Thread: VOODOO MAGIC?
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  #7   IP: 24.152.132.140
Old 02-28-2019, 09:37 PM
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ndutton ndutton is offline
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A few thoughts:
  1. It looks to me like an updated big alternator, big battery bank system. Nothing earth shaking there.
  2. The big power they're getting has much to do with the higher voltage output (48V). Their alternator output in amps is not extreme by today's standards, 187A.
  3. Joe's mention of belt wear and bearing side loads could have been easily solved with a serpentine belt system but Integrel didn't do that.
  4. There is no getting around it, 9KW requires a minimum of 12HP mechanical input @100% efficiency. Mechanical and other losses will drive the input horsepower higher.
  5. There's no getting around it #2, diesels suffer over the long term at loads less than 70% of max and because of that I expect this system is intended to operate when the boat is motoring rather than stand alone generating. I recently finished troubleshooting a rebuilt small diesel with huge oil consumption that boiled down to the owner baby-ing it for a few years. Ten hours of running hard at WOT solved the entire issue, he now runs at 80% religiously, oil consumption and tailpipe smoke has disappeared. Until the diagnosis he was considering yanking the engine for another rebuild, even pondered dumping it in favor of an outboard.
  6. There's no getting around it #3 (at least currently), Li-Ion batteries have a rated life of 500 deep cycles, more cycles if discharges are shallow.
  7. Li-ion batteries work well normally but when something goes wrong they fail catastrophically. They cannot be discharged fully, cannot tolerate overcharging and ambient heat is also a risk factor. Short of physical damage I trust Integrel's management system monitors these factors.
  8. The innovation in the Integrel system looks to me like the management box. There is a lot of programming input available. If it is owner programmable, that's a potential problem. Give a boat owner an adjustment and you bring in the very real risk of him screwing it up.
  9. The price. Dear Lord, the price. The bare bones basic system with a single 10KWH battery pack is $24K. Wait, I'll type it out for full impact, $24,000.00. Each additional battery pack is another $11,000.00.
  10. Repairs. What do you do when something goes wrong, particularly if you're out cruising and a week or more from port? Who is going to fix it? As Calder was describing the components and management system as "sophisticated" I kept thinking a sailor needs to be able to fix everything onboard himself.
I'd say I'm not a candidate
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Neil
1977 Catalina 30
San Pedro, California
prior boats 1987 Westsail 32, 1970 Catalina 22
Had my hands in a few others
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