"Norm of Bandersnatch" wrote: > I agree with Lew, the first thing to do is to make a written/drawn > description of your DC system. > > Complexity provides flexibility. Don't be afraid of it. There are > some > folks that insist on the KISS approach. Simplicity is easier to > comprehend, usually rugged and easy to maintain.
> So don't be in a hurry to rip out everything and start over. Amen!!! >All those > battery banks and switches give you the flexibility to deal with > various > conditions. Once you understand what the hardware does, you're 90% of the way home. > I would make a schematic drawing of the DC system, especially the > alternators, the heavy lines and the big red switches to get an > accurate > picture of the current situation. That's called "collecting data"<Grin>. > If your boat were my boat, and I decided to do a rebuild of the DC > electrical system, I would replicate my buss system, .... There was a time in my life when I was given the nickname "Mr Busway", primarily because of the large quantities of it I sold (One customer would buy 10,000 ft at a time). It provides tremendous flexibility when doing a distribution desin, but I digress. I would describe Norm's cable system as busway for a boat. SFWIW, the boat I was building my boat had provided provisions for 16, T-105 batteries, located amidships and cabled together using 600 amp (1/4 x 2) copper bus bars from an old 1200 amp switchboard. 300 A (boat busway) cables would be run along both port and starboard sides at deck level, protected by a fuse.. I designed and built 300A terminal blocks that provided a cable feed thru in each compartment that included provisions to connect a wiring pigtail to feed that compartment. Again, the pigtail take off would be fused, say 100A. NBD, simple, straight forward, and "Hell For Stout" as an old German friend of my father would have said. Want an electric deck windlass, NBD. A 300 A service exists in the bow section. Want an electric bow thruster, NBD. Another 300 A service also exists in the bow section. The starting battery would be recharged only by a 10W solar panel. The house bank would be recharged by solar and a Leece-Neville J-4800 alternator. The engine should be totally isolated from the electrical system. Dual wire "sender" units, an insulated cranking motor, and an isolated, dual wire alternator field circuit are req'd. Again, very basic, off the shelf hardware. IMHO, the only way to connect the house and starting batteries together is with a jumper cables, reserved strictly for emergencies. Just some things to think about. Oh BTW, with over 1,600 AH of battery bank, investing a minimum of $15-$20K in an Eng-Gen was never a consideration. Have fun Lew _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://www.liveaboardnow.org/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardnow.org/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
