Generator Auto Start

[Arthurc]

I’m in the exact same boat, I love the idea of one set all visible. Reading this you will do a 12v dc/dc charger for the tender? That’s a good idea, I’m currently just using a battery tender.

Have you had any issues with thrusters and windlass on the same bank? My windlass is on my house bank but I don’t love that. On the flip side my thruster batteries are only charged on AC so if I pull the hook from any significant depth and then really need the thrusters docking Id have a partially depleted bank.

 

[Arthurc]

Never mind in the DC to DC charger, got my models mixed up, I was looking at the Orion.

 

[Scottwb96]

I've got 2 AGM's wired for 24v in the bow (thruster/windlass). All my chargers are plugged into AC. They all run off the inverter side of my Magnum today (Multiplus-ii going forward). Currently I have 800ah of house bank (AGM's). Charged by dual Wakespeed WS500's networked together... Will be looking at switching to LiFePo in the near future.
Haven't had any issues with the thruster/windlass. I already setup the IP22's for the start battery as well as the bow. 1 hour 45 mins or less and I am back to full in the bow <30 mins for start battery to be full)

 

[Illerom]

Generator auto start

In response to the question about the alarm going off ... the minimum voltage had been set to 22 volts ... at the time I had some extremely heavy power use refrigeration active (now upgraded and running off 24V), and by morning battery levels dropped below the preset alarm .. and .. after reading the manual it attempted to start the generator due to low voltage.
After reviewing the settings it was reasonably obvious (I read them repeatedly) the inverter controller was not configured correctly to auto-start the generator.
Now I monitor on a regular basis and due to the upgraded refrigeration my power usage is very low and often battery levels are >97% by morning.
Not a lot to learn from this other than I set a maximum of 95% before I fire up the generator to recharge the batteries. If the batteries fall below that I can still use the inverter however it takes a longer period to bring them back to 100% ie. generator runs longer ..exhaust fumes not pleasant with brunch.
That’s about it. I am comfortable the way I manage it now and control when I want the generator to operate.
Cheers and happy boating.

 

[Mobcat]

Victron Cerbo running on a Quattro 8000/48/240 with a BMV will work a treat good programable relays on the Cerbo for gen operations and auto start stop applications can also monitor from shore on wifi, great faultless system I have run it for the last five years and 2 years with the Cerbo and wifi and never had a problem turns on at 48volts turns off at 55volts and runs as a hybrid system averages around 2.5 hrs of gen time on a Kohler 9ekozd when living aboard 2 fridges 2 freezers on board and elec hot water and all electric appliances, we have 10kw of lithium onboard but if we run the Ac systems 24/7 take the gen to about 5-6hrs a day of gen time …… fantastic system couldn’t recommend it high enough

 

[Mako]

@Mobcat what mfg/size of boat do you own? Also you’re running one huge inverter, which sounds like it’s more efficient than two in parallel. What do you do for redundancy, if that big boy goes down while out on a cruise, do you keep a spare or a small spare?

 

[Mobcat]

Hi Mako my boats a custom full displacement trawler 55ft running a single Lehman 135 it’s actually a Lees but same only different IMO you can’t have a big enough inverter the benefits are endless it seems especially in longevity and use ability and if I your going high ish wattage 48volt is the only way to go 10kw of lithium is fine but really 20kw would be sweet and it’s probably where I’m heading while I can still get good dollars on the second hand market for my current lithium batteries …… I do believe with 20kw of storage I would be able to achieve the holy grail of boating and run all the Ac units over night and just enjoy the hum of the beautiful cool air exiting the vents rather that the intermittent gen set whilst sleeping it would also make the hybrid side of the power supply just that little more efficient and decrease the gen set hrs
Our boats very power hungry thus the large inverter but really the inverter 95% of the time is only inverting around 500 watts and that’s all the fridges freezers ice makers etc it’s when you start using induction hot plates, hot water services, electric outdoor grills, deep fryers and steamers for crabs the electrical party really gets started throw in 5 air conditioning units and you can see the need for a 8000w Quattro, redundancies wise if the Quattro was to peg it I would just run the Genset full time go old school, but I must admit I do have great faith in the Victorian Quattro I have had it running 24/7 /365 for over 5 years now and it’s not once thrown a fault and makes exactly the same noises today as the day I installed it so I can’t see a reason that it won’t keep doing that for the indefinite future, the only maintenance I do do on the Quattro I do is maybe blow the dust or more lint out of it every 12 months maybe if I think about it…… oh and I do have a 2kw Honda pull start on board just in case all goes to **** one day, at least I could keep the fridges freezers etc etc going but have never had the need for it yet fingers crossed

 

[Mako]

Thanks for the great summary @Moncat. Seems like an excellent system. The only drawback to a huge inverter might be the residual energy draw when it is idle, but a solar panel or two should negate that

 

[Arthurc]

Looks like I’ll be able to get the install done later this month. I’m also adding the Xantrex AGS as it seems like it’s the only good way to determine when the charger hits float and I don’t want to swap my charger this season. The Xantrex has a simple profile that basically is a closed relay when it wants the generator on and open relay when off, I will use that to signal the dynagen. Kinda janky but should work well and the Xantrex agm is cheap, likely because it seems limited on configurability in terms of generator safety shutdown and warm up, all of which the dynagen will do.
AC

 

[Mobcat]

Victron Cerbo does all that with the programable relays, even the micro pulse start through the generator profile settings in the Cerbo, great simple seamless option and can be used for so many other things through the touch screen or iPad BTooth and can be controlled remotely on wifi with a static Sim card amazing flexibility through nmea, or using relays to control basically anything your mind can conceive ?

 

[Arthurc]

I do have inverter envy with Victron, even when I move to Victron I’ll prefer having dynagen as my AGS, I like that it’s first an engine control system, second auto start, meaning it has a ton of extra monitoring and capabilities the standard AGS’s don’t. But fully aware I’m throwing away the money on the xantrex AGS, just seems like a simple solution for now.

 

[Group9]

We have an auto gen start , but we leave it turned off. We also can set our inverter to shut off at a certain voltage and we do use that.

We have a Xantrex inverter and controller that does both.