WOW you said it going down the rabbit hole!! We do that for homes mixing the lighting and pool Contorl HVAC and whatever you want to Contorl. You are right it is not easy!! Great content!!
I like digital switching - I work on the stuff for a living, and have it on my boat - but I would not use it for any critical loads. Just imagine a lightning strike, or some other calamity, taking out ALL of your electrical system, not just the electronics. I put only secondary loads on my Maretron MPower CLMD16, nothing essential for safely operating and navigating the boat. And you're right, it's not for the faint-hearted, it requires a lot of thought, and programming it can be tricky. But it can be fun - I created a circuit that automatically runs for a specified short interval every day, and hooked it up to a simple pressure pump with a pickup at the lowest point in my bilge - voila, I have a DIY dry bilge system.
I'm building my own system and lighting strikes are my biggest worry. So I'm working on something that can work manually as well as remotely with feedback from the manual part so manual can over ride remote and if remote system fails it will always default to manual. And like you critical systems will always be physical but with feedback to the remote system.
I thought digital switching was so cool until I got to work on a cruising Catania 46 that got hit by lightning and fried everything here in Costa Rica. Owners had a really hard time hardwiring heads, water pumps, etc in order to make it functional. No easy fix. The switching system had to be replaced entirely and of course took a long time to import and fix. The KISS rule would have worked perfectly in this case..
That was a great breakdown of a complex topic. Bottom line, it's cool as hell but not rational for most existing boats. Question:Is your personal boat utilizing digital switching?
This is exactly what I'm currently designing. But all myself with custom pcb's and controllers. If you want to geek out and hear more on the plans I'd be more than happy to chat.
@@Sailingon Great to hear! I'm currently designing a mosfet driver board to work with a switch panel, this allows for loads to be current sensed and silent operation. AC loads would be switched with relays. I understand your safety concern. I believe as long as you have a backup solution, it has been designed well and has fusing there shouldn't be any issues.
Jeff. I have a Seawind 1190 that has about 1000 watts of solar. I would like to instal a inverter charger. Wondering if I should go 24 volts on inverter or 12 volts. Setting up for extended periods off grid. Would 24 volts benefit future solar additions. Great channel,Appreciated.
Even though the concept of 24 volts makes lots of sense, the challenge is converting a boat wired for 12 to 24. Your alternator and starter are 12 VDC. All your loads, including water pump, bilge pump, windlass are 12 VDC. Going to a 24 VDC inverter would mean having two battery banks one 12 and one 24 volts. Sharing power becomes more problematic. All doable but you need to make sure it's worth the effort.
@@PacificYachtSystems I was thinking I could have 24 volt bank connecting to a 12 volt AGM battery through a DC- DC converter. Boat will be in Vancouver area this weekend. Thinking I may contact you for system design. Thanks for response.
Hi Jeff, thanks for the knowledge you continue to share with us boaters. Following up on digital Switching on a smaller scale. I'm looking at purchasing a Trawler. Question? How complex is it ti change from the standard shifting / Throttle to electronic? Seems like that would be the way to go an any boat.
The CZone system is supposed to be very difficult, in fact it is only installable by authorized dealers so no DIY boat owners. However systems that are are more user friendly are coming on the market from companies like B&G. Most systems have the ability to be manually overridden in case of an electronic melt down. It can be a big labor saver in building an electric system if the programming isn't too difficult. I'm gonna do it in my "next" boat. Haha!
The future is electronics and digital switching except they should really have some manual overrides with those. For example that big yacht crashing into the dock recently, I forget who it was, but I heard it was caused by a software glitch. Personally, maybe I'm a little older, I would like the manual/electrical/analog world on the water. I don't know. Jeff I would like to see more of this.
Most things on boats are DC, so I'm curious if it's worth the very high expense to consider digital switching for AC. Usually, the AC things are outlets, maybe a kitchen appliance and/or laundry. Seems low bang for the buck on AC.
Hi Mark, your correct most boats don't need AC digital switching, but the bigger boats find it very useful, especially since they have multiple sources of AC to choose from.
Hi Jeff I have a Garmin echo map chart plotter with a transducer and the transducer does not want to read at speed I’ve tried adjusting it but to no avail. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
@@PacificYachtSystems I don’t think I asked the right question. The fish finder does not read at speed 1. yes the fish finder works at slow speeds 2. I don’t have a paddle wheel. 3. No there’s no growth 4. Yes it used to read at 20 knots
I corrected many mistakes on my Off Grid Solar Power System after following your channel
That's awesome, glad i can help!
WOW you said it going down the rabbit hole!! We do that for homes mixing the lighting and pool Contorl HVAC and whatever you want to Contorl. You are right it is not easy!! Great content!!
Thanks J Time, appreciate the sharing!
Glad to hear I'm on the cutting edge! Thanks Jeff!
You bet!
I like digital switching - I work on the stuff for a living, and have it on my boat - but I would not use it for any critical loads. Just imagine a lightning strike, or some other calamity, taking out ALL of your electrical system, not just the electronics. I put only secondary loads on my Maretron MPower CLMD16, nothing essential for safely operating and navigating the boat. And you're right, it's not for the faint-hearted, it requires a lot of thought, and programming it can be tricky. But it can be fun - I created a circuit that automatically runs for a specified short interval every day, and hooked it up to a simple pressure pump with a pickup at the lowest point in my bilge - voila, I have a DIY dry bilge system.
I'm building my own system and lighting strikes are my biggest worry. So I'm working on something that can work manually as well as remotely with feedback from the manual part so manual can over ride remote and if remote system fails it will always default to manual.
And like you critical systems will always be physical but with feedback to the remote system.
Thanks for sharing David, your approach seems like a well balanced one.
I thought digital switching was so cool until I got to work on a cruising Catania 46 that got hit by lightning and fried everything here in Costa Rica. Owners had a really hard time hardwiring heads, water pumps, etc in order to make it functional. No easy fix. The switching system had to be replaced entirely and of course took a long time to import and fix. The KISS rule would have worked perfectly in this case..
Your right, cool and neat definitely have it's trade-offs. Digital switching isn't without it's downsides.
Jeff you are doing an amazing job 👍👍
Thanks!
That was a great breakdown of a complex topic. Bottom line, it's cool as hell but not rational for most existing boats.
Question:Is your personal boat utilizing digital switching?
This is exactly what I'm currently designing. But all myself with custom pcb's and controllers. If you want to geek out and hear more on the plans I'd be more than happy to chat.
Doing the same, absolutely love automation but not at the expense of safety so I'm working on manual taking presidence over automation.
@@Sailingon Great to hear! I'm currently designing a mosfet driver board to work with a switch panel, this allows for loads to be current sensed and silent operation. AC loads would be switched with relays.
I understand your safety concern. I believe as long as you have a backup solution, it has been designed well and has fusing there shouldn't be any issues.
Hi Daniel, thanks for sharing, no doubt it's definitely cool. Keep us posted with your lessons learnt implementing your system aboard your boat.
Jeff. I have a Seawind 1190 that has about 1000 watts of solar. I would like to instal a inverter charger. Wondering if I should go 24 volts on inverter or 12 volts. Setting up for extended periods off grid. Would 24 volts benefit future solar additions. Great channel,Appreciated.
Go 24v. It usually doesn't cost that much more and you can save money on wiring.
Even though the concept of 24 volts makes lots of sense, the challenge is converting a boat wired for 12 to 24. Your alternator and starter are 12 VDC. All your loads, including water pump, bilge pump, windlass are 12 VDC. Going to a 24 VDC inverter would mean having two battery banks one 12 and one 24 volts. Sharing power becomes more problematic. All doable but you need to make sure it's worth the effort.
@@PacificYachtSystems
I was thinking I could have 24 volt bank connecting to a 12 volt AGM battery through a DC- DC converter.
Boat will be in Vancouver area this weekend. Thinking I may contact you for system design. Thanks for response.
Hi Jeff, thanks for the knowledge you continue to share with us boaters. Following up on digital Switching on a smaller scale. I'm looking at purchasing a Trawler. Question? How complex is it ti change from the standard shifting / Throttle to electronic? Seems like that would be the way to go an any boat.
Converting engine controls to digital isn't area we deal with, but yes, lots of boaters love the upgrade. Anybody else can share their input on this?
The CZone system is supposed to be very difficult, in fact it is only installable by authorized dealers so no DIY boat owners. However systems that are are more user friendly are coming on the market from companies like B&G. Most systems have the ability to be manually overridden in case of an electronic melt down. It can be a big labor saver in building an electric system if the programming isn't too difficult. I'm gonna do it in my "next" boat. Haha!
Thanks for sharing Ben, and your correct CZone isn't plug and play and takes time to get right.
The future is electronics and digital switching except they should really have some manual overrides with those. For example that big yacht crashing into the dock recently, I forget who it was, but I heard it was caused by a software glitch. Personally, maybe I'm a little older, I would like the manual/electrical/analog world on the water. I don't know. Jeff I would like to see more of this.
Motor Yacht GO is the yacht that crashed. Investigation in ongoing.
Franklin good point, yep most of the digital switching include manual override.
Most things on boats are DC, so I'm curious if it's worth the very high expense to consider digital switching for AC. Usually, the AC things are outlets, maybe a kitchen appliance and/or laundry. Seems low bang for the buck on AC.
Hi Mark, your correct most boats don't need AC digital switching, but the bigger boats find it very useful, especially since they have multiple sources of AC to choose from.
Hi Jeff I have a Garmin echo map chart plotter with a transducer and the transducer does not want to read at speed I’ve tried adjusting it but to no avail. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
A few questions, does it work at slow speed? As the paddle wheel been checked for marine growth? Did speed on water ever work?
@@PacificYachtSystems
I don’t think I asked the right question. The fish finder does not read at speed
1. yes the fish finder works at slow speeds
2. I don’t have a paddle wheel.
3. No there’s no growth
4. Yes it used to read at 20 knots
I use an arduino for my shower.
One button push is 15 seconds of water, 2 second hold gives me 30.
This is a great idea! Thanks
@@danedwards_ee Thanks. Just make sure to use a flyback diode on the relay or a 5v ready relay module to operate your solenoid.
@@realhusky I take it you forgot the diode ;) But yeah I study electrical engineering so I kinda know what I'm doing.
That's pretty cool.
The more you complicate the plumbing the easier it is to clog it up Scotty Star Trek 😱😁🤪
Good one!
I actually lost you at the fourth "actually"
COI, DDS, Control 1, Control X, Control X Plus, Contact 6, Contact 6plus, soooooo many modules its very confusing