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From: (no name) (no email)
Date: Thu Sep 30 2004 - 03:20:51 EDT
When we had the trawler with 120 Lehmans, I used a big golf cart bank, 2 8d's
for engine starting, propane for fridge and hot water heater (instant on) big
powerline alternator crank pulley driven on one engine for the battery bank,
external regulator, link 1000 to watch it all, original small alternators went
to the engine start batteries; worked link a charm. No genset required.
New boat different story; Huge AC side by side fridge with water and ice in
the door; water maker; 3 reverse cycle air conditioners; freezer, two ice
makers. egads. 15kw Nothern lights, previous owner ran the generator 24/7 no
inverter.
We did the following: 3k Invertor/130 amp charger; Link 1000, 6 new tall golf
carts like 1100 amps plus total; the old Newmar 60 amp or so dumb charger is
still there for back up but not used. The new style tall golfcarts are, I
think, 375 amps a pair, and if height is not a problem, 3 pair fit the same foot
print as a pair of 8D's.
We got rid of the small alternators on the 3208 Cats, got, and just recently,
and they work super great, 100 amp alternators from Battery Shack in Florida;
before the big alternators with everything running off the invertor, the old
alternators could not keep up; with the new, we cruise along with the genset
off, and the 100 amp alternators keep up completely; Link shows float when we
stop. the Battery Shack units have been modified by them to sense how much to
put out and work sort of like bulk/acceptance/float.....sort of....close enough
anyway; I've never looked at output from them on the link1000 with the bank
down 500 amps out of 1l00 plus, but I have no doubt they could bring the whole
bank up in relatively short order, good backup.
Got to run the genset when we make water and charge up the bank. 6 hrs a day
is about what it takes; also when running the air conditioners or heat. We are
putting a good load on the genset with the watermaker on and the invertor
charging at bulk, and water heater on.
Genset also required for using burners on electric stove; invertor can handle
everything else, simultaneously, if necessary, including microwave, hair
dryers, espresso machine, coffee pot all the big power eaters.
We use a battery combiner, so the charge goes first to the pair of 8D's that
we have for engine starting, then to the golf cart bank. The Link 1000 can
tell us the volts on each bank; the total amps out tells us when to start
thinking about charging the golf carts.
New boat is a much bigger deal with a lot more stuff than the trawler; so all
of the above makes sense. I am told that 6 hrs of run time on the genset to
get it all done everyday is a pretty balanced set up.
If I did not have the air conditioning and the water maker and the big dumb
refrigerator, I could make a good argument for my old trawler set up without
the generator. For back up and general great to have item; I have seen a lot of
those little 2kw Honda units, they are way less than a thousand dollars and so
quiet you cannot believe it; you have to carry gas for it but they really do
the job; with one of those and a good bank and alternator set up a lot of
money to be saved.
We also ran a lot of new battery cable bc the old was undersized, put digital
tachs on too; it took some time to do all this, but it was fun planning it
all out and getting it all done. We were on a mooring in Avalon, Catalina
Island Calif for 4 weeks in August and it all worked as it was supposed to; thanks
for all the info from the list over the past several years. John
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