On Board Power A Fresco Install

[Lloyd]

Hi All,

i thought i would share a fresche installs, of one of my design/build: on-board power systems. As most here know i dabble in marine Electrical.
Here are the stats: 12v system, OB FXm 2012 Inverter, a pair of Balmar 614's w/ Centerfielder, a pair of Leece Neville 105 amp Alts.

6 Xs Trojan T-105 RE's 225amphr= 675 amphr bank or 9KW bat bank.

A pair of Crown 12v 1100cca start bats, and a Balmar digital Dual charge

[Lloyd]

Balmar Controllers.

[Lloyd]

A view as it relates

[rcavictim]

LLoyd,

As usual, nice workmanship.  I guess you get that pun a lot.   

What I dunno for understand is the single minded apparent devotion to 12 volts on boat systems which are inefficient and require enormously greater and more expensive copper cross sections than say a 48 volt system would need.  Also, why not run the inverters near the batteries instead of at point of use?  The 120 VAC could go a long ways on a light gauge wire.

What is the pretty red nail polish you painted on the battery terminals?

[bschwartz]

I see all that, and all I can think is "It must be nice to have money" 

[Lloyd]

LLoyd,

As usual, nice workmanship.  I guess you get that pun a lot.    

Thanks, coming from you that really means something. I am never more amazed by workmanship then when I look at your work.            Even if i wasn't I would strive to impress my-self.

LLoyd,

What I dunno for understand is the single minded apparent devotion to 12 volts on boat systems which are inefficient and require enormously greater and more expensive copper cross sections than say a 48 volt system would need.  Also, why not run the inverters near the batteries instead of at point of use?  The 120 VAC could go a long ways on a light gauge wire..    

It's not single minded, or maybe it is? I have to work with the on-board power voltage as established by the prior; manufacture/owner/ or what's available for the on-board systems.

If I can fit the required voltage sys to the voltage drop of the main wire runs, it's usually cheaper to let stand the Nominal voltage of the original design, as opposed to replacing all of the on-board motors, and other expensive sys.

As to the inverters location, This Yacht was/is gas powered (twin 354 ci/340 hp big block GMs), and the engine/bat room is no place for an inverter, 1: bc the explosion issues, and 2: bc, the  acid fog issue-to the inverter discrete components.

Sometimes distance isn't as far as it looks, somethings are just on the other side of the bulkhead,( or above or below it) Attached is a pic of the bulkhead high amp pass throughput's for the inverter.

LLoyd,

What is the pretty red nail polish you painted on the battery terminals?

It's NOCO red gue, as affectionately known....probably a recipe based on petroleum jelly, and maybe some anti corrosives ingredients. All I know, is when you put bats in a close environment, the acid fog eats almost anything , and this stuff stops it.

Lloyd

[Lloyd]

I see all that, and all I can think is "It must be nice to have money" 

Brent,

This represents an investment. The  sys costs including a Victron bat monitor and associated material/labor issues, was just shy of 20 K. The value of the Yacht prior was/is just shy of 1/4 mil. The replacement cost to R&R what was existing was about 6K.

The life of the new design/build is about 12-15 years, if well maintained. Which I know it will be as long as this owner lives.

The return on investment is not typical of any investment, as the owner lives aboard, and is a self employed writer. And can now work aboard anywhere he cares to. Including in the middle of the lake, Puget Sound, or any Coastal waters between here and  Alaska, hell he can trailer/ship this yacht just about anywhere he desires...for little costs.

We all need to think in terms of quality of life, when we consider our investments , right?

lloyd

[BioHazard]

Kinda makes me glad my boat only needs one, maybe two batteries. 

[bschwartz]

Lloyd, I'm not suggesting that the project was not worth the investment.  I'm just saying that there is a lot of money there in both your work, and it's housing (the boat).

I don't have 20k to invest in a power system for my house......

But we have to remember that financial assessments are different everywhere.
As I see someone who can afford a 1/4 million dollar boat/house as wealthy, most of the poorer people around the world would see me living in the USA on 35k a year as stinking rich.

[mobile_bob]

very nice work Lloyd, as would be expected of a guy with your experience.

the only issue i might have with the setup are the pair of centenial fla batteries, because of corrosive vapor issues, but
i suppose if the charge rate is tightly controlled as i am sure it is, that will be a minimal problem?

any reason you didn't go with agm batteries?

lot of work involved in that setup!

bob g

[Lloyd]

Lloyd, I'm not suggesting that the project was not worth the investment.  I'm just saying that there is a lot of money there in both your work, and it's housing (the boat).

I don't have 20k to invest in a power system for my house......

But we have to remember that financial assessments are different everywhere.
As I see someone who can afford a 1/4 million dollar boat/house as wealthy, most of the poorer people around the world would see me living in the USA on 35k a year as stinking rich.

Brett,

You can't even buy a cheap Condo in Seattle for 250K, and single family homes are 375-450 for starter homes. In this owner's position, the fact that his home is his yacht, isn't really being to extravagant. But I understand your point.

very nice work Lloyd, as would be expected of a guy with your experience.

the only issue i might have with the setup are the pair of centenial fla batteries, because of corrosive vapor issues, but
i suppose if the charge rate is tightly controlled as i am sure it is, that will be a minimal problem?

any reason you didn't go with agm batteries?

lot of work involved in that setup!

bob g

Hi Bob,

Thanks for the props. One of the reasons I like to do design/build, is it appeals to my artistic side. I have a confined space with so many systems already on board. Then I have to find a way to install all those big fat red and black cables, keeping the runs as short as possible.

The Centennial FLA's are a paralleled start only bank. Their only job is to crank the engines, no other loads. They are charged, from the Balmar Digital Duo Charge, which is a 3 stage W/Float. It sees what ever charge source that is going into the house bank, be it from the alts or the inverter/charger. So the are tightly controlled, even an owner can't muck that up.

One of the bat switches you see above the reg panel is just an emergency cross between the house, and start...basically a jumper cable. It has a key and can only be energized by the key. And the key lives in a cabinet near by...not in the switch.

AGMs would be a complete waste of money in case.

lloyd

[Lloyd]

I thought I would continue sharing.

Remember this shot from a few months ago?

Different Yacht

[Lloyd]

First I did this.

Puked out all the old wire.

[Lloyd]

here's a shot of the upper helm

[Lloyd]

Back side