I am finally getting around to sorting out my Norman 20 cruiser, its originaly a river cruiser. However I have used it for inshore fishing and it has been partly adapted for this, I intend to finish the adaptions and so far its been really stable at sea.
It has a very old but good suzuki 65 out board on it, I upgraded the battery to a heavy duty leisure battery, the bilge pumps have also been upgraded but the main cabin one I want to refit and upgrade to a bigger one. the electrics on a whole are a real mess. It does have a boat switch panel, but this could do with replacing and I would like waterproof switches, the main awning and top screen was removed as part of the sea conversion (it helped stability alot removing it).
The lights are being replaced with high power leds instead of the bulbs that are currently fitted. I am looking at putting 3W Leds in nav lights etc, But maybe 10W leds in for the deck lights and cabin lights. I havnt decided what to use for the spot lights yet, doing a few tests the leds seem alot brighter than the current bulbs and use alot less power.
While working on the boat I had to pump alot of rain water out as the boat has stood alot over winter, the main cover is shot!! I noticed the battery although fully charged at the start had a fair drain after a few hours, I finally tracked it down to a bilge pump that the cable had been chewed a bit. So being under water it was shorting a bit.
The boat also has hydraulic electric trim, and I would like to add in some kind of main cabin heater. Probably something really simple like a large industrial fridge compressor radiator, heated with a couple of peatier cells and a 1Amp 12V fan (might change all that). The Battery is used both for starting and all electrics, the engine charges the battery when the engine is one. When I use the boat I have periods of upto 6-10 hours with the engine off, I would like a energy efficient way to sense the current load on the battery and the Battery voltage and discharge rate.
My reasoning being If something goes a bit wrong like the bilge pump did, I can isolate or decide to switch off anything I need too if the battery starts to get low. The engine does have rope start as well, But using that is a long way from funny!!
So Any suggestions on what kind of circuit would be best for current sensing? I have looked at some linear technology devices and circuits, but I cant decide on high or low side, or if I want to do both. So any suggestions on what would be the best way? I am also likely to add in small solar panel, I dont have a 240V inverter on the boat and I dont at present intend getting one.
The Boat is a blank canvas pretty much, needs alot of work doing but is basically sound and I have been using it. I did have a stand by out board but had to sell it, I know This is risky but in all honesty it will be a while before I get another.
I do have a fish finder, but I use paper charts, I would like to get GPS charts at some point. I am also looking at buying another project boat, mainly because it comes with alot of extras I could use, although its unlikely I would use the Hull itself. It is however a cheaper way to upgrade mine!! sailing boats in general are going really cheap, so a good opportunity to use one to upgrade mine.
Any thoughts and suggestions? On doing the electrics? Oh it dosnt currently have a marine radio, but I dont normally go out of phone signal, I will be getting a marine radio in the next few weeks.
It has a very old but good suzuki 65 out board on it, I upgraded the battery to a heavy duty leisure battery, the bilge pumps have also been upgraded but the main cabin one I want to refit and upgrade to a bigger one. the electrics on a whole are a real mess. It does have a boat switch panel, but this could do with replacing and I would like waterproof switches, the main awning and top screen was removed as part of the sea conversion (it helped stability alot removing it).
The lights are being replaced with high power leds instead of the bulbs that are currently fitted. I am looking at putting 3W Leds in nav lights etc, But maybe 10W leds in for the deck lights and cabin lights. I havnt decided what to use for the spot lights yet, doing a few tests the leds seem alot brighter than the current bulbs and use alot less power.
While working on the boat I had to pump alot of rain water out as the boat has stood alot over winter, the main cover is shot!! I noticed the battery although fully charged at the start had a fair drain after a few hours, I finally tracked it down to a bilge pump that the cable had been chewed a bit. So being under water it was shorting a bit.
The boat also has hydraulic electric trim, and I would like to add in some kind of main cabin heater. Probably something really simple like a large industrial fridge compressor radiator, heated with a couple of peatier cells and a 1Amp 12V fan (might change all that). The Battery is used both for starting and all electrics, the engine charges the battery when the engine is one. When I use the boat I have periods of upto 6-10 hours with the engine off, I would like a energy efficient way to sense the current load on the battery and the Battery voltage and discharge rate.
My reasoning being If something goes a bit wrong like the bilge pump did, I can isolate or decide to switch off anything I need too if the battery starts to get low. The engine does have rope start as well, But using that is a long way from funny!!
So Any suggestions on what kind of circuit would be best for current sensing? I have looked at some linear technology devices and circuits, but I cant decide on high or low side, or if I want to do both. So any suggestions on what would be the best way? I am also likely to add in small solar panel, I dont have a 240V inverter on the boat and I dont at present intend getting one.
The Boat is a blank canvas pretty much, needs alot of work doing but is basically sound and I have been using it. I did have a stand by out board but had to sell it, I know This is risky but in all honesty it will be a while before I get another.
I do have a fish finder, but I use paper charts, I would like to get GPS charts at some point. I am also looking at buying another project boat, mainly because it comes with alot of extras I could use, although its unlikely I would use the Hull itself. It is however a cheaper way to upgrade mine!! sailing boats in general are going really cheap, so a good opportunity to use one to upgrade mine.
Any thoughts and suggestions? On doing the electrics? Oh it dosnt currently have a marine radio, but I dont normally go out of phone signal, I will be getting a marine radio in the next few weeks.