Off to Scappose to buy our DuoGen(www.duogen.co/uk)wind and water generator. Imported from the UK, it will generate power with a fan setup when the wind is blowing or when dragged from the stern of our boat as we sail. We brought it back and stuck it in the storage room we rent. I first have to analyze our current boat electrical system.
Our charging system is way out of alignment. Where most charging systems do a charging system of a high charge, medium charge, low charge as the batteries accept their charge and get closer to being fully charged, ours goes to a medium charge and stays there. It never drops to a low or trickle charge to simply maintain the battery. It cooks it instead!! That's why we had to replace the batteries we had on Zephyr. We had filled the batteries a week ago and they were down to the plates a week later with water/acid sitting on the bottoms of the battery boxes. Not a good thing.
I turned off the charger this afternoon and we will slowly let them discharge over the next week or so. We can still use our 110 power, it simply won't recharge the batteries until they are down to 12.2 volts. Then on comes the charger and we see what happens. If it takes them to 13.4 volts and goes to a trickle charge, all will be fine. If it stays at medium charge, I will be taking the unit out and into a service center--in Portland of course.
So tomorrow, I will be taking out the seat cushions to see how Zephyr is wired and make a diagram on what goes where and what switches do what. These are things that will be very important to know down the road if a break down happens. After that is accomplished, then I can start the installation of our new DuoGen. The men that sold it to me are going to help run the wires and set up the electrical connections. All we have to do is get Zephyr to Astoria. It will be nice to have the help of a professional that knows what he is doing.
Other than that--3.5 hours up, 3 hours at the company, 3.5 hours back, that was our day.
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