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Universal power strip (Wonpro power strips)
Mark Pitt
I have discovered a very useful addition to Sabbatical III. It is a 5-Outlet Universal Power Bar from www.europlugs.com ($26.99 or 6-outlets $29.99). These power bars accept "Universal Input", meaning any Type A ~ Type L plug; i.e., accept any country-specific plug except Type M plug (the huge 8.7mm South Africa plug).Can take 5 UK plugs side by side. It has lightning surge protection. It lists its specs as Max 16A 250V- upgraded for US Military (Labeled 13A, 220V- for marketing), Maximum Capacity 4,000 watts, Surge Protection 3,750 joules. You order the power cord separately, so you can get the right one for your Amel plug type, and in a variety of lengths. No more searching around for plug adaptors. My Australia, European, and US devices just plug right in.
Mark Pitt S/V Sabbatical III, ASM #419
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Re: [Amel] Re: All Battery Chargers
amelforme
Hello Murray. I hope you are now fully retired and off to your favorite
cruising grounds. Last time I saw you we were with Ray Eaton for lunch. You bought. Some things I remember! You probably know that Ray died last year. He is still deeply missed. I agree that Mastervolt makes good stuff that seems to be quite a bit less trouble prone than most of the others. Ray and I prepared so many boats for resale in Fort Lauderdale which mainly consisted of replacing "consumable" items that had been consumed. Pumps, air conditioners, fridge/freezer compressors.and of course batteries and charging systems too. We both agreed that Mastervolt chargers were our best bet for long term customer satisfaction as when they get older and fail, they just seem to stop working. I wish that when chargers failed that they would just drop dead. Nope. They often go full tilt and cook the batteries too. In order to gain some knowledge from your situation, I note that you said that the battery chargers, not the singular, charger, cooked and split your batteries. As I presume, maybe incorrectly, that such and event would be a one time occurrence and not a multi-time event, did you have your chargers, both of them, on when the batteries were murdered or was it only one of them? If so, was it your 100 amp charger? How old were your batteries and the chargers when his occurred? I would strongly recommend that you add another charger to your battery system when you start to cruise farther afield and depend less on shore power. The Amel Super Maramu is a very heavy DC power consumer and you will burn up your alternators if you try to use them to carry the load if your single battery charger fails. Ray and I found that a 30 to 40 amp unit worked very well to maintain good battery health when dockside on shore power. More powerful units are good for use with the genset to decrease run times when away from the dock In nearly three decades of selling new and used Amel boats, I have found that most Amel owners have very definitive opinions on batteries, charging systems (wind and solar included!) anchors, replacement sail makers, the #*%! bow thruster and water maker, and replacement fridge/freezer components and fresh water system pumps first and foremost. Air conditioners and plumbing stuff was next. Maybe it would be a good idea to have Amel folks tell us what they replaced their consumable things with and if the results were satisfactory. In all these years, I have found that the most deliberately honest and unguarded opinions about what is good and bad come from people who are retiring from cruising and have just been paid in full after selling their boats. Really. They have nothing left to prove and are off to other adventures so they often spill their deepest secrets because they care not if they are judged; what worked, worked. What didn't be damned. This is a valuable resource so maybe we should work up a questioner to give to folks who are done with cruising and also done with having an ax to grind. I hope you and your family are all well and smiling. Have fun with your Amel. Joel Joel F. Potter - Cruising Yacht Specialist, LLC Amel's Sole Associate for the Americas Mailing Address: 401 East Las Olas Boulevard #130-126 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 Phone: (954) 462-5869 Email: jfpottercys@... www.yachtworld.com/jfpottercys
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Re: [Amel] Jabsco toilet on Super Maramu
Mark Pitt
On more thing on the toilet seat. It cost $65 at Depco Pump but only $15.99 at amazon.com.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
Mark Pitt S/V Sabbatical III, ASM #419
--- In amelyachtowners@..., Mark <mark_pitt@...> wrote:
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Re: [Amel] Re: All Battery Chargers
murray k. seidel <mseidel@...>
Sundance sm349, had all her batteries cooked and split open by the Z Dolphin
chargers. The tub was full of acid, the vent worked great, and after cleaning out the tub which did not leak, replaced all the batteries with truck versions and a new MASTERVOLT charger. Ray Eaton suggested not to use Dolphins. Said he replace them with Mastervolt. Total bill approached 3000 dollars. Murray Seidel From: amelyachtowners@... [mailto:amelyachtowners@...] On Behalf Of kimberlite Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2011 7:58 PM To: amelyachtowners@... Subject: RE: [Amel] Re: All Battery Chargers Gary, My 30 amp charger did the same thing, It burned up my whole bank. I returned it to reya and for about 125 US they repaired it. I also replaced my batteries with group 31 sealed lead acid batteries. Fair Winds Eric Amel Super Maramu #376 Kimberlite _____ From: amelyachtowners@... <mailto:amelyachtowners%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:amelyachtowners@... <mailto:amelyachtowners%40yahoogroups.com> ] On Behalf Of gtesta23@... <mailto:gtesta23%40tin.it> Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2011 12:42 PM To: amelyachtowners@... <mailto:amelyachtowners%40yahoogroups.com> Subject: R: [Amel] Re: All Battery Chargers Hi Garry, we are now in Panama, Colon. With us an other SM ABORA with the same problem. But we don't have the solution. I'll ask directly to REYA FR. all the best Gianni EUTIKIA ----Messaggio originale---- Da: no_reply@... <mailto:no_reply%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:no_reply%40yahoogroups.com> Data: 19-mar-2011 17.19 A: <amelyachtowners@... <mailto:amelyachtowners%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:amelyachtowners%40yahoogroups.com> > Ogg: R: [Amel] Re: All Battery Chargers ----Messaggio originale---- Da: no_reply@... <mailto:no_reply%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:no_reply%40yahoogroups.com> Data: 19-mar-2011 17.19 A: <amelyachtowners@... <mailto:amelyachtowners%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:amelyachtowners%40yahoogroups.com> > Ogg: R: [Amel] Re: All Battery Chargers Hi Gianni: I installed 12 new Trojan SCS225 deep cycle batteries about 9 months ago. They are flooded lead acid batteries. I chose to have these since I had understood that absorbed gas matt (aka gel cell) batteries didn't tolerate the heat of the Caribbean well. My engine starting battery is a Deka and is a high cranking power battery. Not sure of it's number but it was a group 31 battery and I considered buying 12 more to serve as my house batteries because they were compatible with the existing Amel copper bar connecting plates. The supplier didn't have 12 more available and I further researched the one I had and found that it was not a deep cycle battery and thus decided on the Trojans. At any rate, we were in a marina for a few days after having been charging on the generator for a few weeks, and I had the 30 amp Dolphin charger on to "top up the batteries" One morning I came from the aft cabin and while walking through quarter-berth companionway, placed my hand on the berth mattress and noticed that it was very very warm. I opened the battery compartment and found all the batteries actively gassing and bubbling to overflowing electrolyte. Using an infrared thermometer I measured the temp of the batteries at 135-145 deg F. The voltage was about 28.3 volts. As I recall they were still having 18 amps pumped into them even after 36 hrs on the charger. It seemed that the 30 amp Dolphin charger had failed to switch from "bulk" charge to float charge. Fortunately the batteries didn't have the plates exposed and hopefully they do not have warped plates from the excessive heat. I called the Dophin charger people in the US and spoke to them. They suggested re-setting the charger by disconnecting the voltage to the charger, letting it sit for 30 minutes and then reconnecting to the batteries. I did this by "turning off the main battery switches" assuming that I was indeed disconnecting the charger from the batteries. When I didn't see any change in the behavior of the charger I assumed that the charger was faulty. As we were leaving the boat I didn't take any further action to trouble-shoot the issue. Now, with the information that the battery switches don't disconnect the batteries from the charger (at least on SN 318, and will shortly be determined if that is the same on my boat), perhaps my old Dolphin 30 amp charger can be made to behave. At any rate, I will no longer take the automatic functioning of my charger for granted, and I am considering installing a temperature alarm on my battery bank so I won't risk destroying $3,000 US worth of batteries due to a faulty charger. Watch your battery temperatures, and the amperage going into the battery bank carefully as it sounds like your charger is doing the same thing mine was. Just my thoughts, Gary Silver Amel SM 2000 #335 s/v Liahona --- In amelyachtowners@... <mailto:amelyachtowners%40yahoogroups.com> <mailto:amelyachtowners%40yahoogroups.com> , "gtesta23@..." <gtesta23@...> wrote: should go down to about 27 /26.5 v in stand by. ( no boost). The my one seems to remain at 28.1 for long time boosting few amperes.-->
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Re: [Amel] Connecting battery cables
murray k. seidel <mseidel@...>
Joel- Both of the Dolphin chargers ( 30 and 100 ) on sm349 failed. They
cooked my batteries. I replaced them with a single mastervolt. Murray Seidel From: amelyachtowners@... [mailto:amelyachtowners@...] On Behalf Of Joel Potter Sent: Monday, March 21, 2011 6:26 PM To: amelyachtowners@... Subject: RE: [Amel] Connecting battery cables My point exactly about the 30 amp charger. Every Amel I have owned and every one of the new Amel's I have sold since the Super Maramu came out has had a 30 amp charger as well as a larger 50 amp or 100 amp charger for use away from the dock on the genset and as redundancy/back-up in case of failure of one unit. Although I am absolutely certain that there are better chargers out there now than the ones Amel has supplied in the past, I have never had a charger or a battery failure or related problem on any of the Amels I have owned. Some of which I actually had the occasion to use as God and Captain Amel intended. Have fun with your Amel. Joel Joel F. Potter - Cruising Yacht Specialist, LLC Amel's Sole Associate for the Americas Mailing Address: 401 East Las Olas Boulevard #130-126 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 Phone: (954) 462-5869 Email: jfpottercys@... <mailto:jfpottercys%40att.net> www.yachtworld.com/jfpottercys
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Re: [Amel] Connecting battery cables
amelforme
My point exactly about the 30 amp charger. Every Amel I have owned and every
one of the new Amel's I have sold since the Super Maramu came out has had a 30 amp charger as well as a larger 50 amp or 100 amp charger for use away from the dock on the genset and as redundancy/back-up in case of failure of one unit. Although I am absolutely certain that there are better chargers out there now than the ones Amel has supplied in the past, I have never had a charger or a battery failure or related problem on any of the Amels I have owned. Some of which I actually had the occasion to use as God and Captain Amel intended. Have fun with your Amel. Joel Joel F. Potter - Cruising Yacht Specialist, LLC Amel's Sole Associate for the Americas Mailing Address: 401 East Las Olas Boulevard #130-126 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 Phone: (954) 462-5869 Email: jfpottercys@... www.yachtworld.com/jfpottercys
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Re: [Amel] Jabsco toilet on Super Maramu
Mark Pitt
Hi Joel and Veit:
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
I went ahead and ordered a Jabsco replacement seat from Depco Pump (http://www.depcopump.com/). What they sent is a Bemis "Easy Clean" toilet seat Model 500EC in white. This seems to be made for the general market but it looks like a direct replacement for the Jabsco. Mark Pitt S/V Sabbatical III, ASM #419
On 3/21/2011 5:29 PM, Veit wrote:
Hi Joel:
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Re: [Amel] Jabsco toilet on Super Maramu
Veit <veitm@...>
Hi Joel:
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
I thought that I would still have a receipt, alas seats were not so important. Sorry. Cheers Veit Sent from VM mobile
On Mar 8, 2011, at 19:21, "Joel Potter" <jfpottercys@...> wrote:
Veit, thanks a lot for your post. Any chance you could provide a product
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Re: [Amel] Connecting battery cables
Richard03801 <richard03801@...>
On the subject of chargers yes sitting on the dock fully charged 30 amps will do just fine The Problems come when you use the boat and come back to the dock and need a recovery charge they are over stressed according to the guys at Dolphin. A new smart charger of the 80 to 100 amp size will meet all needs. When the bank is charged they go to float and keep the bank charged
Regards Richard Piller On Mar 21, 2011, at 14:09, "Joel Potter" <jfpottercys@...> wrote: While on the subject of batteries, be sure to make a cover for at least one [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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Re: [Amel] Connecting battery cables
amelforme
While on the subject of batteries, be sure to make a cover for at least one
of and preferably both of the threaded "posts" that the main positive and negative battery cables are connected to inside the battery containment on the Super Maramu and later boats that have the fiberglass tub battery containment under the passageway berth. If you accidentally drop a metallic tool across these posts, it will immediately fuse and glow red hot and you will have your own little Chernobyl/China Syndrome. It happened on a client of mine's boat. It was not pretty. As a point of interest, the 30 amp charger was selected by Amel to properly charge the batteries when at the dock when living aboard. My Amel 54, which sadly spends more time being washed and coddled while being tied to a dock as I can't run away from home in it yet and use it for what it was designed for, has the original batteries which are six years old and about 90% as good as the day I first stepped aboard according to the load test I do annually. They seldom see the 100 amp charger and the 30 amp treats them just fine. Now that I have bragged about how good these old batteries are, they are certain to go into failure mode tomorrow. Have fun with your Amel. All the best, Joel Joel F. Potter - Cruising Yacht Specialist, LLC Amel's Sole Associate for the Americas Mailing Address: 401 East Las Olas Boulevard #130-126 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 Phone: (954) 462-5869 Email: jfpottercys@... www.yachtworld.com/jfpottercys
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Re: [Amel] Connecting battery cables
ianjenkins1946 <ianjudyjenkins@hotmail.com>
Thanks, Craig and Katherine, I will reread my Calder bible! Cheers, Ian and Judy, Pen Azen, SM 302, Spain
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To: amelyachtowners@...
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Re: [Amel] Re: All Battery Chargers
ianjenkins1946 <ianjudyjenkins@hotmail.com>
Hi Richard, I have to say that my 30 Ah charger worked perfectly for 10 years before the surge in the marina took it out. In case it proves entirely beyond repair I have been looking at the Sterling ProCharge Ultra, 2430, ( 24v, 30Ah) a newish charger which has recently won a number of awards--smaller and lighter than its Reya Dolphin equivalent and at about 725 Euros coming in at about 100 euros cheaper. The manufacturers are confident that it can handle a 420ah bank.If I do have to replace my charger I think that's the one I will choose. Thankfully, my original 50 Ah charger is still fine.
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Cheers, Ian and Judy, Pen Azen, SM 302, Spain
To: amelyachtowners@...
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Re: [Amel] Re: All Battery Chargers
Richard03801 <richard03801@...>
Not to drag this on to long however when you speak to battery people you may very well find that none will suggest a 30 amp charger for the size battery banks we feed. We have for the last 5 years used as suggested an 80 amp smart Delphine with complete success both on the hook/Gen set or dock side with 50 or 60 cyc. A 30 amp charger will continue to cause issues.
Regards Richard Piller On Mar 19, 2011, at 19:58, kimberlite <kimberlite@...> wrote: Gary, [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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[Amel] Re: All Battery Chargers
drew_gaffney <drew.gaffney@...>
We had the same experience when we bought Revelation. The previous owner had Reya repair his 30A charger. A few months later, when we met to inspect Revelation prior to purchase, the Dolphin had stayed in bulk mode, boiled a fairly new set of Trojan T-105's totally dry and ruined them!
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We installed a Xantrex Freedom inverter/charger, which replaces the Dolphin 30A unit and gives us the capability of getting 220V 50Hz AC from 60Hz shore power. It's also sometimes handy to be able to run the microwave for a minute without having to start the generator. Our 100A Dolphin also failed. The fan stopped (it was fine, the PCB was not...) We managed by opening the charger and using an external fan while charging until the end of the season. As long as the charger was cooled, it charged. We replaced it with a Victron 100A charger, which fits nicely in the same space and has worked well for the past year. It was half the price of a Dolphin replacement. We have found that we do need to equalize periodically. The charge rate declines and a full charge takes longer and longer. The Xantrex will do equaliazation, but ONLY if you purchase the external control device, approximately $125 USD. The 24V controllers are not available, but Xantrex says the 12V units can be kluged to work. We typically use our Balmar alternator to equalize, getting our SpGr back into the 1.250-1.285 range. Finally, some have questioned the need for the 30A charger. I think the 100A charger will pop most marina shore-power breakers... Cheers, Drew S/Y Revelation SM390 Lying Coffs Harbour, AU
--- In amelyachtowners@..., kimberlite <kimberlite@...> wrote:
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Re: [Amel] Re: Bilge Pump
john martin <symoondog@...>
Machine shops make all kinds of parts out of plastic, nylon, etc. I'm not sure they could make this part, but it wouldn't cost anything to ask. I personally have never seen anything they couldn't make. It would probably take 3 or 4 hours to set up the machine to make the part, and would be too pricey to make just one of them, but... if we want 10 of them maybe the cost would be worth it. John "Moon Dog" SM 248
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To: amelyachtowners@... From: yahoogroups@... Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2011 07:11:38 +0000 Subject: [Amel] Re: Bilge Pump Paul, We are interested. We have a pump with a broken nylon gear also. Keep us in mind. We will be in Turkey in April. Contact us at svbebe"at"gmail.com. I have an exploded view of the pump and parts list...the gearbox is item #36, part number 219464. I have copies of this in the photo section of this website titled "Bilge and Bilge Pump: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/amelyachtowners/photos/album/1890643196/pic/list Best, Bill s/v BeBe, SM2k, #387 Currently Male, Maldives, Indian Ocean
--- In amelyachtowners@..., "LaFrance" <pflafrance@...> wrote:
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Re: Bilge Pump
Judy and Bill aboard SV BeBe <yahoogroups@...>
Paul,
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
We are interested. We have a pump with a broken nylon gear also. Keep us in mind. We will be in Turkey in April. Contact us at svbebe"at"gmail.com. I have an exploded view of the pump and parts list...the gearbox is item #36, part number 219464. I have copies of this in the photo section of this website titled "Bilge and Bilge Pump: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/amelyachtowners/photos/album/1890643196/pic/list Best, Bill s/v BeBe, SM2k, #387 Currently Male, Maldives, Indian Ocean
--- In amelyachtowners@..., "LaFrance" <pflafrance@...> wrote:
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Re: [Amel] Re: All Battery Chargers
kimberlite <kimberlite@...>
Gary,
My 30 amp charger did the same thing, It burned up my whole bank. I returned it to reya and for about 125 US they repaired it. I also replaced my batteries with group 31 sealed lead acid batteries. Fair Winds Eric Amel Super Maramu #376 Kimberlite _____ From: amelyachtowners@... [mailto:amelyachtowners@...] On Behalf Of gtesta23@... Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2011 12:42 PM To: amelyachtowners@... Subject: R: [Amel] Re: All Battery Chargers Hi Garry, we are now in Panama, Colon. With us an other SM ABORA with the same problem. But we don't have the solution. I'll ask directly to REYA FR. all the best Gianni EUTIKIA ----Messaggio originale---- Da: no_reply@... <mailto:no_reply%40yahoogroups.com> Data: 19-mar-2011 17.19 A: <amelyachtowners@... <mailto:amelyachtowners%40yahoogroups.com> > Ogg: R: [Amel] Re: All Battery Chargers ----Messaggio originale---- Da: no_reply@... <mailto:no_reply%40yahoogroups.com> Data: 19-mar-2011 17.19 A: <amelyachtowners@... <mailto:amelyachtowners%40yahoogroups.com> > Ogg: R: [Amel] Re: All Battery Chargers Hi Gianni: I installed 12 new Trojan SCS225 deep cycle batteries about 9 months ago. They are flooded lead acid batteries. I chose to have these since I had understood that absorbed gas matt (aka gel cell) batteries didn't tolerate the heat of the Caribbean well. My engine starting battery is a Deka and is a high cranking power battery. Not sure of it's number but it was a group 31 battery and I considered buying 12 more to serve as my house batteries because they were compatible with the existing Amel copper bar connecting plates. The supplier didn't have 12 more available and I further researched the one I had and found that it was not a deep cycle battery and thus decided on the Trojans. At any rate, we were in a marina for a few days after having been charging on the generator for a few weeks, and I had the 30 amp Dolphin charger on to "top up the batteries" One morning I came from the aft cabin and while walking through quarter-berth companionway, placed my hand on the berth mattress and noticed that it was very very warm. I opened the battery compartment and found all the batteries actively gassing and bubbling to overflowing electrolyte. Using an infrared thermometer I measured the temp of the batteries at 135-145 deg F. The voltage was about 28.3 volts. As I recall they were still having 18 amps pumped into them even after 36 hrs on the charger. It seemed that the 30 amp Dolphin charger had failed to switch from "bulk" charge to float charge. Fortunately the batteries didn't have the plates exposed and hopefully they do not have warped plates from the excessive heat. I called the Dophin charger people in the US and spoke to them. They suggested re-setting the charger by disconnecting the voltage to the charger, letting it sit for 30 minutes and then reconnecting to the batteries. I did this by "turning off the main battery switches" assuming that I was indeed disconnecting the charger from the batteries. When I didn't see any change in the behavior of the charger I assumed that the charger was faulty. As we were leaving the boat I didn't take any further action to trouble-shoot the issue. Now, with the information that the battery switches don't disconnect the batteries from the charger (at least on SN 318, and will shortly be determined if that is the same on my boat), perhaps my old Dolphin 30 amp charger can be made to behave. At any rate, I will no longer take the automatic functioning of my charger for granted, and I am considering installing a temperature alarm on my battery bank so I won't risk destroying $3,000 US worth of batteries due to a faulty charger. Watch your battery temperatures, and the amperage going into the battery bank carefully as it sounds like your charger is doing the same thing mine was. Just my thoughts, Gary Silver Amel SM 2000 #335 s/v Liahona --- In amelyachtowners@... <mailto:amelyachtowners%40yahoogroups.com> , "gtesta23@..." <gtesta23@...> wrote: should go down to about 27 /26.5 v in stand by. ( no boost). The my one seems to remain at 28.1 for long time boosting few amperes.-->
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Re: [Amel] Further VAT liability on vessels returning to UK from outside EU
bootlegger@...
Good thanks; great to hear from you. Where are you?
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Andy Roy the boat VAT expert also told me he thought liable for further payment. However since sending just found out on a boat related website VAT is only ever paid once !! Planning to return to Europe in May. Home waters initially then. Slow cruise down to Med and over to eastern Med. Look forward to hearing what you're up to. Frank
------Original Message------
From: Horst Pause To: amelyachtowners@... ReplyTo: amelyachtowners@... Subject: Re: [Amel] Further VAT liability on vessels returning to UK from outside EU Sent: 19 Mar 2011 17:07 Hi Frank, Why don't you ask Customs and Excise? They were very helpful during the re-importation of one of my boats. Also, as far as I know, there are some islands in the Caribbean that are part of the EU - St Martin? + others. Hope you are well, Horst ________________________________ From: "bootlegger@..." <bootlegger@...> To: amelyachtowners@... Sent: Sat, 19 March, 2011 16:57:17 Subject: Re: [Amel] Further VAT liability on vessels returning to UK from outside EU Many thanks for your detailed response. I wonder whether anyone else can add to your comments on this apparent double VAT hit on EU registered and VAT paid boats that have spent three years outside the EU VAT area? Frank Newton Bootlegger of Mann SM2K 321 Nanny Cay Marina Tortola BVI Bootlegger@... ------Original Message------ From: rxc To: amelyachtowners@... ReplyTo: amelyachtowners@... Subject: Re: [Amel] Further VAT liability on vessels returning to UK from outside EU Sent: 15 Mar 2011 15:04 I believe that this is true here in France. When I first read it, I was a bit shocked, but I think it may be an EU-wide issue. I wonder if you could avoid this by a change of residence. There is another provision in EU law that exempts boats that accompany someone in a change of residence from outside the EU to inside, from VAT and customs duty. I used this provision to avoid VAT on my boat when we came here to France, and we have not had any problems to date, even with customs inspections in France and Spain. On Mar 14, 2011, at 17:29, bootlegger@... wrote: Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Cable & Wireless ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Cable & Wireless
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Splitting The Battery Bank
LaFrance <pflafrance@...>
We recently split our battery bank into 2 separate units mainly for charging purposes.
Our vessel is used 12 months of the year and is rarely on shore power. Amel provided the vessel with 12-12V lead acid house batteries with a Dolphin 100 Amp charger and a 30 Amp Dolphin charger. The 30 Amp charger is used for when connected to shore. Our research indicated that a 100 Amp charger is good for charging a battery bank of up to 400 Amp/Hrs. We currently consume 130 amp/hrs per day The Dolphin charger was not of sufficient capacity to maintain the battery bank at the levels for charging. As per the Trojan Battery Company's charging and maintenance guide the charging voltage daily during absorption should be between 29.2V – 29.6V.(http://www.trojanbattery.com/pdf/UsersGuide_English.pdf) To accomplish this on the Dolphin, the #2 setting (which gives 29.6V) was selected. Due to line loss, the voltage to the batteries is 29.2V. We confirmed this with the USA representative in Florida. There are no settings available on the Dolphin 30 Amp charger to provide this voltage. Our current Amp/Hr capacity is 1,290 Amp/Hrs (12 X 215 Amp/Hrs divided by 2) The batteries are type 31 made by UltraPower. As we saw it the 100Amp charger was not sufficient to do the job hence splitting the batteries into 2 banks to 645 Amp/Hrs in each bank. The 100 Amp Dolphin charger still would not do the job as there are more than 400 Amp/Hrs. We then decided to install another battery charger with inverter capabilities. We chose a Magnum MS-E Series Pure Sine Wave Inverter/ Charger Model # MS4124E. This charger provides 105 Amps of charging power. We note that we get 114 Amps when charging (Bonus) The inverter provides us with 220V 50 Hz power to run the appliances on board without having to start the Genset. Cost of unit with remote control, temperature sensor & shipping $2,066.41 USD. Now we can charge each bank with sufficient Voltage and Amps and it takes half the time when using both chargers. Other stand alone marine chargers were much more expensive and did not have the inverter function. Magnum chargers are mainly made for the trucking industry and do not carry the marine markup that we often see in place. The Magnum charger is a much smarter unit than the Dolpin in that it allows adjustments and tapers off when charging with Dolphin charger. When the Genset output is done to 14 Amps we turn off the Dolphin and leave the Magnum on as it is smarter and charges the batteries properly after the bulk charge. As a result of the split we installed a Link 20 monitoring system to check the banks. The old Link 10 monitor now does the 12V starting battery. We also had designed another monitoring system by Blue Sea to monitor the output from the genset which has a 30 Amp breaker. When running both chargers the genset is putting out 29 Amps. As you may be aware a fully loaded and working diesel engine likes to be loaded up and will last longer. When charger is half done then we can turn on other 220V systems. This unit also tells us how the genset is working and when it may need repairs to the electrical part of the genset. It also allows us to monitor the draw from individual units on board and we can fix if we see a drop or increase in what the particular system is drawing. This project took over 3 years to design and understand the Amel systems with a lot of input from people far more knowledgeable than us. We now use one battery bank every 24 Hrs and then switch to the other bank ( bank 1 on odd days and bank 2 on even days) BENEFITS Less time charging the battery banks saving genset hours, fuel and maintenance Inverter can supply power to 220V/50Hz systems without genset having to be run When hooked up to shore power either 110V or 220V 50 or 60 hz the charge is run through the Dolphin 30 Amp charger and we then use the inverter to obtain 220V/50hz for our power needs on board. As a note the Air conditioning units require 50hz contrary to what Amel says. We checked with Clima on this and they stated on numerous occasions from different technicians that the capacitors will blow out. (As a side note when we were on shore power in the US we ran the Air Conditioning units and as a result had to replace 12 of the 15 AC capacitors as they were blown and not functioning) As we normally only have 110V/60hz or 220/60hz available we took this route. The added benefit of the Blue Sea unit is that it tells us what type of power is coming on board either 110/220V & 50/60hz We can monitor what each unit is drawing on both the 24 V and 220V systems IE: Washer/Dryer, AC units, Bow thruster, Winches, Furlers etc We now have the capability to know what is going into and out of the batteries. With the batteries being able to rest for 24 Hrs, we feel they will last longer and will not require equalization. We did not keep track of all the costs but installation took approx. 20 hours along with a lot of wire. Magnum Charger $2,066.41, Link 20 $375.15, Blue Sea Monitor $875, 12 Batteries $1,285.48 As a side note the Dolphin 100Amp charger has an equalization setting. When we asked the Florida technician, he then inquired to France and they stated in no uncertain terms by email to not use it. We are on our 3rd Dolphin charger replaced 2 under warranty and 1 due to water damage when the water maker high pressure hose blew. It appears that the charger is set up for charging 2 separate banks but the divider breaks down over time. This was even before we installed the additional charger. Warranty work is dismal as they had to send units to France then on to the manufacturer. Our last warranty unit took over a year to be returned and we currently have one in for warranty since October 2010 and they don't know when we will get it back. The company is owned by REYA and they have some one else build them in Europe we think but can't confirm who. The USA representative is looking for another source to provide warranty work as REYA's contract expired in December 2010. The Florida representative, Steve, has been more than helpful. His hands are tide and the company has tried on our behalf and numerous others to get info which is not coming back to them. When they ship the units back they go on a pallet as there are so many. No wonder they are looking for a new warranty provider. Who needs this type of customer service. Paul LaFrance SV NOMAD SM 362 Currently in St Lucia
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Re: [Amel] Dolphin Battery Chargers
jlm@jlmertz.fr
1- Why AMEL do that, I don't know perhaps it was no space enough on the
switch to make a good work ! 2- on the charge I had a few mili-volts between the diodesand their radiators (I cleaned the pcb and change the pop rivers with screws) jluc Le 19/03/2011 15:40, amelliahona a écrit :
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