How-to

Today's visit to the Miami Boat Show brought yet another home run in. Charles Industries has introduced a new series of battery chargers that changes everything, their new IMC series, shown below: These new chargers bring new meaning to the catch phrase "smart charger", and provide the functionality needed on modern boats. In fact these units are so sophisticated, they will serve owners well for years to come. Here's why. many boats today are using combined 12 / 24 volt systems to accomodate larger engine starters and some systems are beginning to be at least partially 24 volt. No problem since the IMC series offers four battery bank programability at either 12 or 24 volts and each bank can be programmed to different parameters with precision levels down to 0.10 of a volt. This is important stuff in today's market as batteries become more sophistcated and different vendors dictate varying charge levels at each phase of battery charging to maximize battery cycle life. Batteries aren't getting any less expensive either, so maximizing cycle life is important. In terms of amperage, the series is available in 20-120 amp configurations depending on your boat's capacity requirements. The 40 amp and above units have an integrated limp home mode that would enable the battery charger to function, albeit at a lower output level, in the event of a power module failure within the device. Further it includes a "smart alarm" function that tells you if there is a complete failure (no output), high and low voltage and battery failure via an audible alarm. Optional temperature sensors are also available to further enhance the precision level of charging. The signifigance of all of this is perhaps best explained with a real world example of how it may be applied. A typical boat today will have a bow thruster with its own battery(s) nearby and engine and house battery banks mounted furter aft in the boat. You may decide that you want extra large capacity flooded cell batteries to run house loads, but a smaller AGM type battery up front to run the bow thruster. In this example you have two different battery technologies employed, each with very different charging needs. No problem with the IMC series. Program each bank exactly as the battery vendors want and you're all set. How about the future? Battery technology is changing almost yearly. Who knows exactly what's around the corner? With the functionality available in the IMC software, you'll be ready for whatever comes at us because no matter what the next great thing in batteries evolves to, recharging is still going to be a function of amps and volts. You'll be able to re-program an IMC to whatever comes at you in new battery technology. Going on a world cruise? Not a problem as these chargers have universal AC input at either 50 or 60 Hz and a voltage input range from 90 to 265 VAC. Of course coming from Charles the units are Marine UL listed with ABS, FCC abd CE certifications pending. The Charles IMC series chargers were my home run of the day. Hats off to the Charles design team. They really had their eye on the market and the needs of modern boaters with this one. …Read More

After my tour of the Miami Boat Show yesterday I didn't have much trouble identifying what my personal home run for the day was it terms of a product that's really needed and will be a useful addition to a lot of boats both new and old. The folks at Paneltronics have come up with a small system that can be easily installed to your boat in about three hours, even by a handy DIYer. The display screen for this new system is shown here: Let me explain the problem this device solves so you can get a feel for why it serves a very common need today. Boats today are loaded with AC shorepower equipment. Let's be honest, we want all the comforts of home on board. In the old days, most boats with shore power service would get by with a TV and a few 120 volt reading lights, a battery charger and maybe a water heater for hot showers. Today, boaters will often have all of the above, but will also have air conditioning, maybe an electric refrigerator/ freezer, coffee maker, blender, hot plate to keep those crepes warm, hair dryers and you name it, this list of conveniences goes on and on depending upon personal taste. The bottom line is that all of this now needed equipment contributes to what I have often referred to as your appetite for amps. Our appetite for amps has grown considerably in the last 10 or 15 years and the average 30-40 ft. boat is going to be a heavy consumer of electricity. This fact has put design teams in a situation where they are now forced to bring shore power service to the upper limit of design parameters. A 30 amp shore power system is now spending a lot more time treading in that near 30 amp limit based on our needs. In many cases builders have had to replace the traditional 30 amp service with 50 amp service just to keep up, and even at that boaters still manage to have enough equipment installed to keep them running near their maximum. So what's the problem you may ask? Picture this scenario, you're onboard, the TV is going, all the AC lighting is on, its hot outside so you really need the air conditioner, the refrigerator is keeping the steaks and beers cooled down and now you want to take a hot shower and when done use a hair dryer. You may already be near the maximum amperage the boat's AC system is designed to, say you're at the 29 amps the Paneltronics display is showing above. As soon as you fire up the 1600 watt hairdryer you're going to trip the main AC circuit breaker, shutting down all of the power to your boat. The bottom line is you'll need to turn off something and reset the breaker before you can dry your hair. Enter the Paneltronics load shedding system. Load shedding is nothing new, its been employed on big boats for years, but the Paneltronics system is geared toward the average boater with a single 30 or 50 amp shore cord, the vast majority of the market today. Using user selected parameters, the system will automatically shut down the device or devices you decide on when you do jump over the designed system limits. When you turn off the hair dryer as an example, the air conditioner will automatically turn the AC system or water heater back on. No tripped breakers to deal with and only a temporary interruption of power delivered to the device of your choice, and no harm done. The system will also work if you are running from on board generator power. Hats off to Paneltronics! This is a needed product that deals with a real world situation on modern boats. It earned my home run vote yesterday.   …Read More

  HB Marine and Independence Green Yachts yesterday announced a partnership that will form a joint venture to develop the Independence 60 Luxury Yacht that IGY started a few years ago. The Independence 60 is billed as the “world’s first ‘no compromise’ sustainable yacht.” A combination of solar cells, hydrogen production and storage and fuel cells [...] …Read More

Pacific Expedition Yachts will offer Cummins Mercruiser Diesel Zeus pod drives on its PE60 Expedition Class Power Catamaran. The first hull with Zeus drives is already under construction at Pacific Expedition’s Astoria, Oregon shipyard, with delivery expected later this year. Here’s how Pacific Expedition describes the decision to offer the Zeus drives: The PE60, equipped with twin [...] …Read More

Pacific Asian Enterprises said on its website that it has developed a version of its 75 Expedition Yacht Fisher (EYF) without the expansive flybridge common to most sportfishing battlewagons. The change acknowledges the cruising half of this split-personality ocean-going yacht and gives it a more conventional “Norhdavn look.” I took the liberty of scanning a print [...] …Read More

As our readers know, the publishing world is in the midst of an upheaval as publications and readers turn to online outlets to deliver content. Naturally, we at OceanLines feel we’ve been helping to lead our audience of cruisers and passagemakers to that new online world of resources. Well, the publishing powerhouses continue to evolve [...] …Read More

North Pacific Yachts said it has delivered the first NP38 Sedan to a North American customer. The boat was on display at last week’s Seattle Boat Show after arriving on 16 January from the shipyard in China.  We have the first photos of the NP38, both during initial sea trials in China and as she [...] …Read More

Kadey-Krogen said this week that it will have a Krogen 58′ and the 48′ North Sea with the redesigned galley and bridge, which we wrote about here on OceanLines recently. P.A.E. advises that their final plans for the upcoming Miami boat shows include the 75 EYF and the 62 at Collins Ave., — more formally know [...] …Read More

  Torqeedo keeps adding new models to its line of electric outboards. The latest is the Travel series with two new units offering power equivalent to 1.5 hp and 3 hp, respectively. The Travel 503 and Travel 1003 not only offer more power than their predecessors but are tougher and are completely waterproof to IP67 standards. According [...] …Read More

FLIR this week announced expansion of both its fixed M-Series and handheld First Mate series of night vision devices. They’ve covered several different price points now with the First Mate monoculars, which we wrote about here on OceanLines. The M-series also gets a new, less-expensive version that drops the low-light camera and carries only the [...] …Read More