What do YOU think is the best charging option?

[Dougtiff]

I have been using a WATER TOW for year' when making a Ocean passage, puts out 1 knot plus per knot of speed thru the water, 24 hours a day, not enough drag to be concerned about [if your in a big hurry fly]. A number of companys made them at one time, don't know about now, but you can build one cheaply, using a wind generator motor [ebay] and attaching a 50 ft. line with 3/8 by 4 ft. S.S. shaft and a small outboard prop [about2 to 4 h.p.]

[Sailing55]

Originally Posted by Dougtiff

I have been using a WATER TOW for year' when making a Ocean passage, puts out 1 knot plus per knot of speed thru the water, 24 hours a day, not enough drag to be concerned about [if your in a big hurry fly]. A number of companys made them at one time, don't know about now, but you can build one cheaply, using a wind generator motor [ebay] and attaching a 50 ft. line with 3/8 by 4 ft. S.S. shaft and a small outboard prop [about2 to 4 h.p.]

Do you mean similar to the old "Knotmaster" that tows a line with a spinner[prop]? Interesting...I have an older Air-X...hmmmm.

[padave29]

Hey, Trav! Actually, I'm a PA. I've considered surgical options, but none have really proven themselves effective enough that I'm willing to go through the discomfort. I'm actually VERY happy with cpap - just hadn't ever needed to compare the power demands before.

[Sandero]

High output alternator... as much fuel as you can handle... solar cells and perhaps even wind... LEDs and minimize electric drain... no 12v refers...

Run a calc how much power you typically use in a day and then figure out how much you can replenish from running the engine.... and what the deficit is and then figure out what other charging sources you will need.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Dougtiff

I have been using a WATER TOW for year' when making a Ocean passage, puts out 1 knot plus per knot of speed thru the water, 24 hours a day, not enough drag to be concerned about [if your in a big hurry fly]. A number of companys made them at one time, don't know about now, but you can build one cheaply, using a wind generator motor [ebay] and attaching a 50 ft. line with 3/8 by 4 ft. S.S. shaft and a small outboard prop [about2 to 4 h.p.]

I think your brain and fingers were not in concert there.

Care to amend that and tell us how much power you are getting at average sailing speed and what that speed is? ( I can't believe that power output is linear with speed).

[StuM]

Originally Posted by morven55

Do you mean similar to the old "Knotmaster" that tows a line with a spinner[prop]? Interesting...I have an older Air-X...hmmmm.

I've heard tales, possibly apocryphal, of those spinners working well as fishing lures and disappearing occasionally. Never seen it myself though!

[LeeV]

Originally Posted by SV THIRD DAY

No1 put as much solar on your boat as you can reasonably fit and who ever told you solar wasnt any good....don't take any more advice from them.
.............snip..............

Now....let's talk battery bank size because if you think two Costco deep cycle batteries are up to the job....forget about it. Have a real cruiser battery bank or expect trouble.

And what would you recommend for a battery setup? We recently bought a 36' tri which needs new batteries. The p.o. had:
House Batteries: 2 X 6v in series,
• Start Batteries: 2 X 12v parallel
• Xantrax Truecharge 40amp Battery Charger/Inverter
• Linksys battery monitor
• Analog volt meter and ameter
• 30amp shore power and a battery selector switch.

I believe he used the house 6volts solely for the elec windlass, and the 12v pair for starting the 15hp outboard and running the rest. It has a chart plotter, radar, Engel 12v fridge, vhf, LED lights, and a Simrad TP30 autopilot. We'll be setting out this summer for a month aboard so I'm avoiding the "Costco short term battery solution."

Can't afford LiFePo, but all other recommendations would be welcome!

[travellerw]

Originally Posted by LeeV

And what would you recommend for a battery setup? We recently bought a 36' tri which needs new batteries. The p.o. had:
House Batteries: 2 X 6v in series,
• Start Batteries: 2 X 12v parallel
• Xantrax Truecharge 40amp Battery Charger/Inverter
• Linksys battery monitor
• Analog volt meter and ameter
• 30amp shore power and a battery selector switch.

I believe he used the house 6volts solely for the elec windlass, and the 12v pair for starting the 15hp outboard and running the rest. It has a chart plotter, radar, Engel 12v fridge, vhf, LED lights, and a Simrad TP30 autopilot. We'll be setting out this summer for a month aboard so I'm avoiding the "Costco short term battery solution."

Can't afford LiFePo, but all other recommendations would be welcome!

Don't be so quick to "avoid" Costco or Sam's batteries. A great article by a well respected resource found here.
What Is A "Deep Cycle" Battery? Photo Gallery by Compass Marine How To at pbase.com

Sure AGM or GELs are great, but they need to be installed as a "system". Be prepared to spend more (or equal) on the charging gear. I'm struggling with this HUGE as my old Next Step V1 regulators will not charge AGM very well. I would be looking at $600 on the top of batteries just to replace that charging component. If I need to replace my 120/240V main charger then I'm out close to $1000 for that! Right now I'm leaning towards SAMs batteries or L16 or J185s (depends if I have the room).

[ski69sail]

Hi There, I was just wondering what sort of water maker y ou have on board.?? The issuewith them seems to be on start up as they draw to much power and then use to much to be economical to be supplied by solar

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by ski69sail

Hi There, I was just wondering what sort of water maker y ou have on board.?? The issue with them seems to be on start up as they draw to much power and then use to much to be economical to be supplied by solar

Not an efficient watermaker like a Spectra.

[darylat8750]

"Don't be so quick to "avoid" Costco or Sam's batteries. A great article by a well respected resource found here.
What Is A "Deep Cycle" Battery? Photo Gallery by Compass Marine How To at pbase.com

Sure AGM or GELs are great, but they need to be installed as a "system". Be prepared to spend more (or equal) on the charging gear. I'm struggling with this HUGE as my old Next Step V1 regulators will not charge AGM very well. I would be looking at $600 on the top of batteries just to replace that charging component. If I need to replace my 120/240V main charger then I'm out close to $1000 for that! Right now I'm leaning towards SAMs batteries or L16 or J185s (depends if I have the room)."

What MaineSail says on the Compass Marine site is sound information. I put in Costco 6 volt golf cart batteries in Mexico 5+ years ago and finally killed them last year by discharging them to 0 and leaving them there for almost a month while the boat was stored for the winter. (Someone ran over the power cord and didn't re connect it.) They still limped by until mid summer when I replaced them with Sam's Duracell® Golf Car Battery - Group Size GC2 - Sam's Club They are not available in all states but I only had to drive about 50 miles to get to a store that had them. Don't short your self on AMPS.

[zeehag]

most other cruisers i have encountered along this coat have a combination of solar and wind power available at all times. i use 2 wind and 4 solar panels. there is always wind, there is generally sun.
i personally have found best good luck with one air x one chinese knock off and 4 solar panels at 3 amps each rating. works well. i may increase solar as cruisers shed theirs .
ultimately i might even have matching windmills omygods....

as for batteries--i find deep cycle 6 v golf cart batteries are available in mexico in many locales. i now have 2 banks. wet cells. they last longest, so far.

[jkindredpdx]

Originally Posted by Sailorlady323

A small idea. Get a 12 volt charger for your computer . Same type wire as your current charger but doesn't convert 120 to 12volts- but plugged directly into cigarette lighter receptacle. Doesn't need inverter as the chargers we have convert 120 to 12. Can be purchased on line. Saves some amps.

Not sure about this, a lot of computers draw 18-19 volts, so you need a DC 12 to ~19 converter (like cigarette lighter style) that is compatible with each device.


JimK

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by jkindredpdx

Not sure about this, a lot of computers draw 18-19 volts, so you need a DC 12 to ~19 converter (like cigarette lighter style) that is compatible with each device.
JimK

A 12 volt adaptor is available for any laptop.

[zeehag]

i had decent luck with 12 v options for puters back in 2005-8. universal cords and universal systems for using via 12 v systems.
now i just use a smaller invertor which seems to help a lot.
i will be changing to 2000 wtt invertor for my system, as my of my my smaller invertors were burned up by someone nasty and this is how i am gonna replace em, and charger unit. the twin wind machines and the solar will be exactly what i need and solar is expandable.
my puters are users of smaller amounts of energy, but they stilj use 6 amps to boot an d 3-4amps hourly