On Jul 13, 9:58*pm, Vic Smith wrote:
For O/B sailboats.
A 50-80 Amp alternator on a 9-15 hp OB.

Sailors often carry a Honda EU1000-2000 to provide juice at anchor.
Though not real loud, they can be an irritation to nearby boats,
especially big boats using big watercooled internal gensets that don't
make much outside noise. *Some of those owners think the Honda's
should be outlawed at anchorages. *Can't say I blame them for feeling
that way.
Biggest problem with the Honda EU1000-2000's is they are air-cooled
noisy and relatively low hp, maybe 5 hp or so.
They have to spin up pretty high under load.
Another issue is they exhaust to the air.

The OB manufacturers could come up with the suggested option, but
given the marketplace and engineering considerations, they are not.
A retrofit kit might sell and be a profitable venture.
The heavy alt on the OB could be regulated to limit alt drag while
underway, perhaps automatically/manually dialed adjustment, or perhaps
detached and stowed.
So in port or when otherwise needed you have a "quiet" water-cooled
9-15 hp genset in the same package as your propulsion motor.
A mounted kicker OB doing gen duty is another possibility.
There are obvious issues with cowling size, pulleys and electrical
connections.
Perhaps with salt water intrusion.
Maybe a heavier electrical plug to the boat system while in port.
OEM O/B warranty is gone of course.
Don't know. *That's why I'm leaving it in your inventive hands.
Let me know what you think. *Anybody. *I'm sure I'm not the first to
think about this.

--Vic

Questions:

1: Is the noise of the honda due to its exhausting into air?
2: Dont people who use these already have a diesel engine that should
power their alternator (seems not to be the case).
3: Is it outboard powered sailboats that have these problematic
generators?
4: Would the problem be alleviated by exhausting into the water via a
water lift exhaust as most inboard diesels do?

The most common sailboat outboard these days is the longshaft 9.9
Yamaha, a great motor. Seems like the best option might be a
switchable alternator, high output for charging only and low output
for charging and powering the prop.
Could this be done by only changing the voltage regulator? This
option might be a LOT cheaper than buying the Honda Gen.
Vic, this might be a good thing for you to pursue. I am not too
familiar with modern voltage regulators or modern alternators but they
cannot be that complicated. You might have a winner here. However,
wouldnt you have to run the OB at slightly higher RPM than idle for
real charging?

UNFORTUNATELY (fortunately from my employees perspective), I suddenly
came up with this idea for x-ray optics for mammography (now where'd
that come from). I knew for awhile it might be possible but never
looked into it enough. Now, I find there are roughly 10,000
mammography units in the USA each costing from $200,000 to $400,000.
If we could make these x-ray optics to be sold for $20,000 each, well,
$20,000 times 10,000 units is a big amount of money, enough to get
venture capital types interested. Kinda looks as if my idle time will
be soon filled.
I vowed not to support Obamanomics but something like this is bigger
than politics if it gives far better contrast and much lower radiation
dose for mammographies.

So, I highly reccomend YOU pursue this idea of the alternator. Do NOT
furhter mention it here because you might be giving up patent rights.
If you need encouragement, e-mail me at ohara5.0#mindspring.com
(replace the # with @).

David