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| “The days pass happily with me wherever my ship sails.” - Joshua Slocum |
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| Spring is a chaotic time of year as we all try to wrap up winter projects, organize our gear, and get our boats ready for the water. It’s also a great time to start collecting information for future projects. |
| Seminars with Nigel Calder: A Deep Dive into Boat Electrical Systems |
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| In April, Oceanplanet Energy hosted Nigel Calder’s two-day seminar on optimized boat electrical systems in Portland, Maine. With a ton of information (well-organized and presented as only Nigel himself could do), this seminar starts at the basics and works into deepening levels of complexity in a logical and understandable way, allowing for integration of concepts in a cohesive and intuitive manner. With presentations and hands-on time with tools and equipment, there is something for everyone (including us!) in these seminars. Topics covered include: -Key design criteria for DC & AC Systems-Maintaining battery health-New transformative technologies-Sizing & installing circuits for ABYC compliance-Critical safety issues with AC systems-Common installation errors-Hands-on terminal crimping practice Sound interesting? We’re hosting another 2-day seminar with Nigel on October 29th and 30th, at the Hyatt Place Portland – to register for a remaining spot and see more information, visit the link below! |
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| HOW TO: Do a Battery Capacity Test One of the best ways to check on the health of your batteries is by completing a capacity test. Battery capacity (measured in amp hours) decreases as the battery ages. To find out what state of health your batteries are in, you need to find out how many amp hours they can still hold, and compare that to their rated capacity. In an ideal world, this is done for individual batteries, which obviously isn’t that easy. You can do a whole bank capacity test, and if there is significantly less capacity remaining then expected, then you may want to begin isolated batteries and testing them. Sometimes, one bad battery can act as a load, and removing it can actually increase the overall capacity. If any battery is lower than the rest, it should be removed. If the batteries are at 80% of their rated capacity (80 aH out of a 100 aH battery), then it is probably time to consider replacing them. *As a note, load testers, commonly used to measure battery health, typically only measure the cranking amps of batteries. While this is a helpful metric for starting/cranking batteries, it’s not useful for deep cycle batteries – even with significant capacity losses, these load testers might suggest they are fine. |
 We couldn’t not add at least one picture of the aurora… Kennebec River, Phippsburg, Maine |
Custom panels for a human-powered journey! OPE and the Solbian design team worked together to create custom solar panels for Bryan Fuller and his team, who are attempting the first row from Boston to London. With solar being the primary charge source for all the electronics on this journey, maximizing the space with the highest efficiency cells and custom sizes was a vital design component. Read more about their upcoming adventure here: https://londoncallingrow.com/ |
 Custom panels for London Calling Row! |
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| DC-DC Chargers – new products on the market |
| As energy systems have changed over the years and gotten progressively more complex and powerful, DC-DC chargers on the market have been slow to catch up to demand. Fortunately, some new (ish) releases from Victron, Mastervolt, and Wakespeed are promising to shake it up and promote new innovation in the field. |
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| From Victron, the new Orion “XS” series of DC-DC chargers was introduced with a single model, a 12/12-50 (12v to 12v, 50 amp output). These new models have a much smaller footprint than previous iterations of the Orion, higher output power, and a vastly improved efficiency – 98.5%! We’re looking forward to new models for 24v and 48v systems. Read more hereWe’re hoping to get some in stock soon, but they’re backordered for a few months. Send us an email if you’d like to reserve one! |
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| Mastervolt’s MacPlus DC-DC chargers got a revamp with some powerful, multi-voltage, bidirectional chargers. Winning second place at IBEX’s Innovation Awards, these powerful chargers are capable of charging or discharging either battery bank, depending on where charge is coming from. A huge plus for systems with multiple chargers that are charging separate banks – always get power where you need it! A mix of system voltages is available, 28/48, 24/12, 48/12 – for almost any application. See more information here |
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| Wakespeed recently released their new 48/12 bidirectional converter capable of 3000w of output, and fully integrated with the Wakespeed 500 alternator regulator. Designed for dual-alternator systems, the converter actively manages temperature and load on the “start” alternator, while working in unison with the WS500 which manages a high-output alternator. Supremely powerful, this device could be an excellent addition to systems with a high-output alternator already using a WS500, or hoping to in the future. Read more hereContact us with any questions or for help picking out the right DC-DC charger for your boat or van! |
 Okay – just one more! |
| Expand your knowledge! |
| Take your marine electrical system knowledge to the next level with these in depth courses brought to you by Nigel Calder and Dr. Jan C. Athenstädt. Not only is it full of extremely useful information, it’s also fun and easy to follow along! We can’t recommend this course enough for building your knowledge of the basics of electrical systems. |
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