No need to roll it just double it up. Rolling can work but it can also get messy if you're not careful.
If I had this stuff when I did my NFM's I would have never used the black stuff..
Got Questions? Ask Them Here.
- Thread starter Maine Sail
- Start date
If I had this stuff when I did my NFM's I would have never used the black stuff..
Ratcheting crimper vs. regular
Hello Maine Sail,
Need to put a crimped connector on #8 wire for my distribution panel. Cant seem to find anyone who rents a crimper that can handle the larger sizes. The wire is "IN" the boat and impractical to remove and take to a chandlery to do there. I'm stuck and without a connector the boat doesn't run.
Unless I do something like what was there before. This is the mess of connectors, tape and junk I pulled out from behind the panel. What we dont know wont hurt us right??????
NOT.
The big soldered mass in the center was the "Negative Bus" LOL
So it's time to invest in a new tool. I'm guessing this wont be the last time I need to make a big wire crimp. BTW the Ancor crimper from your crimper shootout seems to be working very well for smaller crimps. My hands get a little tired so I put some 3/4" pipe on the handles to give myself a little mechanical advantage and it is working like a charm as far as I can tell.
So the question is does a ratcheting crimper give much better performance than a non ratcheting one. I'm looking at the FTZ models. The cost differential is minor and I saw from an earlier post that you say this is an "acceptable" crimper.
SBO doesn't have one in stock and I was going to call K.L. Jack but before I do I want to know what to get.
Thanks for all your help.
John
Hello Maine Sail,
Need to put a crimped connector on #8 wire for my distribution panel. Cant seem to find anyone who rents a crimper that can handle the larger sizes. The wire is "IN" the boat and impractical to remove and take to a chandlery to do there. I'm stuck and without a connector the boat doesn't run.
Unless I do something like what was there before. This is the mess of connectors, tape and junk I pulled out from behind the panel. What we dont know wont hurt us right??????
NOT.
The big soldered mass in the center was the "Negative Bus" LOL
So it's time to invest in a new tool. I'm guessing this wont be the last time I need to make a big wire crimp. BTW the Ancor crimper from your crimper shootout seems to be working very well for smaller crimps. My hands get a little tired so I put some 3/4" pipe on the handles to give myself a little mechanical advantage and it is working like a charm as far as I can tell.
So the question is does a ratcheting crimper give much better performance than a non ratcheting one. I'm looking at the FTZ models. The cost differential is minor and I saw from an earlier post that you say this is an "acceptable" crimper.
SBO doesn't have one in stock and I was going to call K.L. Jack but before I do I want to know what to get.
Thanks for all your help.
John
Attachments
My FTZ lug crimper is NOT ratcheting. I prefer a non-ratcheting lug crimper as you often find you need to re-orient the handles or position while working on a boat... Trust me you know when the crimp is complete with these crimpers...Hello Maine Sail,
Need to put a crimped connector on #8 wire for my distribution panel. Cant seem to find anyone who rents a crimper that can handle the larger sizes. The wire is "IN" the boat and impractical to remove and take to a chandlery to do there. I'm stuck and without a connector the boat doesn't run.
Unless I do something like what was there before. This is the mess of connectors, tape and junk I pulled out from behind the panel. What we dont know wont hurt us right??????
NOT.
The big soldered mass in the center was the "Negative Bus" LOL
So it's time to invest in a new tool. I'm guessing this wont be the last time I need to make a big wire crimp. BTW the Ancor crimper from your crimper shootout seems to be working very well for smaller crimps. My hands get a little tired so I put some 3/4" pipe on the handles to give myself a little mechanical advantage and it is working like a charm as far as I can tell.
So the question is does a ratcheting crimper give much better performance than a non ratcheting one. I'm looking at the FTZ models. The cost differential is minor and I saw from an earlier post that you say this is an "acceptable" crimper.
SBO doesn't have one in stock and I was going to call K.L. Jack but before I do I want to know what to get.
Thanks for all your help.
John
Thanks so much. You just saved me $40.00 at least. If I'm ever in Maine.......... beers on me. I'm sure that's not the first time you've heard this.
Electromaax High Output Alternators(Advertised on this site). Are they a real competitor to Balmars market dominance? I have a Catalina 42 with stock Hitachi 80amp alt, presumably internal reg trying to keep charged 800AH battery bank. Not really an issue for PO as he was usually no far from shore power most of the time and when he was he fired up the Honda 2000i.
The boat is now about to depart with new owner, me, on a Pacific crossing to her new home in Australia. I won't have shore power( don't want it anyway) will be running the autopilot 24/7 plus all other onboard power requirements on long passages, I want and need a reliable charging system. Any thoughts please?
The boat is now about to depart with new owner, me, on a Pacific crossing to her new home in Australia. I won't have shore power( don't want it anyway) will be running the autopilot 24/7 plus all other onboard power requirements on long passages, I want and need a reliable charging system. Any thoughts please?
There is only one reliable offshore power generation system, a combination of wind and solar... Diesels can fail, water/dirt can get in the fuel her (or you just plain run out), water pumps can fail and send peaces into the engine causing overheating even with a new impeller installed... The only thing i would rely on offshore is wind and solar for charging.jamel said:
I know the captain of a hylas 70 on long island, he was coming back from the carribean when both his alternator and his generator failed about 4 or 5 days from land. Almost everything on that boat relies on hydraulics, and he has absolutely no alternative power generation. Had they met any rougher weather and taken 1 day longer to get back, they would of had to call the coastguard because they would have been dead in the water unable to operate any equipment on the boat, the furlers (every sail), even there steering is hydraulic...
That maybe a little extreme for your circumstances but it just goes to show your generators in your diesels can't fail at the same time leaving you stranded without any other power...
1. Yes, they are. Also, as Maine Sal has reported, Leece Neville makes alternators for Balmar. $200 vs. $600. Is the white paint on a Balmar worth $400? I doubt it. And Maine Sail has also written extensively about internal regulation being just fine for cruisers. Have you completed your Energy Budget yet to know how much power you'll need daily? You'll only your house bank between 50% and 80-85% SOC anyway, and that's a very, very good sized house bank. If you do #2 below, your existing alternator could be just fine.
2. Solar, solar, solar, then a towed generator and/or wind. For a Pacific crossing, it seems that one would need to have "invested" in the time to research/develop alternative energy sources by now. Perhaps "now about to depart" could mean anywhere from tomorrow to two months from now, I just don't know. Wish I was goin', too.
There are many many solar companies with very good websites, and for an array large enough for your needs, you will need a controller/regulator for your panels.Good luck. Fair winds and safe journey.
Yes Electromaax is a definite competitor and better in many regards. They actually wind their own stators and and rotors in house. They also DO NOT paint the cases so they dissipate heat considerably better than a powder coated or painted one does.
I have experienced numerous Balmar failures due to heat issues much of which can be mitigated with their temp sensors. I am visiting a boat later today with a dual output Balmar that will not put out anywhere near full current and it is suspected, by myself and Rich at Balmar, that the alt has over heated. The owner has consulted with Balmar already and it had no temp sensing and was feeding 440Ah's of AGM batteries..
Electromaax does not believe in temp sensing and does not even offer it on their regulators. Their failure rate is next to nil so why add alt temp sensing? Temps sensing, in their mind, robs you of alternator power you paid for. They also offer serpentine pulley kits which allow alternators up to 200A on a 4 rib belt all with less tension on the pulleys. With an 800Ah bank an 80A alt is not going to go a long way to restoring your energy use. even if those batteries are wet cell they can take about 200A of charge current. You'd be in bulk for a LOOOOONG time and may burn up that Hitachi...
You might want to consider the addition of wind and solar to supplement your system as well as LED nav lights and interior lighting. You would be well served to store anything that requires an inverter, for the crossing at least. Conservation can be the easiest way to limit needing thousands in charging upgrades..
If you think wind is reliable off shore, more so than a diesel, I would suggest that it may not be any more reliable, at least in my experience. Blades fly off (Talk to Tim R. about that), bearings fail (talk to Tim R. about that one too
), wires chafe, water gets into them etc. etc. Just last week I was talking with a couple from Europe on an HR and asking about their very quiet German built wind generator. It has been sent back to Germany three times on this trip alone, less than 16 month out. Some are more reliable than others but none are impervious.Solar is only as good as the installation and I have seen cases where green water has simply ripped the panels off by the roots. While solar is perhaps the simplest and most reliable you are probably not going to find enough real estate on a Catalina 42 to do much of anything but barely keep up, if that, with an 800Ah bank on an ocean crossing and a gen set with LARGE shore charger or diesel engine with large alternator are the best ways to get lots of current back into the batteries.
Obviously a combination of systems is best but I would hesitate to say any one is that much more reliable than another and well maintained diesel engines are about as reliable as it gets. My buddy Manny is a commercial fisherman and his Cat 3208 has 13k hours on it and he';s never once lost a day of fishing to a break down.. Our engine has 3300 hours and it to has been 100% reliable. Like anything they need to be maintained and I would guess the Hylass had not been as well maintained as it could have??
If crossing an ocean I'd have all four, gen, solar, wind and alternator but with an 800Ah bank solar and wind on a 42 footer will probably only scratch the surface, if he's really using that much energy that he needs an 800 Ah bank. Energy conservation would be my first approach and adding wind and or solar.. By adding wind and solar he could probably get by with the stock alt..
Clearly relying on any single type of charging system is a single point of failure and therefore most likely to fail when you need it the most. And the reason why I said wind and solar was in case one or the other failed, you still have at least 2 or more other means of charging your batteries...
As for the hylas, it is generally very well maintained, has a regular mechanic and captain, which are the only two to touch that boat aside from the owner, although neither of them are full time on that boat.... My only point in bringing that up is it sometimes things do fail unexpectedly and you need a backup.
As for the hylas, it is generally very well maintained, has a regular mechanic and captain, which are the only two to touch that boat aside from the owner, although neither of them are full time on that boat.... My only point in bringing that up is it sometimes things do fail unexpectedly and you need a backup.
Thanks Mainsail and all, I have no idea why 800AH, prehaps weekend warrior "wanted the lot"! I will be conserving power as much as possible, LED cabin lights will be joined by LED nav lights soon but auto pilot and fridge will work 24/7. At this point I'm leaning towards Eletromaax 200amp alt with external reg & sepentine belt/pulleys. Solar will be added in Australia.
Are Iota chargers marine grade? Not complaining but see less expensive verse Newmar or Charles brand chargers.
No they are not. They are mostly built for solar/off grid applications. In order to get marine certification this would inevitably raise the cost. I have spoken with then and they claim they would easily pass the ignition/spark protection rule but they have no desire to pursue this.
These are not "fancy" chargers by marine standards but they do work well on traditional wet cell batteries. Personally, I am not a fan of Newmar, Charles or Xantrex, at least in the reliability department.
Today I see the most reliable chargers coming from Victron & Mastervolt and the Iota's are right up there, though not as "fancy". We had a Charles fail in-warranty on our brand new Catalina 310. The replacement had also failed by the time we were selling her so I had to eat the cost of a charger.
Oh and I rarely if ever used the shore charger yet two failed in less than two years.Thanks, Should I be concerned about a charger that is (Iota) a dc power source. Most of the season I'm tied to the dock with my dc refrigerator running and my charger always on. Cruising away from dock only two weeks a year - someone's got to work.
I have a blue seas ACR. I have two banks-do I hook both up to charger or only to the two battery (group 31's) house bank and let the ACR do the work of charging the back-up (1-group 24) bank?
I have a blue seas ACR. I have two banks-do I hook both up to charger or only to the two battery (group 31's) house bank and let the ACR do the work of charging the back-up (1-group 24) bank?
I suggest wiring the charger to one bank, preferably the 2 battery house bank, and letting the ACR take care of the other.
Maine Sail, do you have any experience with NOCO Genius Chargers? Price is reasonable for the amps. I would prefer that it be wired directly to shore power as opposed to an AC plug. Your thoughts for a 34 footer with three batteries?
http://www.geniuschargers.com/GEN3
http://www.geniuschargers.com/GEN3
Equalization
Does anyone ever sue one of the legs of a three output charger as a DC power supply? Mastervolt claims their power is clean enough to do so.
It seems like the Iota is the only one with a equalization phase - unless the others are calling it something else.
Does anyone ever sue one of the legs of a three output charger as a DC power supply? Mastervolt claims their power is clean enough to do so.
Motor Alignment when PYI dripless shaft seal is installed
Mainsail, I have a question. I need to re-align my Yanmar 2gm now that the boat has been in the water since April as I have vibration at 2200 rpm that I would like to eliminate. While on the hard, I installed a new shaft, coupler, strut and cutless bearing. The motor mounts are good. As expected, I found that the PSS with its recoil against the stainless rotor, applies too much pressure against the coupler to ck alignment. If I undo the bolts to the coupler from the output flange, the recoil presses the coupler hard against the output flange so that I can not get a feeler gauge to to determine if I have a mal-alignment. If I back out the set screws from the rotor to relieve the pressure against the bellow of the seal enough to back off the coupler, I will get water in the boat. So, when you have a dripless seal, how do you re-align your motor?
Mainsail, I have a question. I need to re-align my Yanmar 2gm now that the boat has been in the water since April as I have vibration at 2200 rpm that I would like to eliminate. While on the hard, I installed a new shaft, coupler, strut and cutless bearing. The motor mounts are good. As expected, I found that the PSS with its recoil against the stainless rotor, applies too much pressure against the coupler to ck alignment. If I undo the bolts to the coupler from the output flange, the recoil presses the coupler hard against the output flange so that I can not get a feeler gauge to to determine if I have a mal-alignment. If I back out the set screws from the rotor to relieve the pressure against the bellow of the seal enough to back off the coupler, I will get water in the boat. So, when you have a dripless seal, how do you re-align your motor?
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Actually the PSS applies the PERFECT amount of pressure. It is too light to cause any "out of alignment" to be masked/corrected and enough so you can accurately check the alignment without creating this pressure manually. If you can't get a .003" feeler in anywhere then your alignment is spot on. Run the feeler 360 around the flanges and if it slides in at any point there is your issue. Do not loosen the set screws on the rotor or you will need to replace them. Those set screws are a one time use. The shaft is far harder than those 18/8 volcano head set screws so after tightening them once you simply throw them away...
A vibration only at a specific engine RPM, like 2000, is often engine related not a shaft or drive-line issue. Alignment issues tend to get worse as the RPM goes higher and you rarely work through them...
The new coupler has an outpointing ridge in the center that is the male so to speak, to the output female flange and fits into the indented output flange that locks them into a fit. So with pressure, the two are unable to slide apart. So I think I am not getting a correct assessment of the alignment. When I loosen the 4 bolts they stay locked together. The vibration is greater as the rpm increases. I do remember that the alignment on the hard, was not intended to be precise. Do you think then that I need to get them apart? I do have spare set screws.