Batteries

[amaxopulos]

I own a 32 ft 1971 Ericson in New Bern North Carolina and I have had her for 5 years and love her. I have been living on her for the past year and a half and have been doing alot of work to her. Recently I have decided to add a third battery and put new cables from the engine a KUbuta to the batteries. What a difference in power. Anyway for somereason I am getting a charge from the engine to the starting battery but not from the 2 house batteries from the engine. What have I done or what do I need to do. Also I have had a crack on the inside of my celing right where the doorway going into the v berth and I have fixed it several times. Keeps coming back. Is there a stress point on the 32 I am missing or what. Its on both sides of the entry way right on the corner. Thanks for your input

 

[chaco]

Battery Switch

Where is your Battery Switch ? What type is it ? The Battery Switch allows you to Combine the Start System and the House System. What are your House System Batteries ?

 

[amaxopulos]

I have the engine start battery connected to the switch then to the engine. I have the 2 house batteries connected to the engine battery. I guess I am going to have to connect all 3 batteries to the swit.ch which will cause me to use twice the amount of cable something i was trying to avoid

 

[Mort Fligelman]

Check out the West Marine catalog (2008...I do not have the 09 yet...if it is even out) Page 415 an 416.

I am using the basic diagram on page 416.....I have three AGM 92AH batteries, one being the starting battery, and the other two in parallel being the house batteries.

I am using the 7600 Automatic charging relay shown on page 417.

The system works beautifully.......

Good Luck

 

[ChrisS]

Stress crack

This is a common issue on the 32-2 for two reasons:

1) the compression post is offset, not under the mast. This puts stress on the cabintop and causes some flex, but can be modified by adding an angled support to tie the load directly under the mast to the compression post. This isn't too big a task.

2) the compression post ties into a step on the keel. On my boat this step is iron (!) and has degraded quite a bit, causing some movement. I hadn't noticed this until I pulled the holding tank from under the forward dinette seat and could look at the mast step. The fix for this would be to cut out the old iron and replace it with something that won't degrade: a big job. Has anyone taken this on with this vintage of boat? Maybe somebody can weigh in on this one.

 

[amaxopulos]

Thank you

All very helpful thanks guys

 

[Cory B]

Compression Post

A-
Check the docs section on this website. you should be able to find Ericsons "suggested" fix for the compression post. The way Ericson set up those old 32's opened up a multitude of problems (all fixable) from the wood under the step in the deck turning to mush to the bond between the iron "keel step" and mahogany breaking and the compression post slipping... both of which happened on our old 32 and I fixed myself. That being said some boats only had minor if any gelcoat cracking and were structurally fine.

 

[ChrisS]

Keel step fix?

Cory--

Was the iron keel step on your 32-2 rusty and flaky? Mine has degraded some and has shifted (as evidenced by a crack in the fiberglass cabin sole), and I'm kind of curious on how to replace it. Did you take this one on?

 

[Cory B]

Chris,

It was VERY rusty and flaky. When I pulled out the compression post a bit of iron was still bonded to the bottom of it, but the iron was no longer a cohesive chunk (which is why the post slipped). My first inclination was to remove the iron step, but it was still firmly stuck to the bottom of the boat and wouldn't budge. My solution was to clean up the step as good as I could, and build a cardboard dam around the iron. I then positioned the compression post about 1/8" higher that it was originally and poored epoxy, encapsulating the iron and bonding the post to it. I also rebuilt the deck area under the mast (rotted) and added a mast deck plate to help spread the load a little. I didn't add a plate of metal above the compession post as the Ericson fix suggests. As far as I know my repairs are still holding strong.

 

[chaco]

BlueSea Systems

Please.........check out www.bluesea.com for wiring diagrams and parts.
I built a Battery Switch with (3) m-Series Mini Switch similiar to Part #8370.
(1) Start Switch - (1) #6005200 Keyed Combiner Switch - (1) House Switch far superior and FOOL PROOF compared to the 4-way Battery Switches.
You will need a (2) circuit battery charger and auto relay to keep your Start System FOOL PROOF. BlueSea has it ALL