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Read more: Cover The Negative Terminal On BatteriesOne of the things I love about my job is that, despite having maintained and refitted boats for over 50 years, I’m still learning, often as the result of the discussions we have in the comments. This has certainly been the case here as I think about reducing short-out risk on batteries, particularly lithium. One […]
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Read more: Another Danger With MRBF FusesThe great discussion on my recent article about proper battery fusing and particularly the potential danger of MRBF fuses failing closed, instead of opening the circuit in the event of a short circuit, reminded me about another big downside of these kinds of fuses that actually negates the supposed advantage of being able to install […]
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Read more: Lithium Battery Buyer’s Guide—FusingLithium batteries have very low internal resistance and so we must think carefully when choosing fuses.
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Read more: Insurance Claim DeniedIt’s possible that our insurance companies will deny a claim if anything on the boat is found to be not compliant with with the terms of the policy, even if the defect in question had nothing to do with the loss.
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Read more: Site Improvements—LoginI have added a login form that appears on the article, so you can login without leaving, and as soon as you do the whole article appears.
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Read more: Under-Torquing Is Dangerous, TooHere’s something that I only recently really wrapped my aging brain around: the danger of under torquing fastenings, other than the obvious one of them coming loose.
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Read more: The Rolling Refit ContinuesColin continues the story of bringing a fundamental sound, but 47 year old, racing boat back to offshore standards and turning her into a comfortable, fast and safe cruising boat, all while Scotland’s winter winds howl.
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Read more: Why We Need a Torque ScrewdriverStainless steel is not as strong as it looks. For example, the recommended torque on a 10-24 (~5mm) 316 SS machine screw is just 23.8 inch-pounds (2.68 newton-metres). Login to continue reading (scroll down) Learn About Membership Get to know us for FREE
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Lithium Batteries Buyer’s Guide—Current (Amps) Requirements and Optimal Voltage
80 CommentsReading Time: 11 minutesMembers
Read more: Lithium Batteries Buyer’s Guide—Current (Amps) Requirements and Optimal VoltageBefore laying down hard-earned cash for lithium batteries, we need to calculate the peak current we will use and think about optimal voltage.
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Read more: Lithium Start BatteriesThere are now battery vendors advertising drop-in lithium batteries rated for engine starting. If ever there was a solution looking for a problem, this has gotta be it. Login to continue reading (scroll down) Learn About Membership Get to know us for FREE
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Read more: Getting The Most From AACHaving got the new site design built, installed, and pretty much debugged, I finally got to a project that has been on my todo list for ages: a video tour of AAC. I edited viciously to keep it down to 5 minutes. It’s mainly targeted at new members and those considering joining, but please have […]
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Read more: The Zen of Sail CoversThe cruising life is full of repetitive tasks. How we think about them needs to be different than the way we are programmed before cruising.
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Read more: Gales at Anchor Are Not That ScaryI don’t watch a lot of videos, in fact hardly any, but I was searching for something else when I stumbled on this video over at S/V Delos. Now, there is no question that hurricanes are scary. You don’t have to tell a guy from Bermuda, who cruised the western North Atlantic for over 50 […]
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Read more: Is Boat Electric Drive Green or Greenwashing?Here at AAC we are all over anything that will reduce carbon emissions, but we also don’t like the pretengineering so prevalent in the electric drive business. Login to continue reading (scroll down) Learn About Membership Get to know us for FREE
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Read more: Great Source: How Lithium Batteries ChargeI have been deep into researching lithium batteries, and particularly how they charge, while writing new buyer’s guide chapters for our Electrical Systems Online Book. One of the best sources I have read is a post by Eric Bretscher, over at Nordkyn Design. Before you go read it, a few thoughts: Login to continue reading […]
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Read more: Get Sticky and Go HomeI will clean this up…tomorrow. While we are on the subject of fun you can have with epoxy—see the last Tip—here’s another. Login to continue reading (scroll down) Learn About Membership Get to know us for FREE
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Read more: We Can Never Have Too Many GlovesI have been doing a bunch of work on our J/109 with epoxy resin lately. Nothing structural, just mounting some hardware, and improving the mounting for a couple of turning blocks. Stuff that requires replacing core and bonding backer plates. This kind of work involves handling things covered in epoxy and then handling tools…and then […]
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Read more: Lithium Batteries Buyer’s Guide—Balancing and MonitoringTo buy the right lithium battery and BMS for our needs, we must first understand cell balancing and required monitoring.
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Read more: Source For Custom JacklinesWe have long advocated for jacklines made of heavy Dacron webbing, but in recent years it has been difficult to source them already made up. But now there is a new vendor offering custom jacklines. One suggestion, I would not use their Jackline Assembly, consisting of a shackle and cover. The problem with this approach, […]
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Read more: AAC Menu ImprovementsAs happens with any new site design, I’m improving a bunch of little things to make the site easier to use. The latest around the menu: Sticky Menu This design (and the old) have a sticky menu that appears only when we scroll up. The idea is that if we realize we are in the […]
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Read more: Q&A—Weather Information In The Southern HemisphereQuestion Member Terence asked: When we went to Polynesia, we used Predict Wind. We could get weather in all latitudes. Next year we will again be sailing south of the US Pacific Ocean Prediction Center maps. Need I again use Predict Wind to get what I need? Someone asked the same question about the south […]
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Read more: Just What The World Doesn’t Need
I generally don’t get political around here, and we have a rule against that in our comment guidelines, but sometimes a situation is so egregious that I simply can’t keep my opinion to myself: Login to continue reading (scroll down) Learn About Membership Get to know us for FREE
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Read more: An Interesting Sailboat Electrical System Upgrade Case StudyScuttlebutt have an interesting two-part story about upgrading the electrical system in a J/105. Worth a read, even though this is a racing boat. To me the takeaways are: All useful, but the biggest takeaways are: Much more on electrical system upgrades:
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Read more: How To Blow Up Your AlternatorAnytime I write about batteries and charging someone is bound to bring up one of the clever gadgets that fool a stock alternator into charging at a higher current for longer without resorting to external regulation. Some of these gadgets, particularly the VRC-200 from Nordkyn Electronics, are undoubtedly very clever—here’s another one I wrote about. […]
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Read more: Plumb Bows Are Just Another Rule-Caused FashionThis bow may look old fashioned, but it works. An exchange between Matt and member Charlie in the comments to Matt’s excellent article got me thinking about the latest design fashion to draw boats with plumb bows. Login to continue reading (scroll down) Learn About Membership Get to know us for FREE
