Portable generator setup with aircon and inverter

[rotrax]

Originally Posted by Rumrace

I have no emotional attachment to my generator. I do have feelings towards my Onan mechanic but off topic.
The two wire solar panels on my boat are more likely to start a fire or electrocute someone than the brands of portable generators we are discussing.
Opinions don’t count if you don’t intend to use one or have not used one.
I’m not a Honda fan of anything. I think they have set the bar on safe quiet portable generators. It has built into it as required by code shut offs to prevent everything we are imagining. They tell you not to run the generator inside your boat just in case you are special stupid. They tell you not to leave it running in the rain and will shut itself off in a rain storm. This is the only risk or electrical danger other than the condition of your boat.
Problems from portable generators on boats are related to demand and capacity.

The ground fault is built into your boat in several locations. The first one is your shore cord port the next ones are in the GFI outlets which are the only outlets allowed on a boat.
Just cause you have a 2000 watt Honda and 1800 watts of demand and want to charge your 4 Old ill maintained batteries at the same time!!?? Most small boats using a portable do not have a charging system to handle their demands as they pile household conveniences on the boat.

If you want to find fault in portable generators use, its with the owners not the products.

I was really exited to get a boat that needed two batteries. Now with 7 batteries worth more than my first boat I’m thinking of trading it in buying a canoe and avoiding these debates.

I am very interested how two wire solar panels can electrocute anyone. You might get a minor shock, but electrocution at around the low voltage open circuit is not a likely scenario. A fire is a possibility but again unlikely. The voltage and currents are not high on my twin 200W panels according to the Epever controller. Connected in parallel open circuit I get 24-26v. Connected to the controller and batteries this drops to 14.4 max and 8 amps. Might be more in a sunnier climate, but here in the UK that is what I am getting with my newly installed system.


Please enlighten me - I would really like to know.

[team karst]

Assuming this is a serious question

If you stack enough D cells in series, they can kill.
Especially with wet, salty hands

On panels, utilities will series enough small panels together to get around 1500V dc. Very much lethal.

Saying that, hard to get hurt from a 200W panel. Although i filed down the sharp corners on mine [emoji847]

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Rumrace

The ground fault is built into your boat in several locations. The first one is your shore cord port the next ones are in the GFI outlets which are the only outlets allowed on a boat.

I wouldn't be without ground fault protection, GFCI's or an ELCI but who says they are the only ones "allowed" on a boat ?

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by rotrax

I am very interested how two wire solar panels can electrocute anyone. You might get a minor shock, but electrocution at around the low voltage open circuit is not a likely scenario. A fire is a possibility but again unlikely. The voltage and currents are not high on my twin 200W panels according to the Epever controller. Connected in parallel open circuit I get 24-26v. Connected to the controller and batteries this drops to 14.4 max and 8 amps. Might be more in a sunnier climate, but here in the UK that is what I am getting with my newly installed system.
Please enlighten me - I would really like to know.

Originally Posted by team karst

Assuming this is a serious question
If you stack enough D cells in series, they can kill.
Especially with wet, salty hands
On panels, utilities will series enough small panels together to get around 1500V dc. Very much lethal.
Saying that, hard to get hurt from a 200W panel. Although i filed down the sharp corners on mine [emoji847]

Current as low as 75 milliamps (mA) across the heart is lethal.
The human body has a resistance of about 600 ohms.
Per Ohm’s law, voltage (V) equals current (I) times resistance (R),
V = IR transposed to I = V ÷ R

Divide 14 V by 600 Ohms, which totals 0.023 amps or 23 mA.
Divide 25 V by 600 Ohms, which totals 0.04 A, or 40 mA

Your 200 W PV installation is not likely to kill, or even seriously injure you.
Wire a second panel, in series, and the Voc doubles, producing potentially lethal currents up to 80mA.

[rotrax]

I have 400W wired in parallel. Compared to the belts I have collected from motorcycle ignition systems the voltage is tiny. I think I could have made a spark errosion machine from one of my BTH Racing Magneto's.


Dont get me started on Ford model T trembler coils either!


While I realise electricity is dangerous, so is life in general. Worrying solar owners with small systems that their arrays are dangerous might be counter productive.


I fitted my simple system last week. I ensured I can disconnect each panel and the paralleled pair as well as the battery/controler connection. In bright sunlight each panel produced 24-27v on open circuit.


For me, not a concern.


Thank you for the replies, appreciated.

[Rumrace]

Re electrocuted by 2 wire solar panel I was kidding. Sorry

[cal40john]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Current as low as 75 milliamps (mA) across the heart is lethal.
The human body has a resistance of about 600 ohms.
Per Ohm’s law, voltage (V) equals current (I) times resistance (R),
V = IR transposed to I = V ÷ R

Divide 14 V by 600 Ohms, which totals 0.023 amps or 23 mA.
Divide 25 V by 600 Ohms, which totals 0.04 A, or 40 mA

Your 200 W PV installation is not likely to kill, or even seriously injure you.
Wire a second panel, in series, and the Voc doubles, producing potentially lethal currents up to 80mA.

Dry skin can have a resistance as high as a million ohms. If you open some nice gashes in you so the wires are in nice salty wet interior bits the resistance can be as low as 300 ohms. There's a lot of it depends in between the two.

NIH Review

[Rumrace]

I had a magneto on a 69 Harley was a pain. The left grip retards the mag to start. I have a magneto on a 1953 Triumph Lucas. The Bakelite cover impossible to replace I recently 3D printed one in black poly carbon and then dulled the finish to match the antique. A zener diode can be a bikers and boaters best friend

[sailorboy1]

[rotrax]

Originally Posted by Rumrace

I had a magneto on a 69 Harley was a pain. The left grip retards the mag to start. I have a magneto on a 1953 Triumph Lucas. The Bakelite cover impossible to replace I recently 3D printed one in black poly carbon and then dulled the finish to match the antique. A zener diode can be a bikers and boaters best friend

Good fix, you found a way out.



I have a couple somewhere in the workshop. There are two types, one secured with a clip that has the cutout wire connected with a screw in holder and brass split washer and a combination alloy/bakerlite one that screws on and has a carbon brush and cut out terminal in the centre.



For thirty years First Mate and I ran a busy Classic bike shop.