Arild:
As you've noticed, the electrical system on my boat is unusual. Most of the system is fairly standard for a Nordhavn, but there are some unique aspects to the boat, particularly the inverters.
Let's start by talking about the cruising alternators. These are hydraulically powered by a PTO from the main engines. It's the same ABT hydraulic system that powers the stabilizers and the thrusters. Each of the two cruising alternators puts out 250 amps of 24 volt power. This gives the equivalent of a 14kw 220v generator, without powering a generator on. For long passages, this comes in handy.
There are four 3.5kw Outback (not Victron) inverters that will be installed. This will provide 14kw of 220v power. This allows me to meet most ordinary loads on the boat without firing a generator.
The honest reason we did this was to avoid having to start up a generator while at anchor. If I have a boat of sleeping guests, and want to fire up the expresso machine, this allows me plenty of power in short bursts without turning on the generator. If also allows the full output of the cruising alternators to be tapped while underway.
Theoretically, the inverter output is sufficient to run a portion of the air conditioning. My hope is that I have sufficient battery capacity to cool JUST the master stateroom, while at anchor overnight. On paper we have enough amp hours in the house battery bank, so - maybe.
I have thought many times about simplifying the electrical system. Sans Souci will be traveling around the world, and it will be up to me to fix things when they break. I'm a software engineer, not an electrician. I've been reading books on marine electrical systems, but most of this is still over my head. The right answer was probably to dump the cruising alternators, all but one inverter and perhaps even one of the generators -- just to reduce complexity, and free up space in the engine room -- but, I've convinced myself I can handle it, and hopefully I'm right!
-Ken W
| Williams, Ken |
2006-11-18 09:07:59
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