DIY Yachts

I agree the dangers as in risk to health/the boat due to explosion are less with a shorted cell. But the risk to the wallet are greater :lol: I think the higher charge voltage thing is not so much a risk, its just a longevity thing. I read one blog where someone followed the "guidelines" and charged...

Sounds like a simple and effective system. Do you have anything in place to protect the system if say one cell develops a short? How have you configured your cells? 14.4V Seems a little high for longevity. Have you played with measuring the capacity at slightly lower voltages? 14.4 is very close to ...

Yeah I thought you could just set the float to a low enough setting, and it would effectively stop the charge until the bank is discharged slightly before it gets topped off again. Apparently its not good to float charge the bank all day long. Laptops and phones seem to work like this, when its full...

Nice to see you guys are getting into the lithium batteries. I take it you have read this? http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/lifepo4_on_boats Its by far the most comprehensive lithium "how to" I have seen. The main thing I got out of it is that you better make sure you have the correct over and und...

Here are a few items that are so cheap it makes the "marine" sellers look like thieves. Prices include postage. $8.50 for a 100A digital LED ammeter and voltmeter with shunt. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/141388204851?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 $1.50 for digital LED voltage disp...

I cant think of a better way to promote corrosion than connecting shore power to your boat then using a grounding plate. Use an isolation transformer, or run everything off the inverter and have the charger big enough to handle loads. That will work in most cases where air cons etc aren't being used...

I usually make my own for less than a couple of bucks by retrofitting LEDs into existing fixtures. But even Whitworths sells ISO LED nav nights now for $25. The tri colour unit for $100 is cheap enough to just buy for sure. I would add a diode in series with it as 14V max is a bit low incase you are...

Did anyone mention mud crabs? We went up the creek in the dingy and they were everywhere. I wish I had my speer but all I had was the dingy anchor and managed to take one out for dinner by using it as a hammer

Hey guys. I have a hydrive steering system which seems to be leaking from just about everywhere including the pump. How do I best solve the leaks at all the hardline terminations? Does this require cutting the stainless pipes and starting all over? Also does anyone have a filter in their system? I w...

Thanks. I might be giving my rudders a once over and adding winglets. Not so it can be a foiler lol, but so the rudders don't dig into the sand when I beach endangering the sail drives. I may as well try to get some sort of performance benefit while I am at it.