12V Diesel DC chargers

Anybody using a Diesel DC 12V battery charger? Did you go with a wet exhaust system, or dry? If dry, how did you solve the ventilation and hot exhaust issues?

I'm sniffing around the possibility of getting a small, air cooled one for charging our batteries when anchored in one spot for days on end.

Will probably go with AGM batteries, or maybe LiFePO4 so not looking for anything fancy, just something for bulk phase charging and use the engine's alternator to top the batteries off while underway.

Like maybe the Hatz 1B-20;

http://www.hatz-diesel.com/en/products/diesel-engines/b-series/

Sound plausible?

Am I reading the data sheets correctly? These units can produce 5kw at 12 volts? Or is it 5kw at 110 volts?

If it is 5kw at 12 volts then one of these units can meet the minimum charging requirements for a good size bank of AGMs.

Marty

The smaller one I was eyeballing states 4.6hp, 3.4kw @3600rpm.

Here's one rigged and ready to go from Alten;

http://www.alten-dc.com/diesel-powe...t-120-amp-diesel-powered-battery-charger.html

If you are measuring in kW...doesn't matter...the amps output would be different.

The the sizing would depend on how many amps your batt bank can accept.

Actually...maybe they are just stating the power of the powerplant...not electrical output.

Your friendly truck reefer shop will have Yanmar or Kubota running take outs for $300 to $500, depending on how well you can dicker. diesel, 10-18HP depending.

A Bus alternator is 12V or 24V , up to 300a , and should be under $500 .

This will make enough juice to make high absorbtion batts worth their high cost.

Otherwise a 135-150A truck alt , driven by a Honda gas unit would be powerful enough for wet batts , and cheap to keep and the entire anchorage to listen to.

With a good inverter the larger units will run 1 or 2 air cond.

FF said:

Your friendly truck reefer shop will have Yanmar or Kubota running take outs for $300 to $500, depending on how well you can dicker. diesel, 10-18HP depending.

A Bus alternator is 12V or 24V , up to 300a , and should be under $500 .

This will make enough juice to make high absorbtion batts worth their high cost.

Otherwise a 135-150A truck alt , driven by a Honda gas unit would be powerful enough for wet batts , and cheap to keep and the entire anchorage to listen to.

With a good inverter the larger units will run 1 or 2 air cond.

Click to expand...

A little more money than the do it your selfer but the same idea with a Kubota diesel and a big alternator.

Aquamarine, Inc -

Do you think it might make since to install a large truck type alternator as FF describes on your main engine with some type of external regulator? I would think conservation of space would be high on your list. If you install batteries with a high charge acceptance rate you wouldn't be running your engine that long and if your alternator is large enough it would be a pretty good load on what is likely a 50 hp or so diesel.

Truck alternators are designed for external V regulators , so its a snap.

The hassle is battery cap , and charge time.

The successful cruisers I know (with a SOC meter) charge up from 50% to about 85% , where the charge hits the brick wall of time.

Their batt bank is big enough that 35% or less does just fine , and even with LA wet batts and a good charger with temp setup the charge time is not excessive.

If there is room a solar pannel does what it can to go from 85% to 100%.

AS this does shorten the batt life (not usually getting charged to 100%) , its simply part of the cost of cruising.

The house craps out at 4 years instead of 6-8. Not that big a deal.

LED , propane fridge or modern DC unit and every other item that reduces the electric draw is considered like money in the bank.