Rick,
Your O'Day should be able to handle the weight of the batteries. There are systems out there at 48 volts to 72 volts that will work for your boat. That relates to 512 to 768 lbs of AGM battery weight. That weight can be carried low and centered which is a plus when converting to electric propulsion - it gives you the flexibility of positioning the batteries where the weight is best positioned. Lithium batteries are great for weight, but pricey still. I've been hearing though that we can begin to see prices on these batteries coming down in the next few years which is fantastic news for all of us wanting to convert to electric and save weight! We have a Moody 376 that we will be converting and we are looking forward to being able to use Lithium, but will probably start out with AGM's. Also, since we will be cruising we are adding a genset along with our system.
There is a lot of information on this forum, and also a number of companies offering good drop in systems. Take the time to compare and ask a lot of questions. Good luck and have fun! You're one of the pioneers!
Sally
On Wed, Apr 13, 2011 at 4:56 PM, aweekdaysailor <aweekdaysailor@yahoo.com> wrote:
Hi Rick,
See if this helps:
https://sites.google.com/site/electricboating/Home
Much depends on where and how you sail - read that section twice! :)
Your boat is a little outside the "sweet spot" for a conversion using lead-acid batteries. The battery weight needed to run the motor you need (larger than my 6HP) will likely be too much to balance the weight coming out (your diesel/tank/hoses/etc). But, it's a great candidate for lithium-ion conversion (which is more expensive at first, but over time is actually about the same or a little less than lead-acid due to higher cycle life)
-Keith
--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, "SailorRick" <dickybrewer5@...> wrote:
>
> Hi everyone, I'm just curious if any of you can give me any tips on replacing my diesel motor with an electric, I'm wondering how feasible/affordable this is. I have a 37 foot O'day center cockpit sloop that needs a re-power. The 32 HP Universal Atomic Diesel motor is seized and I'm wondering if it would be possible to install an electric motor, where I would begin to look for such a motor, what size and weight I would be looking at etc... Any info would be helpful. I can rebuild or replace the diesel, but electric is appealing to me and I already have an 800 amp hour battery bank recharged by a kyocera solar panel with inline voltage regulator. I would probably have to add a diesel generator to accompany this set up. I've been looking and am trying to find good info on what the possiblities/limitations might be. I need to find out if it's possible to replace my current diesel motor with an electric - the motor I am thinking about replacing is a Universal Atomic 32 HP, four cylinder diesel, weighs about 400 pounds. Thanks and happy sailing! Ric
>
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