Best Current sense option on a boat?

[dr pepper]

I've heard many tales like that, and they are still just as entertaining.

Ghostie, my old man is still with us and he's starting to loose his marbles, you'll never have to go through that, its not pleasant.

 

[large_ghostman]

Mine did at the end, its kind of why I think he died.

Yeah its just a boat, he would want me to do it up. The sad bit for me was my earlier memories. Little short guy built like a shed (until he got ill), I remember him carrying pregnant ewes (Big Suffolk sheep) around his neck, across the fields for 2-3 miles to our barn when they got in trouble.. Chatting away to me all the time as I struggled to keep up with him lol. Man he was strong. Temper like a hydrogen bomb but quickly cooled off and never held a grudge.

Anyway, no conceiving anything on boats for me, except ideas of course. i see boats as sheds on water, man space and not somewhere women should be . Well not on mine . Trust me couple of days and they would want curtains!!! and carpets!! All that static around me MOSFETS! No thanks

Your MOSFETS is no place to be getting static

 

[large_ghostman]

My perfect boat!!!!! If you look closely in pic 7, they have even done my bedroom out for me anyway!!

**broken link removed**

 

[dr pepper]

I did some training on a westerly, they are a good well built bucket.
Being more a motor man, I like hardy's.

 

[large_ghostman]

Being on the water is alot of fun. Plus I like fishing, shore fishing is ok. But I prefer boat fishing, I also like to go and sit on the boat with the laptop and work (like now). I do that alot recently, I find it easier to concentrate and takes everyone ages to work out where I am .

 

[alec_t]

I see they quote £500 postage for that Westerly in the link. It'll take a helluva lot of wrapping paper for the parcel though .

 

[large_ghostman]

I see they quote £500 postage for that Westerly in the link. It'll take a helluva lot of wrapping paper for the parcel though .

I would get mum to go pick it up. Our postman would moan carrying that 1/4 mile up our driveway

 

[dr pepper]

£500 is cheap even for a 1/4 mile, it costs that to get one pulled out of the water.
My ex wife was jealous of my old boat, she said I liked it more than her, well she is my ex.

 

[MrAl]

Hi,

Current sensing isnt that hard unless you need to sense light currents or need super accuracy.
You could try hall effect sensors to start with. Do one device and see how it goes.
If you find you have shorts that go to ground or whatever you might want to think about sensing in both leads of a device. If the current in one lead does not match the current in the other lead, there's an external current path (leakage).
Depending on how many devices you have to monitor it could be quite a job to wire in though.

 

[large_ghostman]

The issue I had was the connector leaked, so both cables were under water and conducting, it pulled the same as the pump being on (pretty much). Really annoying problem.
Dr pepper stop tempting me!!!

I will have to wait until next year, I discovered why this time of year was cheap, but it wont last much longer. Apparently this time of year is when most mooring and club fees become due, so more people off load boats cheap at this time, rather than pay the fees upfront for another year.

 

[dr pepper]

Quite true, that and club fees, in fact all fee's are going up and up.
Sometime there will be a collapse just like it did with caravans, and prices will sink, that will mean of course boat prices going up.

I have a clamp meter gizmo for checking dc currents on automotive & industrial engines, I built a copy of this:

 

[large_ghostman]

Those meters are really clever, First time I have seen a diagram though. I take it in mains voltage, then there should be a detectable reading in most cables. Even if nothing is really being powered? Especially if you had a zero reference?

Its ok my mind has wondered off on a tangent again

 

[large_ghostman]

I better go do some study and revision. Mayhem breaks out next week, got second exam then a fairly long gap until the next. I am getting bored waiting.

If my GC sells then I will take the plunge and get the boat. Really glad I dont have mooring fees etc. Although I could get some cheap up near where I live. But then more antifouling needed. I prefer back on the trailer, get home and power wash.

 

[dr pepper]

Nope the schem is for a dc clamp meter, there is an offset adjust to zero the reading.
If your installing this permanent I wouldnt make it a clamp, just feed the wire thru, then the zero would be more stable.
ABB make some proper 'dc' current transformers, they work by using an op amp to balance out the magnetic field produced by the conductor, the control voltage being the current to voltage output.

 

[large_ghostman]

Nope the schem is for a dc clamp meter, there is an offset adjust to zero the reading.
If your installing this permanent I wouldnt make it a clamp, just feed the wire thru, then the zero would be more stable.
ABB make some proper 'dc' current transformers, they work by using an op amp to balance out the magnetic field produced by the conductor, the control voltage being the current to voltage output.

Yeah sorry I wondered off on another thought path. Just sticking with it a min....

Could you do something similar to detect voltage? Dosnt have to be a meter as such, just something that says yes the cable is live?

It dosnt matter, I have enough stuff I am doing , but its kind of interesting.

 

[dr pepper]

Detecting 12v dc battery power non contact is tricky, there is hardly any electric field and no ac to pick up capacitively, probably the only way to do that is to have a bleed resistor dump some power so you can pick it up with the current meter, that or just bung a resistor divider and a meter or pic/'duino atod input across the power lines.
Silly suggestion:- A 555 could be configured to generate 100 khz rf, this can be injected to the power lines, lead acids tend to be high impedance to rf, then you can detect the rf on any power lines that are switch on, of course the switches would need to have enough isolation when off for the rf not to be coupled.

 

[large_ghostman]

Detecting 12v dc battery power non contact is tricky, there is hardly any electric field and no ac to pick up capacitively, probably the only way to do that is to have a bleed resistor dump some power so you can pick it up with the current meter, that or just bung a resistor divider and a meter or pic/'duino atod input across the power lines.
Silly suggestion:- A 555 could be configured to generate 100 khz rf, this can be injected to the power lines, lead acids tend to be high impedance to rf, then you can detect the rf on any power lines that are switch on, of course the switches would need to have enough isolation when off for the rf not to be coupled.

Ah no sorry, this was off on a tangent, I was thinking mains voltage. This isnt boat related (my bad), just something else at the back of my mind thats all. Some stuff is best left there trust me

 

[dr pepper]

Yes you can detect mains voltage, a volt stick type circuit would do that, just a fet and led, plenty examples of those about.
Mains voltage and metal boats dont mix, and I dont mean safety wise, at least a norman is plastic.

 

[large_ghostman]

Yes you can detect mains voltage, a volt stick type circuit would do that, just a fet and led, plenty examples of those about.
Mains voltage and metal boats dont mix, and I dont mean safety wise, at least a norman is plastic.

PLASTIC!!!!
Go wash your mouth out please , it is a composite material based on glass and a resin!!! Plastic indeed

 

[dr pepper]

Ooops, soz.
However polyester resin does qualify as plastic, thats what the p is is grp, glass re-inforced plastic.
Proper boats are made from wood, but you have to maintain them all the time, some are made from concrete, honest.