PROJECT BOAT RESTORATION Power management

Ali Wood gets some expert advice from Ecobat on setting up a sensible battery charging regime

- Ali Wood

Now we’d decided on batteries for Maximus the next conundrum was how to keep those batteries charged. Premier Marinas had kindly offered us a berth at Chichester Marina for the summer, to be followed afterwards with a berth at MDL’s Cobbs Quay marina in Poole. Both marinas have excellent facilities, including shorepower, so that’s what we’d use initially to top-up the batteries, but for cruising – and for our eventual home on a mooring – we needed to get it right.

There’s a bit of a balancing act when it comes to battery capacity. Too little capacity, or ‘storage’, and you’ll have to constantly recharge batteries. However, if your batteries are too powerful, or have too much capacity for your charging system, you’ll never be able to fully charge them, which will shorten their life.

Lead carbon batteries can withstand a lower depth of discharge than most other battery types but would still need some looking after.

I met up with Peter Kennedy from Ecobat. Peter has worked in the business of battery management for 40 years. If anyone could give me advice, it was him.

“Unless you’re using the boat on a daily basis, or are connecting to shorepower, you need to think carefully about charging,” said Peter. “If you leave a lead acid battery it discharges and becomes sulfated. You can’t recharge it. If you’re using lithium, however, you can run it down to almost empty and leave it there.”