Converting CD30C from Diesel to Electric propulsion

[tjr818]

. . .There are a few things that I wish I had done differently or better with our conversion but they are what they are. It is a pretty clean safe build. But could have been better. I have had regrets but never when I go to take her out on a 50 degree february day and I just hit the key and back out of the slip or watch someone change fuel filters or oil filters. Over the 15 to 20 years we will sail this boat the cost saving of not putting in the diesel will be way on the negative side I'm sure. But we sure like the quiet and cleanliness of the electric. ( I am a 30 year Electrical and Instrumentation person by trade.) Dee

As someone just getting ready to start this project, I would sure like to know what are the few things that you wish you had done differently or better. I am really looking forward to those "days in February". We often have a stretch of 60 degree weather in December or January and we don't go out because we would have to rewinterize the engine.

[ghockaday]

. . .There are a few things that I wish I had done differently or better with our conversion but they are what they are. It is a pretty clean safe build. But could have been better. I have had regrets but never when I go to take her out on a 50 degree february day and I just hit the key and back out of the slip or watch someone change fuel filters or oil filters. Over the 15 to 20 years we will sail this boat the cost saving of not putting in the diesel will be way on the negative side I'm sure. But we sure like the quiet and cleanliness of the electric. ( I am a 30 year Electrical and Instrumentation person by trade.) Dee

As someone just getting ready to start this project, I would sure like to know what are the few things that you wish you had done differently or better. I am really looking forward to those "days in February". We often have a stretch of 60 degree weather in December or January and we don't go out because we would have to rewinterize the engine.

Smaller battery bank but LiFEPO4 batteries. My 300 ah bank could be replaced with a 150 Lifepo4 bank with no loss. As Keith has pointed out I carry around 150 ah of lead that are not used. Little more to it then that but I could have kept at least one water tank.

The engineer at electric yacht assured me that cycle times and DOD would not be the death of my AGM bank. After going on our third year I can confirm he will be correct. Do the math, using how many times you can go out in a year, factor in if you had to motor much and you will see that they will just die of old age, 8 or 10 years old and have pliantly of cycles on the clock left.

I wish I had shifted the motor further back and gotten it out of my cabinet space this was just changes made on the fly from decisions that should have been made differently in the beginning. Get rid of all the engine seacocks right off the bat and open the compartment up. shorten the prop shaft. ending up doing both anyway.

The motor does not need massive strong stringers like an equivalent diesel will. I was thinking heavy duty at the start. There is no shake or vibration. The motion is all axiel?, you can hold it with your hand.

As powerful as the motor is if you have to punch a head wind and current for hours because you have to go a certain direction you will use your bank up quickly. Once I get over about 3 knots you can watch the battery gauge fall. The power curve is very steep and figured for flat sea and no current. Your power curve will be worst.

keep your wiring out where you can see it.err on the side of heavy for wiring, buy factory made wires, you probably can't crimp the wire as well as they can, run through conduit where you can't see it. keep connection clean, tight and accessible and simple, AGM batteries can lay on their sides, (way over thought this one when I started and wasted a lot of time on battery hold downs and boxes.) 900 pound of batteries tied together with 4/0 cable on rubber matts have not gone anywhere.

Remember you have to be able to set these beast in and out and you may not be the man you were when the time comes. So I got rid of the water tanks.

[Keith]

I came across this simple graphic on lead vs LiFePO4 batteries. It's just what I had mentioned earlier in the thread but very simple to see.

Keith

Screen Shot 2021-04-10 at 5.08.11 PM.png (56.51 KiB) Viewed 729 times

[tjr818]

I am thinking of going with the Electric Yacht Sport 10.0 also. They offer three different throttle controls, which one did you guys go with, and are yo happy with it?

[John Stone]

I came across this simple graphic on lead vs LiFePO4 batteries. It's just what I had mentioned earlier in the thread but very simple to see.

Keith

Screen Shot 2021-04-10 at 5.08.11 PM.png

What does that mean “20 percent time consuming to recharge and difficult to access”? What’s the source of that graphic?

[ghockaday]

I am thinking of going with the Electric Yacht Sport 10.0 also. They offer three different throttle controls, which one did you guys go with, and are yo happy with it?

mine was not the sport, I am happy with the throttle that it came with.I'll take a look at the sport options. the battery monitor I was not happy with at all. You have to keep it to program with but I went with the vicron. To use their term "we know it is not sexy" but it functions. When we would take the boat out it would fall to 80 percent in 20 minutes, They said that was normal but it should slow after that. I kind of wanted accuracy all the way down.

[ghockaday]

I came across this simple graphic on lead vs LiFePO4 batteries. It's just what I had mentioned earlier in the thread but very simple to see.

Keith

Screen Shot 2021-04-10 at 5.08.11 PM.png

What does that mean “20 percent time consuming to recharge and difficult to access”? What’s the source of that graphic?

I wondered that as well, it did not make since to me. You can even go below that 50 percent if needed, you just don't want to make a habit of it and you want to fully charge on a good charger ASAP. I had not seen that chart before. Dee

maybe it had to do with the 20 percent fall of the original monitor I had. The last part of the recharge is the slowest on a multistage charger. It dumps a ton of current in to begin with and slows down in stages, the last 10 or 20 percent would be the slowest part of the charge.

[ghockaday]

I am thinking of going with the Electric Yacht Sport 10.0 also. They offer three different throttle controls, which one did you guys go with, and are yo happy with it?

One more TID Bit that I'm not sure Keith will agree with from his research. If you you are going to use your batteries like Keith is going to use his and depend on a solar charger all of the time I think the LiFePo4 batteries are your only choice.

If you have a big AGM bank like I have.......say you come in and had to make a long electric run and the battery bank is at 60 percent. Now to top it off it stays cloudy for 3 or 4 days. It may take a week to get to 100 percent. Those AGMs are not going to like that at all. and it will shorten the life of them getting charged in bits and starts. The LeFePo4 will not care. I carry a 2k Honda if we cruise so we can charge the batteries up properly or better yet I can charge as I run at 3 knots. If we can't sail we will usually sit as I don't like to motor. (sailor vs cruiser definition)
Dee

[ghockaday]

I came across this simple graphic on lead vs LiFePO4 batteries. It's just what I had mentioned earlier in the thread but very simple to see.

Keith

Screen Shot 2021-04-10 at 5.08.11 PM.png

I know I ramble here, but on the chart for the LITH side. Does that mean it is bad for them to only get discharged less than 3 percent? I understand the reserve at the bottom and a consider below 50 on mine to be reserve.

[tjr818]

Luckily for me and for the AGMs we have a slip with shore power so the boat is plugged in every night.

[ghockaday]

Luckily for me and for the AGMs we have a slip with shore power so the boat is plugged in every night.

That is what we do and you don't want to skimp on the chargers. They are cheap compared to the bank.

[tjr818]

I definitely want a quality charger since it will be hooked up most of the time.
I have so many qusetions!

Any recommendations on the charger?

What gauge wire should I use?

A quality cable cutter and a good 360 degree crimper will cos close to $200, is that worth it rather than going with remade custom cables?

Did you stay with the same propeller?

What gear reduction did they supply?

[ghockaday]

I definitely want a quality charger since it will be hooked up most of the time.
I have so many qusetions!

Any recommendations on the charger?

What gauge wire should I use?

A quality cable cutter and a good 360 degree crimper will cos close to $200, is that worth it rather than going with remade custom cables?

Did you stay with the same propeller?

What gear reduction did they supply?

I used the recommendation by the Electric Yacht engineer, (Scott) and did research to confirm my choice. Any of the top of the line smart charges will probably be fine. Make sure for marine application.

Depends on the back size and distance of the run for wire size. So, quick ohms law, 10 KW motor divided by 48 volts is 208 amps, You probable would not crank it out that high but wire needs to be suitable. This current is in the range of a motor starter, except not as a short burst but long term draw. The larger wire will stay cooler. The engineer can recommend what you should use for your application. I think I used 2/0.

I actually found a used 3 blade prob and never put it on. The recommendation was to drop down either 1 inch of diameter or 1 inch of pitch to go to 3 blade. If you looking for regen, they will tell you up front that it is not worth the effort.

I'll have to check on the gear reduction, he worked that out for me, I think it is pretty close to 1 to 1. I had no issue.

You will probably also want a 48 to 12 volt DC converter, this way you can use the same battery bank.

I'm an electrician and had access to crimpers and cutters, I bought the cables pre made.

If you send me a note I'll shoot you my personal e mail and cell number. see next post for cable pricing

[ghockaday]

Product Model Quantity Price Total
2/0 AWG Tinned Marine Battery Cable, Ready to Install
- Choose Your Length In Feet: 1 Foot Long
- Choose Cable Color: BLACK
- Choose First End Lug or Terminal: 5/16" Post Lug
- Choose First End Heat Shrink Color: RED
- Choose Second End Lug or Terminal: 5/16" Post Lug
- Choose Second End Heat Shrink Color: BLACK 2/0 AWG Custom Cables 6 $11.57 $69.42
2/0 AWG Tinned Marine Battery Cable, Ready to Install
- Choose Your Length In Feet: 13 Foot Long
- Choose Cable Color: BLACK
- Choose First End Lug or Terminal: 5/16" Post Lug
- Choose First End Heat Shrink Color: BLACK
- Choose Second End Lug or Terminal: 5/16" Post Lug
- Choose Second End Heat Shrink Color: BLACK 2/0 AWG Custom Cables 1 $78.65 $78.65
2/0 AWG Tinned Marine Battery Cable, Ready to Install
- Choose Your Length In Feet: 14 Foot Long
- Choose Cable Color: BLACK
- Choose First End Lug or Terminal: 5/16" Post Lug
- Choose First End Heat Shrink Color: BLACK
- Choose Second End Lug or Terminal: 5/16" Post Lug
- Choose Second End Heat Shrink Color: RED 2/0 AWG Custom Cables 1 $84.24 $84.24
2/0 AWG Tinned Marine Battery Cable, Ready to Install
- Choose Your Length In Feet: 2 Foot Long
- Choose Cable Color: RED
- Choose First End Lug or Terminal: 5/16" Post Lug
- Choose First End Heat Shrink Color: RED
- Choose Second End Lug or Terminal: 5/16" Post Lug
- Choose Second End Heat Shrink Color: RED 2/0 AWG Custom Cables 1 $17.16 $17.16
2/0 AWG Tinned Marine Battery Cable, Ready to Install
- Choose Your Length In Feet: 6 Foot Long
- Choose Cable Color: RED
- Choose First End Lug or Terminal: 5/16" Post Lug
- Choose First End Heat Shrink Color: RED
- Choose Second End Lug or Terminal: 5/16" Post Lug
- Choose Second End Heat Shrink Color: RED 2/0 AWG Custom Cables 1 $39.52 $39.52
2/0 AWG Tinned Marine Battery Cable, Ready to Install
- Choose Your Length In Feet: 1 Foot Long
- Choose Cable Color: RED
- Choose First End Lug or Terminal: 5/16" Post Lug
- Choose First End Heat Shrink Color: RED
- Choose Second End Lug or Terminal: 5/16" Post Lug
- Choose Second End Heat Shrink Color: RED 2/0 AWG Custom Cables 1 $11.57 $11.57
2/0 AWG Tinned Marine Battery Cable, Ready to Install
- Choose Your Length In Feet: 3 Foot Long
- Choose Cable Color: RED
- Choose First End Lug or Terminal: 5/16" Post Lug
- Choose First End Heat Shrink Color: RED
- Choose Second End Lug or Terminal: 5/16" Post Lug
- Choose Second End Heat Shrink Color: RED 2/0 AWG Custom Cables 1 $22.75 $22.75
2/0 AWG Tinned Marine Battery Cable, Ready to Install
- Choose Your Length In Feet: 3 Foot Long
- Choose Cable Color: BLACK
- Choose First End Lug or Terminal: 5/16" Post Lug
- Choose First End Heat Shrink Color: BLACK
- Choose Second End Lug or Terminal: 5/16" Post Lug
- Choose Second End Heat Shrink Color: BLACK 2/0 AWG Custom Cables 1 $22.75 $22.75
Sub-Total: $346.06
USPS Priority Mail: $22.95
Total: $369.01

This is like comparing hand swaged life lines are standing rigging vs professional, hydraulic crimped and it is about as important.

This was from Gregs Marine Wire Supply, USA

[ghockaday]

This was the charger and the converter, I price shopped and their prices were competitive.

01101 Delta-Q 912... Delta-Q AC-... 30265
QuiQ Charger, 1500W, 48 Vdc, 30Adc QuiQ Charger Ac Cord, 10'
622/11084
Sevcon 48V to 12V dc-dc converter, 300W
Lifeline 6V AGM, 300Ah

You don't want to try to just "pick" 12 volts off of your bank as you could end up with a low battery in the middle of your bank. Converter is the way to go.

Trust that engineer at electric yacht. He will tell you what the salesman won't. He knows this stuff inside out. If he says you need this size wire, he knows it for a reason. They want you happy.

My opinions are just my opinions. LOL