Telstar current usage

[occasion]

I have measured the current load for the various factory equipment that comes with the Telstar.
Thought others may want to know.

Sandy Burton - "Occasion" #368 Rochester, NY

Components Current (A)
Electronics switch only (Speed and depth meters) 0.2
Electronics and VHF radio 0.5
Running lights only 1.48
Running lights and Electronics and VHF radio 1.9
Compass light 0.08
Main cabin switch only 0.11
Main cabin light - 1 1.31
Main cabin lights - 2 2.5
Main cabin light - 3 3.65
Main cabin lights - 4 4.76
CD player only radio mode 0.78

[Graham]

Thanks! This was on my list of things to do. Has anyone thought about switching all nav and interior lights to LED? I was thinking along the lines of red/white LED interior lights with a 3 way master switch. Red on, White on, master off. This way no one could accidently turn the wrong light on at night. I read somewhere that LED's weren't lasting as long as they're supposed to. Something to do with electrical current variations. BTW, does anyone have a part number for an LED bulb to replace the standard filament bulbs in the interior fixtures?

[seicam]

Thanks Sandy, this is very useful. I was estimating my current usage based on the general guidelines from books like Clader's Mechanical and Electrical Manual. Your measurements give much more accuracy.

With realization that lights have the biggest power consumption, I decided this season to replace them all with LED. The number of replacement bulbs is really amazing, and I was happy to not need to replace the fixtures. I used the Ancor replacement bulbs available at West Marine: http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... &langId=-1
Pick one of the 360 double-bayonet models - 9353913 or 9353905.
I used this for navigation lights: http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... &langId=-1

Regards,
Maciek

[Ron]

I'd think that the refrigeration grabbed a good share of the power when it's running on DC. About 2.5 amps? Swapping LED's for the lights is a good idea.

[Dan]

Upgrading the lights to LED based ones is a great idea. According to my friend Rod, who is well known on many forums as Maine Sail, the best LED replacement bulbs are the Sensibulbs. These are properly heat-sinked to provide a long lifespan. Heat or over-voltage are the usual causes of LED failure.

For navigation lights, I'd recommend going with a LED-based navigation light, rather than replacement bulbs. One reason for this is many of the LED fixtures are basically sealed units and far more reliable than using a replacement bulb. Another reason for this is almost NONE of the replacement bulbs are actually USCG certified for use in any fixture.

BTW, Dr. LED claims that they have USCG certification, but they only have it for ONE BULB in ONE SPECIFIC ANCHOR LIGHT FIXTURE. USCG certification is important in the case of an accident, since expert witness testimony on whether your boat was properly lit and visible can be very, very expensive and can cause you to be found at fault.

[drsm]

Dan,

Any recommendation for the navigation lights (port/starboard)? I believe you went with a masthead tricolor, but I've already converted the anchor light to LED using the DrLED replacement.

Steve

[Dan]

If you're going to go with an LED fixture, the most reasonably priced one that I've seen is the AquaSignal Series 32. The bicolor is available for about $65 or so, here. Unlike many, it is USCG certified. I have them but have not mounted them yet, as I've got other projects in the queue ahead of them.

[gsbpel]

I installed an 80 watt solar panel that keeps the batteries up and allows me to use the Ingle fridge and nav computer when needed without running the motor to recharge the batteries. My only question is what is the best charge controller for the system. At the present time the batteries vary between 12.7 and 13.2 volts. I am still using the two batteries that came from PC in March of 2008.

gsbpel

S/V Shadow Princess 369

[Dan]

It really depends on how much solar power you're planning on adding. For up to about 260-300 watts of panels, I'd recommend the BlueSky SB2000E, which is an MPPT type charge controller. About $230 or so retail.