what are the best and cheapest way to have on board power for things like fans, lights, radio, tv

Cisco

Your loosing the plot here, the string is as long as you cut it and the 8.30 bus always leaves at 8.45

If you are planning on solar power there power ratings arnt accurate as they are tested on the equator laying flat at midday so they are getting maximum sun when its at its closest. If you are looking at solar you will need to account for this as a 80 watt system might only be good for 50 watts on a boat.

saltiest1 said...

where are you? where are you going and how log? how big is your boat? what sort of amps are you going to be chewing and when? live aboard? lots of motoring? shore power available? is there a genset? budget? and so on.....

Geez mate!! All the bloke did was ask for some information and now you want to know what time he lets his first fart go in the morning.

Hey BENNYP, simple answer, just installed 50W panel / of course noncrystalline / cost $150 and cut-off switch $18.
Run 2 batteries + 1 dedicated for motor starter. Pretty much it covers what you have.
But it is very simple, calculate how many amps you need than you know how much you have to put in / plus 20% more /.
Bay the way if not on the boat charging all batteries through shotky diodes, if on the boat,I have individual switches to select which bat. to be charged.

btw, how long is a piece of string? as long as i want it to be.

saltiest1 said...
took me a while to figure it out. lived aboard while sailing around for 12 mnts and didnt get it right until the 2nd half. ended up with a 3 stage 240 charger, 2 120 watt solar panels and an airex wind turbine.

had all the mod cons though...

we were a family of 3, had a 12 inch flat screen tv, vhf, computer, windlass, radio, fans, loo, radar, lights, and more to run, but if its a small boat with a simple set up a single solar panel of 80 watts might be plenty. it all depends on what you plan to do.

All the mod cons is where the rub comes in. It really depends on what your cruising philosopy is.

For me, as long as I can have a good stereo on board I am well entertained. However these days with the advent of computers and the internet it is good to be able to power up a decent laptop. That allows you to have as big a music library as you could ever want plus movies and TV series that you might download.

These days I get most of my video entertainment streaming from the internet and rarely switch the TV on but that of course is at home with ADSL2 over the land line.

I am not sure that kind of bandwidth is possible with mobile internet. Hangtime seems to be quite happy with his Telstra 3G or next G connection and I'd like to know a bit more about that ie is the speed good enough to stream video from abc.net/iview.

Apart from the above I like to keep things electrical very simple on board. On a 34 footer an electric anchor winch is nice but not really necessary and I would not bother with radar as there are some very good AIS receiver units available now. So sounder, VHF, gps plotter and AIS is a quite adequate electronics suite.

Refrigeration is probably the biggest power user if electric. I think I have mentioned it elsewhere that there is a really good article on electrics in the June 2008 Cruising Helmsman magazine. I'll see if I can get it scanned and post it up.

cisco said...

All the mod cons is where the rub comes in. It really depends on what your cruising philosopy is.

For me, as long as I can have a good stereo on board I am well entertained. However these days with the advent of computers and the internet it is good to be able to power up a decent laptop. That allows you to have as big a music library as you could ever want plus movies and TV series that you might download.

These days I get most of my video entertainment streaming from the internet and rarely switch the TV on but that of course is at home with ADSL2 over the land line.

I am not sure that kind of bandwidth is possible with mobile internet. Hangtime seems to be quite happy with his Telstra 3G or next G connection and I'd like to know a bit more about that ie is the speed good enough to stream video from abc.net/iview.

Apart from the above I like to keep things electrical very simple on board. On a 34 footer an electric anchor winch is nice but not really necessary and I would not bother with radar as there are some very good AIS receiver units available now. So sounder, VHF, gps plotter and AIS is a quite adequate electronics suite.

Refrigeration is probably the biggest power user if electric. I think I have mentioned it elsewhere that there is a really good article on electrics in the June 2008 Cruising Helmsman magazine. I'll see if I can get it scanned and post it up.

There are a couple of "depends" in here too.

Your chosen method of recieving wireless broadband will depend on how good it streams.
We don't cruise for any longer than a weekend, so we don't need TV.

We use an iPad for Navionics (as well as charts of course :-)), Internet 3G and some of our music. We use an 30g iPod with 6,000 songs, running in a small alkaline battery powered dock to take care of the music. Standard lights, galley pump, radio etc run off the one gigantic (12V 900CCA 75Ah) absorbed glass mat battery powered by two very old 40w solar panels. You could use the iPad to stream iView, but it would depend on how much you paid for your broadband and what your download limit was. If we want to watch a video, we can load it on the iPad, connect the speakers to the iPod dock etc, but it is a small screen.

We have outboard, with no requirement for power to start, and it doesn't generate power to a battery either.

Mobile phone, iPod, iPad are all charged with connections to the main battery.

If you use a laptop there are converters available at most electronic shops that alleviate the need for the 240volt power supply, connecting straight to 12 volt.

For my money, it's all going to depend on space and how many people need to use power for the mod cons.

Michael

Thanks for that input MichaelR. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

I have a Nokia 2730 I think with a 2gb micro SD memory card which allows a huge amount of music to be carried around in your pocket. Output is via a 3mm stereo socket which is a common cord into most car as well as boat stereos.

I do think a TV on a boat that is used mostly for cruising as opposed to living aboard in a marina is out of place.

ok thanks for all the advice and yes i see there is alot to think about. my next question is that i have a old solar pannel that i found in my parents shed, but it has no wiring, is that fixable.

BENNYP said...

also to let you all know. my yacht is a 25 roberts adventurer that we plan on using for weekend and holiday crusing. i have never owned a boat biggernough to stay on and this is why i need help. i think my concern is that i have enough power to run lights and music and charge things like phone, also it would like to be able to do work on the lap top or watch the footy on tv.

With careful management very little is required for your needs. Two decent deep cycle batteries is all I have at the moment. On the rare occasions I need nav lights I'm motoring anyway. Toshiba laptop draws 4 amps and is only on when navigating. Fm radio is on full time and vhf, don't bother with the hf. Using a 12v LCD TV draws very little. I find just motoring clear of my mooring and returning is enough to keep batteries fully charged. However I intend fitting two 20 watt panels and dropped into BIAS in Sydney yesterday to be told that they only have 3 in stock at the warehouse. The kicker was that they may not let them be sold as they are being held for the Sydney boat show! They had very little stuff in stock in the shop too. The shop assistant did say that a visit to the boat show might enable a couple of cheap purchases.

dinsdale said...

planesailing said...
... even in winter. but i guess less sun means less heat means less fridge runs.

Solar panels require visible light, not infra-red light.

Yes you are right ..but my point was when its cooler (no sun because of clouds) the
fridge doesnt need to be powered as often because ambient temp is less. and we can
even turn it off at night in winter. to save some power to run anchor light.

I have been doing some market research on battery chargers and everybody seems to agree that although expensive, the Ctek units are the duck's nuts.

The D250S and the Smartpass units appear to be the ideal set up for yachts that rarely go along side and hook up to shore power.

Whether they are actually a charger or a smart regulator is debateable.

If a yacht has solar panels plus windgenerator and engine alternator these units look to be the ideal solution.

http://www.ctek.com/en/chargers

c

Jedibrad said...

wow, they have come down a heap in the last 5yrs

Careful what you buy.There is a big difference between some of them.I swear by uni-solar.Slowly pull a shade over them and watch the input and you will see what i mean

I have just bought one of these for $200.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360371149975&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

My yacht has 2 - 110 amp hour deep cycle batteries. I only use one bank each day and intend separating the suitcase panels and installing them each side of the pushpit. The unit comes with a regulator and I will buy a second one and have each panel charge its own battery. I have always kept systems separate preferring to have one bank idle. My yacht has never had panels before and managed Sydney Hobart races with out recharging. I normally run the diesel each day I'm sailing even if I sail off/on to my mooring. Normal drain is just Laptop, radios and stereo so 40 watts will handle it easy. I will still be using the diesel anyway.

wow thats looks great i can see i have alot of wiring to do to male mine look a bit better. does anyone know how much i sould pay for a 100 amphr battery. also what are peoples oppinions on generators