Search Sailnet:

 forums  store  


Quick Menu
Forums           
Articles          
Galleries        
Boat Reviews  
Classifieds     
Blogs               
Boat Search (new)






Go Back   SailNet Community > General Interest Forums > Gear & Maintenance
User Name
Password
 Not a Member? 


Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread
 Like this article?  Digg It!  or   Bookmark it!
  #1 (permalink)  
Old 05-06-2008
Edo Kazumichi Edo Kazumichi is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 57
Rep Power: 4
Edo Kazumichi is on a distinguished road
Transformers

Hi ya'll!

I've got a Xantrex Truecharge 20 connected to a Marinco power inlet. Problem is that I'm in a 220V country.

I've also got a 100 watt transformer. Seems to me that I could simply cut my Marinco power cord and wire the transformer's output into that then plug it into the boat.

I'm ONLY running the battery charger off of the shore power and won't be plugging anything into my AC outlets so I don't think I have to worry about the transformer's low power output.

Will this work?

Thanks in advance. This crowd is always a big help!

Edo

Last edited by Edo Kazumichi : 05-06-2008 at 10:08 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #2 (permalink)  
Old 05-06-2008
sailingdog's Avatar
sailingdog sailingdog is offline
Telstar 28
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: New England
Posts: 35,475
Rep Power: 7
sailingdog is just really nicesailingdog is just really nicesailingdog is just really nicesailingdog is just really nice
I don't think that is going to work. The numbers are just wrong.

The Xantrex Truecharge 20 outputs 20 Amps @ 14.5 Volts, or almost 300 Watts... You've got a 100 Watt transformer.
__________________
Sailingdog

Telstar 28
New England

You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)

If you're new to the Sailnet Forums... please read this POST.

Still—DON'T READ THAT POST AGAIN.
Reply With Quote
  #3 (permalink)  
Old 05-06-2008
Edo Kazumichi Edo Kazumichi is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 57
Rep Power: 4
Edo Kazumichi is on a distinguished road
Okay. So, if I get a transformer of at least (20 x 14.5 =) 290 watts then it should work, right? Any other problems that you can see?
Reply With Quote
Sponsored Ad
  #4 (permalink)  
Old 05-06-2008
sailingdog's Avatar
sailingdog sailingdog is offline
Telstar 28
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: New England
Posts: 35,475
Rep Power: 7
sailingdog is just really nicesailingdog is just really nicesailingdog is just really nicesailingdog is just really nice
IIRC, you're probably going to need closer to a 350 Watt transformer. Per the Xantrex specification sheet, the Xantrex Truecharge 20 is only 85% efficient, which means to get the 290 Watts or so out, it needs to have about 350 watts as an input.
__________________
Sailingdog

Telstar 28
New England

You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)

If you're new to the Sailnet Forums... please read this POST.

Still—DON'T READ THAT POST AGAIN.
Reply With Quote
  #5 (permalink)  
Old 05-07-2008
camaraderie's Avatar
camaraderie camaraderie is offline
moderate?
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: East Coast
Posts: 13,910
Rep Power: 10
camaraderie is a jewel in the roughcamaraderie is a jewel in the roughcamaraderie is a jewel in the rough
EDO...I am not understanding. What does the transformer "transform"? In the 220V countries I've been in...transformers are used to transform dockside 220V/50hz power into 110V/50hz power and are wired with a 30amp female marinco plug to allow you to run your 30A shorepower cord. Thus the Xantrex should see 110V power (50hz) and run just fine. Why would you be cutting power cords? Do you not have access to female marinco plugs?
I don't understand the wattage issue either as I've never heard of a 100 watt dockside transformer. All the dockside transformers in the Caribe are big heavy affairs capable of running air conditioning as well as other on board stuff, so maybe I am just thinking about this wrong!

Oh...and in any event...I'd get something at least 50% bigger than my continuous need to allow for losses and startup loads.
__________________
www.anything-sailing.com
"Not too cold...not too hot...just right!"
Reply With Quote
  #6 (permalink)  
Old 05-07-2008
sailingdog's Avatar
sailingdog sailingdog is offline
Telstar 28
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: New England
Posts: 35,475
Rep Power: 7
sailingdog is just really nicesailingdog is just really nicesailingdog is just really nicesailingdog is just really nice
Cam-

I don't think he's using a standard "dock-side" transformer of any sort. I think he's trying to cobble together a work around to solve the problem on a very temporary basis...at least that is my hope...since the real solution would be to either get a proper marine transformer setup or a 240 VAC battery charger.
__________________
Sailingdog

Telstar 28
New England

You know what the first rule of sailing is? ...Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take
a boat to the sea you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as the turning of the worlds. Love keeps
her going when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurting 'fore she keens. Makes her a home.

—Cpt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity (edited)

If you're new to the Sailnet Forums... please read this POST.

Still—DON'T READ THAT POST AGAIN.
Reply With Quote
  #7 (permalink)  
Old 05-07-2008
camaraderie's Avatar
camaraderie camaraderie is offline
moderate?
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: East Coast
Posts: 13,910
Rep Power: 10
camaraderie is a jewel in the roughcamaraderie is a jewel in the roughcamaraderie is a jewel in the rough
ahhh...got it. Ditto your advice!
__________________
www.anything-sailing.com
"Not too cold...not too hot...just right!"
Reply With Quote
  #8 (permalink)  
Old 05-07-2008
brak brak is offline
Sea Slacker
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,462
Rep Power: 3
brak is on a distinguished road
Considering a price of something like that, it probably would have been cheaper to get a native 110-220v charger for the boat (and a lot less problematic).

BTW, I actually thought Xantrex covered the entire range, until I got it installed and read the manual What a bummer, I haven't seen a 110v only electronic device in years.
Reply With Quote
  #9 (permalink)  
Old 05-07-2008
SEMIJim SEMIJim is offline
Nautical Newbie
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: S.E. Michigan, USA
Posts: 2,135
Rep Power: 4
SEMIJim will become famous soon enoughSEMIJim will become famous soon enough
Quote:
Originally Posted by brak View Post
BTW, I actually thought Xantrex covered the entire range, until I got it installed and read the manual What a bummer, I haven't seen a 110v only electronic device in years.
That was my first thought, too, brak. I'm almost shocked the Xantrex is 110VAC only. Not that it'll likely ever be an issue for me, but you never know.

Jim
__________________
s/v Abracadabra
1976 Pearson P30
Reply With Quote
  #10 (permalink)  
Old 05-07-2008
brak brak is offline
Sea Slacker
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,462
Rep Power: 3
brak is on a distinguished road
I bet they do it on purpose, to charge more for a "dual voltage" version just like TrueCharge 20 and 40 are the same hardware with different firmware on it.
Reply With Quote
Reply



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On

Page generated in 0.5701 seconds (69.84% PHP - 30.16% MySQL) with 14 queries
Add to My Yahoo!         
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
SEO by vBSEO 3.0.0 RC8
(c) Sailnet 2000-2006