shrspeedblade
New Member
Hi all,
I'm a longtime lurker/reader, but finally got around to actually signing up as I'm sure all need some experienced tips for the project I'm undertaking.
I've had my 1978 Nor'West 33 sailboat for about 3 1/2 years now. When I first bought it, I had in mind to go electric conversion 'someday' as it still had the 50 year old original Yanmar 2qm20 diesel. However, the old lump had proven to be so (relatively) reliable I'd swung over to deciding to just "ride it until it dies" including starting full time cruising about two years from now. I'm VERY dedicated to sailing, so I'd burn a whopping 15 gallons or so of diesel every year and put about 30 hours of run time. I'm probably underway about 200 hours a year. I'll happily cruise under 1/2 ounce spinnaker at 2 knots or bust out 20+ tacks in a river channel before I'll turn the motor on. I'm also a gondolier (sadly not in Venice LOL!) and have toyed with the idea of developing a sculling system if that tells you anything.
I had a big haulout planned for this April in which I would install the 460ah Vatrer RV battery for the house, renogy dc-dc converter and keep my 2 group 24 AGMs for the starter, and install (finally) the two 195ah bifacial solar panels over the back of the cockpit with a MPPT controller I got a long time ago. Everything got upended a month ago, when I had a chance to purchase a never installed Thunderstruck 10kw kit for a good price. I'd even gone over to Thunderstruck to talk to them a couple years ago but then decided it would more conscientious to just ride the diesel as little as I motored anyway.
So as I'm want to do I'm my own worst enemy and I've turned my big haulout (doing bottom and nonskid paint as well) into an absolutely monstrous one. I'm prepping to get the Yanmar out now, but my plans for the rest of the system are:
10kw Thunderstruck kit
2x 48v 135ah TCB Worth golf cart batteries (either can power the system, so redundancy)
Victron 48-12v converter (don't have yet)
Vatrer 460ah RV LiFePo4 house battery (it fits perfectly into the boat's existing well-protected battery box)
2x Ecoworthy 195ah bifacial solar panels with MPPT controller (this is a starter kit I got over a year ago, I haven't done solar before)
3000w Giandel pure sine wave inverter
replacing old CNG oven with induction cooktops, small microwave, and toaster oven (have LPG camp stove back up)
I plan to get a 100ah 12v LiFePo4 trolling battery for my trolling motor I could use in a pinch for the house battery
Obviously fuse everything. Assuming wire sizes are apropriate, I'd like to use 300 amp fuses and a 250 amp breaker which would be the 'weak link' in the system and could easily cut power to the motor.
Our boat has pretty modest power loads, and I don't intend to add anything much bigger except maybe 12v starlink mini down the road. It does have a small chiller in the icebox that IIRC only draws about 10 amps.
Some questions:
In reading the forum, it sounds like my best choice for solar charging will be to charge the 48v bank then convert down to charge the 12v house? Any cons to this? Atom voyages designed a fancy switch system but for starters I want to follow the KISSS principal:
Keep It Simple and Safe Stupid
I assume the Renogy DC-DC charger I got to work with the alternator/AGMs/LifePo4 is now unusable? Please confirm.
In reading how to ground the 48v system I'm in the early stages, but still a little flummoxed. Back to the 48v bank or the 12v bank?
Will I need to add more solar panels already to be able to charge the 48v bank, or do I need a boost controller?
Thank you for reading my long winded info. I look forward to interacting with the forum in the future and your tips/advice.
FYI my boat is 12k lbs displacement, sloop rigged with a moveable inner staysail, and calculators estimate I can do about 4 knots at 2kw, which is sufficient for me. If the wind is blowing it can point at 30 degrees to apparent wind and claw out a good VMG with its modified full keel. I carry a big modern anchor and lots of rode for when it's not.
I'm a longtime lurker/reader, but finally got around to actually signing up as I'm sure all need some experienced tips for the project I'm undertaking.
I've had my 1978 Nor'West 33 sailboat for about 3 1/2 years now. When I first bought it, I had in mind to go electric conversion 'someday' as it still had the 50 year old original Yanmar 2qm20 diesel. However, the old lump had proven to be so (relatively) reliable I'd swung over to deciding to just "ride it until it dies" including starting full time cruising about two years from now. I'm VERY dedicated to sailing, so I'd burn a whopping 15 gallons or so of diesel every year and put about 30 hours of run time. I'm probably underway about 200 hours a year. I'll happily cruise under 1/2 ounce spinnaker at 2 knots or bust out 20+ tacks in a river channel before I'll turn the motor on. I'm also a gondolier (sadly not in Venice LOL!) and have toyed with the idea of developing a sculling system if that tells you anything.
I had a big haulout planned for this April in which I would install the 460ah Vatrer RV battery for the house, renogy dc-dc converter and keep my 2 group 24 AGMs for the starter, and install (finally) the two 195ah bifacial solar panels over the back of the cockpit with a MPPT controller I got a long time ago. Everything got upended a month ago, when I had a chance to purchase a never installed Thunderstruck 10kw kit for a good price. I'd even gone over to Thunderstruck to talk to them a couple years ago but then decided it would more conscientious to just ride the diesel as little as I motored anyway.
So as I'm want to do I'm my own worst enemy and I've turned my big haulout (doing bottom and nonskid paint as well) into an absolutely monstrous one. I'm prepping to get the Yanmar out now, but my plans for the rest of the system are:
10kw Thunderstruck kit
2x 48v 135ah TCB Worth golf cart batteries (either can power the system, so redundancy)
Victron 48-12v converter (don't have yet)
Vatrer 460ah RV LiFePo4 house battery (it fits perfectly into the boat's existing well-protected battery box)
2x Ecoworthy 195ah bifacial solar panels with MPPT controller (this is a starter kit I got over a year ago, I haven't done solar before)
3000w Giandel pure sine wave inverter
replacing old CNG oven with induction cooktops, small microwave, and toaster oven (have LPG camp stove back up)
I plan to get a 100ah 12v LiFePo4 trolling battery for my trolling motor I could use in a pinch for the house battery
Obviously fuse everything. Assuming wire sizes are apropriate, I'd like to use 300 amp fuses and a 250 amp breaker which would be the 'weak link' in the system and could easily cut power to the motor.
Our boat has pretty modest power loads, and I don't intend to add anything much bigger except maybe 12v starlink mini down the road. It does have a small chiller in the icebox that IIRC only draws about 10 amps.
Some questions:
In reading the forum, it sounds like my best choice for solar charging will be to charge the 48v bank then convert down to charge the 12v house? Any cons to this? Atom voyages designed a fancy switch system but for starters I want to follow the KISSS principal:
Keep It Simple and Safe Stupid
I assume the Renogy DC-DC charger I got to work with the alternator/AGMs/LifePo4 is now unusable? Please confirm.
In reading how to ground the 48v system I'm in the early stages, but still a little flummoxed. Back to the 48v bank or the 12v bank?
Will I need to add more solar panels already to be able to charge the 48v bank, or do I need a boost controller?
Thank you for reading my long winded info. I look forward to interacting with the forum in the future and your tips/advice.
FYI my boat is 12k lbs displacement, sloop rigged with a moveable inner staysail, and calculators estimate I can do about 4 knots at 2kw, which is sufficient for me. If the wind is blowing it can point at 30 degrees to apparent wind and claw out a good VMG with its modified full keel. I carry a big modern anchor and lots of rode for when it's not.
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