Can a PSU be used with a Kobra windless?

altruistica

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I'm currently completing a 40ft solar powered catamaran. The cat has a 6kw solar array, two 45kwh LiPo4 battery banks, two 10.5kw solar inverters and two 15kw, 48vAquamot electric outboard motors. The cat is being set up to run at 240v for all internal electrics with the 12v and 24v supplies being fed via PSU for the lights, pumps and toilets where necessary. The Kobra windless is a 24v, 1000w version, although the controller box mentions 2000w as the peak draw. Could I use two 1000w PSU wired in parallel to power the windless? The kind of PSU I was thinking of is something like this one

24V 41.6A 1000W DC Switching Power supply Adapter PSU AC-DC 24Volt Industrial Transformer Converter 0-30/20amps LED drive Lamp Meter Electric Printer Heater Motor Pump Amplifier Fan SMPS 110V/220
https://amzn.eu/d/ipZBske

Thanks in advance forany help you can offer.
 

jakew009

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I'm currently completing a 40ft solar powered catamaran. The cat has a 6kw solar array, two 45kwh LiPo4 battery banks, two 10.5kw solar inverters and two 15kw, 48vAquamot electric outboard motors. The cat is being set up to run at 240v for all internal electrics with the 12v and 24v supplies being fed via PSU for the lights, pumps and toilets where necessary. The Kobra windless is a 24v, 1000w version, although the controller box mentions 2000w as the peak draw. Could I use two 1000w PSU wired in parallel to power the windless? The kind of PSU I was thinking of is something like this one

24V 41.6A 1000W DC Switching Power supply Adapter PSU AC-DC 24Volt Industrial Transformer Converter 0-30/20amps LED drive Lamp Meter Electric Printer Heater Motor Pump Amplifier Fan SMPS 110V/220
https://amzn.eu/d/ipZBske

Thanks in advance forany help you can offer.

You would likely be better off having a 24V battery in line with the windlass. That would mean you could get away with a much smaller power supply to keep it charged up.

You might find the peak draw is actually considerably more than 2000W during a stall situation and the power supplies may not have enough capacitance to keep up (especially those cheap Chinese things).
 
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altruistica

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Thanks for the reply. I've just read a DC motor can initially draw 8-10 times its running current, so that would be well outside the spec of the PSU. I was simply trying to save some weight. I've been running my house for the past 18 months from 32 lead acid batteries so I have a supply. The Varta 240LFDs will easily do the job so I will just series connect two of them and get a small charger. I haveaskedLofrans who make the Kobra but I suspect their answer will be similar to the one above.
 

altruistica

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That's an impressive set-up.
I guess it's solar power only, no sail?

Yes, the cat was designed as a power cat (no sails), with two petrol 60HP outboards. Each hull already has 250l petrol tanks which I've left in situ just in case the 15kw Aquamot outboards fail to deliver a suitable outcome. Once on anchor, the amount of solar and batteries should give a fair few days redundancy, but this all quite new and experimental so I'm prepared to swap and change things about where necessary.
 

altruistica

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I have been documenting the work through a series of videos that I will release once the cat is finished. I don't want to make them public for security reasons.
 

Alan S

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I have some experience of solar only propulsion but on a much smaller scale (6 kW motor, 15 kWh LifePO4 and 1.2 kW solar) It works well, no petrol or diesel admittedly only used 6 months of the year. I reckon you could ditch the petrol tanks unless you are over ambitious regarding performance and range.
Keep us informed please.
 
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