Electric fin stabilizers

[twistedtree]

By the way, ABT offers an electric version of their fin stabilizers. I have no idea how pricing compares to the hydraulic version, but if you have your heart set on electric, they would be worth a look. I woudl have 100% confidence in ABTs engineering of the system, and after sales support. They have been the Gold-Standard in the marine industry, in my experience.

[nwboater]

Originally Posted by T4Liberty

I have Naiad fins on my Cheoy Lee 46 LRC and I am impressed with them.

However, if I were newly outfitting a vessel or building a new boat, I would seriously consider (with some more personal research) these:

MagnusMaster - DMS Holland

I’ve been in touch with reps at both RotorSwing and DMS (previously one in same but now separate companies). For sure, these magnus effect stabilizers are an intriguing addition to the market, unfortunately, both products require 230V AC power, meaning a large inverter and/or generator while on underway. The appeal of the Humphree fin product is they run on 24V DC, so a small battery bank and engine-driven alternator is all that’s needed to run them. All of these new products are made in Europe and aren’t readily available in the U.S...at least no demo boats on the west coast. Also, the pricing on this new technology is still way too costly to compete with the established stabilizer brands.

[BrisHamish]

I have been very pleased with my Naiads - vast improvement in my boat's "manners" while underway - and I have a mate with a very nice Fleming 65 and ABT-Trac system and he is very pleased with it as well.

Richard, why not get both Naiad and ABT-Trac to give you a quote and pick the best price from those two? Ask Seakeeper for a quote as well if you are interested in a gyro - for Seakeeper the unit cost is higher, but installation way easier as long as you have space to fit it. All three are US based companies, excellent quality, and are well known brands which enhance resale down the track. I dont think any of those three would be a 'bad' choice.

FWIW, like ABT-Trac, Naiad also does electric now but at the time I enquired it was only for much larger vessels and very $$$. Personally I haven't found the hydraulic system to be any trouble at all, and as I mentioned installing the hydraulic hoses and the pump was the simpler part of the exercise. The hard bit is the hull reinforcement and pads for the actuators (which you will still have to deal with for electric).

Hamish.

[Mr. Blu]

I am still looking for stabilizers on myST52. Found the MC2X from Quick Nautical (an Italian company) An interesting concept as it doesnot require a cooling system like the SeaKeeper with a waterpump.


Installing seems rather simple although the equipment is heavier than the SK due to the heavier flywheel. Any of you guys perhaps seen them before? For a 20 tons yacht the dimensions are 61 x 61 x 66 cm (24 x 24 x28). Found some price quotes but they were not clear to me. Products | ANTI-ROLL GYRO STABILIZERS | MC² X - Gyro Stabilizers

[Mr. Blu]

Quick will be present on the HISWA Amsterdam boat show first week of March. So I will polish my Italian a bit.

[Chrisjs]

We had Niaids on our Selene 47
They worked great. BUT be aware that active fins pretty much work continuously once you turn them on. Also, once you turn them on you will not want to turn them off because they make such a difference.
You already have hydraulic steering and adding a hydraulic PTO offers other options in addition to the stabilizers. Bottom line is I would stick with proven hydraulic systems that are easily powered by your main engine. Our Cummins 280 had no problems operating the hydraulics while still charging the battery banks. I suspect battery fins would suck down your batteries big time instead of battery charging .

[sunchaser]

After reading this thread I spent a few minutes in the ER looking over my Wesmar hydraulic setup. I came away from this quick look wondering how an electric setup could be simpler, cheaper or have less space than using the Vickers PTO hydraulic pump, oil cooler and roughly two gallon oil tank.

Since new, the hydraulic stabilizers and related electronics have been trouble free. A similar question could be raised - "Why not electric actuated steering" as opposed to hydraulic?

[Mr. Blu]

Or the main question - as nowadays you have a choice for the gyrostatic stabilizers:
Do you want things sticking out of your hull or not? I would prefer to have as less sticking through the hull as possible.

[Mr. Blu]

And as usual - size matters- I have seen a SK on a ST 52 and it took quite some space. Also starting up time is rather long although I have made a sea trial on a Greenline (not a trawler) on which the SK had effect after 20 minutes.

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Originally Posted by Mr. Blu

Or the main question - as nowadays you have a choice for the gyrostatic stabilizers:
Do you want things sticking out of your hull or not? I would prefer to have as less sticking through the hull as possible.

So a few years ago off the coast of Oregon a yacht got their stabs tangled in a crab pot. It caused the boat to list and sank killing those onboard.

So Mr. Blue you have an appropriate question.

[ksanders]

Originally Posted by sunchaser

After reading this thread I spent a few minutes in the ER looking over my Wesmar hydraulic setup. I came away from this quick look wondering how an electric setup could be simpler, cheaper or have less space than using the Vickers PTO hydraulic pump, oil cooler and roughly two gallon oil tank.

I was thinking the same thing although I do not have stabilizers.

A hydraulic pump can be fitted to either of my transmissions, or an electric pump can be used that is about the same size as my watermaker HP pump.
A 5 galoon hydraulic resivore is not all that big, and the hoses are small.

There might be come significant size savings in the actuators, but electric ones woulg be deeper, assuming a direct drive motor.

I was quoted $27K in 2012 by Wesmar for proper stabilizers for my boat. Installation was guesstimated to be another $20K with a large part of that being the installation of the fins themselves.

It seems like electric does not have that much to offer, and at a higher price.