[Rhodes22-list] AC converter

[Jay Curry]

A Deep cycle charger, DC charger from an outboard and solar panels are all 
very good things to have. A trickle charger is fine and won't damage a good 
deep cycle battery, but cannot regulate the current the battery needs. The 
best type of charger (generally called three stage) provides stages of 
charging depending what the battery charge state is. At low charge levels, 
it will provide a strong current and reduce that current gradually until 
only a small maintenance current is needed.

In my case, I opted for a solar panel on each battery and have an outboard 
that will charge both batteries when running. I also use Optima batteries. 
They are fully sealed and can even be used on their sides. I consider them 
more than worth the cost.  You cannot find a better marine application 
battery in my opinion. In ten years I never had to replace one and in that 
time, they went through some hard conditions and many full discharge cycles 
without any loss of performance. For my R22, I do not see the need for an 
onboard shore powered charger yet.

Inverters are not what they are cracked up to be. In my larger boat, I had a 
microwave and other AC dedicated devices. In each case, the current draw of 
the device far exceeded what was reasonable for any normal use. If you have 
100 AMP Hours available from your batteries and the device draws 10 amps or 
similar levels to operate, you will run your battery down in a single normal 
use.

In considering an inverter, note the AMP Hour total of your batteries and 
compare it to the current draw in amps of the device you wish to power and 
how long you want to power it. The math on this is fairly simple. I am sure 
others on the list will have recommendations on what ratio of current draw 
to available AMP Hours is reasonable for normal use. I never worried about 
the ratio since the math told me the inverter was useless and hard on the 
batteries even with the engine and charger operating. All the devices you 
wish to charge can be done easily from a 12V Battery since charge functions 
for them draw very little current. Just get car chargers.

The last and best item to reduce battery draw is LED lights. It is worth the 
cost and you will be forever grateful for them if you are on the water for a 
few days without access to shore power. 1 standard incandescent bulb can 
draw ten times or more current than what an LED will. In my experience on 
the larger boat, the anchor light, interior lights and the fridge, drew the 
batteries down to a low charge after only one night. We changed all the 
interior and running lights to led and never had another problem. The first 
thing I did to my Rhodes was install LED lighting.

There are a host of 12V appliances available even TV's. Truck stops are 
great places to find them. In any case here are the rules I go by for all I 
do on the boat. Get supplemental charge devices like solar panels and engine 
chargers for use away from the dock, do the current-draw math, install at 
least two batteries with a switch, avoid dependence on AC for ANY items used 
away from the dock, manage use to the capacity of one battery and go LED. 
You will be glad you did.

Jay Curry
Port Angeles, WA


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Pauer" <billpauer at gmail.com>
To: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2012 4:11 AM
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] AC converter


>I am thinking it would be nice to be able to plug into shore power for
> longer trips when we are spending the nights in a marina.  If I had AC
> power I could run my new Igloo ice chest / refrigerator.  It can run
> on DC power, but I feel it would drain my battery fairly quickly.  I
> was also thinking about installing a trickle charger for the battery.
> That might be another questions as I am not sure that is a good idea
> for marine deep cycle batteries.    Plus if I have AC power I could
> charge phones, laptops, and most importantly I could make my wife her
> morning latte.  That latte could be the difference between a great day
> on the water and wishing I was back home working on boat in the
> backyard.
>
> Thanks
> Bill
> __________________________________________________
> To subscribe/unsubscribe go to 
> http://www.rhodes22.org/mailman/listinfo/rhodes22-list
>
> For the list Charter and help with using the mailing list and archives go 
> to http://www.rhodes22.org/list
> __________________________________________________
>