School 12 volt project

Hello,

I teach 8th grade Science in Yakima, WA and have a project in mind for next year that I thought I would run by the forum. My students do not get to the saltwater very often and are very disconnected from that environment so I am trying to bring the boating environment to them through 12 volt technology. I would like to set up a suite of 12v electronics, lights, appliances and instruments for students to install, operate and monitor. I'd like to have them gain an understanding of what can be done with 12v systems and thought that our uses of 12v as cruisers would fit this project very well. I have a 12V 400 watt Airex wind generator and 90 watts of solar panels to charge the batteries we will use to power the system. My knowledge of electrical design is limited and I know there are many others with much more expertise in this area. That is where I am looking for help to design a system for students to install, monitor and run while learning about 12v systems. I have not decided on exactly what I will have there, but am in contact with Furuno to get a radar unit to install, will be looking for an instrument cluster, already have some DC lighting, but will look for led lighting, would like to have radio, and weather and am also looking to see if there is some computer software that would be applicable in this situation.

I know this sounds a little vague, but it is in a very early stage of planning. I just finished building an 8' X 12' building to house it at our school. I'm thinking I cam make it look like the interior of a boat to give it a simulator feel. I have a friend in Bellingham that use to teach here and is part of the Coast Guard Auxillary that will help me outfit it with Coast Guard items to give it some life.

Any ideas? I am planning on working on this over the summer to begin implementing it in September.

Thanks,

When I was in trade school for industrial mechanics,our instructor had a wall that was painted up to look like a 2D version of the simple machines we would be doing the electrical on.Where there was an electrical item, such as a monitor,there was a shelf with one on it.Where there was an electrical panel,there was a plastic box with a plexiglass door to view the wiring.I would start with simple circuits like lights,a vhf/cb radio,and maybe a pump.

Here's a pic to give you an idea of what I was talking about.

Good idea, I was born in Yakama, moved when I was one year old. Now I'm on the Gulf Coast. I would suggest talking to any government institution (department of marine resources or any environmental org. to get donations). My neighbor's son got lots of donations to study blue crab breeding habits and molting habits. They were trying to chart and predict when the crab would go "soft shell". They did and eventually able to bring on the shedding. had quite an operation. Good luck.

12v

Thanks Swampu. I'm pretty well set on supplies, just working over the idea to get it put together in a meaningful way with realistic work for the kids to do with the stuff when they assemble it.

Nice boat you have. Where on the Gulf Coast are you?

Keith, I reside in Biloxi, Mississippi. You know one ongoing problem I try to solve for my vessel is trying to figure how much house bank batteries I would need to run a 3kw inverter so my ac that I have yet to buy would run all night without the genset. Also the solar and wind generators realistic ability to keep some charge on the system. Everything is expensive so it my be a 5 or 10 year project. You can buy an a/c that runs on 900w/hr that would cool a room, 24 volt inverter can handle all that and then some. 3000w with peak 7500w. Its a hobby now but one day I will start implimenting the design. Good luck. Oh yea here is a link to my album if you would like to see the inside. When I bought it, it was gutted by a fire. Paul Krause
cajun rose pictures by swampu - Photobucket

12v

Wow, that was a huge remodel, recovery on your boat. How long did it take? Looks wonderful. My father was in Biloxi during Katrina at the Vets home.

swampu said:

.... You know one ongoing problem I try to solve for my vessel is trying to figure how much house bank batteries I would need to run a 3kw inverter so my ac that I have yet to buy would run all night without the genset. ..........

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Figure enough that they would probably sink the boat.

You don't want to discharge them more than 50% so for each 100 AH battery, figure 50 AH. You have to multiply the amperage draw of the 120 volt AC by 10 to get the base current draw from the batteries and then you have to figure in the inefficiency of the inverter (at least 10%).

Once you get that all figured out, you have to figure out how you will charge them so you can use them the next night.

There are reasons folks don't do this.

kolive said:

Wow, that was a huge remodel, recovery on your boat. How long did it take? Looks wonderful. My father was in Biloxi during Katrina at the Vets home.

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Oh it's not done yet. The outside was lucky and didn't get the affliction (burn) but the inside pictures are fairly recent. I'll be back, were going to eat. I've got videos from katrina.

Just wondering if you are going to go into the Westinghouse(Tesla)-Edison race that has led us to 2 systems?

Vyndance said:

Just wondering if you are going to go into the Westinghouse(Tesla)-Edison race that has led us to 2 systems?

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Well step one is to use the boat for one full year using Westinghouse's plan. If the wife and son and two dogs like the boat than I am going to start adopting more of edison's ideas'. I would like to go 100% edison with lots of solar panels but reality is not up to the task yet.

swampu said:

Well step one is to use the boat for one full year using Westinghouse's plan. If the wife and son and two dogs like the boat than I am going to start adopting more of edison's ideas'. I would like to go 100% edison with lots of solar panels but reality is not up to the task yet.

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Not You kolive with the class!!!!!!

One thing that would be usefull is to add up all the amp hours that all componets use and form graphs on output vs input.

Perhaps a battery monitor that would allow you to calculate the number of amp hours consumer and supplied from each source.
SD

Vyndance said:

Not You kolive with the class!!!!!!

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That is funny, I didn't know what you were talking about, I had to goggle it. haha.