A way To Save Charging Time

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by StuM

Yep, all we were told was that he used the high load items when the generator was running. If he'd said at the start that those high load devices were going through the inverter/charger this thread would have been a LOT shorter.

Stu,

I'm here to learn these things, if I already knew the answers, I wouldn't have asked the questions or done the experiments.

My background is in medicine, music, property management and construction.... not marine electronics.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Microwave, induction cooktop and infrared oven plus watermakers consumed most if not all of the 50 amps the smaller Mastervolt 24/50 charger was able to put into generating, before it could get to the battery bank

That would be a more accurate way of describing the situation.

[sailorboy1]

I told someone what was going to happen!

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I told someone what was going to happen!

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by StuM

Yep, all we were told was that he used the high load items when the generator was running. If he'd said at the start that those high load devices were going through the inverter/charger this thread would have been a LOT shorter.

StUM, there is a book by Dale Carnegie that I think you should read.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by daletournier

StUM, there is a book by Dale Carnegie that I think you should read.

It can be kinda frustrating when it takes a 150 posts to get the basic info that contradicts the original premise.

[weavis]

Ken
You can buy panels a lot cheaper than you have been quoted plus all the electronics to run it..

Just look at ebay.. the 100w panel we got was €120. 5 year warranty..

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by weavis

Ken
You can buy panels a lot cheaper than you have been quoted plus all the electronics to run it..

Just look at ebay.. the 100w panel we got was €120. 5 year warranty..

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm only interested in the high quality, high output Italian Solbian panels. I'm willing to pay the extra for quality, service and a genuine warranty. Plus, our boat requires 24v.

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Paul L

It can be kinda frustrating when it takes a 150 posts to get the basic info that contradicts the original premise.

Don't participate, you have a choice.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by daletournier

Don't participate, you have a choice.

Is that Chapter 2 of Dale Cs book? I do generally try to stay out of the really long threads, they just seem to beat things to death. The others are often interesting and I learn something. Enjoy.

[smac999]

Makes no sense. The gen would be same voltage as boat. The inverter should not be running while gen is.

Only at dock if dock voltage is diff

[StuM]

Originally Posted by smac999

Makes no sense. The gen would be same voltage as boat. The inverter should not be running while gen is.

Only at dock if dock voltage is diff

It would appear that he has an AC generator which is acting in lieu of shore power, not a DC generator.

[Kenomac]

The label on the generator. Everything 110v operates off the batteries and inverter. The water heater is 230v and runs off the generator or shore power. The same with the air conditioner/heating system. We also have a separate diesel 110v heating system.

[Fuss]

Originally Posted by Paul L

It can be kinda frustrating when it takes a 150 posts to get the basic info that contradicts the original premise.

Yes thats right but on these forums there is always this problem, If he knew all the answers he would not have asked the questions.

We know that he added 75ah of charging and got a big benefit so we can tell from this that all is not optimised and never will be unless we know all intricate details, which we never will as we are not on his boat.

So there is no point in the rest of us going into intricate details as many have done in this thread.

But we can generalise....

At the moment he has 125ah of battery chargers 1x50 and 1x75. With what we know of his current configuration, I am sure that if he adds another 50 making a total of 175ah for his 500ah bank, he will also get more improvement during generator run times. Please don't start up with me on this and quoting charging should be 25% of battery capacity.

He is adding 450w of solar, this will help of course and is a great addition if he can keep in invisible and live with a few disadvantages.

What needs to happen now is that he needs to ensure that the 2 battery chargers have the same charging parameters and that the new mppt solar regulator also has the same charging parameters. If it doesn't, then when the generator runs solar might decide not to contribute during this time.

It would also be nice if he checked the solar performance with the boom shadow, just so he is not later disappointed.

It would also be good if the water heater used the generator hot cooling water as well as/instead of the heating element as it is currently designed.

It would also be nice to check the engine alternator charging Parameters also as I suspect this could need checking as well.

Hopefully he finds a competant marine electrician who can make all these charging systems work well together and also check out his battery monitor..

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

The label on the generator. Everything 110v operates off the batteries and inverter. The water heater is 230v and runs off the generator or shore power. The same with the air conditioner/heating system. We also have a separate diesel 110v heating system.

Are you sure about that? Is your inverter not a feed through that runs the shore/gen power through when available? Using an 8 kw generator only to charge batteries seems like a waste.

Was the gen original equipment or added later in the med?

What make/model is your inverter that's running the cooking appliances?

I was wondering about the 20AH estimate for cooking dinner. That's not a lot of power for boiling water or similar.