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Old 29-01-2012, 11:10   #1
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Boat Wiring

hello there! So I am designing a boat to live on, and now on to the electrical. How do i figure out how many batteries I would need in the battery bank? I do plan on using a 3000 watt inverter, mainly for the galley. If anyone has any information about how much power will be needed for a given number of watts and so forth, also if anyone can point me in the direction of a good website that can introduce me to boat wiring, in particular the AC side. I do have some home wiring experience and lots of dc experience
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Old 29-01-2012, 11:20   #2
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Re: boat wiring

Firstly

(a) Marina ( ie shore power) living or anchored
(b) what charging sources will you be supporting
(c) What type of power consumers have you,anything heavy duty ( like Air)

As a general rule, at anchor you can have quite low consumption, with the fridge being the worse, as you will not have full instrument, radar, autopilots to worry about. Hence its easy , do a fridge and lights calculation.

Id say 50-80 Ah, and a battery capacity of about 400Ah assuming good access to recharge sources.

Whats the inverter for, its not that its 3000W that worries me, its its duty cycle.
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Old 29-01-2012, 11:35   #3
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Re: boat wiring

Your going to need to do a thorough power analysis. Start by determining all of the 12 volt equipment you plan on having on board, both at anchor and under way. Calculate the maximum daily usage for all of that equipment and then how many amps it will take to use it all on a daily basis, your amp hours. Go heavy on your figures. Next factor in your inverter use and make the same calculations. What appliances will you need to run and how many amps will the inverter draw from the batteries each day? Add at least 20% to the inverter usage for inefficiency. This will take some work but is what you need to do if you want a correct 12 volt power analysis. Once you have determined your daily amp hour usage, double that and add another 20%. The 20% is a cushion and you double that because you never want to discharge your batteries more than 50%. This should tell you how many of what type of battery you will need to have in your house bank. Chuck
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Old 29-01-2012, 11:51   #4
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Re: boat wiring

Goboatingnow- The first few years I will still be in college so I will be at the dock almost entirely, however I will not be using shore power if at all possible (I will make it so I can use it in an emergence). I plan on using a bunch of solar panels and a wind generator, I will probably carry a small honda genny down the road. The fridge is what I have figured to be the most power hungry so far, its a 14CU foot fridge freezer combo from homedepot, that was on my cousins boat for a few years. As far as lighting im still on the fence as far as LCD vs. Halogen and DC vs. AC trying to weigh the cost to efficiency, happy to hear opinions on that as well.
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Old 29-01-2012, 11:51   #5
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Re: boat wiring

Chuck, firstly , the OP mentioned liveabord, that condition needs to be fleshed out. If shorepower is readily available then that is a factor.

The other things about power budgets, is the "Calculate the maximum daily usage for all of that equipment" , this can be difficult unless you have the actual equipment. ( duty cycles etc) You can make a stab at it.

The other way is simply to look at whats common in boats, typically thats 200-400 Ah battery banks, 50-80 amps alternators and shore chargers in the 30-50 amp range. Add solar and wind if required.

From my point of view, I would look at my recharge options and or shore power availability and frequency. Since these tend to be the dearest and hence the determining factors, then Id look at what was practical. There's no point in arriving at a bank that you cant charge.
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Old 01-02-2012, 04:20   #6
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Re: Boat Wiring

On the west marine website (the advice section of things) there is an electrical budget sheet that is very useful for figuring out these things.
http://content.westmarine.com/docume...s/Elecbugt.pdf

It will make a person consider carefully the items they have aboard and how much power they draw . Knowing what you use ( or are likely to use) is your best way to figure out how much battery capacity and charge capacity you require.
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Old 01-02-2012, 04:36   #7
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Re: Boat Wiring

Jakegator,

No matter which hoops you jump through, for a liveaboard there's no way you can generate your own power for less $$$ than the cost of shorepower.

Even if your boat is already fully equipped (batteries, inverter, solar panels, generator, etc.) if you figure the REAL costs I think you'll find it much less expensive and better to plug in.

Nigel Calder has done some interesting calculations in this regard. Power generation onboard isn't cheap and is always more expensive than you first think.

Bill
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Old 01-02-2012, 05:19   #8
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Re: Boat Wiring

Here is a down loadable book from Victron on boat electrical design.
http://www.rpc.com.au/pdf/Victron_Energy_Unlimited.pdf
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