12V Battery Management: Seastar EPS—Electric Steering Actuators

[Sharphooks]

I was wondering if anyone out there has switched over to electric steering actuators and if so, how do you manage 12V power consumption when trolling?

I have twin Suzukis, each of which is steered by a Seastar (now, Dometic) electric actuator (EPS)

Here’s the issue: each actuator is wired to its respective Suzuki starter battery for power. According to Dometic’s spec sheet, the average current draw is 8 Amps per actuator , with a ”peak” draw of 40 amps per actuator

The guy I bought the boat from did not own a kicker motor—-he trolled on the big Suzukis....so you can guess—-the power consumption of the EPS actuators was constantly being managed by the two Suzuki alternators

I bought the boat last summer and being a kicker kind of guy, mounted a Suzuki 9.9 and tied it in to the Dometic EPS steering system with a tie bar

My favorite type of fishing is to overnight on the hook on the fishing grounds, wake up a O-dark-thirty, fire up the coffee, then fire up the kicker and start fishing

So I did that twice last summer, two days in a row and what happened? I did not know at the time that the EPS actuators were hooked up to the starter batteries (duh...) and after two straight days of EPS actuator use (steering the Suzuki kicker while trolling) , the starter battery’s voltage dropped below 12V and I lost not only steering capabilities, but I also lost fly-by-wire so I couldn’t shift the twin Suzuki’s into gear. They would run, but I was effectively dead in the water

So the question is: how does one safely operate under those conditions without running up the operating hours on the twin Suzukis?

I bought the kicker to keep hours off the big Suzukis...but now it appears that if I don’t run the mains, I run the risk of being dead in the water from EPS power draw

Yes, I have a Blue Sea ACR.
Yes, I have a house battery (I have the mega-deep cell 4D installed.......
Yes, I have the option to switch the battery switches to “Both”

What would you do in those circumstances? I’m thinking of maybe mounting a solar panel on the wheelhouse roof but that’s not a project I want to do right away and I’m not sure what size panel would be able to keep up with the twin EPS actuator power draw

Speaking of putting a battery switch on “Both”, when specifically should I be doing that? Just when I troll???? The Suzuki kicker alternator definitely will not make up for the EPS power draw So if switched to “Both”, wouldn’t I then be running the risk of pulling down voltage in not only the starter batteries but also the 4D house battery???

Any comments on how to handle this situation?

thanks!!

 

[ericl]

Are the steering actuators part of the Suzuki install or are they aftermarket?
The reason I ask is if their wiring is integrated into the Suzuki starting/charging wiring, then you most likely cannot separate them out to be powered by the house battery.
Starting batteries are not made to be discharged without replacing the discharge rapidly; the timeframe is probably minutes versus hours/days. Your current starting batteries will probably fail prematurely. FYI a 12 volt battery that measures an actual 12 volts is dead; it should measure 12.7 or more.
You will need to determine the amp hour capacity of each starting battery, add them together then multiply my 2 to determine how big a house battery you need for this load alone (in addition to that required my electronics/downriggers, etc. You need to multiply by 2 because you should not be discharging a deep cycle battery less than 50% of capacity without a full recharge.

 

[Sharphooks]

The actuators were part of the install—boat was manufactured in 2020 with the actuators as OEM. My plan is to maybe disconnect the actuators from the starter batteries (cranking batteries) and connect them to a deep cycle/starter battery combo that can perhaps withstand the constant current draw, then maybe fire up the Suzukis from time to time..not my first choice but better then being dead in the water due to battery beat down

 

[mikep]

2nd dedicated helm for the kicker. No tie bar. Can be a problem with the mercury power steering setup and kickers as well.

 

[Sharphooks]

That’s a good suggestion, mikep...after alot of thought, I was considering the following:

1)) wire trace to determine which of the two starter batteries powers the Dometic actuators
2)) Replace that starter battery with a combo Deep Cycle/Starter with minimum 100 AH
3)) Fire up the SUzuki powered by the Dual Purpose replacement every hour or so while trolling

The problem with isolating steering stations on the boat I have: both steering stations are hooked up to the Optimus 360 joystick system, as well as Seastation. Separating them while keeping the remaining electronics intact and operable is beyond my pay grade

Also, there is not a drop of hydraulic fluid in my boat. Disconnecting the kicker from the tie bar means I’d have to install its own cable steering or hydraulic steering. It’s doable but daunting, especially with all the electronic wiring that would have to be modified

 

[mikep]

It's a single ram, 2 hoses and a helm, fairly easy swap. Find a nice place at the stern for a small wheel. Sounds pretty impressive setup with that steering setup. Otherwise it's a bunch of batteries to make it all work. All that being said how many hours do you troll/year? If it trolls slow enough on the big power then ditch the kicker and just use the mains.

 

[doug78]

What battery is the kicker hooked up to? What kind of batteries?

A solar set up will help, but to get 20 amps of output your going to need a 300 watt panel and good sun. I have two 295 watt panels on my travel trailer and get nearly 40 amps in full sun if I run the inverter hard. On cloudy days you would likely want to run a big motor once and a while.

 

[Sharphooks]

I have two INterstate starter batteries...800 CCA and a 4D deep cycle

Kicker is wired into the set of batteries via ACR

I’m thinking of swapping out both INterstate Starters and replacing with two Group31 Dual Purpose batteries with 100 AH and see if that solves the draw-down of thoise two actuators.

I’m thinking no matter what I do (aside from disconnecting the kicker from the actuator tie-bar and installing separate steering) is I’ll have to fire up and troll on the BF200’s from time to time throughout the day