chris505
New member
Does anyone have experience of holding tanks or solar panels on a 26ft yacht. We are going to the med next year and do not want to waste our cash on the wrong type of items.
Holding Tanks & Solar Panels
- Thread starter chris505
- Start date
BrianJ
New member
I had BP panels (not on a 26'er) they were good. I would purchase them again...no expeerience in holding tanks other than "do not buy the plastic ones"
brianj
brianj
vyv_cox
Well-known member
I have a 2 Amp, 36 watt Solarex solar panel on a 34 ft boat. It is quite adequate to keep batteries topped up for all sailing needs but cannot cope with a refrigerator unaided. It is mounted flat on the coachroof, so does not maximise the full sun output available. Mounting on a flexible joint on the transom would undoubtedly make it more efficient, but would also severely restrict the space available on the boat. The most I have ever seen from it is 1.5 Amps, around midday on a very sunny day in Holland. Mounting it as we have ours means that shadows can easily fall across it and even a very small one, such as a shroud, causes a noticeable drop in output. It has had a major effect on battery voltage, which is almost always up around 12.4 or 12.5 and never drops below about 12.1 even after having the frig on 24 hours per day.
colinroybarrett
New member
Chris,
There is some fairly good information on holding tanks:-
http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/phall.htm
Also, Vyv Cox has written an article on his solar panel installation:-
http://www.crblimited.btinternet.co.uk/kahawi/solar.html
Enjoy!
There is some fairly good information on holding tanks:-
http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/phall.htm
Also, Vyv Cox has written an article on his solar panel installation:-
http://www.crblimited.btinternet.co.uk/kahawi/solar.html
Enjoy!
steve_cronin
N/A
If you have a Brydon/ITT type of toilet there is a wrap around tank that may be of onterest as it is easy to fit.
We were very surprised that the charter agent managing our new Bavaria 42 told us that they no longer bother to fit holding tanks on boats used in Greece. This surprised us as we had hears tales of people being fined for discharging even "grey" waste in Greek waters. However our first season's use of the boat has confirmed a total absence of any controls in the Cyclades, Saronic Gulf and the Dodecanese. We believe that the situation in Turkey is much better controlled. Generally in the eastern med there are few quayside pumpouts, the preferred method being to use your holding tank in harbour, pumping it out when at least 3 miles offshore.
As to solar panels, I have little experience of their exclusive use but we had a large wind generator two boats ago because she was on a swinging mooring with of course no shore power. On our last boat we had neither as we were in a marina but we did have a Sterling battery management system which charged the batteries properly - which most car type battery chargers and automotive regulators cannot achieve.
I would suggest that you contact Sterling as we found them very helpful.
My "Best Configuration" would be
1. Change your regulator to a voltage sensed device as the standard one only replaces what is being taken out by fridge, lights, radio etc. wehilst the engine is running plus a little extra - often <5amps for battery charging. A "intelligent" regulator allows the altyernator to power the loads but also monitors up to three battery banks and independently charges them up to full charge ai 14.4volts which is what is required to give say an 110aH battery a real capacity of 110aH (although this tails off towards full discharge)
2. Fit a solar panel (or two) on a "goalpost" gantry with two saddle clips in line per panel only so that the angle can be changed to put them full square to the sun. These will need some sort of split charging device but simple diode splitters will loose a lot of the modest current available from solar panels. Simple change-over switches, although requiring regular monitoring of charge states with a volt meter often prve the best solution.
3. A wind generator as the Med isn't the windless place people would have you believe. In Greece the Meltemi this year blew incessantly from late June until last week at F4-5. Get something with a good output and insulate the mast with some form of rubber mounting otherwise you will have to live with a constant whirr resonating through the boat day & night!.
4. Make sure that your fridge is properly insulated (at least 110mm thick for the Med) and that the lid is airtight - use some of that "hatch seal" black rubber strip sold in chandlers. Ice bought regularly from marinas & harbours will assist the fridge to keep cool and is inexpensive - don't let the big blocks get near your drinks however as they are usually frozen in fish markets and will almost certainly have salmonella bacteria in them as well as lots of silver fish scales. The bags of ice cubes (Glacons in France) are normally as safe as they are here. (Keep a 5litre drinking water botle with the top cut off as a receptacle.)A good alternative is to buy a bottle of drinking ater at the restaurant of your choice at dinner in the evening, drink a little to make an air space and then ask the patron to put it in his deepfreeze overnight for you so that you can set off in the morning with a -15C or so boost to your fridge. Good idea to mark the bottle with the ships name to avoid arguements with fellow yotties in the morning!
Enjoy the med., We are doing, so far! (When we can get time off to get there)
Steve Cronin
We were very surprised that the charter agent managing our new Bavaria 42 told us that they no longer bother to fit holding tanks on boats used in Greece. This surprised us as we had hears tales of people being fined for discharging even "grey" waste in Greek waters. However our first season's use of the boat has confirmed a total absence of any controls in the Cyclades, Saronic Gulf and the Dodecanese. We believe that the situation in Turkey is much better controlled. Generally in the eastern med there are few quayside pumpouts, the preferred method being to use your holding tank in harbour, pumping it out when at least 3 miles offshore.
As to solar panels, I have little experience of their exclusive use but we had a large wind generator two boats ago because she was on a swinging mooring with of course no shore power. On our last boat we had neither as we were in a marina but we did have a Sterling battery management system which charged the batteries properly - which most car type battery chargers and automotive regulators cannot achieve.
I would suggest that you contact Sterling as we found them very helpful.
My "Best Configuration" would be
1. Change your regulator to a voltage sensed device as the standard one only replaces what is being taken out by fridge, lights, radio etc. wehilst the engine is running plus a little extra - often <5amps for battery charging. A "intelligent" regulator allows the altyernator to power the loads but also monitors up to three battery banks and independently charges them up to full charge ai 14.4volts which is what is required to give say an 110aH battery a real capacity of 110aH (although this tails off towards full discharge)
2. Fit a solar panel (or two) on a "goalpost" gantry with two saddle clips in line per panel only so that the angle can be changed to put them full square to the sun. These will need some sort of split charging device but simple diode splitters will loose a lot of the modest current available from solar panels. Simple change-over switches, although requiring regular monitoring of charge states with a volt meter often prve the best solution.
3. A wind generator as the Med isn't the windless place people would have you believe. In Greece the Meltemi this year blew incessantly from late June until last week at F4-5. Get something with a good output and insulate the mast with some form of rubber mounting otherwise you will have to live with a constant whirr resonating through the boat day & night!.
4. Make sure that your fridge is properly insulated (at least 110mm thick for the Med) and that the lid is airtight - use some of that "hatch seal" black rubber strip sold in chandlers. Ice bought regularly from marinas & harbours will assist the fridge to keep cool and is inexpensive - don't let the big blocks get near your drinks however as they are usually frozen in fish markets and will almost certainly have salmonella bacteria in them as well as lots of silver fish scales. The bags of ice cubes (Glacons in France) are normally as safe as they are here. (Keep a 5litre drinking water botle with the top cut off as a receptacle.)A good alternative is to buy a bottle of drinking ater at the restaurant of your choice at dinner in the evening, drink a little to make an air space and then ask the patron to put it in his deepfreeze overnight for you so that you can set off in the morning with a -15C or so boost to your fridge. Good idea to mark the bottle with the ships name to avoid arguements with fellow yotties in the morning!
Enjoy the med., We are doing, so far! (When we can get time off to get there)
Steve Cronin
waterrat365
New member
Although I am located in the US, we are on the same lat as Portugal, so that's pretty close to the Med. We use holding tanks in the US, as they are required by law everywhere. The water is noticeably cleaner than it was years ago as a result of this and shoreside sanitation improvements. Practically speaking, I have a 26' sailboat and use an 18 Gal holding tank which cost me $10 at a flea market. Talk about luck! It would have cost about $120 in a catalogue. It was a trapezoidal shape, roughly, a chopped off pyramid which fit perfectly under the vee berth. It has a cleanout at the top, an intake and a vent at the top and a drain at the bottom. I installed the system so that everything from the head goes directly into the holding tank first, then it can be pumped out either by suction through a deck fitting, or by a hand pump to a thruhull. Simple and direct works best with plumbing. I glued it into place with expanding foam. It works almost perfectly! Almost - when the tank is full, it weighs 180# and this distorts the shape just enough to leak around the cleanout. So, don't let it get too full. In practice, 3 people can go 3 days w/o pumping out. A previopus boat had a 3.5 Gal tank, but it was always full. The advantage is: if someone happens to be swimming from your boat, you don't have to clear them from the water when you pump the head. BTW, many people pump their holding tanks at night (illegally) on an outgoing tide. Whatever.
As for solar: I have 2 panels. 10 watts for my 60AH starting battery, and 30W for my 320AH house battery (a pair of 6v golf cart bats). In practice I can use them indefinetly w/o running the engine. So far, I've gone 4 weeks between charging by engine, and that was optional. I don't have electric refrigeration or radar, but I do have Loran, GPS, masthead lights, interior lights, pumps- the usual on a small boat. Word of advice: many recommend a diode for preventing discharge at night. In practice this works, however, there is a greater net loss of current from the diode than there wqould be w/o it. So, I don't use diodes. Happy sailing! Cliff Moore, SV PELORUS, USA
As for solar: I have 2 panels. 10 watts for my 60AH starting battery, and 30W for my 320AH house battery (a pair of 6v golf cart bats). In practice I can use them indefinetly w/o running the engine. So far, I've gone 4 weeks between charging by engine, and that was optional. I don't have electric refrigeration or radar, but I do have Loran, GPS, masthead lights, interior lights, pumps- the usual on a small boat. Word of advice: many recommend a diode for preventing discharge at night. In practice this works, however, there is a greater net loss of current from the diode than there wqould be w/o it. So, I don't use diodes. Happy sailing! Cliff Moore, SV PELORUS, USA