Here is a way to simplify cranking motor wiring and batttery isolation. No battery switch, blocking diodes, etc req'd.
Simply a starting battery and a small solar panel. Consider the following: Estimated cranking motor power consumption required to start an engine. Cranking motor voltage during starting = 10 VDC 1,200A x 2 Sec x 10 V = 24,000 W-Sec 600A x 3 Sec x 10 V = 18,000 W-Sec 300A x 9 Sec x 10 V = 27,000 W-Sec 24,000 W-Sec + 18,000 W-Sec + 27,000 W-Sec = 69,000 W-Sec 69,000 W-Sec/3,600/Sec/Hour = 19.16 Watt Hours Thus 20 Watt Hours is a conservative starting power requirement estimate for a medium size diesel engine (60 HP or less). Consider a 10W solar panel: 1) Assume solar panel efficiency = 50%. 2) Assume available charging time = 8 hours/24 hour day. Thus 10W solar panel conservatively generates: 10W x 50% x 8Hrs = 40 Watt Hours/24 hour day. Thus a 10W solar panel will on average, recharge a starting battery within a half day after starting engine. Probably have to add a means to dump excess power generated by the 10W panel. Enjoy. Lew _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://liveaboardonline.com/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.liveaboardonline.com/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
