It could go in the starboard lazarette - easy direct wire to the batteries, a little challenge to connect the A/C, but possibly not entirely out of the weather. The other choice is to put it by the A/C panel, wire it to the panel and for the DC run the connection to the battery 1-2 switch. Some tight runs and possibly a knee banger in the quarter berth. Opinions or other suggestions?
Jon,
I opened the link you provided and the ad says it’s 100% waterproof so why are you worried about mounting it near the battery in the Lazarette?
Respect your knees. They will hopefully last a lifetime. Nice charger however.
Brian
I started this conversation with myself so that I could take several screen shots of using emails to mimic how Google does things. I want to lay to rest any concerns about using Discourse via emails. Your advice is a bonus. Installing it in the lazarette will be easier.
You must be in mailing list mode to have seen the post so quickly…
Since it has buttons and indicator lights, I’d put where it near is easy to see an touch. Maybe near your other systems ?
I’ve found it handy to have Soave’s remote charger panel next to the DC panel. It’s the thing with the green lights in the photo. Especially, in the winter when working on Soave I can top off the batteries while I work. I usually run a 15 A. cord from the nearest power station, which unfortunately is about 100’ from Soave’s spot in the yard.
That’s a nice setup, but in a 26 the space you have to work with is much more limited. A third option, close to the DC circuit panel, would be on the wall on the back side of the water heater, but that makes the wire runs for both the DC (to the 1-2 switch) and the AC (to the breaker panel) connections longer than the current wires on the unit. I’d like to avoid splicing, especially in areas that are hard to access. The visibility from the other two choices is not bad.
The remaining issue is that the maintainer will be the sixth wire running to the battery screw post. OK - the bilge pump, my USB charger and now the maintainer. What would those other 3 wires be…? Maybe the radio, but that had to be rewired anyway… It looks like I’ll have to squeeze in a pair of distribution blocks someplace reachable by the wires running to battery #1.
