Battery Charging

[9D280]

Originally Posted by Smithyyy

Struggling manfully back to the topic - re charging from the car. A caravan socket (either a13 pin or a second 7 pin (7S) socket) gives a choice of a permanent or an ignition-switched 12V supply, designed for charging caravan batteries. So fitting one of these and as someone says above running the lead to a high current (DIN) socket on the boatto supply the battery(ies) is a neat way of doing it. I tend to think of it like recharging a flat car battery after a jump start - running the car for half an hour or more seems to do the trick

Check out carefully what type of wiring your car needs, modern electrics don't like extra wires just spliced into the loom, fouls up bulb failure sensors ans potentially much more complex stuff that runs trailer sensing, multiple bulb operation,etc.

You really want a bypass relay anyway in the wire to the boat so the connection only completes if the car is providing power -otherwise you risk the car trying to draw current from the boat

.....and use the switched ignition, otherwise you may find as you stop for a loo break or something if the boat battery is flat enough it takes the car battery down with it.....

[Leapy]

Originally Posted by Smithyyy

Struggling manfully back to the topic - re charging from the car. A caravan socket (either a13 pin or a second 7 pin (7S) socket) gives a choice of a permanent or an ignition-switched 12V supply, designed for charging caravan batteries. So fitting one of these and as someone says above running the lead to a high current (DIN) socket on the boatto supply the battery(ies) is a neat way of doing it. I tend to think of it like recharging a flat car battery after a jump start - running the car for half an hour or more seems to do the trick

Check out carefully what type of wiring your car needs, modern electrics don't like extra wires just spliced into the loom, fouls up bulb failure sensors ans potentially much more complex stuff that runs trailer sensing, multiple bulb operation,etc.

You really want a bypass relay anyway in the wire to the boat so the connection only completes if the car is providing power -otherwise you risk the car trying to draw current from the boat

Potentially, yes, but ... unless the OP is qualified and/or experienced could be a nightmare wiring it in or it would need the services - and costs - of a professional. Twin boat batteries, high current sockets, bulb failure devices, bypass relays, switched ignition feeds et al...and after all that, you still don't know what state the boat batteries are in when you start the car journey or when you finish it.

Too many unknowns and risks for me to be heading out sea with.

[captnjack]

Just disconnect the power lead from the battery during storage so whatever is drawing power doesn't anymore (or move everything to the other side of the dsconnect switch). Fish finders and other electrical items don't need continuous power and bilge pumps aren't needed in barns either.

[Smithyyy]

Originally Posted by Leapy

Potentially, yes, but ... unless the OP is qualified and/or experienced could be a nightmare wiring it in or it would need the services - and costs - of a professional. Twin boat batteries, high current sockets, bulb failure devices, bypass relays, switched ignition feeds et al...and after all that, you still don't know what state the boat batteries are in when you start the car journey or when you finish it.

Too many unknowns and risks for me to be heading out sea with.

You can generally get someone to pop an extra socket on your car for not very much if you're not comfortable doing it yourself, I just included those comments for anyone who might want to DIY it. But it's standard caravan wiring. Agree you'd have to wire a plug on the boat also but if you're not OK with even touching the electrics then this whole discussion of how to fix up a charging arrangement for a stored boat is a bit moot anyway, isn't it? After that you can check whether the charging has worked however you do it now - voltmeter on the boat if there is one, or a simple handheld one? Together with the moment of truth when you engage the starter when it's pretty obvious if the battery's in good shape or not. After that you're reliant on the boat charging circuit working but again that applies anyway. I'll just say that in my experience an hour or so behind the car has left my batteries very nicely charged -and after all, that's what car charging circuits are designed to do

[Peter_C]

A solar panel could be mounted on top of the barn and a wire lead run down to the boat. Probably the cheapest and simplest long term solution. Just put some kind of reminder on the trailer tongue so no one forgets to unplug the solar panel before driving away.

The auto bilge pumps actually draw a lot of power. The trackers generally draw only a little juice.