Charter Co says run engine 4 hrs daily (!) to charge batteries

[Kiwicrew]

Think about what you can do to reduce consumption. Here are some pointers:
Laptop charging uses a lot of power, phones not so much but you should instruct everyone to come fully charged and perhaps bring those little power packs fully charged.
On my boat I installed a new battery monitor recently and was very surprised to find how much the anchor light uses. I haven’t been up the mast yet but I expect that has not yet been changed to halogen. You might even consider taking a cheap garden solar light to substitute appropriately.
Turn instruments off when you’re anchored.
I think my auto helm probably also drags a fair bit of power especially in tough going. Hand steer as much as poss.
Fine crew for wasting power!
Have fun!

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by seandepagnier

if you are running the engine at anchor, upwind of me, I will come knocking on your boat. Most people move when I ask, but one guy didnt. I moved and anchored upwind of him and smoked him out with a wood fire He was complaining from his dingy but didn't even have courtesy to use the oars : instead he used a 25hp outboard! I was laughing because I won. Humans are at least somewhat evolved for wood smoke unlike engine fumes.

I woke up too many times with diesel headaches. It is about 1% efficient at generating electricity. You might as well start cutting fruit trees down to get the fruit if you seriously consider charging batteries this way.

I have too much solar power as it is, and keep half my panels below most of the time (solar panels last longer if they arent in the sun)

I bet you feel you are the moral high ground

[Nicholson58]

Pretty typical charging demand. We have been live aboard in the Caribbean for six seasons. Charter boats are easy to spot.

No radar
No solar farm
No wind generator
Most have no generator unless there is AC

Very simple but you must charge the batteries

[Idaho]

Originally Posted by seandepagnier

...

I have too much solar power as it is, and keep half my panels below most of the time (solar panels last longer if they arent in the sun)

An array 4 panels wide could have the outer two able to slide over the center two when they aren't needed. To increase their longevity.

[Kiwicrew]

Yes I’m installing solar at the moment too.
Not sure what you mean about your last comment.

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Let's face it, too big a bank takes a very long time to re-charge. So yes, having at least an adequate bank size is nice, but having a huge bank would not solve the problem either.

Why? I'd not expect that. If I have a 200Ah daily consumption, the battery will need 200Ah recharge each day, regardless if the battery is 400Ah or 1600Ah.


The one detail is charge rate. The 400Ah battery bank will be down 50% and take about max charge. The 1600 Ah bank will be down 12%, and be well below max charge rate -- but since it's 4x larger, it might still be able to max out the alternator.


The one thing that a larger bank can do is allow you to deplete it more -- a 400Ah bank needs a charge at 200Ah down, a 1600Ah bank can go down 4x as far. But the daily budget is the same.


To the OP's issue, the one boat I chartered had neither battery monitor nor even an Amp meter -- you basically had NO IDEA what the batteries were doing! Using voltage to determine charge condition while charging is nearly pointless -- no my boat, I hit acceptance when still needing 2-4 more hours of charging.

[PatMc57]

Loving my Ice Box. You want a full fridge and freezer? Get a Trawler and stay Coastal

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by PatMc57

Loving my Ice Box. You want a full fridge and freezer? Get a Trawler and stay Coastal

Fridge/freezer is about the only way to have cold last more than a couple days! How does your icebox do on a 10 day passage?


We spent 110 days aboard last summer, and we actually had some frozen stuff that we didn't eat -- and it came ashore with us on our return. And in 110 days, I bet we didn't have shore power 10 times. The last 60 days, no shore power.


But OP can't make that choice --charter boats come with what they come with!

[aqfishing]

I am assuming that by the use of the word engine and the additional instruction of 1500 rpm that you are referring to you main propulsion motor? So then there is no generator??

Running your main engine without any load will cause glazing of the liners. It would be wise to give it a good burn under load to de carbonise it for lack of better wording.

In any event. Its not a healthy thing to do running an engine without load just to charge batteries.

[akuakai]

We charter annually in BVI and just returned from USVI charter. Always charter catamarans and always with fewer crew than the boat "sleeps". We don't use the AC and minimize electrical usage, at least minimize everything short of turning off reefers and freezer. We find ourselves loosing the amp hour battle every single charter! And on this charter, one of our guests is an electrical engineer.

On last weeks charter, the charter company said they wanted engines or generator running for a minimum of 8 hours per day! The boat had a huge house battery bank. Sorry I can't quantify the battery sizes, I tried to find labels that would give amp hours. But there were 4 batteries of the 100 lb. + size.

We ran engines and generator as requested and never saw more than 12.4 volts in the house bank, and the bank dropped quickly to below 12 volts. The last day we ran the engines and generator for 12 hours and managed to get to 12.6 volts.


I hate running engines that much, and am seriously thinking about chartering powercats from now on if that's what is required.

Since hurricanes Irma and Maria, the charter fleets have all gone to boats with great accomodations and lots of electrical goodies. So the demands on the batteries are ridiculous, while the sailing characteristics on the catamarans has gone in the toilet.

Since we always charter in May, June, or July and that's basically the end of the charter season, I've often wondered if we are getting boats that have already had batteries so abused for 6 months that there is just no saving them.

BTW, when you initially step aboard the batteries look great, because they've been charging on shore power for at least a couple of days.

[aqfishing]

Originally Posted by akuakai

We charter annually in BVI and just returned from USVI charter. Always charter catamarans and always with fewer crew than the boat "sleeps". We don't use the AC and minimize electrical usage, at least minimize everything short of turning off reefers and freezer. We find ourselves loosing the amp hour battle every single charter! And on this charter, one of our guests is an electrical engineer.

On last weeks charter, the charter company said they wanted engines or generator running for a minimum of 8 hours per day! The boat had a huge house battery bank. Sorry I can't quantify the battery sizes, I tried to find labels that would give amp hours. But there were 4 batteries of the 100 lb. + size.

We ran engines and generator as requested and never saw more than 12.4 volts in the house bank, and the bank dropped quickly to below 12 volts. The last day we ran the engines and generator for 12 hours and managed to get to 12.6 volts.


I hate running engines that much, and am seriously thinking about chartering powercats from now on if that's what is required.

Since hurricanes Irma and Maria, the charter fleets have all gone to boats with great accomodations and lots of electrical goodies. So the demands on the batteries are ridiculous, while the sailing characteristics on the catamarans has gone in the toilet.

Since we always charter in May, June, or July and that's basically the end of the charter season, I've often wondered if we are getting boats that have already had batteries so abused for 6 months that there is just no saving them.

BTW, when you initially step aboard the batteries look great, because they've been charging on shore power for at least a couple of days.

Probably had 1 battery with a dead cell. Thats all it takes to mess up the whole bank.