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How Many Accessory Plug Points DId You Say We Needed?

Wind Horse power locker

Here is a surprising look at some, but not all, of the items on charge or requiring charging transformers on Wind Horse.

These mainly deal with the computer system with a few of  other items. Included here are:

  • Two portable VHF chargers.
  • Printer.
  • Three external hard drives (Mac Time Machine + two photo hard drives).
  • Hi gain directional antenna Ethernet  power injector.
  • Router.
  • I Mac power supply.
  • I Pad power supply.

In addition, we have the following spread around elsewhere:

  • Camera battery chargers (five!)
  • Phone chargers.
  • Power supply and accessories for Mac Mini nav station computer.

And various other items in the engine room. OK, we are supposed to be a simple boat, but simple is a relative term. Somehow we seem to “need” all this stuff.


Posted by Steve Dashew  (September 29, 2011)

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 29th, 2011 at 12:05 am and is filed under Dashew Logs. Both comments and pings are currently closed.




16 Responses to “How Many Accessory Plug Points DId You Say We Needed?”

  1. David Sutton Says:
    September 29th, 2011 at 8:08 pm

    Hi Steve,

    I hope your enjoying your time shoreside.

    You’ve brought up an issue that has not been well addressed by the consumer electronics industry.
    I have found some power supplies made for powering a number of guitar pedals but they are mostly 9 VDC output.
    I have found one product that looks really good for the low amp devices like cell phones and cameras.
    http://www.callpod.com/products/chargepod
    There are also USB power adapters for anything that can charge though it’s USB connection.

    Cheers,
    David


  2. Gerhard Says:
    September 30th, 2011 at 12:16 am

    I had never too much power outlets in any room at home or anywhere.

    Chaining the outlets has a limit for the current in the first on. With overloaded and chained outlets this is a high fire risk.

    Planning more installed power outlets is always a good thing, having place and cables to add it later if needed.


  3. Steve Dashew Says:
    September 30th, 2011 at 2:48 pm

    Hi Gerard:
    There are two circuit breakers in these circuits. One on the plug strip and another on the panel. The combined loads, however, are low. Less than 500 watts with everything going full tilt, and usually a lot less.


  4. Matt Marsh Says:
    September 30th, 2011 at 6:55 am

    Wind Horse might be simple relative to other yachts of comparable size or price. But, like most cruising boats, she’s still a large, complex machine- and having all the comforts of home, these days, means having a LOT of electrical gadgets.

    My home office is on the “simple” side compared to some, and I still count no less than ten 120V and seven USB plugs under the desk, not counting phones and cameras. After the air conditioner and fridge, the computer gear is probably our biggest power consumer. No one component draws all that much, but add a few LCDs, a decent workstation PC, a printer, storage arrays, portable chargers…. pretty soon you’re drawing enough amps to make a cruising sailor pretty scared.

    The hardest part, I find, is keeping the stuff organized. Velcro and twist-ties help. And I must admit, I quite like your solution of a dedicated compartment where all this stuff can be secured out of sight and out of tripping/snagging range; despite the best efforts of industrial-design artists, most gadgets are still pretty ugly.


  5. Sid Fisher Says:
    September 30th, 2011 at 9:24 am

    This post struck a chord with me for we have just moved ashore for the winter to a rented house in Southern Spain and almost my first priority was to set up a ”communications room” to house our various computers- telephones- hard drives- displays etc etc.

    Really enjoy your posts

    Thanks

    Sid Fisher


  6. David Guest Says:
    September 30th, 2011 at 12:53 pm

    What is the temperature inside that cabinet? Don’t the transformers draw power constantly?


  7. Steve Dashew Says:
    September 30th, 2011 at 2:51 pm

    Hi David:
    Have not measured the temperature, but it is not much above ambient. These small transformers seem to draw a few watts if they are idling, but not enough to be a significant part of the daily total.


  8. Pedro Says:
    September 30th, 2011 at 2:17 pm

    Dear Steve,
    12V DC to 110V AC to come back to almost times 5V DC or 12V DC is not the best optimized way to handle the energy !
    You are loosing on the proces probably about 20% of the energy that is just heating the big room.
    Can be interesting to create a direct DC source from the bateries.


  9. Steve Dashew Says:
    September 30th, 2011 at 2:55 pm

    You are correct, Pedro:
    This in inefficient, and on some of our yachts we have had taps on the batteries. However, we have such a large battery bank on the FPBs, and as these items represent less than 10% of our average daily consumption, the savings from the taps would be minimal. But if you want to maximize efficiency, then taps are the way to go.


  10. Jeff Hosken Says:
    October 1st, 2011 at 2:30 am

    Steve,
    I know you have addressed this topic in bits and pieces, but as an Apple/Mac aficionado, it would be interesting to read a recap of how your computer network is set up and how you use your various Macs, the iPad, and iPhones (if you use that as well).
    Thanks,
    Jeff


  11. Steve Dashew Says:
    October 1st, 2011 at 1:23 pm

    Hi Jeff:
    We’ll try and make time for a computer recap next month.


  12. Dominomarie Says:
    October 1st, 2011 at 6:33 am

    Interesting, Pedro… can one go directly DC to DC? I dind’t think so. Are can it be done?


  13. Dario Says:
    October 2nd, 2011 at 11:20 am

    Hi Steve

    Haven ‘t you ever been stuck because of a dead adapter or charger?

    I have many clients blessing me to have in stock that charger they have broken and abroad without theyr electronic gadget in a desperate situation.

    It all depends on how stable is the supply, but also mac chargers after many hours of silent service brakes down and most of it are not serviciable.

    Does yo keep a repalcement on board for the most critical electronics?

    Best Regards
    Dario


  14. Steve Dashew Says:
    October 2nd, 2011 at 5:09 pm

    Hello Dario:
    We have two Radio Shack variable voltage power supplies. We do not have back up Mac power modules, but we do have a back up computer.


  15. Pedro Says:
    October 3rd, 2011 at 9:39 am

    Hi Dominomarie,

    Converting DC to Dc “going down” is quite easy and efficient. Going up DC DC is not that easy, and is not more eficient than the Steve solution.
    But look the needs are 19.6 V DC for computers that you can take from 24V DC, 12 V for charging VHF batteries and almost rechargable bateries, direct from 12V DC and 5.5 USB also from 12V DC.
    It can be done with a simple voltage regulator IC. The only point is for recharging bateries, you need a current limiter. But lot of V. regulator IC have this capacity.


  16. David Sutton Says:
    October 3rd, 2011 at 9:46 pm

    Hi Folks,

    After my daily (at least) check of SetSail, I went to one of my other favorite websites and found something that directly relates to this thread.

    Now someone is definitely thinking with this product… http://www.gizmag.com/flipit-usb-charger/20024/

    Check it out. and while your there you might as well click the “on the water” link over on the far right of the page. Lotsa cool stuf!

    Cheers,
    David