Welcome to Carver Yachts Owners Forum

We are a boating forum for owners of Carver Yachts to enthusiastically discuss all aspects of Carver Boat ownership. Whether you are looking for your first Carver or currently own one, you are sure to feel at home on CarverYachtOwners.com

You are currently viewing our board as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions, articles and access our other FREE features. By joining our free community you will have access to searching the forum topics, post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload your own photos and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!

Bus bars

Discussion of batteries, chargers, wiring, generators, distribution panels, battery switches, etc.
User avatar

Topic author Canada
feeez
Commander
Commander
Posts: 421
Joined: May 14th, 2014, 6:32 am
Vessel Info: 2001 350 Mariner
Location: Beacon Bay Penetanguishine Ontario
Has thanked: 52 times
Been thanked: 64 times

Bus bars

Postby feeez » October 12th, 2016, 12:48 pm

One of my projects for next year is to clean up the mass of negative cables in my engine compartment. Currently, my 3 battery bank negative cables are jumpered together. It works, but it is messy. I think my solution is to introduce a negative bus bar, connect all the batteries to it, and, connect the bus bar to one of the engines. My current configuration is:

Battery 1 - Group 31 12v.
Battery 2 - 4 6v Trojan T105 in a series parallel setup.
Battery 3 - Group 31 12v Starting battery for the generator.

I have a Victron Battery Monitor monitoring Battery 2 which needs to be the only connection on the negative of that battery bank. This is difficult with all this daisy chaining going on between the battery banks.

I have looked at Blue Sea's site and they have lots of choices I am thinking of the 250A 6 stud bus bar..... is that heavy enough..... thoughts and comments welcome.

Thanks
Fraser
Former 2001 350 Mariner owner


Canada
Viper
CYO Supporter
CYO Supporter
Posts: 5799
Joined: July 10th, 2015, 9:58 pm
Vessel Info: 1989 Carver 3807 Aft Cabin
Location: Ontario, Canada
Has thanked: 431 times
Been thanked: 1586 times

Re: Bus bars

Postby Viper » October 12th, 2016, 10:16 pm

I would go larger IMO. That house bank alone can deliver a lot of amperage, if you have any future plans for an inverter as an example, you may want to consider a larger buss bar now. You could always hook up directly to the bank but it kind of defeats what you're trying to do now in minimizing the amount of cables on the batteries.

I applaud you by the way, most just keep on stacking more and more on battery terminals when the proper way to go is minimizing connections at the batteries. :down:
User avatar

Topic author Canada
feeez
Commander
Commander
Posts: 421
Joined: May 14th, 2014, 6:32 am
Vessel Info: 2001 350 Mariner
Location: Beacon Bay Penetanguishine Ontario
Has thanked: 52 times
Been thanked: 64 times

Re: Bus bars

Postby feeez » October 13th, 2016, 5:47 pm

Thanks Viper.... It seems that the next step up at Blue Sea is a 600A with 4 or 8 posts. I assume that this would also be an appropriate place to connect the negative wire from the battery charger.

Fraser
Former 2001 350 Mariner owner

Canada
Viper
CYO Supporter
CYO Supporter
Posts: 5799
Joined: July 10th, 2015, 9:58 pm
Vessel Info: 1989 Carver 3807 Aft Cabin
Location: Ontario, Canada
Has thanked: 431 times
Been thanked: 1586 times

Re: Bus bars

Postby Viper » October 13th, 2016, 9:52 pm

feeez wrote:Source of the post ....I assume that this would also be an appropriate place to connect the negative wire from the battery charger....

Correct. The temp probe must stay at the battery of course. I like to put them on the deep cycle bank.

United States of America
tomschauer
CYO Supporter
CYO Supporter
Posts: 2290
Joined: March 28th, 2016, 10:52 pm
Vessel Info: 1998 Carver 355
Suspicious Fishes !
2022 Kawasaki 310X
Location: upper chesapeake bay
Has thanked: 313 times
Been thanked: 581 times

Re: Bus bars

Postby tomschauer » October 13th, 2016, 11:02 pm

It sounds like the battery bank you describes has the potential of close to 1600 amps, not that you would ever draw that much at a time unless you had a fault current. IMHO, I would go with at least the 600 amp bar. I would also run a ground cable to both engines, not just one, at 3/0 each.
User avatar

Topic author Canada
feeez
Commander
Commander
Posts: 421
Joined: May 14th, 2014, 6:32 am
Vessel Info: 2001 350 Mariner
Location: Beacon Bay Penetanguishine Ontario
Has thanked: 52 times
Been thanked: 64 times

Re: Bus bars

Postby feeez » October 14th, 2016, 10:19 pm

[quote="Correct. The temp probe must stay at the battery of course. I like to put them on the deep cycle bank.[/quote]

Thanks again viper.... that is where I currently have the probe installed

Fraser
Former 2001 350 Mariner owner
User avatar

Topic author Canada
feeez
Commander
Commander
Posts: 421
Joined: May 14th, 2014, 6:32 am
Vessel Info: 2001 350 Mariner
Location: Beacon Bay Penetanguishine Ontario
Has thanked: 52 times
Been thanked: 64 times

Re: Bus bars

Postby feeez » October 14th, 2016, 10:35 pm

tomschauer wrote:Source of the post It sounds like the battery bank you describes has the potential of close to 1600 amps, not that you would ever draw that much at a time unless you had a fault current. IMHO, I would go with at least the 600 amp bar. I would also run a ground cable to both engines, not just one, at 3/0 each.


Thanks....
This (of course) raises another question. Can I run these cables from the same stud to the engines? Will two wires of that gauge even fit on one stud?

Fraser
Former 2001 350 Mariner owner

United States of America
tomschauer
CYO Supporter
CYO Supporter
Posts: 2290
Joined: March 28th, 2016, 10:52 pm
Vessel Info: 1998 Carver 355
Suspicious Fishes !
2022 Kawasaki 310X
Location: upper chesapeake bay
Has thanked: 313 times
Been thanked: 581 times

Re: Bus bars

Postby tomschauer » October 15th, 2016, 10:39 pm

I would run them from separate studs in attempt to keep from having a single point of failure.

Canada
Viper
CYO Supporter
CYO Supporter
Posts: 5799
Joined: July 10th, 2015, 9:58 pm
Vessel Info: 1989 Carver 3807 Aft Cabin
Location: Ontario, Canada
Has thanked: 431 times
Been thanked: 1586 times

Re: Bus bars

Postby Viper » October 16th, 2016, 5:15 pm

tomschauer wrote:Source of the post I would run them from separate studs in attempt to keep from having a single point of failure.

+1
Stacking also causes more movement at the connection as well as being more prone to corrosion. When practical, it's best not to stack.

When you've wired up the bus bar, spray the connections with battery terminal spray or paint them with liquid tape. This is a good habbit to get into for all permanent connections. A word of caution when using terminal spray on battery cables at the battery; if you disconnect the cables at any time like for the winter or battery replacement, you must remove the spray coating on the terminal lugs or you will get a poor connection.
User avatar

Topic author Canada
feeez
Commander
Commander
Posts: 421
Joined: May 14th, 2014, 6:32 am
Vessel Info: 2001 350 Mariner
Location: Beacon Bay Penetanguishine Ontario
Has thanked: 52 times
Been thanked: 64 times

Re: Bus bars

Postby feeez » October 16th, 2016, 10:58 pm

Thanks for all tips guys........ a project to look forward to in the spring...

Fraser
Former 2001 350 Mariner owner

Return to “Electrical”



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 42 guests