Outback VFX3232M

[Photolomy]

Fyi, Outback no longer makes the 32v inverter and they have no remaining stock.

 

[Photolomy]

For those using Victron, how many 12v batteries are you generally using?

 

[Pascal]

It depends on what you’re going to run and how long. I used to have a 12v inverter with 8 6 volts golf cart batteries and would get 15 to 18 hours mostly for an older 18cuft fridge feeezer and a few lights (incandescent back then). Haven’t installed a New inverter yet but will probably use the same number of batteries which with a new “green” fridge, LEDs etc should give more time

 

[Photolomy]

Fridge, TVs, ice maker, Some lighting. Usage pattern is mainly dock-to-dock with some anchoring. If anchored in the winter then no AC and we could use it overnight, else, gen and AC will be on.

I was hoping to leverage the alternators (dock-to-dock), but now looks like I will be going 24v.

I am thinking 5 to 10 amps for that stuff, and thinking about going with 4 Victron 165AH batteries, to keep the weight down, and they will probably last for a long time given the low cycles I expect to use.

I will get in touch with Scott.

 

[dastahl]

I don't know how far along you are, but I've heard you can use an Outback 48 volt inverter by adjusting its control board down to the 32 volt requirements. Also related hearsay that a bad 32 volt board that fails sometimes can be fixed with 48 volt board. I got this from a good source so it would worth calling g them.
Good luck.
Skooch

 

[Scarlett]

The guys at Outback are really good to deal with and I bet if you called them they would still custom make a 32 volt unit, and when I say custom make I mean just put one together. I understand that the 32 volt units were all put together on an as ordered basis and were not sitting on a shelf ready to ship. John

 

[Boatsb]

Time to join the present. The 32 volt systems of the past will not give you a good return on any investment.

The LiFePo batteries are a century or more modern than the old lead acid batteries.

Charge efficiency in far better. Charge loss over time is next to nothing. Capacity is far better for both size and weight and the life expectancy is about 10x the number of cycles.

If you want add a second alternator on an engine to keep the bank charged when cruising without the generator running.

 

[Photolomy]

I did talk with a salesperson, and it does appear that they are done with them. But I will follow up about using the 48v model.

 

[sixty]

I called last week to see if parts support will still be available for my 2 3232's but never received a call back from tech support. If i hear from them i will report in this thread. I love my outbacks.

 

[Photolomy]

Time to join the present. The 32 volt systems of the past will not give you a good return on any investment.

The LiFePo batteries are a century or more modern than the old lead acid batteries.

Charge efficiency in far better. Charge loss over time is next to nothing. Capacity is far better for both size and weight and the life expectancy is about 10x the number of cycles.

If you want add a second alternator on an engine to keep the bank charged when cruising without the generator running.

I have to agree with you regarding 32v. Mainly because of the lack of availability of 32v systems. The ability to throw a 32v inverter downstairs and be up and running, without adding batteries or an extra alternator, is appealing. But that was yesterday.

Given the lower price of a Victron compared to the deprecated Outback, the additional cost of adding a set of (lead) batteries is not that much, and 450 lbs of extra weight isn't a deal breaker. Plus, you gain a lot more wattage capacity, unless you plan on running your starting bank dead.

I am sure LiFePo makes sense when the cycle count is high, but in my case, it will not be high enough to justify LiFePo. My batteries will not die of cycle count, they will die of old age.

 

[Photolomy]

My plan thus far ...

3000w Victron, 24v (or 48v?), Inverter/Charger
4 x 12v 200AH AGM Deep Cycle Batteries
Remote at helm next to my generator remote

I still need to look at how to wire this in. My breakers are on two legs. How can you supply power from a single 120v inverter to both legs? I don't mind turning off the high load stuff when on inverter, we do that anyways, prior to disconnecting shore power. So I don't need to rewire the breakers for that.

 

[Glory]

I switched to 12 volt, everything except for the Windlass, it is 24 volt, about 11 maybe 12 years ago, and there was some pushback here. I will never hump a 8D 8volt battery again. I recently replaced a shower sump, the entire sump for $40, that would be $100+ just for the pump in 32 volt.

12 or 24 volt is the way to go, I recommend 12 volt there are more 12 components than ever. Even something a common as a bilge pump is harder to find in 32 volt today.

 

[Photolomy]

I switched to 12 volt, everything except for the Windlass, it is 24 volt, about 11 maybe 12 years ago, and there was some pushback here. I will never hump a 8D 8volt battery again. I recently replaced a shower sump, the entire sump for $40, that would be $100+ just for the pump in 32 volt.

12 or 24 volt is the way to go, I recommend 12 volt there are more 12 components than ever. Even something a common as a bilge pump is harder to find in 32 volt today.

I just bought a 32v Rule bilge pump. All of that stuff still seems to be available fine. Not really a comparison between adding something new, that doesn't have to be 32v versus replacing $1000's worth of existing stuff and wire that doesn't have to be replaced. I understand the urge, and if you have the $$$, no problem.

 

[Glory]

I think buying and handling 8 volt batteries would a decent argument, especially if plan to have the boat for a while. Just my thoughts.

 

[Boatsb]

Theres all kinds of options. 12 and 24 volt being the most common.

As for batteries look at the comparison of 2 x 160 AH LiFePo giving about 240 usable compared to 4 x 100 AH AGM batteries yielding 200 usable AH.

LiFePo will give 10x the cycle life and charge much faster. Also will not require to be fully recharged without loosing life expectancy.

A customers wife did the mathematics a while back and said go with the LiFePo because the cost of the AGM at the first change out was almost a wash.

 

[Pascal]

As I have mentioned a few times in the past, I am not a fan of adding an inverter without a separate bank. Indeed batteries aren’t that expensive and the weight isn’t an issue on a 53.

First all, on most older hatts the house bank shares duty with one of the engines which isn’t ideal. Yes you can parallel but why loose redundancy. Second your house bank also powers critical things like heads and bilge pumps. You don’t want to loose that. This is especially true with automatic inverters that will kick in if shorepower is lost.

I would go with 24v not 12v as you can run slightly longer DC cables.

Most larger inverters have dual input and dual output so you send two 120v feeds to two legs on your panel.

Having two input lines is important ao you can send a full 30amp to charge on one input and still have a full 30 amp pass thru on the other.

Yes you could power both 120v legs and manually turn off the high loads breakers you don’t want to use on inverter like washing machine, water heater, battery charger etc. this is ok if you set up the inverter to be manually selected just like another source. If you use the pass thru and automatic transfer switch feature you will be limited to the typically 30amp the inverter can handle. This will cause a bottle neck... if you are going to use the built transfer switches you will need to split your legs between inverter powered and non inverter powered so that only the inverter powered circuit go thru the inverter. Unless the inverter has 50amp pass thru.

 

[jim rosenthal]

On modern boats, do they have one starting bank which starts both engines and a separate house bank, or do they have a starting bank for each engine, PLUS a separate house bank? And, I assume in either case, a separate battery for the generator set or sets, each.

 

[sixty]

The two legs in your panel are each fed from a single line of 240v to neutral. In order to keep this functioning you will need a 240v inverter and use a 120v transformer to "create" the neutral leg. this will be complicated especially if you already have an isolation transformer on board doing the same thing. Alternately you could relocate the circuits you want on the inverter to one leg of the 240v and feed just that leg with 120v from the inverter.

There are tons of options and all seem to be compromise.

My plan thus far ...

3000w Victron, 24v (or 48v?), Inverter/Charger
4 x 12v 200AH AGM Deep Cycle Batteries
Remote at helm next to my generator remote

I still need to look at how to wire this in. My breakers are on two legs. How can you supply power from a single 120v inverter to both legs? I don't mind turning off the high load stuff when on inverter, we do that anyways, prior to disconnecting shore power. So I don't need to rewire the breakers for that.

View attachment 40959

 

[sixty]

32v inverter system made sense in my situation as I upgraded my batteries from flooded to AGM for less than the cost of flooded. They are much smaller batteries so I have room to double my capacity with the factory battery boxes. The old sentry charger could not charge AGM's so I needed a new charger which was going to run about $2k at the time. Two Outbacks were $2800 shipped so that made sense and WAAAAAAAY less expensive than adding a whole new bank, with inverters and alternators.

The Outbacks are very smart and send me an email whenever there is an issue. This along with my cameras help me keep tabs on my boat from 500 miles away.

I just bought a 32v Rule bilge pump. All of that stuff still seems to be available fine. Not really a comparison between adding something new, that doesn't have to be 32v versus replacing $1000's worth of existing stuff and wire that doesn't have to be replaced. I understand the urge, and if you have the $$$, no problem.

 

[sixty]

Theres all kinds of options. 12 and 24 volt being the most common.

As for batteries look at the comparison of 2 x 160 AH LiFePo giving about 240 usable compared to 4 x 100 AH AGM batteries yielding 200 usable AH.

LiFePo will give 10x the cycle life and charge much faster. Also will not require to be fully recharged without loosing life expectancy.

A customers wife did the mathematics a while back and said go with the LiFePo because the cost of the AGM at the first change out was almost a wash.

What would be a good budget for LiFePo with 200AH at 24v along with an inverter in the 6kw range? Can a standard marine type alternator charge the LiFePo, or do you need to add charging circuitry?

There is no comparison between LiFePo and lead acid. LiFePo will way outlast and out perform Lead acid. Only advantage lead acid would have would be lower cost. I'm curious to see the math.