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#1
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posted to rec.boats.cruising
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In article , Chuck Cox
wrote: Yes, this is an old thread coming back to life... Back in December I wrote: As part of a non-boating-related product, my company is designing what amounts to an automatic 500w DC self-starting gasoline battery charger. The charger is designed to be portable, unobtrusive and easy to maintain. If the battery has sufficient charge, it can self-start, but it can also be hand-started easily when necessary. It is designed to automatically start and stop as necessary to keep a battery charged. Having read postings here about cruisers running with reduced radar and lighting at night in order to conserve battery power, it occured to me that we could repackage the charger for marine use. It would be roughly shoe-box sized and effectively silent unless you were sitting next to it on a calm day. It seems like this would be useful for boats with no genset and modest electrical loads (i.e. lights & electronics). When connected to the battery it would automatically start up and and shut down as necessary to maintain the charge. It could also be designed to cooperate with external charge controllers. It seems like it would be a useful product, but I found nothing like it when I googled for obvious keywords. Does such a product already exist? Would there be any interest in such a charger? I know I have been in situations where it would have been useful. Roger Long and several others then made very convincing arguments that diesel would be the best fuel for this product. Well, my partner has found an appropriate diesel motor and electric motor/generator. We are putting together a test stand now and should get some real-world data soon. My partner insists that lubrication is not a problem at any angle of heel, but that is one thing we'll be taking a hard look at. There are a couple of major variables that I'm still unclear on: how it will get fuel and where it will be located. For fuel, I'm wondering if it would be preferable to have its own fuel tank or to connect to the main fuel system. For location, it could be a stand-alone unit that you put on deck to operate, or a built-in unit that could operate without getting in the way. Clearly these two issues are inter-related. My original idea was to make it stand-alone with its own fuel tank. By using a small fuel pump, we can locate the fuel tank beside the motor instead of on top like most generators. This would make for a low-profile package that would be less intrusive than a typical generator, but you'd still have one more thing on deck to trip over. So, if you were to put such a system on your boat, what would you prefer? Depends. Is this going to be water cooled or air cooled? If water cooled, sea water or fresh water with radiator or via heat exchanger? I'm assuming air cooled as this is simplest for an engine. However, it may be noisy and need access to ventilation so belowdecks may not be ideal. My preference would be for an integral tank that gravity-feeds the engine. This is simplest and therefore cheapest. You can always use it as a day tank and fill via dedicated line from the main tank, or rig up a float switch to kick in a pump. I too think this is a good idea and if the price was right, would buy one. We built something similar to use on an island once, but it was petrol powered and quite noisy, plus relatively inefficient. Used a motorcycle permanent magnet alternator. PDW |
#2
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posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Peter Wiley wrote:
Depends. Is this going to be water cooled or air cooled? If water cooled, sea water or fresh water with radiator or via heat exchanger? Air cooled. I'm assuming air cooled as this is simplest for an engine. However, it may be noisy and need access to ventilation so belowdecks may not be ideal. The noise will be minimized since we can optimize the induction/exhaust system for one fundamental frequency and amplitude. However, you are right that it will make noise and require ventilation. I am particularly concerned about exhaust gases. A built-in system would almost certainly be more expensive to design and support, so we'd need to see sufficient demand to justify it. My preference would be for an integral tank that gravity-feeds the engine. This is simplest and therefore cheapest. You can always use it as a day tank and fill via dedicated line from the main tank, or rig up a float switch to kick in a pump. Does the higher profile of a gravity-fed system matter to you? Where would you envision operating such a system on your boat? Thanks for the feedback. -- Chuck Cox - SynchroSystems - Synchro.com , my email is politician-proof, just remove the PORK |
#3
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posted to rec.boats.cruising
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In article , Chuck Cox
wrote: Peter Wiley wrote: Depends. Is this going to be water cooled or air cooled? If water cooled, sea water or fresh water with radiator or via heat exchanger? Air cooled. I'm assuming air cooled as this is simplest for an engine. However, it may be noisy and need access to ventilation so belowdecks may not be ideal. The noise will be minimized since we can optimize the induction/exhaust system for one fundamental frequency and amplitude. However, you are right that it will make noise and require ventilation. I am particularly concerned about exhaust gases. If it operates belowdecks, it *has* to have some form of idiot-proof exhaust to a weather deck. A built-in system would almost certainly be more expensive to design and support, so we'd need to see sufficient demand to justify it. My preference would be for an integral tank that gravity-feeds the engine. This is simplest and therefore cheapest. You can always use it as a day tank and fill via dedicated line from the main tank, or rig up a float switch to kick in a pump. Does the higher profile of a gravity-fed system matter to you? No. Where would you envision operating such a system on your boat? Probably, depending on size, in a dedicated locker aft, sealed from the interior spaces similar to a locker for gas bottles. Tell me how big it's likely to be, how much ventilation it needs and I may have other ideas. PDW |
#4
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posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Peter Wiley wrote:
In article , Chuck Cox wrote: Where would you envision operating such a system on your boat? Probably, depending on size, in a dedicated locker aft, sealed from the interior spaces similar to a locker for gas bottles. Tell me how big it's likely to be, how much ventilation it needs and I may have other ideas. If we use a fuel pump, it'll probably be about the size of a shoebox. If we use gravity, it'll be maybe 50% taller. If there is no integral tank, maybe 1/2 a shoebox. The intake and exhaust will probably be under 1" in diameter. For short runs, appropriate tubing of that diameter would suffice. -- Chuck Cox - SynchroSystems - Synchro.com , my email is politician-proof, just remove the PORK |
#5
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posted to rec.boats.cruising
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In article , Chuck Cox
wrote: Peter Wiley wrote: In article , Chuck Cox wrote: Where would you envision operating such a system on your boat? Probably, depending on size, in a dedicated locker aft, sealed from the interior spaces similar to a locker for gas bottles. Tell me how big it's likely to be, how much ventilation it needs and I may have other ideas. If we use a fuel pump, it'll probably be about the size of a shoebox. If we use gravity, it'll be maybe 50% taller. If there is no integral tank, maybe 1/2 a shoebox. The intake and exhaust will probably be under 1" in diameter. For short runs, appropriate tubing of that diameter would suffice. OK, a deck locker would work nicely. The other place I'd look at putting it was belowdecks and use a coupling to external exhaust. That size, it's not going to use sufficient air from belowdecks to be a problem. There may be other applications for something like this. I can think of one or 2 supplying power to remote field parties where solar either doesn't provide sufficient current or isn't reliable due to cloud. I'm in the marine science research business. If you can produce one of these things for less than $1K I'd buy one straight off for work, just to play with. I already have 12 Honda gensets.... PDW |
#6
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If I can buy a reliable unit for under $1K, install it in my engine room,
cool with seawater, hook to existing fuel system, have an optional switch for on/off/auto, keep my battery bank charged, I will buy one...if works well, I will tell everyone I know. This is what I want...battery bank charging but not a large generator such as commonly seen on larger powerboats. Affordable quiet power. Glenn. s/v Seawing www.seawing.net "Chuck Cox" wrote in message ... Peter Wiley wrote: In article , Chuck Cox wrote: Where would you envision operating such a system on your boat? Probably, depending on size, in a dedicated locker aft, sealed from the interior spaces similar to a locker for gas bottles. Tell me how big it's likely to be, how much ventilation it needs and I may have other ideas. If we use a fuel pump, it'll probably be about the size of a shoebox. If we use gravity, it'll be maybe 50% taller. If there is no integral tank, maybe 1/2 a shoebox. The intake and exhaust will probably be under 1" in diameter. For short runs, appropriate tubing of that diameter would suffice. -- Chuck Cox - SynchroSystems - Synchro.com , my email is politician-proof, just remove the PORK |
#7
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posted to rec.boats.cruising
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On Wed, 01 Mar 2006 05:36:23 GMT,
Glenn A. Heslop wrote: If I can buy a reliable unit for under $1K, install it in my engine room, cool with seawater, hook to existing fuel system, have an optional switch for on/off/auto, keep my battery bank charged, I will buy one...if works well, I will tell everyone I know. This is what I want...battery bank charging but not a large generator such as commonly seen on larger powerboats. Affordable quiet power. Glenn. s/v Seawing www.seawing.net ditto.... -- Jim Richardson http://www.eskimo.com/~warlock Those who live by the sword are shot by those who don't. |
#8
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posted to rec.boats.cruising
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On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 17:23:19 -0500,
Chuck Cox wrote: Peter Wiley wrote: In article , Chuck Cox wrote: Where would you envision operating such a system on your boat? Probably, depending on size, in a dedicated locker aft, sealed from the interior spaces similar to a locker for gas bottles. Tell me how big it's likely to be, how much ventilation it needs and I may have other ideas. If we use a fuel pump, it'll probably be about the size of a shoebox. If we use gravity, it'll be maybe 50% taller. If there is no integral tank, maybe 1/2 a shoebox. The intake and exhaust will probably be under 1" in diameter. For short runs, appropriate tubing of that diameter would suffice. You're looking at something about 12" long, and maybe 6" on width and height? really? heck, that sounds great. Or am I misunderstanding? -- Jim Richardson http://www.eskimo.com/~warlock Noise proves nothing. Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she laid an asteroid. -- Mark Twain |
#9
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Jim Richardson wrote:
You're looking at something about 12" long, and maybe 6" on width and height? really? heck, that sounds great. Or am I misunderstanding? That's about right. -- Chuck Cox - SynchroSystems - Synchro.com , my email is politician-proof, just remove the PORK |
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