cheap 12 volts!!!!

hartley

Re the tirade of abuse aimed at poor old terabika.for Gods sake if the man wants to make a homemade generator good luck to him .far better than making war,either here or other locales .I remember years ago waiting for my copies of mechanix illustrated to arrive and pore over ,you could make practically anything if you had the wit and drive,by following plans and descriptions in this magazine,those were the days when Americans were known for their "know how".now all i hear about is regulations and more regulations.There was most likely a plan to make a home made generator in said magazine.and as for the remarks about blowing himself up and setting fire to every boat within 100 meters ,what hogwash,get a life.
However when I wanted a small petrol generator I went and bought a 750 watt job made by global machinery in china for 99 dollars ,with 2 year replacement warranty ,such is progress .I think you people over there are pricing yourself out of business with all your b regulations ....cheers

 

Two things I don't suport is 1 gasoline in engineroms. 2 products from china.
I'm not suporting a miletary regime and I don't care if I pay 10% extra for something made in Indonesia, Thailand anny other place for that sake.

How would you feel if I ocupied yout country or was tratning to do so and the whole world sosyety are buying from me annyway?

That crazy guy your tryinf to defend has the right to put himself at risk, but what about others?
Resque boats and helicopters going out to sea in storms to find a sailor that blow himself up or put the boat on fire in port taking other with him in death?

People are stupid and regulations is there to protect them.

 

I do not kow alot about the coastguard regs. But gfci are required with in 6 feet of running water. Also 12 vdc is alot different than 120 vac. Gfic are also required on any temp power{genarators}. Gfic also work on the difference between the hot and net. All gfis are rated to trip between 3 and 5ma. Also terabika just did what most gas motors in boats do for a charging system, he just did it on a smaller scale. Although the speaker wire thing is not the best. the are much better choices for wire than that.
Chris

 

A gasoline generator say a 4 stroke 2 1/2 to 4 hp B&S with a car alternator and belt is not that bad.

As a DC battery charger it will be rather poor unless fitted with a better Voltage regulator .
The old stand by is the T Mac , a series of resistors that allows the operator to manually charge the battset at any amperage desired ,by manually controlling the field voltage, but its REQUIRED that the temp of the bat set be monitored as you recharge.

Too warm to your hand and the amps MUST be cut back.

By simply mounting the contraprion in the dink , the worry about onboard explosions ect are greatly reduced.

Budget cruising is fine , its just more WORK than push button .

FAST FRED

 

A safe and legal way to install a home type generator, would be in the lazarette of a sailboat that is designed for an outboard. It is open in the bottom, so the fumes would exit. I would alway run it with the hatch open though.

 

"Never underestimate the power of human stupidity" (Robert A. Heinlein)

 

Obnoxiousness aside, what is the difference between a generator and an outboard without flame arrestor or any other explosion protection?

 

The difference is that engine is "in" the boat. The other is not "in" the boat. Of course the argument of the definition of "in the boat" rages to this day. But gasoline engines that can backfire into the boat, that is they are in an enclosed compartment not open to the atmosphere, or can backfire into a part of the boat where there are occupants, have to have a flame arrestor unless they inherently can not backfire into the boat. Some fuel injected systems cannot backfire except through the exhaust. Engines that are out in the open and cannot backfire into the boat do not have to have a flame arrestor. For instance, engines that have some sort of ram air induction with pipes would backfire straight up into the air away from passengers and boat structure. (Drag boats)

So, a generator that is permanently mounted inside the boat, or a protable that is in an enclosed compartment must have a flame arrestor. An outboard that is mounted on the transom or on a bracket is outside the boat and doesn't have to have a flame arestor, but also until recently all two cycle outboards had reed valves, they couldn't backfire unless the reed valves broke or were damaged (which happens) so they didn't need a flame arrestor.

 

I was surfing the net looking for boating info, mainly regarding wiring... Stumbled across this and read it from top to bottom and all I can say is that I've rarely seen such an unregulated forum, and I've been active on a lot of them, as well as previously owning and running a forums website on another topic.

Posting your opinions of the safety concerns involved in his plan in order to hopefully prevent a newb from trying to duplicate what you consider to be unsafe, and pointing out that regardless of personal opinions, regs forbid it, is all fine and dandy, but I read one after another of you outright attacking this guy for everything from his (percieved) lack of common sense to his self admitted lack of availible funding! Any forums site that is worth it's salt has mods and admins who delete such inflamitory posts and chastize the persons responsible for them with warnings and subsequent banning of user accounts. I'm simlpy amazed that many of these posts were never removed!

If you anticipate, or hope to have any newb's to protect from taking suggestions such as were posted here in this thread, I'd strongly suggest dialing back on the abuse, as I for one was extremely turned off of this site by it, as I am sure that many more first time visitors have been and likely will be, but as most know, where one person feels strongly enough to actually step up and voice their feelings on such matters, countless others simply go elsewhere quietly.

Perhaps some time down the road I might drop back by and see if things are being run differently, but until then I'll certainly not be participating in threads here and opening myself up for such abuse. From what I've seen here already I expect that there will be no shortage of abusive responses to this post as well.

...fire away.

 

Ok IKE, so why the nasty comment then? If a lazarette is an open compartment designed for an outboard?

 

Wow, Allan, someone should lighten up.

 

Exactly.

While I am not going to fire abuse at old Allen,
and personally don't like it when people get abusive,
at least this forum and its freedom allow some REAL opinions to confront each other- personal passion and all.
If Allen doesn't feel safe without 'big brother' constantly looking over and policing the members and their posts, then it might help him to remember the famous words
"sticks and stones may break my bones…"

No one likes to be abused, and I think terabika has copped a bit more than he deserved. But, I probably wouldn't be here if this forum was all about; (must be read with Hugh Grant voice)
"good sir, I must most strongly express my disagreement with what you have said, your advice and your methods, and feel that it is not only in the best interest of public safety, but also in your own best interests to cease what you have described imediately. Yours scincerely, Toffee!"

Maybe we will see you back here one day Allen. Not all topics recieve such passion (or abuse) here, just mainly the ones regarding safety.

 

Hey Terabika, I just finished another HOMEMADE 12 volt gen set. 5.5 Honda with a 75 amp. Delco alternator. It charges a bank of 4 batteries on my houseboat. It run about 1 hour a day and does a damn good job. It is mounted OUTSIDE in the back. The one that it replaced was 8 years old and worn out. So, keep the faith buddy, and always remember that some people are not smart enough to pile paper to wipe their own ***.

 

Allen

The idea with this forum is currently self regulation with the points system, so if you participate you can have some effect both by discussing your views and registering your dissaproval. We start with 10 points and people can take a point away if they find the post objectionable, or award a point if they approve.
Forums are always tricky to really judge the dynamics of interactions when the past history is not apparent.

George
I have seen one lawnmower base with both an alternator and a pump mounted, it was a very useful bit of gear.

 

Hallo George,
To built one own gen set with Honda engine is O.K to me, after all some of us might have built something more complicated than a genset, only the manner and his disregards towards safety is what I believe stirred the discussion to high temperature.