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Batteries
Oct 14, 2019 11:15:45 GMT
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Post by lollygagger on Oct 14, 2019 11:15:45 GMT
We have a 240v cheap domestic fridge via the previous owners who never went anywhere, but it's going to be replaced with... something before too long. We also don't go anywhere at the moment but within a year or two we plan to leave the marina for good but only to slowly creep along the canal staying 14 days at a time albeit (in one direction ). Previous 12v fridge experience is that even good ones eat 25ah per day. Interesting to hear that gas fridges aren't very economical, maybe we'll cover the roof with solar but that's not cheap either... As a serial battery killer I'm nervous of buying a big bank of good ones.
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Post by peterboat on Oct 14, 2019 12:27:51 GMT
Ian you clearly look after your batteries plenty of others dont, all it takes is a bad winter and you could easily destroy them in 6 months due to poor charging regime! I don’t think many people change LA after 6 months, obviously some will. We cruise a fair bit, have some solar so batteries are charged a reasonable amount. I still believe the vast majority of boaters get way more than 2 years use from LA though. Obviously your batteries will last longer. My batteries cost me an average of about £90 a year. This is my experience of the last ten years boating. I don’t believe yours will beat that cost wise. Ian I have an autowasher and dishwasher and every other electrical gadget available!! on board, Before the LifePo4s I had full tractions, they were ok but twice a week I had to charge them right up, no issues in the summer with solar, virtually impossible to do in the winter. So the batteries were spoiling my life, LifePo4s I can all but ignore they charge fast and can hand out the power when needed, also smaller and lighter than LAs.
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Post by peterboat on Oct 14, 2019 12:34:30 GMT
LifePo4s will take anything thats thrown at them amps wise, they really can take amps, My solar when all switched to domestic will hand out 80 amps which is all the controller can handle this is at 24 volts though. The drive system is 72 volts and as yet I have no idea what amps the solar can feed into it at the moment. The domestic bank is 24 volts and the AHs is 420, the drive is best measured in KWHs 34.68 its 30 x 36 volt batteries
Thanks Peter, again helpful. More questions: is it true that a 24v battery can accept a larger amp rate (amperes?) than a 12v batt...? And if so does it follow that a 72v batt has an even greater capacity to accept a stronger charge rate? Also, is it a ridiculous notion to charge and store capacity in (say) 24v then step it down to a 12v system? The advantages of 24 volts are you can have twice as much solar onto it so its better on my electric boat system, the 24 volt can be stepped down cheaply, and I have. The 36 volt batteries are for the drive system to 36 volt banks put into series so its a 72 volt system, this is purely for the electric motor I can easily have 5KW of solar onto it and extract every amp possible with my solar controller, in the summer if not moving the drive solar powers the immersion heater, and in the winter it parallels into the domestic so I dont have to run the whispergen
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Post by ianali on Oct 14, 2019 12:41:16 GMT
I don’t think many people change LA after 6 months, obviously some will. We cruise a fair bit, have some solar so batteries are charged a reasonable amount. I still believe the vast majority of boaters get way more than 2 years use from LA though. Obviously your batteries will last longer. My batteries cost me an average of about £90 a year. This is my experience of the last ten years boating. I don’t believe yours will beat that cost wise. Ian I have an autowasher and dishwasher and every other electrical gadget available!! on board, Before the LifePo4s I had full tractions, they were ok but twice a week I had to charge them right up, no issues in the summer with solar, virtually impossible to do in the winter. So the batteries were spoiling my life, LifePo4s I can all but ignore they charge fast and can hand out the power when needed, also smaller and lighter than LAs.
I’m not arguing that LA can perform as lifepo4s. I’m just making the point that for me LA are fine and spending thousands to upgrade wouldn’t make sense as it wouldn’t give me any benefits. Can’t let the dishwasher bit go though. On a boat? Really? We haven’t used our home one since the kids left 3 years ago!
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Post by lollygagger on Oct 14, 2019 12:42:11 GMT
The other advantage of higher voltage is lower amps and smaller wires for the same power.
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Post by peterboat on Oct 14, 2019 12:59:18 GMT
Thanks Peter, again helpful. More questions: is it true that a 24v battery can accept a larger amp rate (amperes?) than a 12v batt...? And if so does it follow that a 72v batt has an even greater capacity to accept a stronger charge rate? Also, is it a ridiculous notion to charge and store capacity in (say) 24v then step it down to a 12v system? The advantages of 24 volts are you can have twice as much solar onto it so its better on my electric boat system, the 24 volt can be stepped down cheaply, and I have. The 36 volt batteries are for the drive system to 36 volt banks put into series so its a 72 volt system, this is purely for the electric motor I can easily have 5KW of solar onto it and extract every amp possible with my solar controller, in the summer if not moving the drive solar powers the immersion heater, and in the winter it parallels into the domestic so I dont have to run the whispergen Ian I love my dishwasher just makes life so easy for me, its next to the pot cupboard and the pans are hung up near it. I aint trying to convert people to LifePo4s its peoples choice however they arnt as expensive as people think and they are long lived
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Post by ianali on Oct 14, 2019 14:23:52 GMT
The advantages of 24 volts are you can have twice as much solar onto it so its better on my electric boat system, the 24 volt can be stepped down cheaply, and I have. The 36 volt batteries are for the drive system to 36 volt banks put into series so its a 72 volt system, this is purely for the electric motor I can easily have 5KW of solar onto it and extract every amp possible with my solar controller, in the summer if not moving the drive solar powers the immersion heater, and in the winter it parallels into the domestic so I dont have to run the whispergen Ian I love my dishwasher just makes life so easy for me, its next to the pot cupboard and the pans are hung up near it. I aint trying to convert people to LifePo4s its peoples choice however they arnt as expensive as people think and they are long lived If I lived aboard throughout winter without a hook up I’d probably be using lifepo4s. Still don’t get the dishwasher though. Washing up after a main meal takes maybe 5 minutes. As you say it’s each to their own. I will add that I follow your battery and electric drive posts with interest.
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Post by JohnV on Oct 14, 2019 15:02:40 GMT
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Post by patty on Oct 14, 2019 19:19:12 GMT
Ian I love my dishwasher just makes life so easy for me, its next to the pot cupboard and the pans are hung up near it. I aint trying to convert people to LifePo4s its peoples choice however they arnt as expensive as people think and they are long lived If I lived aboard throughout winter without a hook up I’d probably be using lifepo4s. Still don’t get the dishwasher though. Washing up after a main meal takes maybe 5 minutes. As you say it’s each to their own. I will add that I follow your battery and electric drive posts with interest. I had a dishwasher in the posh flat I didn't belong in... I didn't use dishwasher.. Son did.. I prefer to wash up and dry and put all away as I go along.
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Post by ianali on Oct 14, 2019 19:22:36 GMT
If I lived aboard throughout winter without a hook up I’d probably be using lifepo4s. Still don’t get the dishwasher though. Washing up after a main meal takes maybe 5 minutes. As you say it’s each to their own. I will add that I follow your battery and electric drive posts with interest. I had a dishwasher in the posh flat I didn't belong in... I didn't use dishwasher.. Son did.. I prefer to wash up and dry and put all away as I go along. My kinda woman 😍
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Post by Telemachus on Oct 14, 2019 19:34:57 GMT
I had a dishwasher in the posh flat I didn't belong in... I didn't use dishwasher.. Son did.. I prefer to wash up and dry and put all away as I go along. My kinda woman 😍 I’m telling Ali about you.
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Post by ianali on Oct 14, 2019 19:37:51 GMT
I’m telling Ali about you. Won’t buy you anymore gin if you do that 😀
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Post by Telemachus on Oct 14, 2019 19:59:11 GMT
I’m telling Ali about you. Won’t buy you anymore gin if you do that 😀 Ok. I’m easily persuaded.
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Post by quaysider on Oct 14, 2019 20:28:40 GMT
NOT directly connected to the op but as we've gone on to dishwashers and gin, I feel it ok to share... My Auxiliary (175amp) alternator packed in on Thursday halfway down the Bingley 3... at the bottom, I took it off, took photos and tried to source a replacement... First call, Ian at Pennine (except he wasn't in and the girl I spoke to sent me a photo of 2 - one of which was a starter motor lol NO matter... point was she tried...)_ NEXT stop, RCR - who then "passed" me over to "contracting" - (their sister company who deals with non-emergencies... They quoted 695 quid (to include 5 hours labour!!! HOWEVER, by the time the quote had come in, I'd already taken said alternator off (about half an hour and that included the search for the spanners) so 5 hours "labour" to put it back on seemed a bit of a con . I got the train to Keighley and took it to an auto electrician... who phoned me back today and said they can fix it for 190 quid... (the canaline price for a new one is 450... ergo, I get the train back tomorrow to pick it up and should hopefully have it back on by bedtime. Meanwhile, I've cobbled together a temporary charging regime from the starter alternator (which I disconncect when the engine stops) and bought a cheamp 700 watt genny from screw fix (which can run the combi charger at about 40amp... The belt squeals a bit on low revs but it's doing the job and means I can set the heating to come on for the guests in the mornings... I may make a better lead and introduce a permanent (but isolcatesd) connection that can work both ways in case either alternator goes again... or rather for WHEN either goes again.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2019 21:04:36 GMT
I'm hugely impressed by your indomitable spirit, resourcefulness and ingenuity quaysider ... but not the crocs Rog
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