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Inverter/Chargers

C

captrob

Robert Cohen
<div>Two Questions: 1. Have any of you had experience with Heart's Freedom 10
inverter / battery charger? Good. Bad. Indefferent. Suggestions? 2. For you 382,3,4 owners where did you mount your inverter
/charger and from your experience, do you have any suggestions on
the installation or operation. Anything you would do different
after living with your setup for a while?Thanks,Vic Copelan
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Installed a Freedom 10 on KODA three years ago and can say nothing but good about it. I placed the inverter on the aft bulkhead of the pilot berth with the link 2000R control panel mounted on the bulkhead in front of the nav station. The control module was installed in the small cabinet between these two. At the same time I installed the inverter I added a 12 breaker elec panel and changed my batteries to one large house bank along with a single starter battery. A lot of work over a few months period but was well worth it. Great coverage of installing a heart inv in Practical Sailor April 1955. If you can't find a copy let me know and I will send you one.
 
<div>Victor, I recently installed a Trace inverter and am happy with it's performance. I installed a Heart 1000 for a friend so if you have specific questions, perhaps I could answer. I chose the Trace for Chatelaine (382) because it's a bit more powerful (1500 watts) and seemed to be built a bit better. Also, the Trace has a sort of, "top of the line" reputation. Because of the size of either unit, I think that you will have to install them either in the engine compartment or in the port sail locker area. You will want to keep it as close to the battery bank as is possible as you will need to run heavy (00) or larger cable from batteries to the unit! I kept the run to 5 feet, but less would be better. Actually with the Heart unit and a smaller battery bank, you might be able to squeeze it into the battery compartment under the quarter berth area. I have a bank of 4- 6 volt golf cart batteries for ships service, and a single 12 volt battery for the engine.
If you have questions, let me know!

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As noted in the other responces both the heart and trace are excelent units. I haven't installed one on North Wind (M384) yet!! but I'm an Marine Electronics tech and have installed a number of both Heart Interface and Trace models.
Both have their selling points but are both good high quality, low noise, good waveform, units. There is good installing info as noted and the units come with some good documentation as well. Good luck.
 
Where did you put your 4 - 6 volters? In the battery box under the aft 1/4 berth? I'm thinking of building a box in the port cockpit locker, right behind the garbage can. I feel this will equalize some of the weight from the water tank on the other side.
 
I had the Freedom 10 with Link 2000R put in. I'm very satisfied! It's great to know exactly what your bats are doing. The inverter is installed on the port wall inside the engine compartment. The 2000R is installed down and to the right of the circuit breaker panel. I will replace the standard equipment ammeter and voltmeter with another panel of circuits for extra equip. As noted in a question to Mick's note, I can't figure how to put 4 large house bats and the engine start bat in the dedicated locker, so I'm shifting the battery weight to the port cockpit locker. I feel this will equalize the weight and go with bigger bats.
I think the 1000W is quite sufficient. Remember the bigger you go, the more you got to put back in. The Freedom 10 will run up to 1500W for short periods (&gt;15mins). I regulary use a coffee pot, a toaster over and even a 700W travel iron. It would run a 1000W microwave with no problem. I've even turned it on to heat up water in the water tank for a shower. Worked fine, just had to run engine a little more when recharging. Soon, I'll offset the inverter use with wind generator. Good luck installing it! You'll love it, either one you put in!

 
<div>Ron,Are there any reason not to install the an inverter/charger in an engine room ie. does heat or oil vapor effect the proformance or life of an invertor?Thanks,
Vic
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Tony et al -- I installed an Excide 2000 in the wet locker just forward of the nav station - up high and as far toward the starboard side of the hull as I could contort my body. I've put 4 six volt golf cart Trojans in the batt locker to drive the inverter and DC house circuits. I also squeezed 2 12 volt batts into the same locker under the quarter berth for the engine and a separate control switch. The locker under the aft quarter berth required modification and glassing, but I didn't raise the height of the berth. If I had to do it again, I'd do it the same way.
 
<div>Tony,Sorry it's taken so long to reply. I've been offline for a time due to computer problems! Yes, I put the 4-6 volters under the quarter berth and I also have a 5th battery there as well as my engine starting battery. (a 12 volter). Yes, putting the 4-6 volters in the port side sail locker would work well too. I didn't need the weight on the port side though as I have the optional second water tank on the port side! Get back to me for added info, and I'll try to respond more quickly!
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