"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in
:

Does that panel with the "inverter" position disconnect the
inverter/charger's AC power input when it goes into the inverter
position?....keeping the inverter from powering its own charger??

No, but the inverter protects itself if I inadvertantly power up the
inverter without shutting down the charger.


Thanks. It should shut the charger down when the inverter comes on.....

Neither the charger or the inverter has a provision for such.

Wonder how many big boat chargers are loading down running inverters
across
the planet, tonight....(c;

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 22 Mar 2005 20:47:30 -0500, "Doug Dotson"
dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote:

Depends upon alot of things, like the outside temperature, the insulation
of the boat, etc. I keep an electric heater on all winter and if the temp
is
below 40, it runs alot more than 30%.

======================================

I'm sure that's true but I'd probably be plugged into dock power in
that kind of weather.

Any warmer than 40 and you don't need a heater at night anyway.

With a good heavy comforter you don;t need the electric
blanket. I've have no idea the wattage of an electric blanket.
We have a small Glomate butane heater to take off the
chill. If it's really cold then we power up the Espar.


"John Cassara" wrote in message
...
Well whats wrong with a good electric blanket and a heavy comforter to
keep warm over night. That would be alot less taxing on an electrical
system. You still have to be able to recharge, but getting through the
night should be easy.

John

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
"Meindert Sprang" wrote in
:

It's already there. AFAIK all new VW marine diesels have a 42V system to
power the injectors.

Meindert




I think the Toyota Prius hybrid takes this even further with a 480VDC
system, doesn't it? A friend has one and it's quite impressive, once you
get used to NOT starting the engine to take off from the parking lot.
That's a bit unnerving, just turning it on and driving away...(c;

On Wed, 23 Mar 2005 18:13:28 -0500, "Doug Dotson"
dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote:

I've have no idea the wattage of an electric blanket.

=========================================

Relatively low. Our queen size draws 300 watts peak but averages much
less.

"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in
:

Neither the charger or the inverter has a provision for such.



Pity, isn't it? So if you wire the inverter straight into the boat's
electrical system, you have to remember to open the charger's breaker when
you turn it on....how silly.

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in
:

Neither the charger or the inverter has a provision for such.



Pity, isn't it? So if you wire the inverter straight into the boat's
electrical system, you have to remember to open the charger's breaker when
you turn it on....how silly.

Not really a problem.

"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in
news
Pity, isn't it? So if you wire the inverter straight into the boat's
electrical system, you have to remember to open the charger's breaker
when you turn it on....how silly.

Not really a problem.



Yeah, but rec.boats.cruising posters are NOT your average boater who don't
know the difference.....

Hell, most of them have no idea you put WATER in the batteries!....not to
mention DISTILLED water!

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in
news
Pity, isn't it? So if you wire the inverter straight into the boat's
electrical system, you have to remember to open the charger's breaker
when you turn it on....how silly.

Not really a problem.



Yeah, but rec.boats.cruising posters are NOT your average boater who don't
know the difference.....

Hell, most of them have no idea you put WATER in the batteries!....not to
mention DISTILLED water!

Right. I love the requests of where to find replacement acid to top off the
batteries.

Well, back from the boat for a bit, and trying to keep up...

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
"Skip Gundlach" skipgundlach sez use my name at earthlink dot
fishcatcher (net) - with apologies for the spamtrap wrote in
:

Hm. Help me with the math. As a lapsed math, physics and chem major,
I don't remember my stuff all that well. However, I'll have right in
the neighborhood of 500W solar

How big are these solar panels? A Kyocera KC120 panel at 120 watts is:
Max power: 120 Watts
Max voltage: 16.9 Volts
Max current: 7.10 Amps
Dimensions (LxWxD): 56.1" x 25.7" x 2.2"
Weight: 26.3 lbs

4 of those kinda hinders going on deck, I suppose. Or, do you mean 500
watt-hours per day?? 500 watts x 8 hours = 4 KWh/day...pretty nice!

Well, that's sorta what I thought.

First, these (whatever they turn out to be, based solely on first, space,
and second, availability) will be run through an MPPT which will allow me
higher voltage/smaller wires - for example, ones designed for 24V systems..
Second, it appears I'll not be able to get the 500W I wanted - but quite
possibly more than 450, e.g 3x http://www.partsonsale.com/bp4170.pdf 170w
63x31, 34v or 4x http://www.affordable-solar.com/kc125g125watt.html 125w
56x26 24v but Third, these are going on our arch
http://www.justpickone.org/skip/gall...rch&star t=42
which, on construction, appears not to have the space above I'd expected.
So, back to the drawing boards for what will fit up there. You can muck
around in the rest of that gallery to see what else we'd looked at in coming
up with the specs and drawings. In any event, moving about on deck won't be
an issue..

None the less, 400W isn't out of the realm of possibility. Real world
experience suggests "normal" accumulation of something above 125AH/day...

The arch is in the rough welded stage, without any of the custom hang-ons,
at the moment. I assume it will be finished by my next time down there,
which I expect to be 10 days or so, when I'll take up the regimen of staying
on the boat for 3 weeks and coming home for one, in hopes of finishing in
May, as I have another surgery scheduled for June 6th, this time to relocate
muscle from my back to replace the dead ones in the rotator cuff...

L8R

Skip and Lydia, refitting as fast as we can


--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"There is nothing-absolutely nothing-half so much worth doing as simply
messing about in boats.
In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's
the charm of it.
Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your
destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get
anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in
particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and
you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not."

"Larry W4CSC" wrote in message
...
Yeah, but rec.boats.cruising posters are NOT your average boater who don't
know the difference.....

Hell, most of them have no idea you put WATER in the batteries!....not to
mention DISTILLED water!

So, you've run out of distilled water, and don't have immediately to hand
the means to build a solar still, and shore is still quite far off...

Is the stuff out of the watermaker acceptable? That is, Reverse Osmosis,
not distilled, water?

L8R

Skip, without a watermaker but interested in battery science

--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain