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skidgear - yes, many questions remain. Its still relatively new technology, and it can be dangerous. We certainly know a bit more about gasoline and how to handle/use/transport it. I am still not in fear of deckofficer and his home assembled lithium battery storage though. Or anyone else. I have...

messed up a post here

Terrific Jennifer, thanks! Yes, the car has had so much fabricated its not funny. Very little is stock, and much of it fabricated by me. But I would have bought hinges to do what I needed if I could have found them! A labor of love the car is in general, but the frustration was beyond...

Hey Rick, thanks! Much of what you've said here I read in bits and pieces elsewhere since the discussion began, but you laid it out very nicely. I have a feeling there is silt inside the tanks...not sloshing stress, etc. While the anodes on the hull didn't have anything to do with the water...

The Thelin gnome didn't used to have an automatic ignitition, but now apparently does. It uses the same 27 amps as its big brother the Parlour 3000 and at 19.25" circumference/18.5" footprint its only 3/4 inch smaller.....but it IS only 34" high, so 11" shorter. So it only holds 26 lbs of...

That is so cool Jennifer. See, until it was mentioned here I wouldn't have thought of the sewing machine lift! lol Where do you get them...do you just look for old sewing machine tables somewhere? I am used to designing my own lift type hinges unfortunately. The hinge I ended up using for the...

lol Rick, I should have stated that it does not always hold true when matter changes state. For example, solid to liquid. But it IS true enough in most circumstances that a "bulge" as something warms in temperature is not in and of itself synonymous with hazard ;) deckofficer - I look forward...

Northern Spy - I understand what you are saying, but again, the ignition is contained, the same as a diesel heater. My marina does mention not leaving heaters unattended in the contract but nothing specific about solid fuel itself. Manyboats - No, I was saying that $3000 is NOT expensive. I...

Thanks deckofficer. I often have to slow down to understand the electrical stuff, or read it through a few times. The LiFePO4 cells certainly seem very capable. For someone like me, thinking about the idea of using solar, it makes sense to double, triple quadruple check myself doing...

Hey Phil, no argument on the A/C units, use what works for ya :D. I don't think I'd have enough room to walk around my decks comfortably with the A/C units protruding from the windows. The decks are only 24" wide, which is quite comfortable if there is nothing sticking out. I also like the...

I'll repeat, everything expands when it warms up. What happens when your 2 Liter soda bottle warms up? Why, how, what happens inside, what happens next, what allows the plastic of the bottle to be pushed beyond normal operation, what sort of supervisory equipment is missing to allow it to...

FF - I agree with all your recommendations for insulating, and the inefficiency of boats in general. But while I'm there with you on the heating systems you mentioned, and agree they are good...I think we are forgetting one. While I agree that pellet stoves would not be ideal for some boat...

Definitely true that there are a lot of amateur hack jobs in the boating world. Someone decides they want SOMETHING on their boat, and d*mn if they are going to go buy that expensive panel, switch, or whatever at a marine store and pay big $! "H*ll, I can do that myself!" I really think less...

FF, I do follow the logic behind what you are saying regarding humidity and temp maintenance. But I have to say I see systems all the time cycling off on a regular basis and doing a fine job in keeping humidity down and not fluctuating temps wildly. I do agree though that a system CAN be...

skidgear - you are assuming a lot just because the batteries in a pack "bulge". All materials expand and contract with temperature changes including the concrete on a sidewalk, metal sections on a road surface and the list goes on...and it does not take huge temperature changes to do it. You...

lol

I agree. In my boat there really ARENT any lower cabins. Its almost all in one plane with machinery space below. Easily fastened to the deck as well. To be honest, I hadn't planned to inform my insurance company. I own the boat outright, and IF for some reason I burned the boat down and...

Pineapple Girl, Someone mentioned drawer slides for a slightly different purpose, but in general you can get ball bearing drawer slides on ebay inexpensively. What you'll probably want is the "full extension" style, otherwise a 12" slide as an example might only extend 9", whereas full...

Eric, I suspect you are right. 2 amps at 12v would be like a small work lamp...22.5 amps is much more likely. As I said above though, if you were using it during cruising you'd need to power it with its backup battery(ies)(which could potentially be charging from your alternator at 60, 80, 100...

Steve, you have a good point. And I may do just that. I may want to work at fixing that leaking tank though, because who knows when tank #2 may start to leak. Its the same age as the first. :ermm:

deckofficer - thanks, ok...so closer to $10,000, but a very capable system. Yes, I have more than 200 sq ft of canopy, I appreciate it laid out. It gives me some insight and things to investigate. skidgear - any of the above. Big Brother has his fingers in too many places everywhere. Its...

I really appreciate everyone discussing solar use here. But I would like to remind you that the topic was related to determing what it would take financially today as an investment in actual DOLLARS to run some of the major pieces of equipment some of us use on board, and how much SPACE would be...

You may be right. I just did a search to see if I could find average draw for a home type fridge. FF....I do realize there are much more efficient appliances out there too. Good stuff. Just tried doing the setup without going to "best of the best" scenario. So its sounding to me like a...

Thanks guys....this is just an exercise in "what if" as I mentioned. Sure, it might be cheaper to run a generator in the short run, but what if you are living aboard? With the price of solar panels coming down to less than $1 per kw, its not so far fetched to put together a 2000 kw system for...

Without some sort of battery management system I cant imagine knowing when the cells have reached their charge threshold. It would require frequent checking, and THEN turning on the charging system when it gets there, no? Or do you allow the system to charge WHILE using the current to power...