pmagowan
Well-Known Member
LEDs?
Ideal electrical system for 45' boat?
- Thread starter pmagowan
- Start date
LEDs?
prv
Well-Known Member
pmagowan
Well-Known Member
Coming over here, taking incandescent bulb's jobs!!
NickTrevethan
Well-Known Member
On heating, especially if up North, an eberspacher stem will warm the boat but draws power. On my old 44 footer motor sailer we had an eber and a Dickinson Newport diesel.
The Dickinson gave so much heat for zero amps in. It can be fitted with a water coil to warm the calorifier.
The Dickinson also looks lovely and create dry heat. You need a chimney.
Look up sterling generators, that might work to recharge and again can heat water and provide 12v for charging. Silent ish too.
12 volt hair dryer. Forget it. They exist but aren't much cop. Think about the power. 1200 watts divided by 240 gives you 5 amps.
At 12 volts the same wattage means 100 amps of current. I doubt anyone makes a 1200 watt 12v hair dryer. Can you imagine the cables?
Some connect a hose to an eberspacher nozzle and use that.
The Dickinson gave so much heat for zero amps in. It can be fitted with a water coil to warm the calorifier.
The Dickinson also looks lovely and create dry heat. You need a chimney.
Look up sterling generators, that might work to recharge and again can heat water and provide 12v for charging. Silent ish too.
12 volt hair dryer. Forget it. They exist but aren't much cop. Think about the power. 1200 watts divided by 240 gives you 5 amps.
At 12 volts the same wattage means 100 amps of current. I doubt anyone makes a 1200 watt 12v hair dryer. Can you imagine the cables?
Some connect a hose to an eberspacher nozzle and use that.
pmagowan
Well-Known Member
I like the idea of using the eberspacher as a hair dryer. The next thing to resolve is those straightening tongs!! Why do women need so much electricity?
I am maybe a bit prejudiced against the diesel heaters with chimneys as we had one on my grandparents boat and it was forever giving problems and made the deck leak. I wasn't really pro heaters at all and thought that the heat of a Tilley lamp was sufficient up until I installed the eberspacher. Now I think it is one of the most important things on the boat!
We currently use a halfords coolbox fridge which we plug into the cig lighter when steaming. Works well but is too power hungry for all day use. I was thinking for this boat a well insulated fridge freezer with maybe a keel cooler.
I am maybe a bit prejudiced against the diesel heaters with chimneys as we had one on my grandparents boat and it was forever giving problems and made the deck leak. I wasn't really pro heaters at all and thought that the heat of a Tilley lamp was sufficient up until I installed the eberspacher. Now I think it is one of the most important things on the boat!
We currently use a halfords coolbox fridge which we plug into the cig lighter when steaming. Works well but is too power hungry for all day use. I was thinking for this boat a well insulated fridge freezer with maybe a keel cooler.
PCUK
Well-Known Member
12 volts due to wide and cheap equipment choice. 1000w inverter for general mains duties like running tools, TV and keeping the ice maker going. Plus shore power for battery charging and mains sockets when in port.
pmagowan
Well-Known Member
I wonder about the 240V. Do you think it is necessary? I have a little honda generator which I suppose I would stow away somewhere and it is easy enough to have a shore power cable with a couple of sockets on the end but things like TV can be an iPad. I don't have a proper TV at home and would not expect one on the boat. I do like the inter web though so it may be worth looking into the wifi thingies. Not sure how you maximise internet connectivity. I found the 3G on the Clyde to be useless but Largs had free wifi. I would hope that the need for power tools would be so low that I could simply use the shore power extension. At present I simply plug an MTEK (?) charger into a shore power extension and then have a shore powered 12v system onboard. I don't know if this has any potential problems from the point of view of galvanic currents.
prv
Well-Known Member
I believe you can actually buy special tubes for the purpose, with a sort of hair dryer shape moulded into the business end. If your missus requires a dryer, and since you're building the boat, I guess you should take this into account when positioning the ducts and vents.
Pete
prv
Well-Known Member
I have a Makita cordless drill in my boat toolkit, with two batteries and a 12v charger. Any jobs needing other power tools would be done at the home berth where I can plug in on a temporary basis.
Pete
NickTrevethan
Well-Known Member
Having 240v shore power at least is a real boon. Tube heaters, fan heaters etc can help warm up things. Its good for making things wife and guest friendly too.
We have a diesel generator on our boat, but I have not managed to start it yet - we have only owned her since Feb. The one thing that does appeal is that if I can get it going, reliably, I can ditch the gas, and fit induction cooking. We have already fitted a combi microwave convection and removed the gas.
I really don't like gas on board, having been in a marina where a boat exploded, with fatal consequences for the owner after a gas leak. Our system is pretty robust - gas alarms, vented storage, bubble tester (which we use), bilge blowers and so on, but still would rather not have it.
Its also a pain to get hold of in the right size bottles in some parts of the world, where as dieself for teh genny is ubiquitous.
We have a diesel generator on our boat, but I have not managed to start it yet - we have only owned her since Feb. The one thing that does appeal is that if I can get it going, reliably, I can ditch the gas, and fit induction cooking. We have already fitted a combi microwave convection and removed the gas.
I really don't like gas on board, having been in a marina where a boat exploded, with fatal consequences for the owner after a gas leak. Our system is pretty robust - gas alarms, vented storage, bubble tester (which we use), bilge blowers and so on, but still would rather not have it.
Its also a pain to get hold of in the right size bottles in some parts of the world, where as dieself for teh genny is ubiquitous.
pmagowan
Well-Known Member
Good point, a lot of cordless power tools are ~12V. I wonder if you can just get ones that charge at ~12V and bypass the transformer. There are probably some that have 12V chargers too.
pmagowan
Well-Known Member
I really like gas. I cook on it at home and on the boat. When I redeck the boat this year (hopefully) I will see about making a gas locker that meets current regs. I know there is a small risk but it is rare to have a gas leak and you can turn off at the cylinder. I prefer an electric oven for home use but I am not sure I would want to use the amps onboard. Gas again is the most likely candidate for me. I don't have an oven at present on the boat but I have a Cobb BBQ which cooks the most amazing roast chicken and potatos!!
TQA
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Top Tip on working on a boat with a drill and no shorepower.
Take a 9.6v rechargeable drill discard the battery and wire directly to 12 volts.
Now you don't have to wait while it recharges. It will run a little stronger too.
Take a 9.6v rechargeable drill discard the battery and wire directly to 12 volts.
Now you don't have to wait while it recharges. It will run a little stronger too.
Tranona
Well-Known Member
Neither are particularly good ideas. Little petrol generators are OK for occasional use, but using when cruising means carrying lots of petrol and running them outside on deck. Noisy and smelly. Equally shorepower cable with sockets used near water is not a good idea. A proper 240v shorepower installation is not difficult or expensive to fit if designed in from the start.
NickTrevethan
Well-Known Member
Agree with tranona.
Especially if you building from scratch.
Have a Cobb too. Love it. Still an oven is useful. As for amps, on shore power it doesn't matter.
If when I switch, I will have the Cobb and May think about a little origo spirit stove for just in case.
Installing a good quality inlet, I like the marinco stainless ones, a galvanic isolator, cord set, consumer unit with ground fault detector, mobs, sockets and good cabling and outlets will be less than 1000 pound, and ,prob ably less than 500
On top of that put an immersion in the calorifier, and a decent battery charger say 400 to 500.
Especially if you building from scratch.
Have a Cobb too. Love it. Still an oven is useful. As for amps, on shore power it doesn't matter.
If when I switch, I will have the Cobb and May think about a little origo spirit stove for just in case.
Installing a good quality inlet, I like the marinco stainless ones, a galvanic isolator, cord set, consumer unit with ground fault detector, mobs, sockets and good cabling and outlets will be less than 1000 pound, and ,prob ably less than 500
On top of that put an immersion in the calorifier, and a decent battery charger say 400 to 500.
Birdseye
Well-Known Member
Volts x amps = watts. So if you want lots of watts ( swmbo's hairdryer, microwave etc) and dont want cables as thick as your arms to carry the currents, then you need high volts. Thats the reason that power pylons are in the thousands of volts range.
What I am getting at is that whilst for routine sailing purposes like nav and pilot etc, you can manage with 12v, for some purposes you need a generator and 240v. For example, at anchor how do you run the toaster or the immersion heater for the shower. Believe me, a decent diesel genny makes life aboard a great deal more pleasant.
So on a new 45 footer I would specify 12v electronics, lighting etc but a diesel genny and probably a 240v mains cooker and microwave. Would allow me to do away with gas cylinders.
Simondjuk
Well-Known Member
If you do away with the gas and it's rough enough for the genset to keep cutting out due to oil surge, you're going to go hungry.
pmagowan
Well-Known Member
It seems like a lot of effort to have 240V. I will need to have petrol on board anyhow and the wee Honda is very compact. I have never had a toaster or an immersion heater before. I was thinking of using engine heat for the calorifier with an eberspacher for when the engine has not been running. For £100 I can fit a gas system that will power a hob, oven and 'toaster' grill. I know most new boats have full 240V systems but it does all sound a bit superfluous. Is a microwave necessary on a boat?
Perhaps I am weird so it is good to get other perspectives. I would have done without a heater on my current boat but I love it now I have it!
Perhaps I am weird so it is good to get other perspectives. I would have done without a heater on my current boat but I love it now I have it!
GHA
Well-Known Member
From experience that's not so, there's more need for petrol for the outboard. The Honda EU might be a bit noisy for those on board but no one else hears it, for windless days with no sun a little petrol genny can be a great asset on a long term cruising boat, plus once in a while you can do a battery equalising sequence using the mains charger and have use of power tools in an anchorage.
Great thing to have on a cruising boat.
GHA
Well-Known Member
After 8 years or so living on board 240v is only used for power tools now, it used to be very different not so long ago with various chargers for so many devices, almost all are charged from usb now. Much easier
Diesel drip feed heat is great for those nasty cold Northern latitudes.
The Honda eu1000 is a fantastic piece of kit to have on board. Even purrs away with ethanol heavy petrol in places like Brazil where many outboards cough and splutter.
