DC Upgrade

[kellyoday40]

New boat-to-us 40' O'Day 1986: Many years of various changes and "upgrades". Currently has four 86 AH WM Seagell batteries wired as one bank, plus a separate Grp 24 Seagell for Starting. Obvious problem is poor terminal/cable connections. Have a good(?) electrician looking at the problem. His first requirement is to replace the present Inverter/charger (Seaworthy 2000Watt) with a Larger inverter/charger plus remote monitor/panel.

First question: Is the extra cost of full sine wave v. modified sine wave really necessary? It seems to be about +25%. On battery/inverter we'll probably really only have radio and radar. I can live w/o TV/DVD until back at the dock.

Second: On the Left Coast (PNW), is $75/hour about correct for labor time?

Kelly

[Alan Wheeler]

So why do you have to upgrade the charger/invert to a bigger one if you don't have a lot of power requirements?? 2000W is an OK size and will handle most applications apart from a microwave and A/Con. It will run a TV no problem.
As for Pure sine vs Modified Sine, it depends a lot on the quality of the inverter. But usually most things will run on the Modified Sinewave inverter. Once again, Microwave most likely won't. I have had no issues running any AC powered appliance apart from the Microwave. They seem to need a real good supply. My new Inverter will run the Microwave, but that draws so much current, it is best to power it with the genset.
Can't help you with price, but mate! I wish I could charge $75/hr.

[RaptorDance]

I agree with Alan. What's wrong with your current unit?

Your radio and RADAR should be running off 12V - so you don't need the inverter for those.

If it's the charger that's a problem, you can get a really nice separate one for a lot less than a new inverter/charger.

Also, most Sharp microwaves will run fine, but they put out less power off a non-sine wave inverter. A full sine wave inverter will run pretty much anybodies.

Some laptop power supplies don't like modified sine wave inverter power, but you should be running your laptop off a 12V power supply anyway!

Your poor Terminal/Cable connections - are they just dirty or loose? If so, they're easy to clean.

$75/Hr. is at the low end of the range for a good electrical guy in the PNW.

Good luck with your fixes.
Regards,
Bill

[Alan Wheeler]

$75/Hr. is at the low end of the range for a good electrical guy in the PNW.

Holy Crap!! No wonder Kiwi's are leaving NZ in hoards. We make half as much as everyone else and get pay twice as much for products. :-(

[camaraderie]

I have had a Heart 2500 MSW inverter/charger on two different boats doing full time cruising. A very old microwave was a problem on the first boat, but its replacement and the new one on my newer boat were both no problem to run off the MSW.
There is also the issue with PSW units requiring significantly more AH's when left on standby.
There are really poor quality MSW units out there but the major marine MSW unit guys should be compatible with most stuff that is not motor/belt driven.