The welcoming sight of a green light signalling all systems are as they should be working properly! – Live Sail Die

The second lockdown project, to install a Mastervolt Battery Mate 1602, has also had a successful outcome. This might sound like it should be a given but far from it! When you remove numerous cables and old componentry from the system and replace it with the latest do everything and do it very efficiently technology, theres a moment of apprehension when it comes time to firing everything into life especially for your average DIY boat sparky with his freshly minted Google.com degree.

As mentioned in a previous article, all the heavy cabling was custom-made by chance just prior to lockdown, and fortunately the cable lengths were correct get that wrong and the project becomes an unwelcome reinstallation back to the old system whilst waiting for our new world to unfold.

With this project, a deeper level of understanding was needed to know exactly what powers what and why. Typical of a 30-year-old Kiwi yacht, there was no wiring diagram; hence the need to identify and document the main cable lines and then interpret what it all meant which called for professional advice.

After years of electrical repairs, add-ons and patches, marine electrician Volker Stobbe from Enertec Marine Ltd was quick to point out that at least 30% of the existing wiring was redundant or inefficient. He recommended installing a Battery Mate 1602 which would cure a multitude of sins and efficiently manage the charging and isolating of the independent battery systems, in this case the crank and house.

When you research the capability of this background component relative to cost (NZD $285), its an easy upgrade to consider.

The Battery Mate 1602 has several intelligent features including isolators that divide the charge current with minimal energy loss; theyre compatible with any alternator or charging source and are a reliable battery isolator for different battery banks that function independently when powering the 12v or 24v consumers. Mastervolt has a comprehensive range of battery isolators or combiners for any vessel system size.

The combination of a Mastervolt BattMan Pro battery monitor and the Battery Mate 1602 will provide any boat owner with the ultimate protection for their electrical assets (batteries). Although theres no data-driven proof of the performance gain from the old to the new set-up, experience and intuition indicates the batteries are now charging to capacity faster, saving engine hours, fuel and time.

These before and after photos illustrate the complexity that can build up over the years with different technicians working on an electrical system with no wiring diagram and maybe the odd shell be right shortcut.

The image above also shows the backing mount (top right) shovel-ready, to coin a phrase, for the next project to install a shore-powered battery charger and, you guessed it, a Mastervolt ChargeMaster 12/25-3.

When it comes to electrical boat projects, installing shore power goes to a whole new level after all, youre blending both AC and DC power systems on a boat and in a marine environment; for this yachtie, its a job best left to the professionals. A shore-power installation requires the right advice, careful planning, following the regulatory framework, and a dedicated budget to get the job done and done correctly anything less will be problematic. It may pay to also build in capacity to add solar or wind at a later date if required.

Ideally, at this point the objective is to balance the entire electrical system so that it remains trouble-free, provide a return on investment (expense) and serve your boating needs for at least another ten years.

Far from professional however, if no wiring diagram exists, its a valuable exercise to chart how the electrical system on your boat ticks before planning any level of upgrade.

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The welcoming sight of a green light signalling all systems are as they should be working properly! - Live Sail Die