Marek - you nailed it. On my 33-2 the semi flexible panel area needed is slightly larger than the Bimini and the Bimini is bisected by the backstay, which really compounds the complexity. I think it can be done but ... Still noodling. And thanks for confirming the 200w requirement.
Agreed on LED- bought replacement ‘bulbs’ on amazon - very inexpensive and they work well. Main caution is colour temperature. 12v lamps are (and always have been) generally automotive items and are not always suited for living spaces. 2700k or lower works IMO. These worked well in my ‘eyeball’ reading lights. Not perfect per the paragraph that follows but very good for the application. https://www.amazon.ca/your-orders/pop/ref=oh_aui_i_d_old_o3?_encoding=UTF8&gen=canonical&lineItemId=kgjhsqlnpjmnwny&orderId=702-1300913-5706641&packageId=1&returnSummaryId=&returnUnitIndices=&shipmentId=Dc6qyp2dk For the regular square dome lights I replaced the fixture with Chip-on-board LED fixtures. The distribution of light from an automotive tail light bulb is not well suited to task lighting or area lighting in a boat, and the crappy stock fixtures made that even worse. A led replacement bulb mimics the 360 degree (ish) distribution of a glowing wire, and wastes much of the light. (Kind of a ‘faster horses’ thing) with led fixtures you have the opportunity to aim the light sources directly at the area to be illuminated. (‘Chips on the circuit board, with little need for reflectors or other optics to better distribute the light. Inherently more efficient. Stopping now to avoid even more lighting geekery. Dave Sent from my iPhone > On Oct 13, 2018, at 10:47 PM, Marek Dziedzic <dziedzi...@hotmail.com> wrote: > > I can't help you with the alternator issues. > > Regarding LED replacement bulbs, they don't have to be expensive to be good. > But you have to do some searching around. Since you are on this side of the > border, you may like to check the marineledscanada.ca. I had good success > with his solutions (they do work and they were competitively priced, > especially compared to some US prices). A caveat: I am not sure if he is > still in business. > > Regardless where you get them from, do it. The current draw is so much lower > that you would never look back. > > The fully flexible solar panels might be too big for what you need. I have a > 24 W panel that I carry on the bimini and it is 35 cm x 200 cm. It is almost > as long as it can be without dropping on either side. The nice thing is that > I can leave it on the bimini, when I fold it down and it can stay there. It > is not the best way to do it, but it does work when you want to do it > quickly. However, this would not help you at all, because you need about 200 > W for the fridge. > > The semi-flexible panels have higher wattage, but are much less flexible and > you would have to take them down. > > Marek > > 1994 C270 "Legato" > Ottawa, ON > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: CnC-List <cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com> On Behalf Of DON JONSSON via > CnC-List > Sent: Saturday, October 13, 2018 13:42 > To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com > Cc: DON JONSSON <dbjons...@shaw.ca> > Subject: Stus-List Solar panels and LED light bulbs. > > Hi All > > Last year after putting in a new Beta engine with a larger alternator (110 > amp) we added an additional battery, a battery monitor, and to use all that > power, a fridge. (Of interest, and not the point of this email, is we went > through two alternators on the boat last summer both on warranty. Doesn't > bode well. We did not put in a smart regulator as it would void the > warranty. Guess that was a good thing. Two mechanics have gone through the > boat and all wiring is good. They claim manufacturing default in both > alternators. Hmmm.) > > The fridge is a fantastic addition especially when you are up north with no > stores to buy ice, or much food for that matter. BUT, as you all know it > takes a lot of power. Which gets me to the questions. Easy one first. > > 1. We have added some new LED reading light fixtures but still have a few > more old incandescent lights where we would like to keep the fixtures. You > can get replacement LED bulbs that range in price from a couple of dollars to > $15. I read that cheaper ones don't deal with variations in voltage very > well and you should spend more money. Does anyone have experience and > recommendations. > > 2. The real solution, we think, is solar panels. But how much do they really > help and where to put them on a 34 foot sailboat. It seems all locations > come with a compromise. We are considering: > > A: On top of the dodger, but the boom will always be an issue. Especially > since we don't have a bimini we use the boom for supporting our awning that > we put up on hot sunny days. Yes we occasionally get them up on the BC coast > and blocking the sun is mandatory. > > B: Get a bimini and mount them on it. But this gets us back to the sunshine > issue. Lots of days it isn't that warm and you want the sun on you. A > Bimini with solar panels is not that easy to fold out of the way. Also it > isn't cheap. > > C: Hang them off the life lines or rails at the back of the boat with a > support that allows you to set them flat when at anchor. But we occasionally > carry bikes back there and we couldn't have both at the same time. Also > looks a little clunky. > > D: Leave them as portable and set them out when at anchor. But then it is a > pain and you don't do it unless you are sitting for a while and you have all > the wire to deal with, etc. And they aren't helping much under sail. > > So does anyone have a recommendation as to what they have done and how it > works. Also how many amp hours did you get on a sunny day? What size of > panels did you use. > > I know, that like everything on a boat it is always a compromise, we are just > trying to figure out which one to make. > > Thanks for any help. > > Don Jonsson > Andante, C&C 34 > Victoria, BC > > > _______________________________________________ > > Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and > every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use > PayPal to send contribution -- > https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.paypal.me%2Fstumurray&data=02%7C01%7C%7C2a5a1bb3f224455b3d1f08d631334a4f%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636750493685686221&sdata=dLdr9kNz%2Bz9iDFCJWy%2B3FqAXpRMoQErEQx30RNwODo4%3D&reserved=0 > > >
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