Re: Battery size

I've got a Cal 2-27 - and your battery choice depends on how you use your boat. If you mainly day sail from a slip with shorepower, you might make one choice; whereas, if you sail mainly at night, with a lot of electronics, you'll probably want batteries with more capacity. So what does this Cal sailor have? A pair of group 24 (that's a size) deep-cycle lead acid batteries from Interstate - they are just about done, being eight years old - carefully topped up with water, not over-charged - even still, 18 hours of sailing will flatten them both. I guess you could put golf cart batteries in the lockers under the settees (would make maintenance a treat), but I don't mind (too much) having them stashed under the galley - access through the lazarette is sometimes difficult. Harold Beer Arcturus Cal 2-27

I use a pair of 110AH AGM for the house and red top orbital for engine. The house will go low after 100AH of consumption, 9 amps for 12 hrs as expected. I upgraded to an 80Amp alternator to top them up during motoring. On 9/3/2012 10:16 AM, Harold Beer wrote: > I've got a Cal 2-27 - and your battery choice depends on how you use > your boat. If you mainly day sail from a slip with shorepower, you > might make one choice; whereas, if you sail mainly at night, with a > lot of electronics, you'll probably want batteries with more capacity. > > So what does this Cal sailor have? A pair of group 24 (that's a size) > deep-cycle lead acid batteries from Interstate - they are just about > done, being eight years old - carefully topped up with water, not > over-charged - even still, 18 hours of sailing will flatten them both. > > I guess you could put golf cart batteries in the lockers under the > settees (would make maintenance a treat), but I don't mind (too much) > having them stashed under the galley - access through the lazarette is > sometimes difficult. > > Harold Beer > Arcturus > Cal 2-27 >

On my Cal227 I use marine batteries that have high CCA's rather than deep cycle, the size is the biggest that will fit in the allocated space under the cockpit floor. The position of the batteries was changed near the end of the production run, it is virtually inaccessible. A friend with an older 227 unbolted the stove so that it could be lifted out giving easy access to the batteries. John B CAL 227 #650 From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Harold Beer Sent: Monday, September 03, 2012 10:17 AM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: [Cal_Boats] Re: Battery size I've got a Cal 2-27 - and your battery choice depends on how you use your boat. If you mainly day sail from a slip with shorepower, you might make one choice; whereas, if you sail mainly at night, with a lot of electronics, you'll probably want batteries with more capacity. So what does this Cal sailor have? A pair of group 24 (that's a size) deep-cycle lead acid batteries from Interstate - they are just about done, being eight years old - carefully topped up with water, not over-charged - even still, 18 hours of sailing will flatten them both. I guess you could put golf cart batteries in the lockers under the settees (would make maintenance a treat), but I don't mind (too much) having them stashed under the galley - access through the lazarette is sometimes difficult. Harold Beer Arcturus Cal 2-27

Harold, When I bought Magic, the PO had two group 24's installed on a 1/2/both battery switch. They were both dead. Looking at replacements, I went with two group 27's (dual-purpose). When they finally gave it up, I put in two group 31's (deep cycle). They are wet/flooded batteries. I check them regularly and top off with distilled water. We have a ProSport 12 to keep them charged. While we do race Magic on a regular basis, the additional weight is minimal. Besides, with the size of my crew, I don't think it makes much difference. We also cruise southeast Florida and the Bahamas, so the added power available is welcome. If we were only day sailing Magic, I would probably just have one small battery to crank the diesel. Michael s/v Magic, Cal 2-27 #627 Pompano Beach, FL From: Harold Beer <ha… [at] yahoo.com> To: "Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> Sent: Monday, September 3, 2012 10:16 AM Subject: [Cal_Boats] Re: Battery size I've got a Cal 2-27 - and your battery choice depends on how you use your boat. If you mainly day sail from a slip with shorepower, you might make one choice; whereas, if you sail mainly at night, with a lot of electronics, you'll probably want batteries with more capacity. So what does this Cal sailor have? A pair of group 24 (that's a size) deep-cycle lead acid batteries from Interstate - they are just about done, being eight years old - carefully topped up with water, not over-charged - even still, 18 hours of sailing will flatten them both. I guess you could put golf cart batteries in the lockers under the settees (would make maintenance a treat), but I don't mind (too much) having them stashed under the galley - access through the lazarette is sometimes difficult. Harold Beer Arcturus Cal 2-27