Generator for emergency battery charging

[smr547]

Particularly on long passages. Pending on Solar Panels

[smr547]

• The Honda EU22 generator has been identified as an excellent option
• Dimitri has offered to lead this project
• Final committee approval for purchase is required
• An electrical cable will be required to connect the genset to the boat's shore power plug
• the option of charging the batteries directly from the genset (bypassing the boat's 240V battery charger should be investigated) -- for use if the battery charger were to fail.

[smr547]

Welcome @DimitD

[smr547]

The Honda EU22i has been commissioned and tested. It runs relatively quietly and is easy to operate. The electrician has supplied a short 240V cable to connect the genset into the N3 shore power inlet.

• Honda Eu22i Manual
• Honda EU22i Tech Data

Current output at 12V

The maximium current provided by the Genset/Battery charger combination is 40A (currently limited by the battery charger capacity)

Endurance (fuel requirements)

Fuel consumption is reported as 0.5l per hour if running in "Eco mode". In this mode the generator will easily deliver sufficient power to charge the batteries at 40A which equals 80Ah per litre of fuel. Assuming Namadgi's daily consumption of about 200Ah we will need roughly 2.5L of ULP per day in the event of a main engine failure. If that could be reduced to 160Ah per day then we would need 2.0L of ULP per day maintain electrical power via the genset.

How much ULP to carry from Sydney to NZ

@pauljones17 @mrmrmartin -- Assuming a loss of main engine in the most remote situation, how many days would you expect to remain at sea. You will need need to provision 2 - 2.5L of ULP per day. One 20L gerry can (plastic) on the rails will keep the batteries charged and the boat supplied with 12V (and 240V) power for 8-10 days.

Power saving measure

In the event of main engine failure triggering the need to use the generator, the following measures would be recommended

1. Turn off the autohelm and steer by hand (this is by far the biggest saving)
2. Minimise use of cabin lighting
3. Minimise the charging of personal devices
4. Turn on the Garmin instrument system only for short periods get weather data
5. Navigate using Navionics on tablet and
6. steer by the cockpit compass (no need for the Garmin system to be on all the time)

Note, under this mode of operation the AIS will be disabled -- a close watch on deck is advised. My endurance calculation assumes that these measure would be adopted immediately in the event of a main engine failure.

@delcosta @DimitD @pjwain @mgrybaitis @DimitD @Christopher-w-green will be interested in this discussion

[smr547]

Maintenance of Genset

Before each use

• check engine oil level -- see page 43 of manual

Routine servicing

• The Genset will a first service in one month's time or after 20 hours of use. (24/1/23)
• Servicing after that is as per the schedule below

Skippers are asked to log Genset Usage in their handover report

@DimitD @delcosta @mrmrmartin @Christopher-w-green @peterottesen