She's finally home!! Rickk's 230

[RickK]

Rick, Marine Surplus has the knobs, all SS, something like $22.  Ask at the counter.

There ya go - thanks JJ.

[John Jones]

Or you can go to West Marine and pay $89 for an Edson brand  

Only a little de-rail here, I promise.  I never pass up a chance to bash West Marine pricing.  I was looking for downrigger weights a few weeks ago.  Boaters World was out, West wanted $47.95 ea. for a freaking 8 lb. ball of lead.  I was in Savannah, GA a couple of weeks ago and stopped in Bass Pro and picked up the same weights for $17.95 ea.   :twisted:

[RickK]

Did some camping for 2 days at the recent get-together and I had my all-around light on both nights. On Sunday morning I got a low battery alarm (house battery) on the ChartPlotter when I turned it on (all-around was off by then).  I switched on the starter battery, fired up the engine and let it idle for a while and the alarm went out. Guess I can't expect to camp for a few days unless I idle around all day to charge the batteries for a night of camping.
Looks like I need to investigate those LED all-arounds some more.

[JimCt]

How about a solar charging panel?  Maybe a windmill generator?

[RickK]

How about a solar charging panel?  Maybe a windmill generator?

That's what I like about you Jim, always thinking.  
Both valid ideas - any preferences?  The solor panels are easy to find but those windmills?  Probably a sailboat thing?

[JimCt]

Wind chargers have higher output but are fairly expensive.  Solar panels are quiet & cheaper... mostly used for trickle-charging.  One other thought; if you convert the lamp assembly over to LED you'd be able to leave it on for a month without a re-charge.

[GoneFission]

Solar is nice, especially if you have a good spot for it - the top of a t-top would work well.  Wind is a blowboat thing, as are the generators you trail behind the boat at speed - MHO is just a PITA.  

For solar, I see two basic choices - one for just basic battery maintenance, the other as more of an actual power supply.  

For battery maintenance, I use some of the panels that come in VW cars delivered to the US.  VWs keep their computers on all the time, and the trip from Europe will drain the battery.  VW puts a solar panel inside the windshield of every car delivered to the US.  These are 3-4 watts, and you can get these on eBay - often for less than $20.  I picked up 3 for $10 each and keep one on my boat when it's unattended - the batteries are always full charge when I'm ready to go.  Check it out at:
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dl ... e=vw+solar

For more power (and we always like more power!), you probably want to go up to 30-40 watts - that will power your stereo and lights and keep the batteries up at the same time.  Mo' power = Mo' money:
http://cgi.ebay.com/40-Watt-Solar-Panel ... dZViewItem

Good luck and see ya on the water!

[RickK]

Thanks GF.
What would you figure is the watt/amp needed to recharge a battery fully in one days worth of sunlight?  The VW ones are 170mA (at least the ones I looked at) - can you parallel them? Should you use some form of regulator?
I found this one and it looks to be very versatile (you can roll it up) and somewhat powerful (1.2A) - maybe I could bungy it across my rear bimini during the day - pricey though.

[ralpht44]

Hey Rick, I highly recommend the solar charger. I have yet to come to the boat to find a dead battery. Always plenty of cranking power.. I got the Sunsei 1200 and it works great. http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... artial/0/0

[RickK]

Thanks Ralph. How big is that panel - I don't see any specs on it.  My concern is storing that beast when underway and camping. Price isn't bad though. I assume you had to use the Sunsei Charge Controller CC-10000? Another $40.
And then the question comes back - is 1.2 amps enough to recharge a battery that was powering a 360 incandescent light all night, in the daylight of one day?

[ralpht44]

I think you would be fine with that Rick. Not very big and cumbersome. You would be amazed how fast that thing charges everything up when the sun is cranking.

[RickK]

I'll have to start some research on insolation and what model would really pump enough current back into the battery (only worried about my house battery - starting battery is isolated/off when anchored) during the insolation for my area.  I would think a 20W model should be enough but who knows.

[John Jones]

20W is not much.  That would only keep up with a couple of small lights, maybe.  Solar panels are barely battery maintainers, if the weather is good.  If you are trying to re-charge a battery after using it all night, even with a light load, well, good luck.

[RickK]

20W is not much.  That would only keep up with a couple of small lights, maybe.  Solar panels are barely battery maintainers, if the weather is good.  If you are trying to re-charge a battery after using it all night, even with a light load, well, good luck.

I agree in part - but using a solar panel is much cheaper than idling or cruising all day to charge the battery.  Should pay for itself in a few campouts, if substituted for the idling/cruising recharge @ $3.00/gal for fuel - street price.  20W is about 1.2A on a sunny day - I would think that would recharge the battery.  I am also back on the track of buying a LED all-around. Then 20W should be plenty.
Still looking for some feedback from our Engineering members.

[GoneFission]

I agree with Mr. Jones - 20 watts is really a battery maintainer, not a charger or a power supply.  40-50 (4 amps) watts is really the minimum  to consider for something that is anywhere near a charger.  If you are considering this as a charger, just ask yourself would you would buy a 1-2 amp charger for use to charge your batteries at home?  Sailboat cruisers usually go for two or so 75 watt panels - that's enough to power what you need and not have to run an engine - which is their goal.  

Space is also an issue - you've got to think about flat real estate on the boat that is big enough for a decent size panel.  The top of a t-top would be ideal if you don't use it for stowage.  

I use my little 7 watt VW panels just to keep the batteries up when the boat is stored, and they work well for that.  They would be a spit in the bucket to try to recharge even a minute of use with my 24 volt trolling motor at 20-30 amps...  There is a good reason why the current outboard motors have 40-80 amp alternators on them - all that new electronic gear uses power!  The old stator-driven versions put out a maximum of 10 amps when everything worked right, and that was not enough.  Outboards then evolved to use auto-type alternators driven by a belt so they could up the output and acommodate all the new stuff.  

My $0.02 would be to consider if you want a charger or a maintainer.  If you want a charger and go with 2 amps or less, as Scotty on Star Trek used to say, (say this in a Scottish brogue) "Captain, she won't stand the strain."  

See ya on the water!