I really like your approach here. Keep it simple. Refrigerator and hot water is something I probably wouldn’t manage without. They - in my opinion - are the things that differs sailing from camping. Hot water is something I’d like to have in my current boat as well. (Maybe that’s just because it’s always cold up here… 🥶) On SeaCamel I try to do things as simple as possible. One thing is to try to avoid having any fuel on board which means there’s not even diesel - maybe. Propulsion will be electric anyway. That way the battery capacity needs to be tremendous. And compared to propulsion - everything else is peanuts.
I do have to say I'm not a fan of that. Not the going all out on electricity, but minimizing fuel. You should minimize it's usage, but you should always have plenty so you can potentially get to civilization with it if you don't have access to battery or solar power.
Thanks Panu. Electric propulsion is certainly interesting and I’m not ruling it out for one day in the future. I feel it still has some issues; not the least the cost of the installation. But it’s great that some of you are pioneering all electric sail boats!
I am a retired electronics engineer and agree with your electronics approach. We run a similar setup on our boat and the KISS approach sure makes it easy.
Thank you, Tony for the review of your electrical system. The simpler the system, the easier it is to trouble shoot when something is not working. LED lighting has made power requirements so much lower and battery technology has improved to the point that more power can be stored with less weight. All of this, with modern controls, has really improved life aboard for many sailors. Best wishes to you and the family for a very enjoyable Holiday Season. See you in the new year.
Hi Tony. I hope that you had a good Christmas with your family, and are looking forward to greeting the New Year. Hopefully S2 will continue, and would be good to have a heads up when likely. Ta.
Thanks Edward. Yes, hope you had a great one too! And yes, the videos will continue soon. I have some winter projects and boatwork coming up ; it’ll probably be April when we continue sailing 👍
This is how sailing can be done without all these power consuming gadgets.. I used to sail with minimal electrical systems..You explained it well.. Merry Christmas for you and the family..
Thank You for this week's video . I would like to wish you a Very Merry Christmas 🎅 🎄 and Happy New Year 🎉! Ok,until next time, Aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii! Aloha and Cheers 🍻
Thanks for the walkthrough. I grew up with boats that had no electricity at all on board, heat and light came from kerosene. There's no way I would exclude refrigeration from the onboard amenities today. But...no big deal, with 500w solar panels and 280Ah battery capacity we've managed just fine. We don't need to use shore power in ports either. Well thought out system you have but too ascetic for many, and warm beer, no it doesn't work. 😜🍺 (I like fresh food as well)
We also have all Vectron. I would recommend the Cerbo-GX. It lets you check on the boat remotely and set alarms that are send to you. I use it every day. It’s good for piece of mind.
Tony my entire electrical system on Luna Sea is designed around my wife’s hair blower that she has used just a hand full of times. It is kind of ridiculous but hey we all need to start somewhere. 😊. We also run AGM batteries. We have a total of 840 amp hours (12 volts) divided between house 600 and backup 240. We use the house for everything, including starting the engine. The backup is well just a backup. We get 10 years of use before the batteries need to be replaced and we are happy with that. The only real downside is the weight. Next time I replace them I may need someone to help me. I find the key when sailing is to keep the inverter off. With it off our 200 watts of solar keep us happy.
Yes Dan; that’s the rub! If we need to run larger draw, mains voltage ac items, we’ll need a bigger inverter and consequently more battery capacity. If it’s gotta be, it’s gotta be, but if it can be avoided, we can save ourselves a lot of expense, weight and storage space!
@ It is difficult to adequately fuse a car start battery. The engine starting current can be briefly very high. A fuse that would reliably conduct such a current would offer little protection for wire guage used. The same is true on some boats which is why the start battery often does not have a fuse. This is not true for the house bank. This why all marine standards such as ABYC demand a main fuse on the hose bank, but not on the start bank. If a car catches on fire you can pull to side of the road and get out. This is not so easy on a boat.
However, all loads are drawn from the switch panel and every switch is independently fused. This means that the only way an issue could occur is in the feed wire to the panel and would involve it somehow shorting to negative. This is extremely unlikely 🤔
Nice setup. The victron solar chargers can easily be configured to charge LiFe* (or other chemistry) batteries 5 years or so down the road. After some years of heavy use the losses in the AGM is substantial. Might not matter much when you have plenty of sun, but you might want to go north one day. If I was to start over I would consider a small "all on one box" like the one Allan on WaveRover got. Anyway, my 2 cents wort of opinion and a comment for the algorithm to chew on. PS: I use the load port on my victron solar charger to turn on and off a small cooler box. That way I only use excessive electricity for cooling.
Yes indeed, the programmability of the Victron chargers is a big plus. Those all-in-one lithium packs are certainly interesting, but I think I’ll stick to the tried and tested traditional approach to boat electrics 👍😃😃
Maby people don't understand isolating batteries from each other. I'm surprised you've never taken to a 12 volt chest freezer, which generally sips 1 - 1 n 1/2 amps per hour, and I always stay on ECO mode so the compressor lasts forever. Another electrical is a CB radio, which goes in any form of travel I have. It , too, sips. What an attractive neat boat.
You're the man Tony! I'll be reviewing this many times in the future. Many thanks!
Thank you Rory 😃😃
I really like your approach here. Keep it simple.
Refrigerator and hot water is something I probably wouldn’t manage without. They - in my opinion - are the things that differs sailing from camping. Hot water is something I’d like to have in my current boat as well. (Maybe that’s just because it’s always cold up here… 🥶)
On SeaCamel I try to do things as simple as possible. One thing is to try to avoid having any fuel on board which means there’s not even diesel - maybe. Propulsion will be electric anyway.
That way the battery capacity needs to be tremendous. And compared to propulsion - everything else is peanuts.
I do have to say I'm not a fan of that. Not the going all out on electricity, but minimizing fuel. You should minimize it's usage, but you should always have plenty so you can potentially get to civilization with it if you don't have access to battery or solar power.
Thanks Panu. Electric propulsion is certainly interesting and I’m not ruling it out for one day in the future. I feel it still has some issues; not the least the cost of the installation. But it’s great that some of you are pioneering all electric sail boats!
I am a retired electronics engineer and agree with your electronics approach. We run a similar setup on our boat and the KISS approach sure makes it easy.
Thank you 😃
Thank you, Tony for the review of your electrical system. The simpler the system, the easier it is to trouble shoot when something is not working. LED lighting has made power requirements so much lower and battery technology has improved to the point that more power can be stored with less weight. All of this, with modern controls, has really improved life aboard for many sailors.
Best wishes to you and the family for a very enjoyable Holiday Season. See you in the new year.
Yes, absolutely Matt. Thank you and have a great festive season 👍😃
Hi Tony. I hope that you had a good Christmas with your family, and are looking forward to greeting the New Year. Hopefully S2 will continue, and would be good to have a heads up when likely. Ta.
Thanks Edward. Yes, hope you had a great one too!
And yes, the videos will continue soon. I have some winter projects and boatwork coming up ; it’ll probably be April when we continue sailing 👍
Thanks for this years videos Tony. Looking forward to next years. Best of the season to you and your family.🍻
Thank you. All the best to you and yours too!
This is how sailing can be done without all these power consuming gadgets.. I used to sail with minimal electrical systems..You explained it well..
Merry Christmas for you and the family..
Thank you Frans. Have a great one yourselves!
I remember you putting it in.❤❤
Have a great festive season, Melinda 😃😃
Thank You for this week's video .
I would like to wish you a Very Merry Christmas 🎅 🎄 and Happy New Year 🎉!
Ok,until next time, Aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii!
Aloha and Cheers 🍻
Thank you Bill, and all the very best to you and yours 👍😃
Tony - it is a great strategy for any system (KISS). 😀👍⛵️
Thanks Norman. Have a great one!
Merry Christmas to you and yours, Tony! 🎄
Same to you, Brutus 😃
Happy crimbo Tapatya crew 🙂
Thanks Bruno. You too! 😃😃
Thanks for the walkthrough. I grew up with boats that had no electricity at all on board, heat and light came from kerosene. There's no way I would exclude refrigeration from the onboard amenities today. But...no big deal, with 500w solar panels and 280Ah battery capacity we've managed just fine. We don't need to use shore power in ports either. Well thought out system you have but too ascetic for many, and warm beer, no it doesn't work. 😜🍺 (I like fresh food as well)
Thanks Leif. Yes, everyone has to know what they need and balance that with their budget and system. 👍
We also have all Vectron. I would recommend the Cerbo-GX. It lets you check on the boat remotely and set alarms that are send to you. I use it every day. It’s good for piece of mind.
Thanks Dan. Good tip 👍😃
Tony my entire electrical system on Luna Sea is designed around my wife’s hair blower that she has used just a hand full of times. It is kind of ridiculous but hey we all need to start somewhere. 😊. We also run AGM batteries. We have a total of 840 amp hours (12 volts) divided between house 600 and backup 240. We use the house for everything, including starting the engine. The backup is well just a backup. We get 10 years of use before the batteries need to be replaced and we are happy with that. The only real downside is the weight. Next time I replace them I may need someone to help me. I find the key when sailing is to keep the inverter off. With it off our 200 watts of solar keep us happy.
Yes Dan; that’s the rub! If we need to run larger draw, mains voltage ac items, we’ll need a bigger inverter and consequently more battery capacity. If it’s gotta be, it’s gotta be, but if it can be avoided, we can save ourselves a lot of expense, weight and storage space!
You should have a main battery fuse as close to the house battery bank as possible.
This is indeed a commonly held opinion, John, although car manufacturers don’t seem to share it 🤔
@ It is difficult to adequately fuse a car start battery. The engine starting current can be briefly very high. A fuse that would reliably conduct such a current would offer little protection for wire guage used. The same is true on some boats which is why the start battery often does not have a fuse. This is not true for the house bank. This why all marine standards such as ABYC demand a main fuse on the hose bank, but not on the start bank.
If a car catches on fire you can pull to side of the road and get out. This is not so easy on a boat.
All good points, John. Hope you’re having a great festive season 👍
However, all loads are drawn from the switch panel and every switch is independently fused. This means that the only way an issue could occur is in the feed wire to the panel and would involve it somehow shorting to negative. This is extremely unlikely 🤔
Nice setup. The victron solar chargers can easily be configured to charge LiFe* (or other chemistry) batteries 5 years or so down the road. After some years of heavy use the losses in the AGM is substantial. Might not matter much when you have plenty of sun, but you might want to go north one day.
If I was to start over I would consider a small "all on one box" like the one Allan on WaveRover got.
Anyway, my 2 cents wort of opinion and a comment for the algorithm to chew on.
PS: I use the load port on my victron solar charger to turn on and off a small cooler box. That way I only use excessive electricity for cooling.
Yes indeed, the programmability of the Victron chargers is a big plus.
Those all-in-one lithium packs are certainly interesting, but I think I’ll stick to the tried and tested traditional approach to boat electrics 👍😃😃
Maby people don't understand isolating batteries from each other. I'm surprised you've never taken to a 12 volt chest freezer, which generally sips 1 - 1 n 1/2 amps per hour, and I always stay on ECO mode so the compressor lasts forever. Another electrical is a CB radio, which goes in any form of travel I have. It , too, sips. What an attractive neat boat.
Thanks Stanley. I really don’t need a freezer and prefer to use the space for something else 👍😃
Portugal = cold beer?
Portugal is certainly very proud of its beer, and luckily, the water temperature is cool enough to keep it at a pleasant temperature 😎🍻