizing DVM’s for simple and superior battery management which IMO is something EVERY boater should know and have!

    #23800

    Rob Schepis
    Forum Moderator
    Vessel Name: Tenacious
    Engines: 6BTA 5.9 330's - "Seaboard Style"
    Location: Long Island, NY
    Country: USA

    Kevin thank you for the write-up and photos (and acknowledgement too) – that is a real clean first class setup you have now. Just a “tad” better than the day she left the Albin factory… LOL. Invaluable on the hook, at the dock and underway and will even be a handy tool as she hibernates this off-season..

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