Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Re: [Electric Boats] newbie charging question

 

I would like to piggy back on this conversation.  I have been lurking on this group for years, but didn't convert the boat until last summer, so that makes me a newbie, right?

I have installed the Thunderstruck 10kw system in my Pearson 30 (30 feet loa, 9.5 foot beem 8300 lbs displacement, sail boat).  I have been running off 4 Interstate Group 27 batteries with a rating of 88 AHrs and charging with a 15 amp 48v charger that I bought from Thunderstruck (non-marine), using a Wen 1500/1800w open frame generator (not the quietest thing in the world, but what do you want for $160 on Amazon).

Clearly a battery bank upgrade is in order.  I am torn between adding a second bank of smaller AGMs, so I can put them back in the inaccessible area where the gas tank was and don't have to work about checking fluid levels, or replacing the whole thing with 230 amp, 6v, golf cart batteries.  If I add the AGMs, I would switch between the 2 banks.  If I do the 6v batteries, I would just have a single bank.  Opinions?

I would like to add solar panels.  I am on a mooring.  I was going to install 2 rigid, 24v panels and a Midnight Solar Kid controller.  The panels may take a couple of days to recover the power used, but I'm okay with that.  I mostly day sail on the weekends with an occasional longer cruise.

I would also like to upgrade my plug in charger to a marine grade charger.  Any suggestions?  I would prefer to charge the bank as a single unit.  The Noco Genius charger appears to want to charge 4 batteries with 12v each instead of charging a 48v bank (or am I wrong about that).

Also, I am thinking about upgrading my prop over the winter.  I currently have a (if I remember right) 12x8 Gori folding prop.  I know I can swing a couple more inches diameter, and I would like to get a little something from the regeneration capabilities of the Sevcon Gen4 controller.  Yes, I know it won't be as much as expended and I don't want to get into a big discussion about how disappointing regen is.  I'm just looking for a good prop calculator.  The current prop was previously attached to the Atomic 4 and drove the boat just fine for getting in and out of harbor.

Thanks,
Jeff
 
------------------------------------------------------------------ | Jeff Griglack "Blithe Spirit" P-30 #182 ------------------------------------------------------------------ | "Don't take life so serious, son, it ain't nohow permanent" | - Walt Kelly ------------------------------------------------------------------


On Thursday, September 22, 2016 3:41 PM, "'Dan Hennis' dhennis@centurytel.net [electricboats]" <electricboats@yahoogroups.com> wrote:




Fumeless,
Your questions are good.  I would rather answer 10 "over-thought" questions, than repair one under-thought accident. 
 
The "smart" chargers you may be referring to, monitor the power in milliseconds and adjust to a "sync" point in less than a second, ... usually.  I have seen this on land-based home systems where there are 3 entirely different power inputs.  The short non-PC answer is: they are "Conservative" chargers and do the job without getting in the way of the others, and not asking needless questions only to offer useless answers...  Sorry, I had to interject a bit of political humor.  "Dumb" chargers are far less available in these systems, and even they can have a tendency to sync with the rest of the system.  Your best money will be to talk to an experienced installer.  I see all too often, DIYers and the other less experienced, clutter the systems up with needless components that really only serves to weigh the boat down.  That is my two-bits worth, and it is worth just what you paid for it.
Dan
 
 
 
Sent: Wednesday, September 21, 2016 7:51 PM
Subject: Re: [Electric Boats] newbie charging question
 
 
Ok, thanks all.
Filtering all the feedback, I get the takeaway that my setup should be fine, but I need to turn off the solar system when using the AC charger (dockside or generator).
That being the answer, I should better restate the question: These charge controllers (solar and AC) both try to do "Charge profiles" where they hold higher voltages for a period of time and then float them. It seems as if two chargers doing that at the same time would confuse each other possibly resulting in over charging or potential degradation of battery life. Similarly the chargers could gen confused in their charge profiles if they are trying to detect charge profile transitions while I am simultaneously varying the power to the drive motor (or getting a slight regen from the motor while the solar system is trying to charge).
Apparently other members have not observed any such problems, so I am just overthinking it.

Westerly Renown 32'
10KW Motenergy ME1115
48V Sevcon Gen-4 450Amp
2:1 belt drive, 3 blade 14x11 prop
4x4D 200AHr AGM
Noco Genius4 AC charger
5x100w panels, Victron BlueSolar 150/35 MPPT




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Posted by: Jeffrey Griglack <griglack@yahoo.com>
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