Re: Adding a Third Battery for Ice Maker ?
At those prices.......those would be INVERTER Generators (a gas engine with an inverter!!).......rotflmao, killing me here ppl .....Hmmmm, seems we just made that out of the engine he already has, but having two now is cool too, rolling eyes.
Soooo......approx 1 gal/8hr 24hrs/8 = 3 gal/day * 10 days = 30 gals/trip * $3.50/gal = $105/trip.
I'm off to the funny farm, plz let me in, i can't do this anymore.
The door is open - come on in. Yes, you did create a solution -- using a 4.3 V6 to charge batteries. But now I get it. You want the small generator to run 24x7 even though ice production is not needed 24x7 (unless of course the OP drinks a lot more than I do). There have been several proposed solutions, all of which require the 4.3 V6 to run, run frequently, and for long periods of time to keep a large battery bank charged. The generator solution was presented because in a 7 - 10 day outing, I suspect there will be long periods of down time. Since each day has approximately 10 hours of darkness during which a fair amount of that time lights are required and perhaps a TV/stereo is in use. So it is not just the ice maker that is going to suck at that battery bank. How much simpler can it be than to plug the ice maker into a generator and run it whenever the need for a new ice supply is needed. Nothing else needs to change. If the intended use of the ice maker is ALWAYS during a time when the engine is running the OP needs to do nothing. Apparently that is not the case since he presented a problem that obviously is due to down-time and the need to make ice.
Running a 4.3 V6 for non-propulsion purposes is a waste of fuel. The Honda 2000i is rated up to 9.6 hrs/gal so those numbers are far less than one would burn running the 4.3V6 to do the same job with the added benefit of running other stuff without the worry of running down a battery bank. What a waste of fuel to sit on a remote beach with a 4.3 running the north side of 2000 rpm just to charge some batteries. By the way, a Honda 1000i weighs 29# and the 2000i a bit more and can be used for power anywhere should the need arise. A big Trojan (the battery) weighs how much, and costs how much, and altered/sequenced electrical costs are what, and the increased complexity and failure possibilities certainly do not adhere to the KISS principle do they? All of the suggestions presented in this thread will work. But anytime an attempt is made to add a heating appliance or a large motor driven appliance like A/C or in this case an ice maker, to a smaller recreational boat with a 12 volt electrical system, one needs to make compromises. Unlike our government, most folks realize there is a limit as to how much money one can throw at a problem to come up with a reasonable solution. The issue here, is to scrap the ice maker idea and look for other means of refrigeration, or if ice is really that crucial, one pays the price in fuel, equipment modifications, weight, complexity, inconvenience and other factors that creep in. I think the OP, by now, has an idea what he's up against.
