Boat Repair Made Easy -- Systems - Softcover

Kaufman, John P

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1892216027 ISBN 13: 9781892216021

Publisher: Bristol Fashion Publications, 2000

Synopsis

AC Electrical, DC Electrical, Water Supply and Waste Removal, Air Conditioning and Heating, RefrigerationAC Electrical: Calculating shore power requirements, Calculating genset power requirements, Panel sizing, Running the wire, Installing the devices. DC Electrical/House Power: Calculating power requirements, Panel sizing, Type and quantity of batteries, Battery charging, Running the wiring, Installing the devices.Water Supply & Waste Removal: Supply: Tankage, pumps and filters; Types of tubing and fittings; Running the tubing; Installing the fixtures at the point of use. Waste: Types of systems, Types of hoses and fittings, Placing the components, Running the hoses, Points of discharge.Appendixes: Addresses and phone numbers for Manufacturers, Distributors and Retailers; Tools and supplies needed; Thorough glossary of boating terms.

About this title

About the Author

John Kaufman lives the life of which he writes. He has been on and around boats and the water since childhood. As the years passed, his love of the lifestyle grew and with that growth came the knowledge he passes onto his readers.

Although most of us find it difficult to enjoy boat work, John has no greater pleasure. The only exception may be cruising, providing he can find a boat to repair along the way.

His enjoyment of the work is readily apparent as he covers each project. As you read these pages, you will discover John can make the seemingly hard tasks easy to understand and accomplish. John currently lives aboard and cruises on his 1963 Matthews Vintage Motoryacht "Ship Happens". She is an elegant woman and a fine vessel. During his course of ownership he has completely restored her to her original condition. Not better than new, as John will be the first to say, "A Matthews, could never have been built any better." When the restoration was complete, he proceeded with the upgrades to the systems. This provides ease of maintenance and comfort for his cruising lifestyle. After thirty years of boating John claims to have found the vessel he could not sell.

John states his view of life in one simple phrase. "Life is too short to miss out on even one two hour cruise."

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From Chapter One: In the following chapters we will discuss 110 volt AC power and 12 volt DC power. I strongly suggest you read and understand all of this information before making any firm decisions on either your 110 VAC or your 12 VDC systems. The two systems are directly related to each other in many ways and decisions made for one system will affect the other system. This is also the best argument for revamping both systems at the same time.

The largest concern for a boat is it's 12 VDC power. With a good 12 VDC system, the 110 VAC system simply allows a means to support the 12 VDC system while at the dock or running the genset for short periods of time. Without a good DC power system onboard you will be forced to run your genset most of the time you are away from the slip. Staying at the dock or running a noisy genset is not typical of the way most couples and families want to use their boat to get away from it all for a weekend.

Whether you are a weekend or long range cruiser, your DC demands will be great when away from the dock or on the hook, if even for overnight. Of course, the longer you want to stay away from the dock the more it will take to keep a good DC system alive, well and useful and the less important your 110 VAC system becomes.

This is not to say the 110 VAC system has no use on a boat. It will play an important roll in running large loads such as air conditioning, heat, high output battery chargers, even the occasional hair dryer. In most of these uses, along with a few others, you have no choice but a good 110 VAC system. Depending on your choice of other systems, this will also afford you the option of having a back-up system for battery charging, cooking and refrigeration should one of the primary systems fail. As you can see, although less pronounced, the 110 VAC system is an important part of your boat's systems and must be installed and maintained with the same diligence you will devote to any of the other on board systems.

I suggest you have wire cutting and stripping tools, screwdrivers, pliers, and a cordless drill. You may also want to review "Hand Tools" and "Electrical Supplies" in Appendix One for a more complete list of the tools and supplies which will be needed to do the work outlined in this chapter.

AC power consumption is measured in watts, which is converted to amps, when calculating the electrical current draw a particular circuit needs to run the equipment used on that circuit. The term watts is used as a measurement of power and the term amps is used as an amount of power needed to accomplish a certain job. This is not exactly a true statement, but it is a very easy way to understand the difference between amps and watts.

Think of the power coming into your house. When your electric bill comes, the electric "usage" is stated in Kilowatts, each Kilowatt equals 1000 watts. A watt is the measurement the power company uses to calculate the amount of power you have used and therefore the amount you will be charged for that month.

If you look at your breaker panel, the breakers are marked in amps. Each breaker is protecting a circuit that needs that amount of power (amps) to service the equipment plugged into that circuit. Drawing more amps (power) than the breaker can handle will "trip" the breaker and stop the current flowing to that circuit.

Unlike your house which may have as much as a 200 amp 220 volt service, a boat will normally have a 30 amp 110 volt or 50 amp 220 volt service with several branch circuits of 15 to 20 amps. This is very little power for the modern age of AC usage.

Before the invention of home air conditioning, microwaves, electric stoves, dryers, irons and the like, it was not uncommon for a home to have a 30 amp service. In the 40's and 50's, with the start of these "high draw" electrical appliances the normal electric service was increased to 60 amps, still very small for a home, by today's standards. Very few homes being built in the 90's will have less than a 200 amp service.

You may ask, "Why are we discussing houses when I am working on my boat?" The answer is simple, AC power, whether in your home or on your boat, is identical in its usage and calculations for the amount of power you will use. The major difference is the amount of power available, not the way it works.

If you have a 30 amp "service" to your boat, you are now living in the 30's, before TV, air conditioning, electric hot water heaters, electric stoves, and most of all, microwaves. This being the case, you must carefully supply enough branch circuits from your 30 amp "main" to supply these electrical marvels we consider necessities. With a little work and thought you will not have to give up any of the creature comforts at home to spend time on your boat.

Note: Any boat with an air conditioner larger than 5000 Btu's should not consider any service smaller than a 50 amp 220 volt.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bristol Fashion Publications
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1892216027
• ISBN 13: 9781892216021
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 204