Anyone Have a Lagoon with Electric Motors / Glacier Bay GenSet ?

[videorov]

I don't wont the hybrid idea switching back and forth and charging
from the props at certain speed.
I have seen where people are just running the gen to power the electric
motors when they need motor power. The Glacier Bay Generator burns
less fuel then two engines would. You could also carry a spare electric
motor sincw they are not that heavy and size is not large.
Sounds like a nice way to go to me.
I don't want to just run the electric motors from batteries. That takes
to many batteries and they are heavy plus the motors don't run that long
off just batteries. If I would need to run them I would just turn on the
Glacier Bay Gen.

[Intentional Drifter]

You might want to contact one of the forum members, gosstyla. He built a cat with the Glacier Bay/Ossa system, but I don't think he was happy with it. I don't recall the reasons.

Also, there was a Leopard 43 built with the system as a prototype, but I don't think they ever went to production. I don't know why, but the obvious speculation is that they couldn't get it to be both reliable and affordable.

Good luck.

ID

[Kashmir cat]

Tell me this isn't the same Glacier Bay Company that sold me an overpriced, failure ridden refrigeration system a few years ago, then reneged on the warranty. Gee, if they can't reliably cool a can of soda, I don't think I would trust them with my entire propulsion system.

[shadow]

Not to sound silly or obtuse, but I thought the whole idea from Lagoon with the 420 electric motor/charging system was to totally do away with petrol/diesel engines altogether. Seems like if you still need at least 1 generator to keep the balance of power, it seems that a person spent all the money, and the added weight of the batteries to just have what they could have in the beginning??

Can someone please clarify for me without flaming or sarcasm as I am being serious in my question.. As I was really hoping to have the electric engine/battery charging system be fully reliable by the time I get my yacht...

[pressuredrop]

Originally Posted by videorov

\The Glacier Bay Generator burns
less fuel then two engines would. .

this could be why... and the option to never need fuel if you can get around it with solar/wind/regen... but not practical on a big cat i dont think

[sigmasailor]

You should read this; if you need more info you can contact Gideon.
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...est-37969.html
I haven't seen it working my self but like the general idea of not needing diesel all the time.

[gosstyla]

Originally Posted by videorov

....The Glacier Bay Generator burns
less fuel then two engines would.....

I doubt that is true - at least not for two engines producing equivalent hp as the generator.

My boat had 2 x 25kw Glacier Bay gensets which powered 2 x 33hp Glacier Bay electric motors.

The gensets were powered by the Mercedes Smart Car diesel (40 - 45 hp). I don't believe the gensets used less fuel than most 33 hp diesel engines.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by shadow

Not to sound silly or obtuse, but I thought the whole idea from Lagoon with the 420 electric motor/charging system was to totally do away with petrol/diesel engines altogether. Seems like if you still need at least 1 generator to keep the balance of power, it seems that a person spent all the money, and the added weight of the batteries to just have what they could have in the beginning??

Can someone please clarify for me without flaming or sarcasm as I am being serious in my question.. As I was really hoping to have the electric engine/battery charging system be fully reliable by the time I get my yacht...

I'll explain to you the idea.

A sailboat which has got more power from its sails than it needs to maintain hull speed can afford some drag from propellors turning generators. So you get a free battery charge. This charge can be put into a big battery bank and be used later for propulsion by electric motors. A generator can be used to put power into the bank in other situations.

The point is that you get silent, efficient power under many circumstances. The hybrid Lagoons were supposed to be capable of silently motoring off their moorings, hoisting sail, sailing and regenerating the batteries, then silently motoring back into port at the end of he day. Neat. And when this scenario doesn't work out for whatever reason, say no wind, then the generator running at a constant speed and load charging the batteries will still be quite efficient compared to a regular propulsion engine.

Without the batteries, however, the whole thing makes a lot less sense. You don't get any power from running the electric motors as generators with your propellors while sailing. You lose power at every stage between running the generator, transmitting electrical power to the motor, running the motor. The generator motor won't have a constant load. It's more complicated and expensive with no real benefit. If you're not going the full hybrid route, then you'll be better off with a regular mechanical drive.

In any case, it's very, very hard to beat a conventional diesel engine driving a shaft. It's a very highly developed, very well-proven and well=worked out system which is very efficient and very reliable.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by gosstyla

I doubt that is true - at least not for two engines producing equivalent hp as the generator.

My boat had 2 x 25kw Glacier Bay gensets which powered 2 x 33hp Glacier Bay electric motors.

The gensets were powered by the Mercedes Smart Car diesel (40 - 45 hp). I don't believe the gensets used less fuel than most 33 hp diesel engines.

Yes, and how could it? The difference between 45 horsepower engine driving the genset and the 33 hp electric motor at the other end of the system reflects the losses along the road. You don't magically create power by transforming from one form to the other; on the contrary, you lose it.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by gosstyla

I doubt that is true - at least not for two engines producing equivalent hp as the generator.

My boat had 2 x 25kw Glacier Bay gensets which powered 2 x 33hp Glacier Bay electric motors.

The gensets were powered by the Mercedes Smart Car diesel (40 - 45 hp). I don't believe the gensets used less fuel than most 33 hp diesel engines.

Do you still run this setup? Can you tell us more about your experience? What was the rationale for doing it that way in the first place?

[gosstyla]

I suspect most of my old posts dating back to 2005 are still accessible.