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Recommendation for Charging 12v House Battery from 48v Bank
I have the battery box for my 48vdc 200ah main bank installed and am considering how best to keep my 12 vdc house battery charged. All batteries in my system are LiFePO4. I will maintain charge in the main bank with 400 W of solar and a back up generator if necessary but, as my solar array will be 48v nominal I’m trying to ?decide how best to keep my 12vdc house battery charged. I had been thinking of one of the Victron Orion dc-dc converters but just noticed in the literature that Victron says that these units are not for battery charging. I’d like to be able to use the main bank as a full time source for the house, but would appreciate any suggestions on what I can use to continuously feed from my main bank to my house battery.
Thanks in advance. |
SV/Retreat Time Catamaran is for sale in Tampa Fl.
Friends it's time for a new owner, she is ready to go with her 18 KW motors and new batteries new bottom paint last march,?
2 New Dometic reverse cycle in 2018, Max props, forward looking sonar, new console dingy with merc 20 hp electric and pull start, with 1 hr. use. new upholstery and stack pack. All led lighting, water maker, 7 anchors of various sizes, two asem spinnakers, two mains, extra props, two vhf radios and handheld. Ice maker, 2 state room one head, new commode, Garmin chart plotter and full suite of ray marine nav equipment. wired for star link, inside steering, Huge solar system, and lots more. email or texts will be answered. Will consider trads for real-estate or? |
Re: Complete electric propulsion system for sale
I'm interested.
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Dennis 310.702.1166
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Complete electric propulsion system for sale
Four years ago I swapped out my 19 hp Volvo diesel for a 10 KW Thunderstruck system in my 32’ schooner which I have used for day charters since 2010. It worked out great for the past four summer seasons but I have decided to go back to diesel for more cruising range. If anyone is interested in purchasing my electric rig complete with motor, controller, charger, 2:1 reduction gear and 4 155 ah agm batteries I’ll make you a very good deal just to clear out my storage shed. You can email me or text me at
252-928-7245. Rob |
Re: Recommendation for 48 v inboard motor + generator.
I couldn’t get comfortable with the idea of re-fueling with a funnel either. I ended up getting a new 3.8KW dual fuel electric start generator from Firman for a little over $700. I have it strapped down in a segregated seat locker with the exhaust plumbed to an un-used espar heater exhaust. Also added two 110 cfm quiet equipment fans the evacuate the heat. Initial tests this fall went well and I have adjusted the charger amps to optimize the draw on the generator. I have also found it’s a little quieter on propane. This spring I plan to figure out my zero loss cruise speed.?
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Re: Recommendation for 48 v inboard motor + generator.
开云体育I have that exact Westinghouse generator at home to save my ice cream when the power goes out.? Decent unit.?? Access to the carb for cleaning could be better?? I had to disassemble it to clean it out after the unit sat un-used with gas left in it and the carb became fouled.? Easy enough fix once I got to the carb.? Would be better if the gas cutoff didn't also shut off the motor so you could run the carb dry. ? On 2023-12-26 10:25 pm, Scott E Erdman via groups.io wrote:
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Re: Recommendation for 48 v inboard motor + generator.
Scott, the thing you MUST keep in mind about small gasoline generators is that you ABSOLUTELY MUST run them at least every 2 weeks.? If you do that, they will start and run great.? If you leave it sitting for a month or two, you may well be disappointed the next time you try to start it.? ?You don't have to use it, just start it and let it run for 10-15 min. Good luck! John
On Tuesday, December 26, 2023 at 09:25:31 PM CST, Scott E Erdman via groups.io <seerdman@...> wrote:
Hi Dan, Thanks very much for replying and once again thanks for your 10M page – a superb reference that I’m using all the time now! So it looks like I have a decent line on a Westinghouse iGEN2500 which is 2,200 W output for $600. ? I do need to get a generator in the next few months because, though I don’t want to be using it much, my boat will come out of storage in April or early May and the marina it is presently at will only give me about 2 weeks of slip time since they are full and I won’t be there for the summer. I did find a marina in Saket’s Harbor and it is about a 2-3 day trip from Sodus Bay to Saket’s Harbor. Due to these considerations and unpredictability of the weather and crew availability around then, I plan to go via Oswego where there is a town dock with overnight slips that have power and I can recharge fully there as needed. Still I want to have backup onboard even though we will sail as much as possible and the trip is a favorable one for travel by sail. ? I don’t plan to use this very much but want to have it at the ready just in case I get stuck really needing it. Down the road there will be a few passages where it will be needed – St. Lawrence Seaway, Detroit River – for all these I am hoping that it may be possible to split the trip in half, thirds or quarters for the power intensive section and just plan to recharge whenever possible. One of the folks at the marina my boat is at went on and on and on about the Georgian Islands – looks super for when I am retired in a few years and have the time to get my boat up there and back in a season or so – ? I am sure I’ll have some more questions about the 10M. I have to reconnect the water system in mine so that is my main item aside from fixing the anchor light. Very much looking forward to spring! ? Thanks again, Scott ? ? From: [email protected] <[email protected]>
On Behalf Of Dan Pfeiffer
Sent: Tuesday, December 26, 2023 9:37 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [electricboats] Recommendation for 48 v inboard motor + generator. ? The answer to your question is (of course), it depends.??? What is the output capacity of your AC charging system?? The gas generators you are considering are 120VAC output?? (The 5,000 watt
may have a 220VAC output?)? You will be delivering the power to the batteries or the motor through the battery charger that you would plug in to shore power.? That means you have a max power limit that is set by the charger output.? If your charger output
is 1500 watts max that's your limit.? You can't get more through the charger.? So you can't use any generator capacity beyond what the charger can put through to the battteries/motor.?? As to the generator, I would rather NOT have a gas powered generator on board.? Refueling underway from a gas can sounds like a sloppy process.? Gas fumes can accumulate in
the bilge though that can be mitigated with careful handling.?? I would consider a propane powered unit.? Same fume issues but swapping out a new propane tank seems a lot easier at sea than re-filling the gas tank on the generator.? A little less output on
propane Vs gas but the handling advantages seem worth it to me.? And these generators are strictly for above deck use.? Same for the fuel storage.?
On 2023-12-26 1:46 pm, Scott E Erdman via groups.io wrote:
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Re: Recommendation for 48 v inboard motor + generator.
开云体育Hi Dan, Thanks very much for replying and once again thanks for your 10M page – a superb reference that I’m using all the time now! So it looks like I have a decent line on a Westinghouse iGEN2500 which is 2,200 W output for $600. ? I do need to get a generator in the next few months because, though I don’t want to be using it much, my boat will come out of storage in April or early May and the marina it is presently at will only give me about 2 weeks of slip time since they are full and I won’t be there for the summer. I did find a marina in Saket’s Harbor and it is about a 2-3 day trip from Sodus Bay to Saket’s Harbor. Due to these considerations and unpredictability of the weather and crew availability around then, I plan to go via Oswego where there is a town dock with overnight slips that have power and I can recharge fully there as needed. Still I want to have backup onboard even though we will sail as much as possible and the trip is a favorable one for travel by sail. ? I don’t plan to use this very much but want to have it at the ready just in case I get stuck really needing it. Down the road there will be a few passages where it will be needed – St. Lawrence Seaway, Detroit River – for all these I am hoping that it may be possible to split the trip in half, thirds or quarters for the power intensive section and just plan to recharge whenever possible. One of the folks at the marina my boat is at went on and on and on about the Georgian Islands – looks super for when I am retired in a few years and have the time to get my boat up there and back in a season or so – ? I am sure I’ll have some more questions about the 10M. I have to reconnect the water system in mine so that is my main item aside from fixing the anchor light. Very much looking forward to spring! ? Thanks again, Scott ? ? From: [email protected] <[email protected]>
On Behalf Of Dan Pfeiffer
Sent: Tuesday, December 26, 2023 9:37 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [electricboats] Recommendation for 48 v inboard motor + generator. ? The answer to your question is (of course), it depends.??? What is the output capacity of your AC charging system?? The gas generators you are considering are 120VAC output?? (The 5,000 watt
may have a 220VAC output?)? You will be delivering the power to the batteries or the motor through the battery charger that you would plug in to shore power.? That means you have a max power limit that is set by the charger output.? If your charger output
is 1500 watts max that's your limit.? You can't get more through the charger.? So you can't use any generator capacity beyond what the charger can put through to the battteries/motor.?? As to the generator, I would rather NOT have a gas powered generator on board.? Refueling underway from a gas can sounds like a sloppy process.? Gas fumes can accumulate in
the bilge though that can be mitigated with careful handling.?? I would consider a propane powered unit.? Same fume issues but swapping out a new propane tank seems a lot easier at sea than re-filling the gas tank on the generator.? A little less output on
propane Vs gas but the handling advantages seem worth it to me.? And these generators are strictly for above deck use.? Same for the fuel storage.?
On 2023-12-26 1:46 pm, Scott E Erdman via groups.io wrote:
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Re: Recommendation for 48 v inboard motor + generator.
开云体育The answer to your question is (of course), it depends.??? What is the output capacity of your AC charging system?? The gas generators you are considering are 120VAC output?? (The 5,000 watt may have a 220VAC output?)? You will be delivering the power to the batteries or the motor through the battery charger that you would plug in to shore power.? That means you have a max power limit that is set by the charger output.? If your charger output is 1500 watts max that's your limit.? You can't get more through the charger.? So you can't use any generator capacity beyond what the charger can put through to the battteries/motor.?? Dan Pfeiffer More on limits here: More on gensets: On 2023-12-26 1:46 pm, Scott E Erdman via groups.io wrote:
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Re: Recommendation for 48 v inboard motor + generator.
If you’re thinking a portable gas generator, I like the Harbor Freight 3.5kW inverter unit. Quiet. Electric start. Wait for a 25% off coupon. ? ?
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Re: Recommendation for 48 v inboard motor + generator.
Hey Folks - I apologize for not maybe having all the specifics needed for this but related to this thread and a somewhat more simple question:
I did buy the Pearson 10M that had been converted to 10 kW Thunderstruck with 2x24 x 2 48V bank w/ 196 AH.? Presently there is no other way on the boat to recharge other than plugged in on a slip.? Looking at everything, I figure that purchasing a gas generator is the best insurance on expanding range and dealing with extended draw conditions (currents, etc) So my question is this - does it make a big difference whether the generator I get is 2,000 vs. 5000 W ?? I am looking on Craigslist and I can find quite a few used 5,000 W generators for good prices - I expect space is a consideration as well. I guess my main question is what would I gain from getting a 5,000 W generator vs. the smaller, more portable and perhaps more quiet 2,000W ones? Trying to take care of some of these purchases this winter - Thanks, |
Re: Parallel LiFePO4 Packs
开云体育Great advice. My 30kwh pack batteries (lithium ion, 20P(1.5kwh, 42vnom)) are only connected to a charging system after reaching somewhere between 33 and 36v, and then only charging overnight to 48v (max. batt spec is 49.1v).? I manually disconnect the next day.? Going further, I do not totally trust BMS cards (and for good reason) and so I only power them up maybe once every 6-18months to check cell balance across the 240 cell pairs.? Even with that, I have heard from at least one European owner of THINK cars with these batteries/BMS indicate to me that he has seen even unpowered BMS cards drain a cell pair. ?So there’s that risk also.? Further on the non-trusting side, the software I wrote to communicate with 20 BMS cards and manage all the balancing only enables balancing on one of the 20 module strings at a time---only the worst one.? This has the advantages of minimizing the number of bypass circuits that are enabled and lowering the risk that they will degrade quicker or worse, that one of them might get stuck ON.? Since all the modules are in parallel, as a string is bypass balancing, the other parallel strings will supply that string with current, maintaining the string voltage and only slowly dropping the pack voltage---far better than bypassing ALL the high cells in the pack to bring them all down to the low voltage.? Works like a charm. ? Anyway, stay safe. ? -MT ? From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Harley Clark ? I don't know if it is general knowledge that fully charged LFPO batteries must be disconnected from a charging source.? Lately I have heard of some unexplained fires in boats that are docked while their owners are absent and have wondered if the batteries were being over charged by solar panels or wind. The BMS should be set up to physically disconnect the batteries.? This can be complicated by solar and wind if these sources must be redirected to another load path to consume this unwanted charging current. Hopefully, Everyone is hearing old news ? On Tue, Nov 21, 2023 at 10:07?AM THOMAS VANDERMEULEN <tvinypsi@...> wrote:
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Re: Parallel LiFePO4 Packs
Harley Clark
I don't know if it is general knowledge that fully charged LFPO batteries must be disconnected from a charging source.? Lately I have heard of some unexplained fires in boats that are docked while their owners are absent and have wondered if the batteries were being over charged by solar panels or wind. The BMS should be set up to physically disconnect the batteries.? This can be complicated by solar and wind if these sources must be redirected to another load path to consume this unwanted charging current. Hopefully, Everyone is hearing old news On Tue, Nov 21, 2023 at 10:07?AM THOMAS VANDERMEULEN <tvinypsi@...> wrote: wow, Reuben ... !? A full MegaWatt hours of capacity?!?!? ?According to one source, that's enough to power the average household of 5-weeks!! |
Re: Parallel LiFePO4 Packs
开云体育That's what I have in my Tesla :)
On 11/21/23 12:28 PM, Reuben Trane via
groups.io wrote:
Check your math? 1,000AH/48v is 50kWh. I get about 25NM at 5 knots.?
-- Jeff LaCoursiere StratusTalk, Inc. 703 496 4990 x108 815 546 6599 cell -- Jeff LaCoursiere s/v Angels Quest St Thomas USVI |