I've heard of a few guys using 36 volts battery banks for their 32v boats
with no major problems... not that i woudl do that.  but your windlass
shoudl be fine as when the charger is on, your voltage is probably close to
to 36v anyway...

wires will be fine as the higher voltage means reduced amps, but the problem
will probably be how you will recharge the 36v bank, will a 32v charger work
?  not sure...

I have an older pro mariner 32v charger on my boat, it used to boil out
water in the batteries until i added a timer.  I have it set for about 8
hours a day and it has reduced water consumption to 1/4 of what it used to
be... i now go 2 to 3 month before i need to add water to the batteries.

pascal
miami, fl
70 hatteras 53my

----- Original Message -----
From: oozercruzer@earthlink.net
To: trawlers-and-trawlering@lists.samurai.com
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2006 2:32 PM
Subject: T&T: REWIND WINDLESS

oozercruzer@earthlink.net writes:

Mike,

Having converted my 60 foot DeFever from 32 to 24 volts, I think I'm
qualified to answer your questions.

First, it is possible to rewind the motor, but a much simpler and easier
solution is to just buy a new motor. Almost certainly your windlass is an
Ideal, if you call them up with the model number they will have a new motor
out to you within a few days (see www.idealwindlass.com). Expect to pay
around $500 for the new motor.

Yes, with a 24 volt motor. Not if you try and use a 32 volt motor on 24 volts.

No, with most electric motors you can generally go 20% up in voltage with no
major problems. But...

This is true, 36 volts will require 50% lower amperage for the same power.
But....

Not for 24 volts, that's for sure. That will require 33% more amperage. 12
volts will require more than twice the amperage.

This is the reason for the "buts". That's the major problem with 36 volts.
It's a weird voltage, and then you will end up with a 36 volt bank and not
much to use it for. Plus, getting an alternator to charge it will be
somewhere between difficult and impossible. Way better to use a more common
voltage such as 24 volts or even 12.

Well, here's my two cents:

First, you need to decide whether you keep or replace your 32 volt system.
The battery charger issue is actually pretty minor. You can get good 32 volt
chargers from the folks at Analytic Systems (www.analyticsystems.com). There
is nothing inherently wrong with 32 volts, but the big issue is that 32 volt
components are getting more and more rare (and expensive).

If you do decide to replace the 32 volt system you will need to decide on
either 12 or 24 volts. I happened to choose 24 volts (actually two paired 12
volt systems), but I have a friend with a 66-footer and he has decided to go
with 12 volts throughout the boat, including the Cat 343 main and the Ideal
windlass. However, in any event you will need to replace every 32 volt motor
on the boat. This will include at least the starter(s) and windlass motor,
and may include pumps, blowers, heads, lights, windshield wipers, etc. In
particular regards to the windlass, if you have an Ideal you can easily get a
24 volt motor, and as my friend has just found you can also easily get a 12
volt one. You will also need to replace the alternators and of course the
batteries. Add in a few hundred feet of 4/0 cable with the correct Ancor
terminals, a few 400 Amp fuses, etc., etc., etc., and you are looking at 15
boat units or more, and that's without labour.

Hope this helps,

Scott Welch
FirstClass Product Manager
www.firstclass.com

"The person who makes no mistakes usually doesn't make anything"

-----Original Message-----
From:Scott H.E. Welch

This is true, 36 volts will require 50% lower amperage for the same power.
But....

Not for 24 volts, that's for sure. That will require 33% more amperage. 12
volts will require more than twice the amperage.

REPLY
Scott brings up some good points.
I quickly ran the numbers for comparison.

Assuming the 32V motor draws 100A and the distance to battery is 25feet for
a wire run back and forth of 50 Feet  then a #2 Ga wire will give a 2.5%
voltage drop.  Changing the operating voltage  to 24V means the same 100A
draw in a #2 wire willnow be 3.375%  Not good but possibly acceptable.
However the motor will probably try and pull more current.

If we instead convert the 100A @ 32V into watts we get 3200 watts. This now
becomes 133.33 amps at 24V and then the calculated voltage drop is now 4.49%
or almost double the amount you had with 32V.
This is not good and will mean a reduction is pulling power.

Scottwrote:
This is the reason for the "buts". That's the major problem with 36 volts.
It's a weird voltage, and then you will end up with a 36 volt bank and not
much to use it for. Plus, getting an alternator to charge it will be
somewhere between difficult and impossible. Way better to use a more common
voltage such as 24 volts or even 12.

REPLY
36V is actually not as difficult to deal with as 32V.  Almost all the Bass
fishing tournament boats use 36V trolling motors and there is now a number
of manufacturers offering 36V chargers.
Gues for example offers one charger with three independnet 12V chargers that
can be wired in series or paralle to suit. you can get one 36V or one 24V
plus one 12V or three 12V.

Converting a 32V alterantor to 36 is as easy as adjusting the voltage
reference. Admittedly some regulators are easier than others. Teh old analog
units had s screw adjustment.

Finding 8V batteris is now really difficult. finding 12V batteries is not.
from that perspective either 24V or 36V is equal.

The problem in wiring will be in determining if the exiting branch circuits
willtolerate the increased voltage drop and still stay within
acceptabelperformance limits.

Hattera boats are known to be overbuilt and their wire sizes are typically
one size over the norm.
For such boats going 24V is likely to be relatively painless.

The same cannot always be said for custom built or one off budget shop
building.
You need to evaluate each boat on its own merits.

Cheers
Arild

my boat has two 32v banks, i use exide E4800,  four per bank, $80 a piece,
delivered to my dock by a local golf cart dealer.  Each bank has plenty of
cranking power for the 8V71s and the last set lasted 5 years...

sure the choice of 32v stuff at WM is limited (they do have 2000 and 3200
bilge pumps and a few bulbs) but most things can easily be ordered online
form other sources.

pascal
miami, fl
70 hatteras 53my

----- Original Message -----
From: "Arild Jensen" elnav@telus.net
To: trawlers-and-trawlering@lists.samurai.com
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2006 5:50 PM
Subject: T&T: 32V change to 24V ( was REWIND WINDLESS)