jdege
New Member
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2020
- Messages
- 138
I'm reading Nigel Calder's "Boatowners Mechanical and Electrical Manual, 4th Ed.", and I ran across an idea I'd not seen before - inverter-based boats.
That is boats that don't rely on shore-power AC at all, so that all of their AC circuits are powered by inverters running off the batteries. Any boat intended as a live-aboard is going to aim for this, to be able to spend weeks on the hook in beautiful places, instead of stuck in a slip.
But if you don't depend upon shore power AC, why connect it?
From his chapter 2:
Thoughts?
I'd been leaning towards installing a Victron inverter/charger. Now I'm not so sure.
That is boats that don't rely on shore-power AC at all, so that all of their AC circuits are powered by inverters running off the batteries. Any boat intended as a live-aboard is going to aim for this, to be able to spend weeks on the hook in beautiful places, instead of stuck in a slip.
But if you don't depend upon shore power AC, why connect it?
From his chapter 2:
IOW you plug into shore power only to charge the batteries. And since there are marine chargers that accept pretty much any frequency and voltage (45-70Hz, 90-270V), and that act as isolation transformers if not tied to the boat ground, this seems like a reasonable way to go. Particularly if you planned on having a beefy inverter, anyway.Shore-power benefits of an inverter-based boat.You can wire an inverter-based boat so that its shore-power cord is connected to a large bank of battery chargers and nothing else. The shore-power circuit now terminates at the battery charger(s). The onboard AC circuits create an entirely separate (electrically isolated) AC system that originates at the inverter. When plugged into shore power, the boat’s AC system will run off the inverters, as at sea, but with the battery chargers recharging the batteries.
Thoughts?
I'd been leaning towards installing a Victron inverter/charger. Now I'm not so sure.