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[Amel Yacht Owners] Solar Panel Location
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Hi Mark, I just added an Atlantic Towers arch with solar on the arch. I added 4 150watt panels. The supports for the panels sold by Atlantic Towers didn't work with my panels and new supports were manufactured. Atlantic didn't want to take their supports back, so I have them for sale. Craig Briggs helped me install the arch...it took 2 1/2 days after a couple of mis-starts. The install is straightforward and clean. I used the supplied backing plates. There is some side-to-side movement which I am so far dealing with when at sea with crossing lines from the arch to the aft cleats. Attaching the arch to the lifelines helps some, but I will probably add removable cables angling from the arch to a pad-eye in the center of the deck below the aft lifeline. I would use them when at sea, and remove them (at least the starboard one) when at anchor or med-moored. Kent S/V Kristy SM243
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Danny and Yvonne SIMMS
Hi, With those tall arches and the tendency for sway I would be concerned about the stress on the fiberglass where the mountings are attached. That sway would translate into considerable lever action on the mounting points. Over time watch for star fracturing of the gel coat. Regards Danny SM 299 Ocean Pearl
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We installed the Atlantic Towers arch three years ago. Been very satisfied with it. But like others, not comfortable with the lateral sway. Using mostly standard rail hardware and a length of 1" SS rail, we fastened one end about halfway up the aft leg of the arch (attached to an Atlantic Towers collar) and the other to the deck just fwd of where the transom begins. We like the stiffness this brings to the entire fixture. Ian Townsend SM153 Loca Lola II New River, Fort Lauderdale, FL
On Dec 1, 2017, at 10:20 AM, Kent Robertson karkauai@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...> wrote:
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The arch attaches to the deck through "mortise and tenon" type fittings. The small amount of side to side movement doesn't stress the fitting that is bolted to the deck. Kent S/V Kristy Hi, With those tall arches and the tendency for sway I would be concerned about the stress on the fiberglass where the mountings are attached. That sway would translate into considerable lever action on the mounting points. Over time watch for star fracturing of the gel coat. Regards Danny SM 299 Ocean Pearl
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Patrick McAneny
Danny, The mounts are articulating , so any movement transferred to the mounts is not directly transferred to the deck. I installed a diagonal s.s tube to stiffen it up and I don't think at the top of my arch the lateral movement with a lot of force applied would be more than a quarter inch. So at deck level virtually nothing. I built my own S.S. solar frame and davits, very robust , and have sailed probably 3000 miles with dinghy hoisted and no visible sign of movement. Having said that , I like what others have done , a removable cable to a padeye to further stiffen things up , more the better. Hope all is good with you guys , been watching a lot of sailing in the Bay of Islands on YouTube ,looks sweeet !
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Regards,
Pat & Diane
SM Shenanigans
-----Original Message-----
From: Danny and Yvonne SIMMS simms@... [amelyachtowners] To: amelyachtowners Sent: Fri, Dec 1, 2017 12:38 pm Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Solar Panel Location Hi,
With those tall arches and the tendency for sway I would be concerned about the stress on the fiberglass where the mountings are attached. That sway would translate into considerable lever action on the mounting points. Over time watch for star fracturing of the gel coat.
Regards
Danny
SM 299 Ocean Pearl
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greatketch@...
One of the things you need to do when installing the Atlantic Arch is to be sure you "preload" the structure. They do mention this in their instructions, but if you talk to them they REALLY emphasize the importance of this step. If you skip this step, or under do it, the arch will be quite unstable and sway back and forth a LOT.
What they mean by this is the cut width of the arch should be several inches wider than the location of the mounting feet, and then pulling them together to complete the installation. I think mine was about 5 inches wide, and I used a spanish windlass to pull the legs together. My recollection of the instructions was that they didn't really talk about this much. If you are installing one, it is worth a call to their support line to get a detailed and specific recommendation With the parts stressed in this way the side to side motion is dramatically reduced. I have pretty heavy solar panels on top of mine, and I added a diagonal brace because "it can't hurt". but I did not notice much change in motion with and without the brace. Bill Kinney SM160, Harmonie Fort Lauderdale, FL
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greatketch@...
Danny,
When I installed mine I added a larger G10 backing plate and dug out almost all the balsa core under the feet and replaced it with heavily thickened epoxy. This has the dual benefit of preventing water intrusion into the core, and greatly increases the compression strength of the deck. Bill Kinney SM160, Harmonie Fort Lauderdale, FL
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Patrick McAneny
Bill, Its been about four years since I installed mine and I think they gave a range to preload , say three to five inches . Not knowing better I chose midway four inches , I wish I had made it five.
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Pat
SM#123
-----Original Message----- From: greatketch@... [amelyachtowners] To: amelyachtowners Sent: Fri, Dec 1, 2017 9:41 pm Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Solar Panel Location One of the things you need to do when installing the Atlantic Arch is to be sure you "preload" the structure. They do mention this in their instructions, but if you talk to them they REALLY emphasize the importance of this step. If you skip this step, or under do it, the arch will be quite unstable and sway back and forth a LOT.
What they mean by this is the cut width of the arch should be several inches wider than the location of the mounting feet, and then pulling them together to complete the installation. I think mine was about 5 inches wide, and I used a spanish windlass to pull the legs together. My recollection of the instructions was that they didn't really talk about this much. If you are installing one, it is worth a call to their support line to get a detailed and specific recommendation
With the parts stressed in this way the side to side motion is dramatically r
educed. I have pretty heavy solar panels on top of mine, and I added a diagonal brace because "it can't hurt". but I did not notice much change in motion with and without the brace.
Bill Kinney
SM160, Harmonie
Fort Lauderdale, FL
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