[C38] Battery bank setup

[Max soto]

Hi again Marc,
If I'm not mistaken, the original set up is that the batteries in front of the galley are separated banks.. One is the starting and the other one is the house battery.
 Is very common that original owner modified this by turning this two batteries as a house bank and installing a starting battery somewhere else...
So far, I have seen three options:
1- under the starboard settee 
2- behind the fuel tank (only possible on early models with a 20 gal fuel tank)
The good thing is that the wires are not that long, so wire diameter can be smaller, and cheaper because the voltage drop is a minimum..
3-on the fiberglass shelf located in the sail locker (wire runs are longer, but there is enough room for battery maintenance...this is where I have mine) 

I installed a Blueseas Add a Battery kit that includes a charging relay and a very smart battery switch that only has two positions (On and Emergency starting)
When I switch to the on position, it connects the house directly to the electric panel and the starting battery to the engine system.. 
The alternator positive output wire runs directly to the house bank, which is the one that usually needs more juice..
When the relay senses more than 13volts (when a charging source is is present) it joins the banks, and when the voltage drops it separates them, so this means that you'll never have to mess with this switch.. Put it in the ON position the the beginning of the trip, and turn it OFF at the end...
It also has a nice feature when engine starts. It won't join the banks in the first 30 seconds until the hi current peak from the alternator stabilizes, and this will protect the sensitive electronics..

Hope this helps

Max Soto A.
C38 #198 Estancia
+506-8312-1367
Alajuela, Costa Rica

> On Jan 21, 2016, at 11:36, Marc-Andrea Klimaschewski <marcklim at outlook.com> wrote:
> 
> I was curious as to how the battery bank setup is on the Catalina 38. On Image I have two house batteries under the settee close to the galley and an additional starter battery by the fuel tank. The house batteries are run through the AC/DC panel, the engine battery seems not to have a battery switch.
> 
> What is the original setup of the boat? How do you have your boats set up? What kinds of batteries are you using? So far my setup seems to work for me but since I need to do some significant work on the 12V system I was curious as to whether there are better ways to set up the batteries.
> 
> Thanks
> marc
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