This arrived in my email today out of the blue. Though some of you might
be interested so am passing it along. Don't know anything about the
site, but a cursory glance suggests it may be useful to someone who
doesn't already own a cruising guide or perhaps wants more up-to-date
information.

The url is http://www.mapmuse.com

I am writing to let sailing enthusiasts know about a website that has
interactive mapping of marinas across the US.  In order to view the
Marinas map, go to Mapmuse.com, select View All Interest, and select
Marinas from the list of interests.

The idea is for sailing enthusiasts to build upon what we have started
by adding marinas we have missed, and editing and enhancing information
that is already there.  Through this kind of community effort, we hope
to have the most comprehensive, descriptive, and up to date maps to help
sailors locate marinas at home and on their travels. We would appreciate
if you would participate in the process, by checking if your favorite
marinas are mapped, enhancing information as you see fit, and adding
marinas that we have missed. This is simple to do.

To add marinas go to the Marinas map, click on Know any marinas we are
missing?, fill out the form, click submit, and your information will be
posted within a few hours.

To edit information about a marina that is already mapped, click on the
icon associated with the shop. An information box will pop up, click the
edit link, fill out the form, click submit and the changes will appear
within a few hours.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>Mozilla Thunderbird<><><><><><><><><><><><>
Bob McLeran and Judy Young                      Manatee Cove Marina
M/V Sanderling                                  Patrick Air Force Base
Hampton 35 Trawler                              Melbourne, Florida

I'm installing an icemaker in our trawler... my question is whether I should
install this using the inverter only or install a switch that I could use to
switch to shore power when at a marina rather than continue to drain the
house bank?

Also, is there a switch on the market that would do this automatically?

Shore power On - ice maker uses shore power

Shore power Off - ice maker uses inverter power

Or should I not really be concerned about the small drain that ice maker
would use from the house batteries?

Specs:
Icemaker U-line SP18
Run Amps: 2.5
Max Start Amps: 18.0
House bank: 450(20 Hr Rate AH)

Other items on inverter:

17" LCD TV - draws less than 10 amps
Seawatch TV Antenna - draws less than 5 amps
Norcold Refg. DE-00061 - draws less than 10 amps
Microwave Sharp R55TS - clock draws .03 amps... running draws up to 100 amps

Jay E Wigginton
CHARIS
1972 40' Eagle Sedan Trawler
North Fort Myers, FL

Wednesday, March 8, 2006, 4:53:55 PM, Jay wrote:

J> I'm installing an icemaker in our trawler... my question is whether I should
J> install this using the inverter only or install a switch that I could use to
J> switch to shore power when at a marina rather than continue to drain the
J> house bank?

J> Also, is there a switch on the market that would do this automatically?

J> Shore power On - ice maker uses shore power

J> Shore power Off - ice maker uses inverter power

J> Or should I not really be concerned about the small drain that ice maker
J> would use from the house batteries?

J> Specs:
J> Icemaker U-line SP18
J> Run Amps: 2.5
J> Max Start Amps: 18.0
J> House bank: 450(20 Hr Rate AH)

J> Other items on inverter:

J> 17" LCD TV - draws less than 10 amps
J> Seawatch TV Antenna - draws less than 5 amps
J> Norcold Refg. DE-00061 - draws less than 10 amps
J> Microwave Sharp R55TS - clock draws .03 amps... running draws up to 100 amps

J> Jay E Wigginton

If your inverter includes a charger, then it probably also includes a shore power/inverter transfer relay, so things connected to the output of the inverter will really be using shore power when it is available.

If your inverter doesn't have a transfer switch, but you normally use a charger while on shore power then you won't be draining the battery when the icemaker (or other inverter loads) runs - you just won't be charging the battery as fast as you might without those loads.  The microwave will discharge the batteries while it runs, unless your charger can deliver more than 100 amps - but that's not a big deal since the microwave will only be used for short periods, so the charger should catch up quickly when the microwave is off.

--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI    Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Lien Hwa 28 (AKA Polaris 30) "Sea Spray"
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca

I have a Heart Freedom 1000 inverter... so I assume that has this function
built-in... ???

Thanks,
Jay E Wigginton
CHARIS
1972 40' Eagle Sedan Trawler
North Fort Myers, FL

-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Bennett [mailto:peterbb4@interchange.ubc.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, March 08, 2006 8:16 PM
To: Jay; trawlers-and-trawlering@lists.samurai.com
Subject: Re: T&T: ice maker inverter/shore power

Wednesday, March 8, 2006, 4:53:55 PM, Jay wrote:

J> I'm installing an icemaker in our trawler... my question is whether I
should
J> install this using the inverter only or install a switch that I could use
to
J> switch to shore power when at a marina rather than continue to drain the
J> house bank?

J> Also, is there a switch on the market that would do this automatically?

J> Shore power On - ice maker uses shore power

J> Shore power Off - ice maker uses inverter power

J> Or should I not really be concerned about the small drain that ice maker
J> would use from the house batteries?

J> Specs:
J> Icemaker U-line SP18
J> Run Amps: 2.5
J> Max Start Amps: 18.0
J> House bank: 450(20 Hr Rate AH)

J> Other items on inverter:

J> 17" LCD TV - draws less than 10 amps
J> Seawatch TV Antenna - draws less than 5 amps
J> Norcold Refg. DE-00061 - draws less than 10 amps
J> Microwave Sharp R55TS - clock draws .03 amps... running draws up to 100
amps

J> Jay E Wigginton

If your inverter includes a charger, then it probably also includes a shore
power/inverter transfer relay, so things connected to the output of the
inverter will really be using shore power when it is available.

If your inverter doesn't have a transfer switch, but you normally use a
charger while on shore power then you won't be draining the battery when the
icemaker (or other inverter loads) runs - you just won't be charging the
battery as fast as you might without those loads.  The microwave will
discharge the batteries while it runs, unless your charger can deliver more
than 100 amps - but that's not a big deal since the microwave will only be
used for short periods, so the charger should catch up quickly when the
microwave is off.

--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI    Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Lien Hwa 28 (AKA Polaris 30) "Sea Spray"
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca