Ive got to put together a charging system for my thunderbird 26, and my
engine consists of an outboard without an alternator. If bang for buck was
your main concern, with size and noise being secondary, do you think you'd
get more charging amps by hooking up a generator to a charger, or taking a
similar sized stationary engine and hooking it up to as many alternators as
it could handle? Is there another option?

Shaun

Shaun Van Poecke wrote:
Ive got to put together a charging system for my thunderbird 26, and
my engine consists of an outboard without an alternator. If bang for
buck was your main concern, with size and noise being secondary, do
you think you'd get more charging amps by hooking up a generator to a
charger, or taking a similar sized stationary engine and hooking it
up to as many alternators as it could handle? Is there another
option?

Shaun

You can buy generator "packs" which are enclosed in heavily-silenced
enclosures for small boats/yachts. Most are diesel, and will tuck away under
a berth with exhaust outlet etc. thru-hull.

On Wed, 27 Dec 2006 08:09:41 GMT, "Shaun Van Poecke"
wrote:

Ive got to put together a charging system for my thunderbird 26, and my
engine consists of an outboard without an alternator. If bang for buck was
your main concern, with size and noise being secondary, do you think you'd
get more charging amps by hooking up a generator to a charger, or taking a
similar sized stationary engine and hooking it up to as many alternators as
it could handle? Is there another option?

Shaun

For a Thunderbird, I think I'd look for an outboard that had an
alternator, and carry an AC charger. You won't have much space to
store a portable generator.

--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca
new newsgroup users info : http://vancouver-webpages.com/nnq
GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter
Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca

"Shaun Van Poecke" wrote in news:9Tpkh.14153
:

do you think you'd
get more charging amps by hooking up a generator to a charger

Doesn't matter. As I told you in another thread, batteries won't charge at
400A for 5 minutes, no matter what you do. Charging happends SLOWLY over
HOURS...a SLOW chemical process that cannot be dreamed faster.....

Larry makes a good point.

What outboard do you have? Maybe an alternator can be added to it.


"Larry" wrote in message ...
"Shaun Van Poecke" wrote in news:9Tpkh.14153
:

do you think you'd
get more charging amps by hooking up a generator to a charger

Doesn't matter. As I told you in another thread, batteries won't charge at
400A for 5 minutes, no matter what you do. Charging happends SLOWLY over
HOURS...a SLOW chemical process that cannot be dreamed faster.....

For a Thunderbird, I think I'd look for an outboard that had an
alternator, and carry an AC charger. You won't have much space to
store a portable generator.

You're right about not having much space to store anything ;-) Most
thunderbirds have an outboard well in the stern, so the outboard can popup
out of the water and be stored there. Ive got an outboard bracket on my
stern, so that area of storage which is a reasoanble size is free. I could
pretty easily fit a small generator in there (maybe 1000watts) but Im trying
to keep weight down in the stern if i can.

I'd originally envisioned having a very paired down electrical system; a
single100AH battery, which would run a cabin fluro, nav/anchor lights, a
bilge pump, and a cd player, and occasional use of a laptop. The CD player
only draws 1amp, the bilge pump sees hardly any use and if i go with LED nav
lights i should be able to keep my power consumption down to somewhere
around 20Ah/day.

I was thinking to go with a generator to give me some flexibility to use
power tools when i need to, but now its looking more like i might go with a
30W-40W solar panel and a honda 9.9 4 stroke with an alternator in it.

Shaun

Larry makes a good point.

What outboard do you have? Maybe an alternator can be added to it.

At the moment i've got a honda 2HP 4 stoke. I'd hate to fit an alternator
to it for double the weight and half the power ;-) Ive been looking over
the last 3 months for a second hand Honda 9.9 4stroke high thrust,
preferably one only a couple of years old. Honda dealers in sydney are
trying to sell these new with all the forward controls and without a tiller
for AU$3,300. Id be pretty happy to get one a couple of years old in the
plain vanilla tiller control which has an electric start and an alternator
for maybe AU$1500. Then i would have a bit of power and i can use the 2
pony on my dinghy, and as a backup motor.

Shaun

"Shaun Van Poecke" wrote in
:

Larry makes a good point.

What outboard do you have? Maybe an alternator can be added to it.

At the moment i've got a honda 2HP 4 stoke. I'd hate to fit an
alternator to it for double the weight and half the power ;-) Ive
been looking over the last 3 months for a second hand Honda 9.9
4stroke high thrust, preferably one only a couple of years old. Honda
dealers in sydney are trying to sell these new with all the forward
controls and without a tiller for AU$3,300. Id be pretty happy to get
one a couple of years old in the plain vanilla tiller control which
has an electric start and an alternator for maybe AU$1500. Then i
would have a bit of power and i can use the 2 pony on my dinghy, and
as a backup motor.

Shaun




If I lived in Oz, I'd probably get:
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~minards/ymde_out.html
and just change the boat it was attached to every few years.

The Americans ruined the diesel outboards, here, by pricing them so high
even the rich people refused to buy them. They don't even offer them,
now. I can understand why a dealer wouldn't want you to have one that
didn't require constant replacement and maintenance, like the crap they
sell here.

"Twin Yanmar diesel outboards powered a seacrafi for the first time
across the Pacific from San Francisco to Hawaii; a record 2250 miles of
non-stop running using only 385 gallons of fuel."

--
http://www.epic.org/privacy/rfid/verichip.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VeriChip
http://www.verichipcorp.com/
Tracked like a dog, every license/product/tax.
Revelation 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor,
free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their
foreheads:
17 and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the
name of the beast, or the number of his name...

Shaun,

Two things (at least)
Never post a good @ddress on the usenet. The spambots will grab it and
you will soon be in the 60-80 spam/day area.

Next,
Don't hold your breath for a high thrust. You don't need it. Any good
little OB will do fine. Honda's High thrust gets you more stall thrust
and better thrust astern, but at the cost of rev at cruise. My boat is
an S2-7.9 (2.2t vs 1.7t) very much the same class as your Thunderbird.
My 2000my (but not many hours) Honda 9.9 Exls will kick me to hull speed
at about two thirds power, but at WOT it picks me up maybe 0.1 knots and
burns twice the fuel. A friend with a sister boat and a newer H9.9 HT
has to crank it up to stay with me. This engine is about 50kg (108lbs)

An alternator capable of ~10 amp at rated speed will add maybe 0.5Kg.
Electric start adds 6+Kg not including cable and battery. While the
alternator is real nice to have, the only reason I have the electric
start is because my wife and daughter also sail and neither was
comfortable with the hang your body over the transon routine to get the
engine going. My Ex shaft added at least 3Kg.

Fair Wind and Smooth Sea
Matt Colie



Shaun Van Poecke wrote:
Larry makes a good point.

What outboard do you have? Maybe an alternator can be added to it.


At the moment i've got a honda 2HP 4 stoke. I'd hate to fit an alternator
to it for double the weight and half the power ;-) Ive been looking over
the last 3 months for a second hand Honda 9.9 4stroke high thrust,
preferably one only a couple of years old. Honda dealers in sydney are
trying to sell these new with all the forward controls and without a tiller
for AU$3,300. Id be pretty happy to get one a couple of years old in the
plain vanilla tiller control which has an electric start and an alternator
for maybe AU$1500. Then i would have a bit of power and i can use the 2
pony on my dinghy, and as a backup motor.

Shaun

do you think you'd
get more charging amps by hooking up a generator to a charger

Doesn't matter. As I told you in another thread, batteries won't charge
at
400A for 5 minutes, no matter what you do. Charging happends SLOWLY over
HOURS...a SLOW chemical process that cannot be dreamed faster.....

Thanks Larry,
I was actually listening the first time you said it, but its nice to have it
reinforced ;-)

Taking a different approach then, If you were looking for usable amps for
immediate consumption, say, to run a big electric motor, or many big
electric motors ..... do you think youd get more bang for your buck with a
big generator, or with a big stationary motor hooked up to a bunch of
alternators?