Our DIY Solar Power Upgrade (Boat installation)

[@michaelbundy3867]

Well the really cleaver part of this whole thing was Carly filming Hank in the reflection of the picture frame while Dom was droning on🤣

[@usefulcommunication4516]

Don't take this the wrong way, but what's that lump on the front of your neck? I'm quite sensitive to neck lumps since finding one on our daughter's neck a few years ago (that none of us had noticed for far too long) that turned out to be thyroid cancer. Everything turned out fine. And I'm sure whatever yours is, isn't. And I'm sure you're aware of it and know what it is. And you do seem to be a clone of a very good friend of mine, but with added ginger. So, just a friendly heads up.

[@AndyUK-Corrival]

I must admit I thought the same' I hope that’s nothin to worry about.

[@grahamatsea3575]

Excellent video....I'm needing some guard rail mounted solar panels myself so this video has been really useful 👍

[@marleneb.455]

Lovely to see Hank in the reflection of the picture behind you. I won’t lie that it was hard to pay attention to you when Hank was there. lol

[@CadohaAdventures]

That’s fair, he always steals the show when he makes an appearance 😬

[@charles11ification]

That sounds a good plan.

[@Cptnbond]

Nice to see a new episode! Looking forward to all of your coming "electrical" episodes -- done and voiced in your unique style. Buying lithium looks like a jungle to me. Cheers.

[@CadohaAdventures]

Yes the lithium battery puzzle doesn’t seem that straight forward but the pros I think outweigh the cons, but you’ll get to see a fairly real time experiment on buying cells direct from the manufacturer and creating our own bank, you’ll get to see how it goes anyway.

[@MiQBohlin]

I like that salamander 🦎 way of keeping healthy!

[@CadohaAdventures]

To be fair, I'm so pale that a cloudy day is plenty for me to replenish my. Vitamin D 😂 Hope you're keeping well 🙏🏻⛵️🍻

[@james660660]

Missed Carly and Hank, but the prep work and upgrades as well as the thought process in these video's are very interesting and entertaining. Keep up the good work Dum.

[@billhall9881]

I really enjoy your attitude. Well Done.

[@CadohaAdventures]

Thanks, Bill. Hope you’re keeping well.

[@nortonmolly]

Great video of your daily jobs 👍. Have you ever watched Emily and Clark’s Adventures on KZbin? Clark has been cruising for many years and is an inventor. He has made a device to combine lead and lithium batteries which he has talked about in recent videos. Lead and or Lithium both have their advantages so Clark wants to use both on his yacht.

[@paulnicholls2921]

Ok thanks Dom. I’ll give him a call tomorrow. I need to make a decision soon because the welder is cracking on with the arch and he needs to know the dimensions of the panels. I’m hoping to get somewhere between 900 and 1200 watts up there, plus a wind generator. The Mrs, Krissy, has just told me she has sent you a message on FB asking the same questions, so don’t worry too much about getting into details with her since you’ve done that here. We also have a KZbin channel, Sailing Crazy Ivan. Only a few videos, mostly jobs getting done, but give it a look if you have time. Any feedback would be helpful too. Cheers Paul.

[@AndyUK-Corrival]

Nice to see you guys again. The weather is certainly making me excited to get out. Great links on the Solar as it is good to find a local company so helpful. Not sure about the rock star look, more like someone who has been stuck on a desert island. “Wilson!” Andy U.K.

[@yachtlaina1304]

A really good setup. Good idea on the guy ropes to cleats to hold the panels.

[@peterj.teminski6899]

A heat wave in February, please don't rub it in. Our February's last into May. Loved your video. Stay safe. Cheers.

[@seanmorris]

11:50 I was thinking Luke Kelly of the Dubliners.

[@mq9298]

2 words... Noddy Holder Enjoying the vids, they're exhausting me with all the work you're doing Hope you have a great summer!

[@SailingIndiana]

Great video guys and good to get a closer look at the inner workings of a solar array! This is a job we will be doing too, but you’re probably a year ahead of us yet!

[@CadohaAdventures]

Just adding bits and pieces as we go along, but it’d be good to actually do more sailing now than boat work. Fingers and toes are crossed 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

[@SailingIndiana]

@@CadohaAdventures That’s true, we feel like it’s a race against time to get the boat ready to sail before we miss the summer😬😂 Best of luck and hopefully see you out there x

[@chriszanf]

@10:41 Great animated photo of Hank on the wall!

[@chrisabbott7458]

Where's Hank? Super vlog. Have you considered a wind turbine? I'm told they work quite well on yachts. Let's see a bit more of Carly in your next vlog she's got to be the loveliest yachty in the world of vlogs and she's such a cheerful person. Hope you get some sailing in soon. I can't wait to get out on my narrowboat.

[@CadohaAdventures]

They’re here, Carly is busy making her wares and walking/ looking after Hank while I’m off at work most days filling the penny jar back up 😬 I’ll be sure to relay your feedback to her (them) 😁😁

[@liongod1000]

@Chris Abbott *_ Hank is in the reflection of the picture glass at **10:45** _*

[@SailingChannels]

Nice job! So much power you’ll get to a point where you can connect into the grid and run a small city

[@davidferry548]

I know COVID is a bugger 🤬 and is a limiter right now but endless boat jobs can be the strongest dock lines you’ll ever get. A cruising board is NEVER fully ready to go at some stage you need to go and do things enroute after all cruising is just boat repairs in remote poorly serviced locations👍

[@dobie2times]

Great video thank you. Lots of people naysayers on here. You are doing fine with enuf research and the right amount of work. Keep it up and I will keep watching.

[@waynematthews2362]

Hi both, I'm a new viewer and watched all your videos now. I am in the south coast and and engineer by trade with lots of boating based knowledge of mechanical band electrical systems. Happy to help with labour where needed on projects for free or offer advice if it helps you keep the boat going. Looking forward to more videos and seeing where it takes you.

[@DaddysWreck]

Cool video

[@bryanhebden8398]

Make sure that the wire you are installing is marine grade (tinned) as I noticed your fuse was for a vehicle. Marine wire in a boat is necessary to prevent corrosion.

[@matthewcarlile9916]

Great job Dom keep up the hard work . Love watching you channel

[@davidferry548]

The hair changes through this sort of suit the job shows your slow decent into madness 😂

[@AntonHu]

You'll only get meaningful amounts of Vitamin D from the sun in UK while wearing typical clothes for the season from April to Spetember, I'm afraid. The rest of the year you really need to supplement I'm afraid (and beware, the NHS is way behind the times on its dose recommendation!).

[@rogerdinnis3816]

I have received the govt issue vitamin D tablets, one a day. What would you recommend if different?

[@marcelocheves]

Be carefull with electricity, you must calculate your comsumtion in order to use battery chargers and inverters, not only that, you need to know if your solar cells will charge your battery banks, do not mess with electricity man, if you miscalculate the boat cosumption you can turn your boat in a campfire. Sorry for my english bro.

[@CadohaAdventures]

Your second language is almost certainly far better than any attempt I’ve ever made and managing to speak a second tongue. So far the solar panels have been keeping the batteries nicely charged up, I actually installed the panels last year, just only got round to making a video of it now. We have three solar charge controllers to make sure the charge going into the battery bank is the right level, also when the batteries are fully charged, the charge controller also wont allow anymore power to go in, so you can’t over charge them. So far, so good.

[@Tim8mit]

you look like Ginger Baker, from Cream back in the 1970's....you seem to doing well with the rewiring and I'm sure you will be chuffed when it is done

[@sailingvolupia]

Hey mate Grate video thanks for sharing thanks for the info ⛵⛵⛵

[@liongod1000]

*_ WELCOME BACK by the way!! _*

[@CadohaAdventures]

Thanks, Robert. We didn’t really go anywhere, just knuckling down and working through the winter to put some more cash back into the adventure fund 😬😬⛵️ There’s only so much manual labour anyone would be interested in watching me so I imagine 😁 Hope you’re keeping well.

[@LivingHakuna]

Great video guys! very informative 🤙🏻

[@stephenbuckle6180]

More Ginger Baker rock-on impersonations please🙃

[@DanielJLopes]

Oh this was fun to see, fantastic job so far! :) @12:00 Sideshow bob hair? :D

[@Blueskieshlg1]

Hi there Could you please explain what your shunt is and how it works

[@stevenr8606]

🤔 you could do up-grades to your solar panels to SUNPOWER panels to receive 400w per panel

[@liongod1000]

@Sailing Cadoha *_ Yep, sorry about our South African variation but the locals all think covid is a myth and treated it with disdain until thousands dropped like flies. But, the tide has turned after very strict lockdowns and we're thankfully back to Stage ONE again. Cheers from Sunny Cape Town! Oh, we've sent the sun on a course to start warming you guys up North! _*

[@andysutils]

Do you link your engine just to all the same lithium battery bank. Or do you have one isolated as your engine starter battery?

[@CadohaAdventures]

We have an isolated started battery but if we need to we can also flick a switch and call upon the lithium bank to start the boat, if for any reason the starter battery dies.

[@paulnicholls2921]

Hi Dom, thanks for the video. The guy you referred to as the mad professor, is he helping you design your system? We are just getting into it and I’m becoming bewildered by the choices of equipment. I could do with some informed input.

[@CadohaAdventures]

Well the planning was a mix of me guessing how much ‘real estate’ I have (to mount panels) and then talking to people who know about solar to find out what else I need. I dealt with a company called ‘Sun Store’ who are based in Worthing, but we did everything by email, phone and post. I dealt with a guy called curtis who was really kind and held my hand through the process and put a box together of everything I’d need to set up the system and some really easy to follow instructions. I’m also about to do a lithium bank upgrade and there’s lots of changes to our ‘system’ taking place too, and Frank (the mad scientist) as well as the guy who owns the battery company, have both helped with my simpleton questions and hopefully told me all the bits I need to put it together. Be sure to check that video out when I publish it and hopefully that will also help. But as far as solar and components go, if you’re local, give curtis a call at Sun Store (I’m not affiliated, just sharing my experience) and I think he’ll be a tremendous help.

[@PremierNZ-qb5zd]

You guys are really lucky that you are allowed to go sailing during lock down, here in New Zealand our Marxist government has strictly forbidden it. Anyway I love your videos and really look forward to each episode.

[@CadohaAdventures]

Well fingers crossed you can start moving around again soon? Love or hate the government, from how it looks back here, you guys do seem to have a better handle on the situation than we do right now. Either way, hoping to get back to ‘normal’ again soon.

[@markbennett9787]

Your solar panels seem very vulnerable with so much of them outboard. Do you intend to have them deployed in that position when you’re underway ?

[@CadohaAdventures]

No, we fold them down when we sail and tie them off so they’re secure. We used them when we were (are anchored).

[@KeithBaileyEsq]

Hey guys - is the link for sunstore correct? Seems to take me to a Google affiliate page

[@CadohaAdventures]

Not sure what’s up with that. Try just google searching them, they’re based in Worthing and ask for a guy called Curtis.

[@iainlyall6475]

nice hair doo's :-)

[@375dash]

Was that someone sailing a foiling moth through the marina behind you at the end there?

[@CadohaAdventures]

Yes they were zipping up and down the river that day. The sun is coming back out to play again and people seem to be following suit.

[@andypidsley2688]

I am surprised you are going for electric cooking, this will eat up all of your additional power generation and storage. Why not stay gas which works and will keep working if the power goes down. Use the additional power for refrigeration and IT stuff. Cooking on electric realistically requires a 24v system massive cables which then means also having a 12v system for everything else. The cost of gas is relatively low and all your eggs not in one basket. Anyway I always love your videos keep up the good work.

[@SOLDOZER]

Your charge controllers are way undersized for those panels and even worse for your charging system as a whole. You have reduced your ability to charge your batteries by almost 50%. And since they are undersized, they will run at 100% and get hot, making them even less efficient.

[@CadohaAdventures]

The panels are several separate circuits with the correct controller for each one. They never get hot?

[@HannahandSimonKing]

I was a bit surprised that when you were showing your new box of freshly received solar equipment you picked various bits up and just threw them out of the box, just a thought that they might last better if you handled them a bit more carefully? Just a thought!

[@IM-de5dg]

Celtic glam rock, Bay city rollers?

[@roymitchell4563]

Are you in Shamrock Quay?

[@CadohaAdventures]

No, just a bit further down the river in Itchen.

[@waltermitty6807]

how about instead 80's glam rock band ,the guy from room 222, that was a 70's t.v. series,only joking,i am a red head too

[@EricEversonArtAndDesign]

If Simply Red had been a metal band...

[@SailingChannels]

Ha! I knew I recognized him from somewhere

[@SteifWood]

Relax man,,, I get dizzy with ur pace ....

[@themanofmead5273]

Turning off your telly is the best way to fight the rona.

[@patsimmonds1604]

Any chance of a schematic at all Dom?

[@seanmorris]

Have to look through the bin for the beermat ;-)

[@leightonthomas8233]

lol... less hair more Hank please... and as for the blue lol xx and remember as a Ginge you produce your own vitamin D... Ginges rule xxx

[@johnprance1888]

I was leaning towards Lithium myself for a while but after reading more and more, the benefits don't add up to outweigh the cons for a small vessel, and the complexity that is added to what before was a really basic system is only good if it doesn't go wrong. My mind was made listening to an interview on Boatingtube kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKO3lWelaL-SpNU with an expert from Canada on this subject and it just changed my mind completely.

[@CadohaAdventures]

Thanks, I’ll be sure to have a listen. 👌

[@AndyUK-Corrival]

That’s a really good call, I have not seen this channel before and that was some very interesting points being made for and against lithium. I don’t live aboard and my boat is small with limited electrical needs so Lithium is definitely not for me and this video confirmed it.

[@aleroxit]

Yes. Laps is what happens when work gets done. Boat projects... Great vid! I love your style but... If you're going to show us what's in the box, maybe don't say what's in the box. Less you frantically talking. Not interesting. More you working- drinking-thinking -planning... Far less talking. More dog. More carly. Less talking. Did I say less talking. Try less talking. Less is more. Thanks. Love you

[@davidwarnes5158]

A different view , all the other boats with lithium, the battery God, end up being battery monitors , as in power is the God. Solar amazing , but your falling into the power is God, All the solar down the sides , not small panels, where will the spiniker lines run, what's going to catch onto the panels, there are usually stringent bits making the boat move . Step back about cooking electric , great on a large boat with 1000 ah of battery , in the sun, What's better a battery car or a hybrid , no charging points a car don't run, electric runs out you have the cars engine . Keep gas , you use it , electric cooking tend not to have an oven. Just plates, have both , all electric a fuse away from having nothing

[@CadohaAdventures]

All fair points. I won’t lie, we’ve never even flown a spinnaker and I honestly didn’t consider the implications of flying the kite in relation to the new solar panels. We have a small propane burner, like a camping stove that we use when we want to go and eat out say on the beach etc rather than run the risk of lighting a fire in some places, I was planning on keeping that on board, mostly for the use I just laid out, but would also function as an emergency back up. I’m also wondering if a small generator on board wouldn’t be a bad idea to have some additional backups, especially if we want to put even more demands on the system?

[@davidwarnes5158]

And lithium can go down a lot further , that means you have further to come back up. And most users of electric ,live like a hobo, or have a generator ,

[@davidwarnes5158]

@@CadohaAdventures if you have a small generator , so your buying another fossil fuel engine , lol They tend to be more unreliable than a diesel engine , you have to put it outside to run it , then run a lead, Then you need more petrol , more combustible than diesel. You may as Well get a better altinator on your engine , the engine e is more reliable , and the space you tried to make from reducing battery size you take up with petrol and storing a generator , Learn to use the spiniker or cruising chute , they make the boat move across oceans ,

[@CadohaAdventures]

@@davidwarnes5158 learning to fly the spinnaker is certainly on the list of things to do this year, although we were just super focussed on learning to fly the white sails well, before moving on to slightly tricker sails.

[@davidwarnes5158]

@@CadohaAdventures cruising chute is better for you, setting up the pole if you have one to pole out the Genoa, this will help you greatly, it looks hard but it isn't, Great for down wind , Not needed if your heading still to French canals .

[@jeannem6723]

Wondering if you realize how grating the phrase "we're allowed to do" rings on the ears of non Brits? Hope we never go down that road.

[@nick.caffrey]

Some people are quite happy with science.