astonj@rogers.com writes: >a tech question, is it possible to run the intelligent battery charger, >using the generator and at the same time put charge into the batteries from >the alternator as the main engine is running? Yes. One caveat, you might want to double-check the sizing of your primary battery wiring and your main disconnect. When I run my main engine alternator (140 amps) plus my Xantrex inverter in charge mode (another 150 amps) the 3/0 cable and switch get warm to the touch. This winter I'm switching to the biggest Blue Sea switch and 4/0 cable. > >We have one huge double bank of 6 volt wet cells that provides about 1400 >amp hours. Because we have been anchoring a lot we are having a hard time >putting back the amps that the frig and freezer relentlessly eat every night. Yes, I noticed this as well. The problem for me is that my charger (150 amp) is just not big enough. You might want to investigate a bigger charger. Ideally you want to absorb as much of the genset output as possible, to minimize genset run time. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

chiropaul23@yahoo.com writes: >My question is about the green 120v ground wire. Based on all I've read this >should be connected to the ships 12v negative ground. As I will be locating >the new 120v panel adjacent to the current 12v panel, can this 120v green >ground simply be connected to the negative terminal in the 12v panel or >should >a separate ground wire be run from the new panel to the 12v negative battery >connection at the engine? Paul, This is an area that requires more than a casual knowledge of electricity. I would highly recommend that you run over to Amazon and buy two books: Charlie Wing's "Boatowner's Illustrated Electrical Handbook", and Nigel Calder's "Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual". They cover in detail what you need. As for the ground, this is exactly what you need an isolator for. You should use a 30 amp isolation transformer, and connect the ground on the output side to the 12 volt ships (DC) ground. The incoming AC ground (green wire) goes to the input of the transformer. It's critical that the incoming AC ground is kept isolated from the ship's DC ground, especially on a wooden boat. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

"Larry N. Brown" writes: >I'm installing my floscan instruments on the FB and part of the installation >will require 3 toggle switches. Looked in WM catalogue and they wanted nearly >$20/switch. Anyone have a less expensive source? I like the quality and construction of the Blue Sea "WeatherDeck" Series products, for example this one: http://bluesea.com/category/7/27/products/4304 Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

Jim Barrentine writes: >Anyone have experience with the Cradlepoint MBR1000 EVDO router? Just a quick note: if you want to muck around with your networking settings, you can set a laptop to share an EVDO connection out via either ethernet or WiFi. This will give you many of the benefits of a Cradlepoint type solution at no additional cost. However, it's not particularly easy to set up (I'm in the network software business and it took me several *days* to get it running correctly). By the way, last summer I ran an EVDO card shared to all the other computers on my boat using this technique. Once I got it running it was flawless. The only real problem is that due to not one but two shortsighted decisions on the part of Microsoft and Nobeltec, you cannot run a shared internet connection on the same network as a Nobeltec black-box radar. I know it seems like a weird conflict, but it exists and it is not possible to resolve. In my case, I got another ethernet card and ran a separate network for the radar. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

"Ron Rogers" writes: > I >have never wanted to return to those "challenges" and would never place >complete reliance on a PC running a Microsoft OS - it's just too many lines >of code. I know that you are not now doing that and the radar will have its >own network, but the idea of having my radar imagery dependent upon a PC >application scares me. All reasonable. But the flip side is that a mass-market general-purpose PC has lots of things going for it... starting with the 24" portrait-style display. > >I'm too lazy to go back to the simplicity of Joshua Slocum, but I hear the >work network and I get the Willies. My two Furuno chartplotters are connect >via an Ethernet cross-over cable and that's as far as I go; except for NEMA >0183 connections to GPS, VHF, and autopilot (all of which can run >independently.) Here's what I've done: my primary system consists of a clone PC (Windows XP) running Nobeltec, with a Nobeltec black-box radar, Nobeltec solid-state heading sensor, and a Furuno 600 depth sounder connected via NMEA. My experience so far with this setup has been excellent. My backup consists of a Garmin GPS, a Simrad radar, and an Interphase sonar/sounder. These are completely stand-alone and are just fine if and when the primary system fails. So far, I've only needed to use this once, when the Nobeltec GPS went away to never-never land (a reboot solved the problem). Finally, I have a laptop that I use for my EVDO routing. I also run a $39 puck GPS and a backup copy of Nobeltec on that machine, so I have backup maps if I need them. The autopilot is a Comnav 1001, fed via NMEA from Nobeltec and driving a 24 volt reversing hydraulic pumpset. It's powered by the 24 volt house bank. There are two obvious points of failure with this system: the autopilot and the steering ram. I carry a rebuild for the latter, and this summer I will be installing a second Comnav autopilot and pumpset. This will not be networked, but will be completely stand-alone. It will be powered from the 24 volt start bank. By the way, all of the power for the navigation instruments and lights goes through an two-way selector, allowing me to draw power either from the 12 volt house bank or from the 12 volt genset start bank. The only exceptions to this are the autopilot and SSB, which require 24 volts. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

"Richard Tomkinson" writes: >Add to your critical elements: the relay set driving your reversing pump. Good point. In my case the autopilot uses a solid-state driver, and I am duplicating that box in the backup autopilot. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

Mike Maurice writes: >A brand new installed Rule Bilge pump that won't pump. There appears to >be nothing wrong with it. But, the voltage goes to zero when the on >switch is activated, but if it's a short the breaker is not tripping... >And it's wired with the correct polarity; just to stay a step ahead of >you super sleuths, the pump was replaced and still the same result. I'd bet 99:1 that this was caused by a corroded fuse holder or a failed breaker, resulting in a high-resistance connection. The quickest way to detect this is to place a voltmeter across the fuse or breaker with the load off. Voltage should be zero. The apply the load and see what the voltage is. If it's anything other than zero you have found your culprit. BTW, in my toolbox I carry a bunch of 18" leads with insulated alligator clips on both ends. Radio Shack sells them for 75 cents each in ten-packs. Get the larger ones, about 20 gauge. In a pinch you can use them to hook up radios, bypass fuses, hold meter leads in place, and even jumper busted starter keyswitches. Well worth the money. In this case you would just jumper the bad fuse or breaker. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

"Ed Bruette" writes: >Or, you could stick with the single engine and use a bow and stern thruster. Come now gents: single engine, no bow thruster. It keeps the heart healthy! Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

Peter Bennett writes: >Yes - NMEA occasionally adds new sentences but I think most things >will still work. If your GPS has a choice of NMEA versions, you may >need to use the earlier version. For what it's worth, the "0183" in NMEA-0183 refers to "Version 01, 1983", so the radar (made in 1990) should have no problems receiving data NMEA-0183 data from a modern GPS. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden

Mel Kowal writes: >I second the swap from Jabsco macerator to Sealand diaphragm. And I third it. When I refit Island Eagle I installed two Sealand diaphram pumps on the aft black water tank and the grey water tank. I left the existing macerator pump on the forward black water tank. That one failed the first year of use, so I replaced it. Last summer the replacement failed. It's now been replaced with a Sealand. Score Macerator 0, Sealand 3. > As for the switches, all of my pumps (black, grey, water transfer, fuel polishing) are equipped with Intermatic clockwork timer switches, like this: http://www.intermatic.com/Default.asp?action=subcat&sid=96&cid=53&did=5 They are dead simply to install and debug, and you can pick them up at Home Despot. If you are really keen, run the pump right when the "Tank Full" indicator comes on, make a note of how long the tank takes to empty, and the put a label beside the switch so you know how long to run it for. Scott Welch Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration Solutions Group www.firstclass.com "Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out." - John Wooden