12V oulet. "heres MY plan" *mysterious DC stuff.

[Billfo]

ok, I want to add a 12V outlet specifically for a 4 cup 12V coffee pot. Naturally dont want a fire onboard or worse- an explosion. Here is my plan..

Check the amps drawn by the coffee pot (per manual) . Get a heavy enough 12V outlet and correct wire size per amp draw. Install an inline breaker or fuse for same wire size, connect to STARTING battery (since that is the only one that charges while running (on my boat anyway)..

Am I on the right track ? -or-
Should I use one wire size larger than amp rating for appliance and let the fuse protect the circuit?
Will this coffee maker kill my starting battery or it it ok to use WHILE the big motor is running only....

 

[JB]

Re: 12V oulet. "heres MY plan" *mysterious DC stuff.

I think you are on the right track, Bill.

It is important that the wire size is adequate for continuous current at the appliance load.

Compare alternator charging amps to the load amps. I think I would want the alternator charging while making coffee.

 

[chuckz]

Re: 12V oulet. "heres MY plan" *mysterious DC stuff.

If you don't have an alternator on your outboard, you will never get enough current from a stator system to make coffee without discharging the battery some. The reason for a house battery is so you don't kill your starting battery. Better to set-up the system so both batteries charge and use the house battery for all accessories.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: 12V oulet. "heres MY plan" *mysterious DC stuff.

Ummm --- if the alternator cannot keep the start battery charged after using the pot, what makes you think hooking two batteries to the charging system fixes that problem. It won't. The same amount of current needs to be replaced either way. Bill is on the right track.

 

[RickJ6956]

Re: 12V oulet. "heres MY plan" *mysterious DC stuff.

Bill,
Start making coffee now if you want some for your fishin' trip on Sunday.

Seriously, those coffeemakers take quite awhile to finish a pot. We had one that regularly took 45 minutes and dragged the electrical system down while doing it. We were afraid to make coffee without running the engine. (In fact, as I recall, the instruction manual said to run the engine.)

For the record, it worked on a standard cig lighter receptacle pulling about 14 amps. No special wiring needed.

 

[cedarjunki]

Re: 12V oulet. "heres MY plan" *mysterious DC stuff.

just make sure you use a good lighter receptacle and not the $2.00 accessory plugs!

 

[chuckz]

Re: 12V oulet. "heres MY plan" *mysterious DC stuff.

Silvertip, thats not what I said. The second battery is so you kill the house battery and not your starting battery. If properly installed, the batteries should be isolated from each other.

Also just using two batteries in parallel will help. By installing two batteries in parallel you have twice the amp hour capacity, assuming two identical batteries. However, I would never recommend this setup for other reasons.

 

[Billfo]

Re: 12V oulet. "heres MY plan" *mysterious DC stuff.

Bill,
We had one that regularly took 45 minutes and dragged the electrical system down while doing it.

Well THAT sucks..... I suppose I will HAVE to try anyway...

 

[ajgraz]

Re: 12V oulet. "heres MY plan" *mysterious DC stuff.

You could probably pull this off if you use a separate high-reserve capacity deep cycle battery for the coffee maker...and probably for nothing else.

Do you have a specific model in mind? Does it run on 12v DC or would you need to transform to AC first? How many amps (or watts) does it draw?

EDIT: I see you already have the coffee pot. How many amps/watts does it draw? How long does it take to make coffee?