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Bob, The way balancing works in a normal BMS is that there is a little circuit board attached to each cell that shunts the charging current to a resistor when that cell has reached its maximum voltage. The BMS reads the total voltage of the bank and shuts charging down when the maximum voltage...

The higher end LiFePO4 batteries today have a blue tooth connection to your phone or tablet that show the individual voltage of each cell so you don't have to open the box. You can even monitor them while in use to see if any one cell has a larger voltage sag than the others. The picture below...

It may be sticky and yucky, but I only pay our retirement community $50/year for the storage, and it has power so I can keep the interior heated and dehumidified in the winter. I am willing to deal with the yuck.

If you are looking to use the electric for longer distance cruising, I would start from scratch to put a system together rather than cobble something together that would require all sorts of compromises. First I would suggest a separate battery pack for the motor. In my experience trying to...

Rob, I took a look at the Haswing ventura on line and noted a few potential problems with it. It is listed as a trolling motor and as such I don't think it is designed for long term cruising. If the actual controller is in the throttle head I did not see any options for cooling, and I have...

Rob, given that you have a 24 v system I would still recommend you go with a 48V motor. 2000 watts at 24 volts requires a current of 83 amps which is quite a lot in my view. That would require large wire sizes depending on the total distance between the batteries the motor and back. To charge...

I have found breathable boat covers for T-top boats on Amazon that work well for my 22' cruiser. The link below is for one that costs only $130 and covers the boat well. I attach the back end of the cover to a pool cover roller so I can easily pull the cover off and put it on. I have to keep...

The hand drawn graph in my album (WATT NOW) has the electric power requirements at different speeds for my 22' cruiser. This summer I have confirmed that the graph is accurate, but I have not yet posted the new graph I have developed. [the excel graph is for my previous St. Pierre dory] You...

As mentioned by others, two 12 V batteries will not provide enough power to heat the cabin overnight in October in Massachusetts. In my 22' cruiser I have found that I need about 500 watts to keep the cabin temperature above 65 degrees when the outside temp fall to the low 50's. Even with...

This discussion of how best to clean gunk off the gel coat on a boat has brought up some interesting questions about different cleaners and scrubbers. The basic conclusion is that pretty much anything that will do a good job of cleaning will also affect the gel coat. Your best bet is to apply a...

I have had good luck with the Star Brite deck cleaner which does not have oxalic acid in it. I also use a melamine scrubbing sponge that gets rid of stuff without impacting the gel coat (as far as I can see). Here is Google AI's response to the question of "effect on oxalic acid on gel...

Colby, I was just doing some research on electric brakes for boat trailers. I started trailering 30 years ago and that was a "no-no" at the time because the brakes were not up to being submerged, especially in corrosive salt water. Thus, I have always used hydraulic disc brakes. From what I...

I would suggest you avoid placing your plastic gas tank in the sun, or provide some kind of shade for it. Google AI has a fairly decent discussion of how the heat affect the plastic (see below). The other warning is that you should never try to release the pressure in the tank by opening the...

If you get on websites that cater to electricians you can find 3 way connectors. What I often do however is to use a slightly larger connector and double up the wires on one side and then remove a larger piece of the wire cover on the single side and fold over the bare wire before inserting it...

Yes I have tried liquid tape but it has never provided a waterproof seal.

There are marine grade heat shrink connectors with hot melt glue inside that waterproof the connection. For emergencies I carry the wire nuts with the goo inside. Problems I have had with lights have originated with leaks into the box. Also, only tinned wire should be used. If not you end up...

Bob, It seems that the two of us have had a radically different experience with chargers. Here is my situation: I keep, and have kept, my boats on a trailer. In the winter we can get several days with temperatures around freezing and the boat hull and equipment equilibrate to these...

If you decide you need a new charger, avoid any with an internal fan (a good indicator is a grill on the housing that lets air into the interior). I started by using these because they were less expensive, but they all failed within a year. After a lot of research and reading the fine print...

Don, 1 kWh of storage can be a lot or little depending on your power use. As a starting point a 12 V 100AH battery stores a maximum of 1.2 kWh of energy (12 V x 100 A = 1.2 kWh). However, a 12V High end lead acid battery only stores about 0.7 kWh of energy because they should not be drained...

Check the wattage of the solar panel. If you can't get at the label assume the maximum is about 20 watts/square foot. If the panel is flat, and not facing the sun at 90 degrees and your boat is moving in different compass directions, the actual value is much lower. Here in the Pacific...