Can i keep my computers?

[Ange]

And deffo get solar - for 8 months of the year it'll immeasurably improve your quality of life, for the other four it will supplement your resources.

[Ange]

Only the advice and opinion from a mere gurl of course

[Lady Muck]

And deffo get solar - for 8 months of the year it'll immeasurably improve your quality of life, for the other four it will supplement your resources.

We've now got 600w, we both work on laptops all day and run a fridge, we're only away from the mooring a few months a year ( usually some times between May and October) and unless we get a sucession of dark, rainy days there is no need to run the engine. Solar is really worthwhile for us, I also like to moor up at a beauty spot and enjoy peace and quiet rather than destroying the atmosphere with noise and fumes.

[Rendelf]

We've now got 600w, we both work on laptops all day and run a fridge, we're only away from the mooring a few months a year ( usually some times between May and October) and unless we get a sucession of dark, rainy days there is no need to run the engine. Solar is really worthwhile for us, I also like to moor up at a beauty spot and enjoy peace and quiet rather than destroying the atmosphere with noise and fumes.

 

What charge controller / batteries do you have?

[Tony Brooks]

Warning re 12V input laptop power supplies.

 

One has to be very careful when buying these (or better still when buying a laptop). Some makes/models demand the manufacturer's own make of 12V supply. Unfortunately some of the big names do this including Dell & HP, I would not be at all surprised if Apple did the same.

 

Then there is a potential issue (as broached by Starman, I think, on here) that suggested some mains power supplies used excessive electricity and ran hot when powered from modified sine wave inverters.

 

However care with choosing equipment helps a lot. In early June my Fujutsu laptop died (over 10 years old) and after online research bought a second hand Lenovo T400 and fitted a SSD. I understand from the internet that this laptop uses an LED screen rather than a florescent back lit one and I find I can play on it for far longer than I could with the old one. It is using the same 12V power supply. After baoting for just 3 hours I still had 12.7 volts on 4 year old Exide leisure batteries of 330Ah at 10.30PM. This includes the electric fridge and usual pumps. LED lighting though.

 

Careful research is vital for trouble free boating.

 

Edited to make penultimate paragraph clearer.

Edited July 21, 2016 by Tony Brooks

[Rendelf]

Warning re 12V input laptop power supplies.

 

One has to be very careful when buying these (or better still when buying a laptop). Some makes/models demand the manufacturer's own make of 12V supply. Unfortunately some of the big names do this including Dell & HP, I would not be at all surprised if Apple did the same.

 

Then there is a potential issue (as broached by Starman, I think, on here) that suggested some mains power supplies used excessive electricity and ran hot when powered from modified sine wave inverters.

 

However care with choosing equipment helps a lot. In early June my Fujutsu laptop died (over 10 years old) and after online research bought a second hand Lenovo T400 and fitted a SSD. I understand from the internet that this laptop uses an LED screen rather than a florescent back lit one and I find I can play on it for far longer than I could with the old one. It is using the same 12V power supply. After running for just 3 hours I still had 12.7 volts on 4 year old Exide leisure batteries of 330Ah at 10.30PM. This includes the electric fridge and usual pumps. LED lighting though.

 

Careful research is vital for troule free boating.

 

Seconded. Thinkpads (now owned by Lenovo) are brilliant for boats. Like transit vans, they are workhorses, designed to be bashed about. They are also modular, and can be upgraded/repaired with, in most cases, just a screwdriver. Second hand ones usually run around £200 - £300, and the DVD drive can be replaced with SSD/HDD if you need more storage. There are numerous controls for power consumption too.

 

 

 

In terms of powering laptops, there are some threads on using DC-DC buck converters (solid ones with heatsyncs).. certainly more affordable - I don't know if they'd be more suitable considering Tony's comments above?

[MissMax]

Thank you everyone, I will get solar as plugging an extension lead onto another persons boat is apparently frowned on (I don't know why), and every little bit helps.

 

I work on Apple laptops as i like the programs and the OS and i would have windows if they brought back Vista (the best OS in the world). My computers are old but work so i might as well keep them.

I will post up the specs if someone can work out the power thingy for me please

 

Can someone explain solar panels and the cost, like how big or how many solar panels would i need. Thank you

[Guest]

 

Can someone explain solar panels and the cost, like how big or how many solar panels would i need. Thank you

 

Have a chat with Matty40's (forum member)

 

http://oldfriendscanalservices.weebly.com/

[MissMax]

 

Have a chat with Matty40's (forum member)

 

http://oldfriendscanalservices.weebly.com/

Thank you for the link. I've bookmarked it

[Tony Brooks]

Thank you everyone, I will get solar as plugging an extension lead onto another persons boat is apparently frowned on (I don't know why), and every little bit helps.

 

I work on Apple laptops as i like the programs and the OS and i would have windows if they brought back Vista (the best OS in the world). My computers are old but work so i might as well keep them.

I will post up the specs if someone can work out the power thingy for me please

 

Can someone explain solar panels and the cost, like how big or how many solar panels would i need. Thank you

 

The how many is easy. As many as you can afford and fit onto the boat. The more you have the more of the year you are unlikely to need to run the engine.

 

As to cost that comes down to how many but others here talk of Bimble Solar so look at their website. What I would say is buy a reputable MPPT solar controller of sufficient capacity. Serious questions have been raised here about the specification and performance of certain bargains from a well known auction and buy now website.

[Lady Muck]

 

What charge controller / batteries do you have?

three bog standard cheapo leisures bought at a boatyard, last set was the same and lasted 8 years (we never run them down). Panels and controller from bimble costing about £1000, half of that cost was for the outback mppt solar controller which was well worth the money. Especially as it keeps him indoors entertained as it saves your stats on how many amp hours of energy you got each day.

Yes we run a fridge but I always defrost it every month, keep it nearly full and keep the back clean.

Edited July 21, 2016 by Lady Muck

[LoneWolf]

Thank you everyone, I will get solar as plugging an extension lead onto another persons boat is apparently frowned on (I don't know why), and every little bit helps.

 

I work on Apple laptops as i like the programs and the OS and i would have windows if they brought back Vista (the best OS in the world). My computers are old but work so i might as well keep them.

I will post up the specs if someone can work out the power thingy for me please

 

Can someone explain solar panels and the cost, like how big or how many solar panels would i need. Thank you

 

nooooooo! - you must be an arty/graphics/photographer type then - no one else likes vista

 

This depends on how many batteries you have & how much other electrical stuff you use (and when you use it). Also on your running the engine for moving anyway pattern

 

I get on fine with 2 bog standard batteries and 200W of solar. I need to run 2 laptops for work (& watching TV on) & run the fridge except in winter - little & often is my motto - just remember that if you have many batteries you'll need to keep them all charged

My boat doesn't even have a fitted inverter - A cheepo maplins 300W one does all my 240v needs which is mainly things that run at odd voltlages like camera battery charging & the printer

Edited July 21, 2016 by LoneWolf

[MtB]

three bog standard cheapo leisures bought at a boatyard, last set was the same and lasted 8 years (we never run them down). Panels and controller from bimble costing about £1000, half of that cost was for the outback mppt solar controller which was well worth the money. Especially as it keeps him indoors entertained as it saves your stats on how many amp hours of energy you got each day.

Yes we run a fridge but I always defrost it every month, keep it nearly full and keep the back clean.

 

 

Any chance of posting up some figures please? I'd be most interested in the extremes, i.e how many AH you get on a dull December day compared to AH harvested on a sunny day in July.

 

My personal experience is the ratio is about 1:25. MJG thinks otherwise and takes great exception to me saying this and contends my installation is faulty. He might be right (I have suspected in the past too, but now think it is working normally) but it would be most helpful to compare my system performance with yours with some real figures.

 

Many thanks if you can!

[Alan de Enfield]

 

 

Any chance of posting up some figures please? I'd be most interested in the extremes, i.e how many AH you get on a dull December day compared to AH harvested on a sunny day in July.

 

My personal experience is the ratio is about 1:25. MJG thinks otherwise and takes great exception to me saying this and contends my installation is faulty. He might be right (I have suspected in the past too, but now think it is working normally) but it would be most helpful to compare my system performance with yours with some real figures.

 

Many thanks if you can!

 

What a coincidence, my solar installation works perfectly in the Summer and fairly well in late Spring & early Autumn but obviously needs attention during Winter months when, at best, it is producing 10% of the Summer output, and, often much less.

 

If you 'find a man' who can sort this out let me know as I will engage him as well.

[boathunter]

Hmm, I'm on the fence, I found my 100w of solar managed about 4 or 5w at noon on a cloudless winter day. Not much help!

On a summers day it will get up to about 60w, so it's never living up to it's rating. It's a flexible one mounted flat. MPPT controller.

I keep hearing (in the real world) of people that know someone's aunty who has a friend that has the latest swanky American domestic panels and don't have to run their engines in the winter.

 

Are most of us playing with inefficient hobby panels and kit? Or is it a case of

Chinese whispers?

 

I'd spend the money for the convenience, but I'm yet to find a real first hand installation that is proven to do the biz. Like MTB, I'd like to see somebody's controller read-out in the winter showing a worthwhile output.

[Machpoint005]

I always have a backup laptop. I also have 16 Terabytes of external harddrives that store most of my bits

 

Have you heard of the Cloud? You won't need an external anything for that, so long as you have a Tinternet connection.

[MissMax]

 

Have you heard of the Cloud? You won't need an external anything for that, so long as you have a Tinternet connection.

 

The cloud cost money and needs the net

[Machpoint005]

 

The cloud cost money and needs the net

 

Nothing worth having is free, though. External data storage and the electrical fluid to drive it aren't free either.

[MissMax]

I already have the 16 Terabytes and they don't use that much electric. The cost of 16 Terabytes worth of cloud storage would mean i would have to go around selling other peoples kidneys for life

[MtB]

 

What a coincidence, my solar installation works perfectly in the Summer and fairly well in late Spring & early Autumn but obviously needs attention during Winter months when, at best, it is producing 10% of the Summer output, and, often much less.

 

If you 'find a man' who can sort this out let me know as I will engage him as well.

 

 

This. I'll engage the same person!

 

My solar right now for example is pushing 5.1A into the 24v battery bank. Equivalent to 10.2A into 12v. It will do this for eight or ten hours a day.

 

On a dull winter day it will be reading 0.1A for five hours a day. Equvalent to 0.2A into 12v for five hours.

 

If anyone here diagnose and fix this, and raise the output of my solar on a grey December day to say, 20% of the summer performance I'll pay them them handsomely.

 

I stand by my assertion that in the depths of winter, solar output is f*** all. I'd love to be proved wrong though!

[Jess--]

useful tool for calculating available energy from the sun for a given location / time of year

http://www.solarelectricityhandbook.com/solar-irradiance.aspx

 

 

looking at coventry there is a little over 12% of the power available from the sun in december compared with june or july

Edited July 21, 2016 by Jess--

[Guest]

This. I'll engage the same person!

 

My solar right now for example is pushing 5.1A into the 24v battery bank. Equivalent to 10.2A into 12v. It will do this for eight or ten hours a day.

 

On a dull winter day it will be reading 0.1A for five hours a day. Equvalent to 0.2A into 12v for five hours.

 

If anyone here diagnose and fix this, and raise the output of my solar on a grey December day to say, 20% of the summer performance I'll pay them them handsomely.

 

I stand by my assertion that in the depths of winter, solar output is f*** all. I'd love to be proved wrong though!

Mike you originally said 'f' all, which were I come from is zero, zadda, zilch. A much reduced output is not zero, its a much reduced output.

 

Effectively what you are saying is you get no output from your panels even on a bright sunny winters day, which we do get, so if you have no output on those days your system must be faulty (but we know in reality it likely isn't because you WILL be getting out put from them on days like that.

[Paul C]

 

Have you heard of the Cloud? You won't need an external anything for that, so long as you have a Tinternet connection.

 

Best of luck uploading then downloading 16TB in a reasonable timeframe.

[Alan de Enfield]

Mike you originally said 'f' all, which were I come from is zero, zadda, zilch. A much reduced output is not zero, its a much reduced output.

 

 

 

No - it means 'not a lot' in our region of the country.

[Guest]

 

No - it means 'not a lot' in our region of the country.

 

I suggest you google it - it means 'absolutely nothing' or ' in urban dictionary terms the 'absolute extreme of nothing' (if you can have such a thing!)

 

as I said.

Edited July 21, 2016 by MJG