Battery charging ideas please

jimbouy

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Well the sun's out and the boats just about ready for sailing.

I can't wait.

So now my thoughts are turning to ongoing battery charging.

The domestic is a 110 ah job and i don't have pumped water or fridge. I do have a tiller pilot to fit some time.

I do have a shorepower hook up that will charge the battery when away from my home berth, if it's available.

But it's the home berth that is the problem.... no shore power. And what if I've been out and anchored or spent the night on a bouy.

I never did buy a 2 stoke Genny and I really want ideas on how best to achieve a top up and maintenance charge when she's on the berth. There may be as little as a week between trips or as long as 3 weeks.

I realise it comes down to wind, solar or both.

But the real question is where?

On a 26ft Centaur there isn't a lot of free space.

I could mount a 5w panel on the forward hatch, but 5w isn't much.

I could hang a 120w flexible over the boom when leaving her.

I could mount a wind genny on the aft rail, but if it's a propeller job I'd probably want to take it off when sailing and I understand the upright spinner jobs aren't much use.

So how do others do it?

Ideas and thoughts welcomed.

Jimbouy
 

steve6367

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I have a 30W panel hung on the back rail - keeps 2 x 110Ah topped up when I am away. Would never keep up with much load - have to run the engine in the morning if at anchor for a while, but it does mean it is all fully charged when I get to the boat at the start of the trip. In the summer it delivers between 0.8 - 1.2 Amps if you keep it in the sun. In your situation, if you are going to return the boat to mooring with discharged batteries I would suggest a larger panel. You need to work out how flat they might be and how long you have before next use and from there how bigger panel you would need. I don’t like wind personally on a small boat – noise – danger of injury from blades etc.
 

aidancoughlan

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I'm considering mounting a Unisolar USF-32 Flexible on the boat (Westerly Merlin) when leaving her on a mooring. States seems to be the cheapest place to order them from.

Wind prop seems to be too much hassle & dont deliver (even when whirling) until the wind gets up to around 10-15 knots depending on model. Solar from what I've gathered is more consistent- some types are more effective in shade than others.

Havnt seen a 120W flexible, where did you come across it.?
 

Gunfleet

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Think you may have muddled the size here Jim. I have a 30W flexible and it's as big as a spray dodger. BTW my 30W flexible keeps my 2 110Ah domestics and 80Ah engine start from going flat in between uses. With an Adverc and an 80amp alternator, the occasional bit of motoring gets it all nicely up to snuff while I'm using the boat.
 

bigmart

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I have two Exide rigid panels. One 5 Watt & one 15 Watt. I bought them cheap from Ebay. Total cost about £120.

I carry two batteries One 95 AH Engine Starter & one 110AH Domestic

The load would generally be an auto pilot, radio & pumped water.

My instruments are Solar powered.

I leave these connected when the boat is on the berth & remove them when I am sailing. The engine usually supplies enough to cover the day to day use when sailing.

The batteries are always ready for use when I go to the boat & I find this setup perfectly adequate for my needs. I just connect the larger panel to whichever battery shows the lowest charge.

I think there is a tendency to over complicate battery charging reqirements. stick with the simplest setup that works.

Martin
 

Jack_the_Lad

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We lived on and cruised a centaur for a year with no extra charging needed.

Why if you spend the night at anchor or bouy do you need/consume electric power?

Anchor light - parafin
Internal light - pressurised parafin gives fantastic light, warmth; always locate lamp under a hatch for safety and if a hot evening, open the hatch.

Throw out the TV; radios consume 'diddly squat', a good book even less !

Self steer using a wind-vane - tiller pilot when under power.

Just check and see if you need the extra charging or just another battery to store power from when running the engine. IMHO

Cheers - Jack
 

jimbouy

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[ QUOTE ]
Think you may have muddled the size here Jim. I .

[/ QUOTE ]

Seeing as i can't find it again that sounds very likely.

Doh /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Adverc, that's a smart regulator thingy then?

My battery is an AGM, very persuasive those Merlin guys! At the time I was told a smart reg. offered no advantage with AGM batteries... Might this have been slight mis advice?

Jim
 

Jack_the_Lad

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[ QUOTE ]
Quote:
Self steer using a wind-vane - tiller pilot when under power.

Do you know what even a small Navik costs today!!!!!!!! If you can aford one super!

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you know you can make/build a wind vane pilot yourself or is that just an old fashioned 'non-cool' idea?????

Cheers - Jack
 

aidancoughlan

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Adverc is a smart regulator thingy all right. Interesting, I was told by Merlin that a smart regulator gave no advantage when using a VSR. (are Merlin anti-smart regulators?) Could they have meant when using a VSR, not the fact that youre using AGM batteries?

I'm not an expert, but as far as I can see, the smart regulator thingy does two things
(a) in a traditional multi-charge setup with Split charge diodes, there is a voltage drop across the diode - the alternator may output full 14.X charge voltage, but the diode will cause a drop to 13.X which is what reaches the batteries. The smart charger 'senses' of the battery voltage, and increases output to overcome the voltage drop.
(b) the smart regulator varies the voltage during the charging cycle using some sort of algorith to more efficiently get charge into the batteries (early on in the cycle there's not much difference, but later on it helps to squeeze the last 10% of charge in at the end of the cycle, and then reverts to a maintenance mode).

Using a VSR instead of diode fixes the first problem, as there is no voltage drop, but (b) would still be an advantage surely? Assuming you ran the engine long enough to get to the later 'smart' stages of the charging cycle.(dont know how long that would be in a typical scenario)

I didnt buy the stuff from them in the end, but I'd like know if the smart regulator still has advantages even with VSR and AGM batteries?
 

jimbouy

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[ QUOTE ]
I'm not an expert, but as far as I can see, the smart regulator thingy does two things
(a) in a traditional multi-charge setup with Split charge diodes, there is a voltage drop across the diode - the alternator may output full 14.X charge voltage, but the diode will cause a drop to 13.X which is what reaches the batteries. The smart charger 'senses' of the battery voltage, and increases output to overcome the voltage drop.
(b) the smart regulator varies the voltage during the charging cycle using some sort of algorith to more efficiently get charge into the batteries (early on in the cycle there's not much difference, but later on it helps to squeeze the last 10% of charge in at the end of the cycle, and then reverts to a maintenance mode).

[/ QUOTE ]


Well your more of an expert than me.

One of the reasons I bought from Merlin was the range of advice I was getting else where. I wanted to have one point of contact. One person to scream at if things went wrong.

In hind sight it was an expensive option. BUT, I am pleased with the set up so far.

They're now talking big wind gennys and expensive soalr panels.

I really want something straight forward.

"Assuming you ran the engine long enough to get to the later 'smart' stages of the charging cycle.(dont know how long that would be in a typical scenario"

I think this is a very interesting point. For the average yachty anyway.


Jim
 

Talbot

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From a quick check here [http://www.barden-uk.com/solar.html the largest fully flexible panel (i.e. you can roll it up) is abt 32w.

if you want space for solar get a cat - I have an 180w panel on my 9m catalac, and I have plenty of space for more panels if required.

I dont seem to have much trouble with flat batteries either /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 

Jack_the_Lad

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[ QUOTE ]
Quote:
Self steer using a wind-vane - tiller pilot when under power.

Do you know what even a small Navik costs today!!!!!!!! If you can aford one super!

[/ QUOTE ]

Just a thought

What is the value of a crew member who helms accurately for 24 hours a day and :-
<ul type="square">
[*] never moans [*]never gets tired [*] never gets sea-sick [*]never needs feeding, only an odd drop of oil [*] never needs battery power [*]and always does as they're told without questions [/list]

Can you afford to be without one ?

Jack
 

Lee_Shaw

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Remember that father and son that raced across the atlantic in two co32's, the lad was 15 i think. They had what seems a good setup with a couple of 20w solar panels mounted one on either side of the pushpit. They could angle them (to port or starboard) to best catch the sun and (it seemed that) they could angle them totally verticle to save space when not needed at night and probably easily take them off altogether.

Dunno if 40w would be enough but that seemed a good setup.
 

halcyon

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Charging gell and AGM batteries, on the ones I've checked so far call for a constant voltage charge method. That is charging up to 14.7 volt and holding the voltage constant, as a standard alternator.
So a VCR and good alternator is all that is required, but check with your batteries manufacturer.

Brian
 
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