DEKA bank

I finally got the 24 volt battery bank hooked up. With the rain we have had it has been near impossible to work in the basement (old engine room). I was still having trouble with the main controller, or the understanding of it. I contacted the DEKA battery company about the batteries I got. In spite of the float and cycle voltages documented on the batteries, the full voltage on these batteries is 12.8 volts.

One thing I did not realize was that when you hook batteries up in series parallel, or just in parallel, that the controller must be set to handle the increased amperage/current. With my controller you must set the AH to what the battery bank AH is. Dummy me, somehow I didn't realize that! Nonetheless, I will go over today and reset it from the 104 AH to the 416 AH, and 25.6 volts.

No matter how educated I get on this stuff it never ceases to amaze me of how much I do not know. I’m glad I am not an arrogant person; otherwise I would never learn anything. If you think you know it all you have no room to change your opinion!

I also hooked my solar array directly to my house bank to try and get them up to a reasonable voltage. I’m not sure if they are worth saving, but I thought I would give it a go. Since the solar controller for the house bank is not working, and my wind generator diversion load controller went bad, I am just going to put a full load from the solar array directly into the bank. The voltage is down to 10.6, so it will take a bit to get them up close enough that I’ll have to unhook them before overcharge.

The new dock is real nice, but I do not have electricity at the dock. So, I have to either bring my generator over to power things up, or wait to get the controllers in order. In spite of not having electricity at the dock, it is still light years better than where we were. We have no one hassling us, and no parking lot of dust blowing over the boat.

The biggest plus with the new dock is that we are allowed to get into the pool to cool off!

I also have had a nagging drip coming from the Bimini connector on the port side. Whoever mounted the Bimini bent the pole in a bit too much, and when it rains and blows the Bimini shakes about and allows a drip to get through below.

I mounted a bracket on the outside of the boat so there will be no bend on the Bimini, and eliminate the leak. I’m letting it set for a couple of days so the bedding will dry.

Whether you are cruising or just sitting, the jobs on a boat never seem to dwindle. I guess that half the fun of owning a boat is working on it to improve or maintain it; although at the time it never seems to feel that way.