420/44 DB Owners Club

[Pura Vida dos]

Ha! Don’t feel bad, had the same thing happen to me a couple years ago, called a Cummins service center a couple days later while making a service appointment with the lady who answered the phone, she picked up on the problem! I had never used the cruise control before but… use it all the time ever since. I have low cruise set at 1200 rpm & high cruise set at 2200 rpm

 

[AEO]

Thanks for the info. Now that I know why it’s there I’ll use it more too. How did you adjust the rpm?

 

[Pura Vida dos]

Turn it back on, push throttles forward will top out at the current setting, adjust from there with the rpm+/- switch, I believe it will change in 20 rpm increments & will stay wherever you set it.
Cheers!

 

[AEO]

Thanks. I looked it up in the owner’s manual but you’ve explained it best. I think I’m a fan of this function all of a sudden …

 

[Bruce SEA 993]

Pura, how do you like your Highfield tender. I am considering one...the 360 GT. I am also looking at the Blackfisk (Octopus in Swedish) that is available in Anacortes, about 20 minutes away.

I like the idea that I can get a slightly larger boat without adding anymore weight.

Cheers!

 

[Pura Vida dos]

Bruce, Like the Highfield a lot, 6 years, 500 hours, Michigan, Florida, Bahamas, no issues. Did add a transom mounted inline fuel separated after getting bad fuel once. At least 8 marina mates here in Michigan have bought them since we did, no complaints. I would buy again. I have no knowledge on the Blackfisk

 

[Bruce SEA 993]

Thanks for the info. That is good news on your experience with the Highfield.

I think Highfield is pretty well proven. The Blackfisk may be the new kid on the block...or it may have been around for a while and just new to the US. Don't really know anything about them. Maybe they are a knock off of Highfield.

 

[NorCalRobert]

Getting ready to replace my batteries and Now I’m reading that I should not get deep cycle for starting / house batteries. Everything I read states deep cycle is not made for starting our motors.
So what is everyone doing, deep cycle batteries for when your on the hook or are the regular group 31 batteries good enough

 

[Alex F]

Getting ready to replace my batteries and Now I’m reading that I should not get deep cycle for starting / house batteries. Everything I read states deep cycle is not made for starting our motors.
So what is everyone doing, deep cycle batteries for when your on the hook or are the regular group 31 batteries good enough

We're on the hook a lot. For the reasons you've mentioned I never tried switching to deep cycle ones. Whether regular G31s are enough, it falls into "it depends" category. It depends on what's your usage and expectation from the batteries. A fully charged PORT bank (I'm highlighting the PORT side, b/c that's where most of the house load is on) should be fine all night long, with moderate use of the juice.

Short case scenario, if you're out for a weekend and spending two nights on the hook, two G31s will be fine overnight for both nights, if you run the genny for couple of hours in the morning and then in the evening. However, if you do the same for 4-5 nights, the batteries will be discharging faster than the charging rate. This is when running the genny for 2-3hrs in the morning and 2-3hrs in the eve won't be enough. I solved this by adding 3rd regular G31 battery to the PORT bank.

 

[NorCalRobert]

We're on the hook a lot. For the reasons you've mentioned I never tried switching to deep cycle ones. Whether regular G31s are enough, it falls into "it depends" category. It depends on what's your usage and expectation from the batteries. A fully charged PORT bank (I'm highlighting the PORT side, b/c that's where most of the house load is on) should be fine all night long, with moderate use of the juice.

Short case scenario, if you're out for a weekend and spending two nights on the hook, two G31s will be fine overnight for both nights, if you run the genny for couple of ours in the morning and then in the evening. However, if you do the same for 4-5 nights, the batteries will be discharging faster than the charging rate. This is when running genny for 2-3hrs in the morning and 2-3 in the eve won't be enough. I solved this by adding 3rd regular G31 battery to the PORT bank.

Thanks, I think I will add a 3rd as well

 

[Irie308]

We have 2 deep cycles for the star and 3 for the port. Never had an issue with starting however like Alex stated it depends on your use. Until I recently added smart shunts I didn't understand the time it took to fully top the batteries off when you are on the hook. Generator generally runs for about 6 hours in the evenings so not a big deal for us. When we wake in the mornings (8am) port bank is somewhere around 80%. Starboard bank is in the 90% or higher range, unless we leave the chartplotters on then they are down in the 70% range. Between starlink, small inverter and other Wi-Fi gear we are generally pulling 5-8 amps continuously from both banks. As stated for us its not a big deal because we do run the gen for at least 10 hours per day. If its hot or humid that number goes up.

 

[Tomco]

We are up in the Braughtons in BC Canada, Lagoon Cove and on up to Sullivan Bay. Catching crab and fish and cruising with friends. Good times!

A couple of thoughts on the boat...

1. Water maker (Sea Water Pro) is great to have as water is going to get harder to find from here on up. I would like to be able to run it off of a 120V alternator on one of the engines. Not sure if that is an option but would like to hear your experiences. There is enough transit time to run the watermaker.

2. Hot water is also a commodity as we are on the hook a lot. We run the generator for coffee and battery charging. Most of the time we get water but would like to see if you can heat off of the engines. Again, during transit time, hot water could be available when we get to the next anchorage.

3. I have had solar on top of the canvas on the 380 Sundancer but looking at what is available is funny. Can you believe anyone's listed wattage. I think I should go with a name brand but I do not know if I can trust them anymore that stuff off of Amazon. I want to keep the generator time to a minimum. I think I can get 3 panels up on the canvas with rare earth magnets. That is how I had the 380. So of our friends run big inverters and have 110V all the time. I have only a 2000 Watt so I can make coffee without the generator and use the TV. Some folks in Florida run the generator for days...different needs.

Any thoughts? Would love to hear what experiences you have had.

Cheers!

I added a loop off the engine to the hot water heater for the very reason you mention. We just returned from a 7 week cruise where we spent most of the time without shore power and this was one of those 'we are sure glad we added it' upgrades. We had hot water at the end of the travel day and usually for the next day (if we were anchored). I added valves at the high(er) pressure take-off and low(er) pressure return - not a hard project but did require some boat yoga to accomplish.

We have two 180w flexible solar panels that have provided up to 1.2kw of power in a day (could be half that on some days) that feeds three G31 deep cycle batteries. On the good days the batteries are at 100% by early afternoon and in float mode by late afternoon - they easily offset the consumption of the fridges. I designed mine for three panels but only currently use two. They are held on with the rare earth magnets but after a strong wind event last summer destroyed one panel, I have added some parachute cord tied to the top aluminum frame on each corner to eliminate/minimize the chance they might lift/flop around - no problem this season (knock on wood!). On our 7 week trip, we only ran the generator 3 times (about 4hr total) and only once to charge the batteries (it was the bow thruster batteries that were low).

/T.

 

[Tomco]

We returned from a 7 week trip thru the Trent-Severn waterway - which consisted of 43 locks in one direction. We regularly did about 6 locks a day. During the locking process (in and out) I used the bow thruster so the Admiral could reach the lines and on exiting. After about 4 travel days (no shore power during this time) I found a low voltage code (this is thru the inverter that is connected to these batteries, the monitor at the switch panel provides the battery data and the alarm code). While the at rest voltage reading was 24.6v (12.3v per battery), when using the bow thrusters the high initial draw would pull them down below the 21v low voltage threshold and set the low voltage code. They progressively just got worse.

I had assumed (yes, I know) that when the boat was underway (without the generator running) the alternators were charging the battery banks ... I didn't think to distinguish the 12v from the 24v banks. I went thru the wiring diagram, and if I understand it correctly, the alternators do NOT provide any charging to the bow thruster batteries. This hasn't been a problem up until this point when we were away from shore power for an extended period and used the thrusters more than normal.

Intuitively it makes sense that the alternators do not charge the 24v bank, I consider the thrusters a safety device and hadn't considered they wouldn't be charged under way. Is it correct that that the 24v bank is NOT charged during engine operation?

/T.

 

[Bruce SEA 993]

Thanks for the info T.

I will dig around and see what the ports are on QSC engines and what the inlet/outlet on the water heater looks like.

I am thinking I need a small person on my non existent staff to do the engine room gymnastics. I just do not fit...

 

[Tomco]

Thanks for the info T.

I will dig around and see what the ports are on QSC engines and what the inlet/outlet on the water heater looks like.

I am thinking I need a small person on my non existent staff to do the engine room gymnastics. I just do not fit...

Check out https://www.sbmar.com/ to find the locations on your engines. Mine are the 6CTA and they had the diagram of where to put the two connections. I think I remember seeing the QSC on the page as well.

 

[bajturner]

Ha! Don’t feel bad, had the same thing happen to me a couple years ago, called a Cummins service center a couple days later while making a service appointment with the lady who answered the phone, she picked up on the problem! I had never used the cruise control before but… use it all the time ever since. I have low cruise set at 1200 rpm & high cruise set at 2200 rpm

I do the same!

 

[Alex F]

...Intuitively it makes sense that the alternators do not charge the 24v bank, I consider the thrusters a safety device and hadn't considered they wouldn't be charged under way. Is it correct that that the 24v bank is NOT charged during engine operation?
/T.

That's correct. The thruster 24V bank is charged only when 110VAC is available (via shore power or the generator) to the 24VDC battery charger.

 

[AEO]

I have a very faint but very annoying hi pitch squeal coming from ALL speakers which stops when I turn the “Bilge/Cockpit Lights” switch on the 28V electrical panel in the salon to OFF. Has anyone had something similar or would like to share their thoughts? TIA.

 

[AEO]

I do the same!

It does worry me though. Something else to go wrong and I have no idea where I’d start the trouble shooting …. Or how to override it...

 

[bajturner]

I have a very faint but very annoying hi pitch squeal coming from ALL speakers which stops when I turn the “Bilge/Cockpit Lights” switch on the 28V electrical panel in the salon to OFF. Has anyone had something similar or would like to share their thoughts? TIA.

28V panel is new to me (12V / typo?), but assuming the light switches are off and you have upgraded some or all of the lights to LED, do you have an LED dimmer, color controller, or similar attached to the circuit?

LED lights use a PWM driver to control their brightness and they can cause audio hum. I believe it is the capacitors specifically that do it. Better / more expensive PWM design and components permit frequencies that stay out of the audio range. Unfortunately most LED module designs are optimized for low cost. The trade-off is they can be noisy in both the audio and VHF frequency bands.

I have purchased all my bulbs and components from either Marine Beam or Apex and so far haven't noticed any issues.

There is a hum in the speakers when the generator is running that I hear at times though. I just upgraded all the amps, speakers, and head unit to Fusion Apollo/Signature so I need to check again.