captdave@surfbvi.com writes: >Any other suggestions or experience with 2-3KW 24 volt alternators that I >might not be aware of would be appreciated. So far the ZENA folks seem to be >a leading candidate. 3 year warranty and reputed quick turn around on any >repairs requiring return. I used two PowerTap/Ample Power 150 Amp 24 volt alternators on Island Eagle, both mounted to a new custom alternator bracket and both driven from the auxiliary drive on my GM 6-110. This runs at 2X crank speed, which is good as I cruise at 1350 RPM. I machined up a custom 4-belt drive pulley that gives me a 2:3 drive, for a final alternator speed of 4050 RPM at cruise (and more to the point 2100 RPM at idle). Both alternators are managed by individual Ample Power smart regulators. I have things set up so that in general one alternator charges the house bank and one charges the start bank. Since they are both identical, I can cannibalize for parts if needed, and furthermore of I really have a high DC load I can use the paralleling switch to use both alternators to charge the house bank (4 8Ds in series-parallel to give me 24 volts at about 600 AH). One last note, with such large alternators you need to worry about side loading on the drive shaft. I solved this by driving both alternators of of a single pulley but with the belts running about 180 degrees from each other. A few other things I will share: 1) When I was looking at alternators I had the chance to visit Ample Power and chat with the owner, David Smead. This guy is a serious 12-volt geek (and coming from me that is a real compliment). Among other things, I asked him why his alternators were bare aluminum instead of fancy powdercoating like Balmar, and his immediate answer was that powdercoating will reduce thermal transfer efficiency by a few percent and make the alternator run slightly hotter. So he'd rather a bit less pretty for a bit more performance. I like that! 2) We had a problem with one of the alternators, and sent it back for repair (this was about 18 months later, and there was no hassle at all). However, when the unit was shipped back it arrived with a cracked case. Ample replaced it with no problem at all. No connection, just a satisfied customer. 3) The house alternator runs HOT! It's pumping out 150 Amps and let me tell you you don't hold your hand on there for long. I will be fitting both alternators with thermostats and alarms. I also fused the outputs. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "The person who makes no mistakes usually doesn't make anything"

elnav@telus.net writes: >Scott, out of curiosity, why did you pick a ratio that did not produce >the peak RPM for the alternator armature at max useable engine RPM? No particular reason; the ratio used gets me pretty close though, and makes it easier to set up my tach. > >Scot wrote: >One last note, with such large alternators you need to worry about side >loading on the drive shaft. I solved this by driving both alternators >off a single pulley but with the belts running about 180 degrees from >each other. > >REPLY >Excellent design. I wonder why more engine/boat builders don't provide >such a detail? I don't know. But it's pretty easy to do. One problem is that in many cases the drive is from the crankshaft, which is down low, and so it's hard to mount the alternators down low. In my case the aux drive of the 6-110 is about waist-high. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "The person who makes no mistakes usually doesn't make anything"

elnav@telus.net writes: >The buna float with a small magnet buried inside (Aqualarm) that >triggers a reed switch which in turn operates a relay has the >electrical parts placed well above the normal water level, so corrosion >is not an issue here. The sealed magnet and reed switch cannot foul on >soap, oil or hair etc. The auxiliary relay contacts can handle the high >current and arcing associated with switching an inductive motor load. Arild, I thought this too, so on Island Eagle I used one of these switches as the switch for my high bilge water alarm (a 6" fire bell). Last summer, while I was making a particularly complicated docking in Brentwood Bay (did I mention that Island Eagle is 60' and single screw with no bow thruster) the switch failed... in the "ON" position! Talk about heart-stoping, but I could not leave the pilothouse to investigate. I removed it and seems that the reed switch had become stuck. Very strange. Basically, I think that we need to more or less accept that all float switches fail. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "The person who makes no mistakes usually doesn't make anything"

WRHNCO@aol.com writes: >I would have agreed with you ten years ago. Since I replaced both switches >with some pricey Ultrapump switches, I have had zero problems in about ten >years. I use the Senior models for both and have the alarm. I use one on a >Flojet for the "dribbles" sump and have another on a Rule 3700 for the "big >problems that haven't happened yet." I guess they are still in business but >have had no contact with them since I bought. The paperwork is at the boat >in another state or I would give more contact info. They are really specific >about using adhesive lined heat shrink connectors (as am I...). Yes, that will be my next experiment. However I have also had good luck with mercury switches. One thing that I do not like about the electronic switches is that they are hard to test. I like to lift mine every few weeks and listen to the pumps run. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "The person who makes no mistakes usually doesn't make anything"

"John Iott - hotflashrefinishing.com" writes: >Thanks for all your sharing of knowledge this is a great forum. One further suggestion, courtesy of the guys at Marine Sanitation in Seattle (no relation, just satisfied customers): When you install your tank, give a lot of thought to the vent lines. Typically, the vent is a single small (3/4") line running up from the tank. This is very bad for two reasons: first, very little ventilation can come down the line. This leads to lack of oxygen, and the anaerobic environment leads to big stinks. Second, the first time you over-full your tank (and you will) something, typically toilet paper, will get up the vent line and clog it. This will probably not affect the tank when you flush, but the next time you go to pump out the vacuum in the tank can cause it to implode. Not pretty. Th recommended solution is to put two large-diameter vent tubes in, one leading to the starboard side of the boat and one leading to port. If possible, you should place the tank fittings in opposite corners for maximum oxygen exchange areas. The differential pressure on the two sides of the boat will cause natural airflow, and the large-diameter tubes will not clog. I used two 1"-diameter vents on the new 40 gallon tank I installed and it's working like a charm. The forward tank, a 13 gallon tank which I did not install and which has a single 3/4" vent, stinks like hell and the vent has clogged twice. Just my 2 cents, Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "The person who makes no mistakes usually doesn't make anything"

"Larry N. Brown" writes: >A couple of questions. What did Scott use for vents on a one inch hose? I just used plain delrin through-hulls. I also used the good white sanitation hose for my vents. One small warning, you have to make sure that your vent lines have no low points, then they become P-traps, which is not what you want. :-( One other note, you can't use a single vent up to a tee. The whole point is to have the air flow *through* the tank, thereby oxygenating the surface of the contents. This encourages bacterial growth, which is what eats the stinky stuff. By the way there is also a fancy system which uses an air bubbler (similar to those in aquariums) to achieve the same effect. My dockmates have this system and seem to like it. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "The person who makes no mistakes usually doesn't make anything"

"ralph" writes: >Installed white sanitary hose on my head pump line. I have the hose clamps >as tight as I can and yet there are still leaks at the pump fittings. How >can I stop the leaks with this hose material? Let me pass on a helpful hint on this subject: I installed two new Vacuflush toilets on Island Eagle, as well as re-plumbing a manual head. Let me tell you, getting that white sanitary hose on some of the barbs was a b*tch! It took all of my strength and then some, and even so I couldn't get the hose all the way on to some of the barbs. Plus, the hose was so stiff that even if I really cranked on the hose clamp it was still not too tight on the barb. So you can imagine my chagrin when my pipefitter came on board to do some cleanup and happened to notice the bad connections. I told my tale of woe and he said "watch this". He whipped out a heat gun, gave the hoses about 30 seconds of heat, and shazam. They slipped right onto the barbs, the hose clamps compressed the hose beautifully, and two minutes later the whole mess had solidified into a near-weld. Now I know. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "The person who makes no mistakes usually doesn't make anything"

"Dick \"Tator\" or Patti" writes: > The first one is an intermittenly working tach (more off than on). I have >a small alternator(Motorola w/internal regulators) on each engine that just >charge my one starting battery. The stbd tach sometimes comes on and then >dies after several minutes, although today it stayed on for an hour until I >powered up over 1600 rpms. I've checked wires for loose connections and >found nothing. I was wondering if perhaps a bad oil pressure switch could >cause the problem. I'm sure I can chase it down eventually but thought I'd >see if anyone else had any ideas. I too experienced a similar problem. I have two 24 volt 150A Ample Power alternators, one for the start bank and one for the house bank. My tach was driven from the house bank alternator and would cut out after a few hours of operation. I talked to the folks at Ample (great customer service, BTW). They said that the amplitude of the tach signal is based on the amount of changing current, and that the charging demands of the start bank were typically so low that the tach signal dropped to almost nothing. I switched the tach to the house alternator (which always has a higher load) and sure enough the problem disappeared. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "The person who makes no mistakes usually doesn't make anything"

scottebulger@comcast.net writes: >There is a channel north of Nanaimo that I now understand is infamous for >claiming its fair share of boats. As a matter of fact I was just talking to >a delivery captain who had a client sink a 70 foot boat there last year. >Anyway we were proceeding in the channel and I made a decision to leave the >channel marker on my port side. There were confusing markers on the >opposite shore, but also a marina to the starboard which affirmed my >thinking there couldn't possibly be an obstacle between the marker and the >marina fairway. Scott, I keep my trawler at the "marina to starboard" you mention, about 200 feet from the rock, and we watch about a boat a day go aground on the rock -- as an FYI, it's Oregon Rock in Newcastle Channel. At very low tides the water is only about 6 inches deep. I draw almost 7 feet, so needless to say I treat that channel with caution. For what it's worth, the only way to get into the marina is the "long way around", through the marked channel. When we see boats heading for the rock, we do try and hail them, usually to no avail. In fact, on the day the 70 footer went aground last year (see some pics at http://www.islandeagle.net/summer2005/breanna) TWO additional boats went aground -- while the 70 footer was sinking! While your story raises some good points, especially regarding having the right charts, there is one point that you missed. Prior to the Breanna grounding, the channel marking consisted of a single green daymarker and a single green can. Since the channel runs between two bays (Nanaimo Harbour and Departure Bay), there is a reasonable chance of mistaking which side you should leave the marker on. However, after the Breanna grounding, Transport Canada added two new red cans, directly opposite the green markers (these are the "confusing markers" you refer to). Thus, the preferred channel is now clearly marked, with red and green buoys. The moral here is that if you see a red and a green buoy in close proximity, go between the red and the green. By the way, just so you know you are not the only one, I did essentially the same thing coming north of Sidney a week ago. There was a red buoy about 100 metres off of a point, and then about a 1 km wide fairway to the left of the buoy. I eased through the channel, left the red to starboard, set the autopilot, and headed up the fairway. When I looked at the depth sounder and saw 6 metres, I had a small heart attack and looked at the chart again. It turned out that my "fairway" was in fact a mass of shoals, and the channel was in fact a fairly narrow affair between the red marker and the point. So, the second moral here is that if you ever see an isolated red or an isolated green, STOP, get out the chart, and figure out what the preferred channel is. Scott Welch Island Eagle

Peter Bennett writes: >Is that the beacon that used to have the "Keep Right" (or Left, as >appropriate) signs and arrows pointing to the preferred channel? Have those >private additions to the beacon been removed? Yes and yes. Scott Welch Product Manager, FirstClass Group "If we continue to take an eye for an eye, then surely the whole world will go blind." - Gandhi