Lets say I take my boat out for a 4 day weekend running the lights at night and refrigerator with the electronics below, how much would I need to run this generator so the batteries don't drain out. Next question...how does this generator compare to a wind generator? Raytheon RL70 radar Garmin 130 GPS Map Apelco 5160 VHF radio Autohelm depth sounder Autohelm speed indicator Autohelm wind system Autohelm compass Autohelm ST4000 autopilot
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Never...if you have a really big battery!
A little more info would be helpful. Are all these systems going to on the entire time? Is the radar in full transmit all the time, or just stand-by? Are you transmitting constantly on the VHF, or just listening? Will you ever anchor, or under sail the entire time? You can find the answer to your question better than anyone. Take the average draw on the all sytems per hour, and divide that into HALF of your battery amp-hour capacity. That will tell you how often you have to charge. Take your average draw, and subtract that from 2/3 of your charging capacity, and divide that into half of your battery capacity, and that will tell you how long you have to run the charger. Take you time between charges, and divide that into 96 hours, and that will tell you how many times you have to run the charger in four days. You might want to pick up a book on marine DC systems, and get a little more info on this. Steve
A little more info would be helpful. Are all these systems going to on the entire time? Is the radar in full transmit all the time, or just stand-by? Are you transmitting constantly on the VHF, or just listening? Will you ever anchor, or under sail the entire time? You can find the answer to your question better than anyone. Take the average draw on the all sytems per hour, and divide that into HALF of your battery amp-hour capacity. That will tell you how often you have to charge. Take your average draw, and subtract that from 2/3 of your charging capacity, and divide that into half of your battery capacity, and that will tell you how long you have to run the charger. Take you time between charges, and divide that into 96 hours, and that will tell you how many times you have to run the charger in four days. You might want to pick up a book on marine DC systems, and get a little more info on this. Steve
3.5 kW Generator
That large a generator should cover everything easily if you run the generator all of the time. As the previous post stated you need to determine the total draw in wattage that you have when running everything if you intend to run everything at once. I run a 1 kW Honda inverter and can run everything I need to (guages, autopilot, lights and battery charger), but I don't have radar or a refrigerator. When I want hot water or microwave popcorn I disconnect the charger and run 120V direct. Works great. My inverter will run 8.5 hours on half a gallon of gas which is a big plus.
That large a generator should cover everything easily if you run the generator all of the time. As the previous post stated you need to determine the total draw in wattage that you have when running everything if you intend to run everything at once. I run a 1 kW Honda inverter and can run everything I need to (guages, autopilot, lights and battery charger), but I don't have radar or a refrigerator. When I want hot water or microwave popcorn I disconnect the charger and run 120V direct. Works great. My inverter will run 8.5 hours on half a gallon of gas which is a big plus.
You are Itchin' to Buy that Generator Aren't You!
Franklin, As suggested by Steve, do an energy audit to see just how much you will require. The manual for each device will provide you with hourly power comsumption in various operating modes, then guess how long you will run each device in each operating mode in 24 hours. Add them up and divide into 1/2 the battery storage capacity. It is really that straight forward. My guess is that you don't really need a generator; just a good power management plan, a high output alternator, a good multi-stage charge controller, and large enough battery bank to provide storage 2 times your daily consumption. A wind generator is not an alternative to the diesel generator. Backup or supplementary power? Yes. As a sailor you should know that wind is a fickle thing. Too much sometimes and not enough when you really need it. As Steve also suggested, You really need to pick up a good book on DC Marine Systems, Quick, before you spend a lot of money for nothing. We are in Kemah as well. Write me off list at jmcclain@southshorelabs.com if I can help. Jon McClain
Franklin, As suggested by Steve, do an energy audit to see just how much you will require. The manual for each device will provide you with hourly power comsumption in various operating modes, then guess how long you will run each device in each operating mode in 24 hours. Add them up and divide into 1/2 the battery storage capacity. It is really that straight forward. My guess is that you don't really need a generator; just a good power management plan, a high output alternator, a good multi-stage charge controller, and large enough battery bank to provide storage 2 times your daily consumption. A wind generator is not an alternative to the diesel generator. Backup or supplementary power? Yes. As a sailor you should know that wind is a fickle thing. Too much sometimes and not enough when you really need it. As Steve also suggested, You really need to pick up a good book on DC Marine Systems, Quick, before you spend a lot of money for nothing. We are in Kemah as well. Write me off list at jmcclain@southshorelabs.com if I can help. Jon McClain
Generator
The Generator is coming with boat. I was just listing the equipment directly from the web page that it's listed on. I thought that if I provide the list, I could get an answer but I guess the battery is an important piece of the puzzle and I don't know anything about that. The reason I ask is because I'm NOT BIG on running motors...main reason I like sailboats and why I'm kind of interested in how affective a wind generator is. The boat comes with this generator so I will use it, but trying to figure out the min amount to use it. I'm just afraid of waking up in the middle of the ocean with no power or even worse, running out of power while I'm asleep and the lights go out and I get hit by something. All this overnight sailing and electronics is new to me. I used to only daysail a 21 footer that didn't have any electronics. I have plans to sail to mexico for my two week vacation this year and to Corpus Christi for Memorial day weekend. As for bragging...well...I think it's a good boat but I don't know. I new to all this big boat stuff and yes, it's breaking the bank too, but after my woman left me, I figured it's time to do what I want now. I may even sale the house to make ends meet just so I can keep the boat. Thanks for the advice though. I've got a lot to learn and you guys have been very helpfull. The more and more I read here, the more I realize I don't know.
The Generator is coming with boat. I was just listing the equipment directly from the web page that it's listed on. I thought that if I provide the list, I could get an answer but I guess the battery is an important piece of the puzzle and I don't know anything about that. The reason I ask is because I'm NOT BIG on running motors...main reason I like sailboats and why I'm kind of interested in how affective a wind generator is. The boat comes with this generator so I will use it, but trying to figure out the min amount to use it. I'm just afraid of waking up in the middle of the ocean with no power or even worse, running out of power while I'm asleep and the lights go out and I get hit by something. All this overnight sailing and electronics is new to me. I used to only daysail a 21 footer that didn't have any electronics. I have plans to sail to mexico for my two week vacation this year and to Corpus Christi for Memorial day weekend. As for bragging...well...I think it's a good boat but I don't know. I new to all this big boat stuff and yes, it's breaking the bank too, but after my woman left me, I figured it's time to do what I want now. I may even sale the house to make ends meet just so I can keep the boat. Thanks for the advice though. I've got a lot to learn and you guys have been very helpfull. The more and more I read here, the more I realize I don't know.
Hey Franklin
I am no expert like some of your other respondents seem to be (I have a saying that goes, "Experts disagree."), but I do have a suggestion for you. You could do as I do and keep a battery fully charged that is not connected to the rest of the batteries in case something happens and you lose power on the rest of them, you will always have that one to start your engine. After I had a bad cell in a battery draw down all of the batteries to where the engine would not start, I started keeping one that was independent of the rest of them, just in case. Now, I am sure that you will get a lot more mumbo jumbo about consumption and battery life etc., and how to keep that from happening, but I still like the concept of not even having to worry about it, because I have another battery to crank up my engine, and then it will all be OK.
I am no expert like some of your other respondents seem to be (I have a saying that goes, "Experts disagree."), but I do have a suggestion for you. You could do as I do and keep a battery fully charged that is not connected to the rest of the batteries in case something happens and you lose power on the rest of them, you will always have that one to start your engine. After I had a bad cell in a battery draw down all of the batteries to where the engine would not start, I started keeping one that was independent of the rest of them, just in case. Now, I am sure that you will get a lot more mumbo jumbo about consumption and battery life etc., and how to keep that from happening, but I still like the concept of not even having to worry about it, because I have another battery to crank up my engine, and then it will all be OK.
Crude Estimate
I guess you want the worst scenario to make sure you do not run out of power at a difficult moment. Based on running the refrigerator 4 x 24 and all the electronics 4 x 8 hours a crude estimate is you will use 580 Ampere hours of battery power,i.e. 145 AH per 24 hours. Others have said not to discharge your batteries below 50%, so unless you are carrying more than 300 Ah you cannot survive for more than 24 hours between full charges. You don't say what rate your charger will charge at from your generator nor how big the domestic batteries are, so my guess is you will need to run the generator at least once a day via a good high tech charging device and, even at 25 amps charge it will take a little over 6 hours to keep them up. You may deduct for time under engine and for no need for refrig on homeward journey. Best not to use so much power if you know you are going to be on the hook.
I guess you want the worst scenario to make sure you do not run out of power at a difficult moment. Based on running the refrigerator 4 x 24 and all the electronics 4 x 8 hours a crude estimate is you will use 580 Ampere hours of battery power,i.e. 145 AH per 24 hours. Others have said not to discharge your batteries below 50%, so unless you are carrying more than 300 Ah you cannot survive for more than 24 hours between full charges. You don't say what rate your charger will charge at from your generator nor how big the domestic batteries are, so my guess is you will need to run the generator at least once a day via a good high tech charging device and, even at 25 amps charge it will take a little over 6 hours to keep them up. You may deduct for time under engine and for no need for refrig on homeward journey. Best not to use so much power if you know you are going to be on the hook.
More info
Here is all I know about the electrical. I should be asking more questions huh
I'm not sure why there is two chargers. Electrical 12vdc batteries 110amp portable automotive style battery charger 12v 40amp lead/gel battery charger 3 - 12vdc fans 110vac shore power 2 - 50ft 125v 30amp shore tie cables 2 - 30amp to 15amp pigtails Phasor 3.5kw diesel generator Air conditioning with reverse cycle heat
Here is all I know about the electrical. I should be asking more questions huh
I'm not sure why there is two chargers. Electrical 12vdc batteries 110amp portable automotive style battery charger 12v 40amp lead/gel battery charger 3 - 12vdc fans 110vac shore power 2 - 50ft 125v 30amp shore tie cables 2 - 30amp to 15amp pigtails Phasor 3.5kw diesel generator Air conditioning with reverse cycle heatGenerator
Franklin, You do need some additional information. You need to know the capacity of the batteries. It is expressed in amp hours or we can make a pretty good estimation if you can give us the size. Size is not voltage, but rather Group 24, Group 27, Group 4D, etc. Also, with that large a generator you will want a larger charger than you currently are getting. Dump the automotive charger. The 40 amp is fine for most recharge events, except when you want to minimize generator time and have a fairly large discharge. Also, make sure the 40 amp is a good three stage charger. If not, dump it and get a good inverter/charger that puts out around 100 amps charge. I disagree with a bit of the advice here. Rather than using 50% of battery capacity before recharge time, you need to think in terms of 35% (sucks huh?). The reason is that you do not want to discharge your batteries beyond 50% (hence their 50% advice), but, that is only valid on the first discharge from a full charge. After that, on the generator, you will probably only want to run it until your charge parameters equal about 85% of fully charged. This is because the last 15% takes too long except on shore power because the charge rate tapers faily dramatically at that point. So, after the first discharge, you are subsequently working on a 35% range. What does this mean? If you have two Group 4D batteries like we do, then you get 200 amp hours of use the first discharge. After that you get 140 amp hours between recharge events with the generator or engine driven alternator (assuning you take them up to 85% each recharge). Hope this incrementally helps. Dan Jonas (S/V Feije II)
Franklin, You do need some additional information. You need to know the capacity of the batteries. It is expressed in amp hours or we can make a pretty good estimation if you can give us the size. Size is not voltage, but rather Group 24, Group 27, Group 4D, etc. Also, with that large a generator you will want a larger charger than you currently are getting. Dump the automotive charger. The 40 amp is fine for most recharge events, except when you want to minimize generator time and have a fairly large discharge. Also, make sure the 40 amp is a good three stage charger. If not, dump it and get a good inverter/charger that puts out around 100 amps charge. I disagree with a bit of the advice here. Rather than using 50% of battery capacity before recharge time, you need to think in terms of 35% (sucks huh?). The reason is that you do not want to discharge your batteries beyond 50% (hence their 50% advice), but, that is only valid on the first discharge from a full charge. After that, on the generator, you will probably only want to run it until your charge parameters equal about 85% of fully charged. This is because the last 15% takes too long except on shore power because the charge rate tapers faily dramatically at that point. So, after the first discharge, you are subsequently working on a 35% range. What does this mean? If you have two Group 4D batteries like we do, then you get 200 amp hours of use the first discharge. After that you get 140 amp hours between recharge events with the generator or engine driven alternator (assuning you take them up to 85% each recharge). Hope this incrementally helps. Dan Jonas (S/V Feije II)
Two more things Franklin.
First; Beware! Sailboats are a 'babe magnet'. You will not be lonely for long if you don't want to be. Second; You're in really good hands with these guys.
First; Beware! Sailboats are a 'babe magnet'. You will not be lonely for long if you don't want to be. Second; You're in really good hands with these guys.
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