Electrical Capacity for 460/450 Boats

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Richard Owen

I need to hear the experience of owners who have the Grunnert 110V refrigeration compressors. We found that the system on our 460 was actually quite efficient - it ran for about 20 min. at a time and there were 4-5 hrs between cycles if the fridge was accessed infrequently. keep in mind that we sail in Canada - west coast so the water isn't that warm, and the weather on this trip was pretty good for this area - up into the 80's most days. Anyway, the total usage was about 2 hrs per day at an average of 70 amp hours which is about 140 amp hours per day. Add to this the other uses and I think 200 A/H per day is pretty easy to get to if you aren't being stingy. The alternator is 140A but realistically puts out about 100, so that means running for 2 hrs a day to keep up. The problem is in good sailing weather, we go sailing. And sometimes we want to sit around for a few days in calm weather. Neither of these is conducive to battery re-charging. We also don't like sitting at anchor with the engine running. So, is a generator normally being installed on these boats? Has anyone tried one of these 12V diesel chargers? Do they work OK? Thanks in advance. ROwen
 
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Mark Johnson

460 Refer

Richard: Posted an answer to your question on another post before I saw this one. There is as you know a tremdous draw when the refer kicks in. If the batteries aren't charged up we get a battery overload on the Heart battery status board and the inverter shuts down. As I said we get 12 to 14 hours before this occurs. We do have the 8KW generator so we run it for one hour in the morning and 1 hour while we are preparing diner. Its very quite in the cockpit and not at all bothersome. It also gives us lots of hot water and seems to do a far superior job of charging the batteries than running the main engine does. MPJ
 
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Richard Owen

460 BATTERIES

Mark: I read your reply re:battery connections. Our boat has had the original batteries removed and 6 golf cart batteries installed (700 A/H) so I think our problem is similar to what you encounter except I think we could probably run for a full day without re-charge. The problem then is: if we haven't planned to run the diesel for 3 hours to get the capacity back, you have to either run it at anchor (ugh) or while sailing (double ugh). I think the generator is a great idea. Is yours in behind the diesel? Is it sound-proofed? I suppose it must be a lot quieter than running the engine - correct? I am thinking about a Panda but the high cost has me hesitating. Will probably do it anyway since there seems to be no point in stopping the equipment thing just one step short of complete. ROwen
 
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Mark Johnson

460 Generator

Our 460 came with the Northern Lights 8KW generator. I think your choice of the Panda is a good one. They are more expensive than most but I'm told they are smaller and much more quite. Ours is installed right behind the main engine. It is insulated pretty well, but is still pretty loud in the aft stateroom, but in the cockpit you feel no vibration and it can barely be heard. This 460 is probably going to be our last sail boat, so we decided to get all the "toys" heat, A/C, generator, etc. I would be interested in comparing notes with other 460 owners to see what items were on their "punch list". My list is a couple of pages long, but we are checking some items off and adding others. MPJ
 
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David Wichmann

Fscher-Panda Generator on our 450

We have a P450 (#41). We installed a Fischer-Panda 6.4kW in the standard area just forward of the engine compartment. It is by far the quietest genset we have ever heard, and normal converstaion in the main salon is not disturbed in the least. The 6.4 will run everything, including the A/C, refer, microwave, and even the washer/dryer. There is a little vibration in the boat, but it is not bothersome or much noticeable. Actually the exhaust is the loudest part of the system. The water pressure pump is louder inside than the generator. Now, having given you the good part, it's time for the bad. The first two times we were at anchor, it quit on us. The first time appeared to be installation of the new unit. The last time looks, at the moment, to be the control panel circuit board. But we won't be sure until Hunter replaces our fuel tank (see our post on the collapse thereof) and we can run it. We do have abut 150 hours on it. If they can fix the bugs, we will be happy with it. But one more failure and they will be replacing it. Someone mentioned their Heart inverter. We have the Freedom 2000 that came from Hunter. We will NEVER again buy Heart. Their service sucks and the unit broke a little over a year later.
 
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