Trevor,

Thank you.

Fair Winds

Eric

Amel Super Maramu #376 Kimberlite





_____

From: amelyachtowners@...
[mailto:amelyachtowners@...] On Behalf Of seafeverofcuan
Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2013 6:17 PM
To: amelyachtowners@...
Subject: [Amel] Re: Battery bank problems SM with 13 batteries





Hi Eric,
I am sitting in San Carlo Mexico looking at my battery box which has four
very poor Vetus batteries left. They are eighteen months old.
On passage across The Sea of Cortez last week we had exactly the same
problem as you. We have been unable to find twelve deep cycle 105 to 110 amp
hour replacement batteries here and have picked out the best four that we
had left, which are at best,very suspect .
We were running our Yanmar engine @ 2500rpm and after seventy miles or so of
motoring we noticed that horrible sulphur smell, when I checked the battery
box it was very hot and immediately disconnected the alternator drive belts
and turned every electrical 24 volt appliance on.
My thoughts are that we had an open short from overheating in one of the
batteries and it brought down the rest.
The offending battery was at 65C and rising even while disconnected so I
removed it and the other hottest ones from the boat.
Judging from the volume of correspondence in this Forum, Amels do seem
fraught with battery problems, but mostly from over charging with Dolphin
chargers, my chargers are original and seem fine so far. The regulator on
the alternator appears to give out the correct voltage also.
When last in La Rochelle I asked Olivier Beaute should I change to AGM or
gel, his response was a very firm 'NO' . He claimed that Amel really didn't
know why they wouldn't work properly on their boats?
Certainly once overheated they are destroyed. From my own experience the
people that I have met across the Caribbean and Pacific who have had battery
problems all promote Trojan wet cell as the most robust and value for money.
I would welcome if someone could tell me other than drilling a hole into
each battery cell how you actually put water back into a sealed low
maintenance battery, I have tried opening my Vetus batteries and the tops
are sealed on by vibration heat sealing and therefore permanently sealed to
the base?
I am much inclined to agree with Ian Jenkins, Pen Azen when he says that he
now regards batteries as an item that has to be regularly replaced.
On this occasion I intend to research heat sensor probes fitted to the
terminals which I understand Xantrex and Mastervolt may have developed.
Kind regards,
Trevor Lusty
Sea Fever of Cuan
Mexico

--- In amelyachtowners@...
<mailto:amelyachtowners%40yahoogroups.com> , "eric" <kimberlite@...> wrote:

On our trip home from St Martin last week, we discovered that most of the

liquid in all the sealed maintenance free batteries had boiled off. I did
not realize that under the labels there are plugs where water can be added.
In any event all the house (12) batteries

have to be replaced.
We have a 175 amp alternator and 30 and 100 amp Dolphin chargers.
I spoke with Dolphin and they said that the 30 amp charger is too small

for the bank and it probably cooked the batteries as it saw the bank as
always needing a charge. I plan on having the alternator checked and then
speak again with Dolphin when I install the new batteries.

Kimberlite usually is in a marina somewhere and plugged in with the 30 amp

charger running.

Any thoughts on my problem?
Fair Winds
Eric
Amel Super Maramu #376 Kimberlite

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