My 76 Ty WE came with no battery and bogus wiring. Looking to add a battery and re-wire running lights, compass light, cabin light, bilge pump and possibly some electronics down the road. I do not see where the battery was originally located on the boat.
A few questions:
Where to mount battery?
Any input as to battery make/size, wiring, etc. Plan to have shop do it so all will be marine grade. Battery housing?
Bilge pump? - I know it is overkill but peace of mind at mooring in Maine.
Bilge drain - all 4 thru hulls are below waterline - I assume I need to shut seacocks when not moving - so how does cockpit drain? and where would one drain a bilge?
New owner - have a lot of work to do and a lot to figure out - appreciate the advise.
Thanks
Typhoon Battery & wiring
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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Maine_Buzzard
- Posts: 506
- Joined: Dec 22nd, '10, 21:15
- Location: Feet Dry, Olympia, WA
Re: Typhoon Battery & wiring
Foremost, how do you plan on recharging the battery?
Two basic constraints for a battery system- Overall capacity and Peak load. The battery needs enough capacity to run your expected loads, and still be 50% charged, in order to not wear out prematurely. Draining a small battery to 10% and then recharging fully is harder on it than draining a larger battery to 50% and then recharging the same current. A common goal it to drain the battery on average, at 1/20 of the battery capacity. More on this later. Peak load is knowing that you can run the required loads as needed, and not have the battery voltage sag from a momentary high current draw.
For the discussion, I stick to Amp Hours (AH). LED running lights take about 0.4 Amps total, and running them for 4 hours would drain 1.6 AH from the battery. A VHF is 0.5 Amps at idle, 4-6A while transmitting. Figure that running one all day would be 5AH.
Bilge pumps take 5-10 Amps, and run for very short periods. For a once a day dewatering, It might need 1-2 AH.
Decide on your electrical budget- Running lights, VHF, bilge pump, and charging of phone. A day and evening of sailing should take about 20AH.
A good sized battery would then be about 40-50AH, which is common for electric mobility scooters.
You could run a big Deep Cycle battery, but the 80AH capacity is a bit overkill, and they also want higher charging currents and will take up more space.
As for battery location, look to place it near the center of the boat, in a lazarette or under the cabin steps. It will need a protected box.
Back to charging, are you looking at a solar panel? a 50W solar panel will realistically put about 10-15AH of charge back into the battery per sunny day. It will need a small controller to keep from overcharging the battery.
Bilge drains- Sink and head drain are closed when on a mooring, the cockpit drains are left open to allow the rainwater to drain out.
Happy sailing!
Two basic constraints for a battery system- Overall capacity and Peak load. The battery needs enough capacity to run your expected loads, and still be 50% charged, in order to not wear out prematurely. Draining a small battery to 10% and then recharging fully is harder on it than draining a larger battery to 50% and then recharging the same current. A common goal it to drain the battery on average, at 1/20 of the battery capacity. More on this later. Peak load is knowing that you can run the required loads as needed, and not have the battery voltage sag from a momentary high current draw.
For the discussion, I stick to Amp Hours (AH). LED running lights take about 0.4 Amps total, and running them for 4 hours would drain 1.6 AH from the battery. A VHF is 0.5 Amps at idle, 4-6A while transmitting. Figure that running one all day would be 5AH.
Bilge pumps take 5-10 Amps, and run for very short periods. For a once a day dewatering, It might need 1-2 AH.
Decide on your electrical budget- Running lights, VHF, bilge pump, and charging of phone. A day and evening of sailing should take about 20AH.
A good sized battery would then be about 40-50AH, which is common for electric mobility scooters.
You could run a big Deep Cycle battery, but the 80AH capacity is a bit overkill, and they also want higher charging currents and will take up more space.
As for battery location, look to place it near the center of the boat, in a lazarette or under the cabin steps. It will need a protected box.
Back to charging, are you looking at a solar panel? a 50W solar panel will realistically put about 10-15AH of charge back into the battery per sunny day. It will need a small controller to keep from overcharging the battery.
Bilge drains- Sink and head drain are closed when on a mooring, the cockpit drains are left open to allow the rainwater to drain out.
Happy sailing!
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Joe CD MS 300
- Posts: 995
- Joined: Jul 5th, '05, 16:18
- Location: Cape Dory Motor Sailor 300 / "Quest" / Linekin Bay - Boothbay Harbor
Re: Typhoon Battery & wiring
I intentially looked for a Typhoon which did not have an electrical system or roller furling just to keep it simple. So far this season I'm making do without the outboard.
Do you have an outboard? Some can charge a battery but I don't know if that is typical for the size outboard typically used on a Typhoon. Not even sure if my outboard had DC output to charge a battery. I'll have to check the manual.
You really don't need a electric bilge pump. If I had to guess that most Typhoon do not. The cockpit is self draining. A little rain water may get into the bilge but not much. (My Typhoon is in Maine also). You might waste some sailing time redoing that electrical system.
Do you have an outboard? Some can charge a battery but I don't know if that is typical for the size outboard typically used on a Typhoon. Not even sure if my outboard had DC output to charge a battery. I'll have to check the manual.
You really don't need a electric bilge pump. If I had to guess that most Typhoon do not. The cockpit is self draining. A little rain water may get into the bilge but not much. (My Typhoon is in Maine also). You might waste some sailing time redoing that electrical system.
Better to find humility before humility finds you.
Re: Typhoon Battery & wiring
Where to mount battery? - I would try to place under companionway and forward section of cockpit sole.
Any input as to battery make/size, wiring, etc. Plan to have shop do it so all will be marine grade. Battery housing? - Take measurements of your area first before looking for battery. Also figure your daily amp hour usage as previous post suggests
http://www.sailboat-cruising.com/boat-electrics.html
You could easily wire up a simple system for your boat. Get the book, 12 volt bible out from your library if you want to take it on. I would find it fun! But then again, I'm biased. Just get a black plastic battery box that fits your battery when you figure out the size and strap it in somehow.
Bilge pump? - I know it is overkill but peace of mind at mooring in Maine. - If you glass over your two forward holes as I can't see why a Ty would have them, I would not feel the need for a bilge pump. But if so, I would get a Rule automatic 500 gph or similar if you have to have one. http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?nam ... id=3909229
Bilge drain - all 4 thru hulls are below waterline - I assume I need to shut seacocks when not moving - so how does cockpit drain? and where would one drain a bilge? - ALWAYS leave cockpit drain seacocks open to drain the cockpit. Make you replace the original gate valves if they are still there. Again, I would get rid of the forward two and glass over for peace of mind. If not, definitely shut them when away from the boat.
Good luck. Have fun with you new America's smallest yacht!
Any input as to battery make/size, wiring, etc. Plan to have shop do it so all will be marine grade. Battery housing? - Take measurements of your area first before looking for battery. Also figure your daily amp hour usage as previous post suggests
http://www.sailboat-cruising.com/boat-electrics.html
You could easily wire up a simple system for your boat. Get the book, 12 volt bible out from your library if you want to take it on. I would find it fun! But then again, I'm biased. Just get a black plastic battery box that fits your battery when you figure out the size and strap it in somehow.
Bilge pump? - I know it is overkill but peace of mind at mooring in Maine. - If you glass over your two forward holes as I can't see why a Ty would have them, I would not feel the need for a bilge pump. But if so, I would get a Rule automatic 500 gph or similar if you have to have one. http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?nam ... id=3909229
Bilge drain - all 4 thru hulls are below waterline - I assume I need to shut seacocks when not moving - so how does cockpit drain? and where would one drain a bilge? - ALWAYS leave cockpit drain seacocks open to drain the cockpit. Make you replace the original gate valves if they are still there. Again, I would get rid of the forward two and glass over for peace of mind. If not, definitely shut them when away from the boat.
Good luck. Have fun with you new America's smallest yacht!
Paul
CDSOA Member
CDSOA Member