ST21 'Skinnydip' build, and boating adventures, Noosa, Australia

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cape man
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Re: ST21 'Skinnydip' build, and boating adventures, Noosa, Australia

Post by cape man »

Have you also considered a small PV panel that will trickle charge the house battery during the day? Of course it may not work so well during the monsoon season, but given the small draw of the anchor light you should be able to make that up during the day with a decent charger when the sun's shining. It might be cheaper and certainly easier than installing a dimmer.
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Re: ST21 'Skinnydip' build, and boating adventures, Noosa, Australia

Post by TomW1 »

GB Blue Seas have a dimmer control system that should work. Take a look. https://www.bluesea.com/products/category/10/Dimmers

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Restored Mirror Dinghy, Bought OD18 built by CL, Westlawn School of Yacht Design courses. LT US Navy 1970-1978

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glossieblack
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Re: ST21 'Skinnydip' build, and boating adventures, Noosa, Australia

Post by glossieblack »

Jaysen wrote: Thu Jun 02, 2022 6:08 am No. PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) is a method of switching the voltage on and off quickly to create the illusion of dimming. The dimming effect is created by the length of the “on” pulse. The longer the “on” the brighter the light appears.
Thanks Jaysen, whole new world for me.
joe2700 wrote: Thu Jun 02, 2022 12:21 pm Do you know how many amps the light is drawing? Even a very bright LED is pretty low draw. My 2 mile anchor light draws 0.15 amps, so my single group 24 house battery could run it for 210 hours before being drawn down to half capacity. You may want to limit the brightness for other reasons, but I suspect the current draw is a non factor unless you are leaving it on for over a week with no charging at all.
Thanks Joe, I leave the light on unattended for up to months at a time.
cape man wrote: Thu Jun 02, 2022 12:54 pm Have you also considered a small PV panel that will trickle charge the house battery during the day? Of course it may not work so well during the monsoon season, but given the small draw of the anchor light you should be able to make that up during the day with a decent charger when the sun's shining. It might be cheaper and certainly easier than installing a dimmer.
Thanks CM, Considered it many a time, but regrettably local petty thieves have a demonstrated appetite for small solar cells.

Thanks Tom, but I've already ordered the 12V Dimmer Switch High Side PWM recommended by resident guru Jaysen. Thanks again Jaysen. :D
Currently building Jacques Mertens ST21 "Skinnydip". Boating adventures: Splash testing and using 'Skinnydip, as a basis of further building refinement; Adams 44’ sailing sloop "Great Sandy" (cruising and maintaining); Iain Oughtred Feather Pram "Mini Dip" (building); Jacques Mertens R13 "Wood Duck" (built and due for maintenance).

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Re: ST21 'Skinnydip' build, and boating adventures, Noosa, Australia

Post by OrangeQuest »

Could make a Zener diode regulator that would drop the voltage to the desired amount and reduce current draw at the same time. But why wouldn't you just put a dust to dawn light sensor and then a solar charger to recharge the battery in the daylight?

https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/diode/diode_7.html

I don't know if a PWM would be the way to go with a LED light. Since the color of light the LED emits is based on a pulse frequency to start with.

Ok, I read the part about thief of solar panels. May I suggest modifying a battery powered bug zapper!
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Re: ST21 'Skinnydip' build, and boating adventures, Noosa, Australia

Post by cape man »

...but regrettably local petty thieves have a demonstrated appetite for small solar cells.
That sucks!
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Re: ST21 'Skinnydip' build, and boating adventures, Noosa, Australia

Post by Jaysen »

OrangeQuest wrote: Fri Jun 03, 2022 10:24 am Could make a Zener diode regulator that would drop the voltage to the desired amount and reduce current draw at the same time. But why wouldn't you just put a dust to dawn light sensor and then a solar charger to recharge the battery in the daylight?
The device most likely is regulating 12v to the correct diode operating current. normally this approach results in a "no light at all" result unless you know that the diode is unregulated.
OrangeQuest wrote: Fri Jun 03, 2022 10:24 am I don't know if a PWM would be the way to go with a LED light. Since the color of light the LED emits is based on a pulse frequency to start with.
PWM is the standard for controlling dimming as it provides full voltage to the LED allowing it to operate within designed voltage specs. the frequency that most PWM controllers operate it is WELL under the LED internal cycle which is how the colors remain unimpacted.

The best way to think of PWM is "full on/full off" like a child playing with a light switch. The "dimness" is really an illusion our eyes create when they smooth the light level. This is the same illusion we have with motion pictures. If you recall the old film days, there were only still images yet everything moved smoothly on screen.
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Re: ST21 'Skinnydip' build, and boating adventures, Noosa, Australia

Post by TomW1 »

My only question with PWM is bulb life. Most LED's do not do well in an on/off cycle system as far as I know. I may be wrong. So correct me if so Jaysen. Also not being very conversant with PWM's how do you control the on/off cycle to get the amount of intensity you want?

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Re: ST21 'Skinnydip' build, and boating adventures, Noosa, Australia

Post by Jaysen »

AC based LED have reliability issues with the circuits that managed the conversion to DC voltage. If you’re in a DC system the PWM duty cycle switching, if done properly, will have negligible impact on lifecycle.

I do it with an LM305 triggered by a 2n222 off the attiny PWM output. When using a 326p or esp32 I’ll use a shift register to allow one pwm pin to trigger more driver circuits.
My already completed 'Lil Bit'. A Martens Goosen V12 set up to sail me to the fishing holes.
Currently working on making a Helms 24 our coastal cruiser.
“Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens” wrote:Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.
Jaysen wrote: Mon Apr 29, 2019 3:44 pm I tried to say something but God thought I was wrong and filled my mouth with saltwater. I kept my pie hole shut after that.

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Re: ST21 'Skinnydip' build, and boating adventures, Noosa, Australia

Post by glossieblack »

Thanks OQ, cape man, Jaysen, Tom, and Jaysen again. The PWM dimmer that I've ordered from Amazon should arrive in about a week.

After an extended wet season, the Noosa River bar and inner channel has straightened up - scroll down to 2nd video below. The water is still tannin stained from all that has come down from the Upper Noosa River Everglades.

It's unlikely to stay this straight for long, but hopefully long enough for a Great Sandy departure, other things going well, around mid July.

There is plenty of maintenance and preparatory work to do on her in the meantime. :wink:

[youtube]https://www.fishingnoosa.com.au/noosabar.htm[/youtube]
Currently building Jacques Mertens ST21 "Skinnydip". Boating adventures: Splash testing and using 'Skinnydip, as a basis of further building refinement; Adams 44’ sailing sloop "Great Sandy" (cruising and maintaining); Iain Oughtred Feather Pram "Mini Dip" (building); Jacques Mertens R13 "Wood Duck" (built and due for maintenance).

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Re: ST21 'Skinnydip' build, and boating adventures, Noosa, Australia

Post by glossieblack »

At last, clear blue skies for the past couple of days, so today the child bride and I started tackling the long annual 'to do' list preparing Great Sandy for our annual blue water cruise.

The child bride has been cleaning off mold down below after the recent extended wet. I've been getting the spaghetti of lines, sheets etc. at the gooseneck (mast-boom connection) better organized.

The pic shows last years' spaghetti junction when zoomed. :roll:

8898
Currently building Jacques Mertens ST21 "Skinnydip". Boating adventures: Splash testing and using 'Skinnydip, as a basis of further building refinement; Adams 44’ sailing sloop "Great Sandy" (cruising and maintaining); Iain Oughtred Feather Pram "Mini Dip" (building); Jacques Mertens R13 "Wood Duck" (built and due for maintenance).

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