Charging At Anchor

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Earl34Mainship said:
Me either... SOC?
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Answered several times in this post....But SOC is your batteries "state of charge." Indicating how healthy they are. The electronics keep track of Amps in and Amps out. You need to tell the "brain" many parameters regarding your battery (s) and the monitor does the rest.

Mine displays, Volts, Amps, Amp hours, KWH and state of charge.
 
SOC = State of Charge
 
Roger hmason... thanks... learn a lot from this forum...
 
ddfishon...."State of Charge"
 
Tom.B said:
Ok... When I wake up after a night at anchor, I like to top off the batteries a little bit before I get underway (auto pilot pump is a power hog and will shut off if voltage drops below 12.0V... yes... I plan on increasing the wire gauge to the pump soon... that's not the point). Is it better to fire up the genset to run the A/C battery charger or run the main engine and use the alternator? Standard old Motorola 70A alternator that never puts out more than 50-ish amps anyway, versus new Iota 55A charger. What say ye'?
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I would prefer the generator. Doesn't matter for us as we always have our genny going.
 
N4712 said:
I would prefer the generator. Doesn't matter for us as we always have our genny going.
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My only problem with that is it's like having a running lawnmower in the salon ;-) Pretty load for first thing in the am. :blush:
 
Tom.B said:
My only problem with that is it's like having a running lawnmower in the salon ;-) Pretty load for first thing in the am. :blush:
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True, does yours have a sound shield or blanket? we have a shield it's really quiet, but then again it also depends on your ER sound proofing. Whatever, that's just what we do. :)
 
All well and good for a 47 Nordi. ;-) Not so with an 35' Taiwanese boat with the genset wedged into a tight spot with no room for a shield and merely inches below the salon floor. I am looking at blankets someday, but at $1500, are a bit pricey for us. I hope to find the same fabric they use and get Bess to fabricate our own someday.
 
Tom.B said:
All well and good for a 47 Nordi. ;-) Not so with an 35' Taiwanese boat with the genset wedged into a tight spot with no room for a shield and merely inches below the salon floor. I am looking at blankets someday, but at $1500, are a bit pricey for us. I hope to find the same fabric they use and get Bess to fabricate our own someday.
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I understand, just curious, what's your gennys make and RPM?
 
Tom.B said:
NEXT-GEN - Marine Power Units
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Oh we have the same unit in our Camano except its a phasor which is basically the same exact thing. When we have the sound shield off its loud I know what you mean but we have the sound shield. we had to modify the sound shield to fit between to stringers in the lazzerette of our Camano. It just hums, it's not bad when sleeping because it's all the way aft.
 
An alternator that has a std auto /truck V regulator is very poor at charging or topping off a depleted battery bank .

To use an alternator for a short time it MUST have the V regulator changed for a 3 or 4 stage marine style.

A better bet night be the noisemaker with a charger , but even then its small size limits the charge ability , so charge time will be longer.
 
fryedaze said:
I am planning to change out my alternators. I have priced the Balmar ATs and I just cant see $1300 for an alternator. Even their cheaper model will set you back $1000. I will need two so the price doubles. I am leaning towards a 100 -120 amp of the shelf alternator in the $200 -$300 range that I can hook up to a smart regulator. Advanced Alternator Regulator
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I like this idea also. I need to add another alternator and would like a temp based Regulator.

Richard
 
Years ago on an OB cruiser I would throw a fairly heavy old coat over the 35hp Johonson and it made a huge reduction in noise.

It would seem to me that not very exotic or expensive materials could be used for considerable noise reduction.

Sorta like spending tons of money on a new anchor when the old Bruce or Danforth would almost certainly hold the boat just as well. frequently we spend lots of money on the newest things to be fully in style when they aren't really necessary at all. I've used all kinds of anchors from heavy to light and very new to very old and they all held the boat.

Just say'in
 
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> SOC is your batteries "state of charge." Indicating how healthy they are.<
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Not really , the SOC is a gas gauge , and will only show the percentage of charge currently in or going in or out of the bat set.

A 100% full battery that is new and unabused , and the same batt 7 years old after 2000 charge /discharge cycles can also be 100% full.

But the batts HEALTH ( ability to charge & discharge) will be quite different.
 
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Originally Posted by fryedaze
I am planning to change out my alternators. I have priced the Balmar ATs and I just cant see $1300 for an alternator. Even their cheaper model will set you back $1000. I will need two so the price doubles. I am leaning towards a 100 -120 amp of the shelf alternator in the $200 -$300 range that I can hook up to a smart regulator. Advanced Alternator Regulator

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Look at the Leece/Neville/Prestolite units.
Many have an externally mounted regulators that can be removed fairly easily without opening the unit up so an aftermarket 3 stage regulator can be used . Get a 140- 150A unit for the cooling ability, case size, and then use the aftermarket regulator to turn down the max. output rate limiting heat buildup and allowing the thing to run from one belt if needed.

Many regulators these days also have temp sensing for both the battery and the alternator which is a good feature.
 
Look at the Leece/Neville/Prestolite units.
Many have an externally mounted regulators that can be removed fairly easily without opening the unit up so an aftermarket 3 stage regulator can be used . Get a 140- 150A unit for the cooling ability, case size, and then use the aftermarket regulator to turn down the max. output rate limiting heat buildup and allowing the thing to run from one belt if needed.

Many regulators these days also have temp sensing for both the battery and the alternator which is a good feature.
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Thanks, I bought the alternators and regulators for install this winter. Quality power set them up for external regulation for $30. Mega Amp GM High Output Alternator I went with the Sterling Advanced regulators ProReg D Sterling Power Products: Alternator Regulators. The regulator has both battery and alternator monitoring. The alternators were $355 each. I can buy three of these for the price of one Balmars for that. Time will tell:whistling:
 
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I can see problems with Rick's solutions and with Rt's.

With Rick's, from the video, it looks like the rougher the water, the more power produced. Not a great concept for the average cruiser!

With RT's-what size generator do I need to produce 12,000 amps to turn solid water (that is confusing) into electricity? And, where do I get solid H2O fuel? (I assume they don't mean ice)
 
While you are waiting for these amazing devices to be commercialized, you might consider investing with me and purchasing a bridge that is for sale in Brooklyn, NY.
 
I can see it now. The batteries are down, launch the tender and circle the boat.

However, the Chaotic Motion Generator might be useful in eliminating the need to row across the Atlantic in a small boat.

Tom
 
Someone here developed a new wave powered electricity generator. It was tethered (so they thought) to the seafloor, had vanes which moved back and forth by wave action, somehow generating electricity. My last memory of it is seeing the whole catastrophe washed up on the beach, I don`t think it was reattached.
This thing however, may actually work.
 
When I was in Hi Skool with my first $75, 21 ft sail boat keeping it afloat at a mooring always required bailing or pumping.

The best solution was a large (double action) car fuel pump, from a junk yard , with an arm and lead weight attached to the operating lever.

When hung down on a wooden mount to prevent lead over travel , any tiny wave action would pump some water overboard .

Not much per stroke , but enough to lift overboard heavy rain in a day or two.

Using wave action is hardly new!
 
And unlike solar, it will charge 24 hours a day, rain or shine, snow or birdcrap. My guess is a viable production unit will not be much larger than a small boat water heater and produce as much or more power than a useful size solar panel.
 
Sort of a conflict here , most cruisers I know anchor in very protected water to avoid both wind and sea motion.

Anchoring out next to the fairway to charge the batts seems as unlikely as running from side to side daily for hours to rock the boat.
 
Who said it takes a great deal of motion to produce a bit of power? If no one rolled or pitched at anchor why are so many here talking about passive stabilizers?

The conflict is self induced.
 
This will be great on the ICW. No more slow passes. People will be asking me to wake them. I may even consider taking credit card numbers for a nominal charge for the service. Just thinking how much could be made from waking a whole anchorage.:D
 
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