Help Me Select a Pair of Davits-ordering tonight!

[jpendoley]

Dale, I'm not sure, but I think KAto would advise if they thought I was going to rip my stern rail off. They also sell reinforcing tube that can be fastened at the front of the stantions and angled down to the deck to increase stability of the stern pulpit. I think the load I am looking at is more like 150 pounds in any case and the zodiak will be swung in and secured to the rail when under way to minimize movement, which will help to unload the davits.
I wish I had your ability to do the math though-thank you.

[SailingSeaDragon]

For what it is worth - I spent a fair amount of time talking with Kato a couple of years ago about adding their davits to Sea Dragon (finally decided against davits). Each conversation ended with the recommendation to add reinforcement straps as shown in the attached link.

http://www.katomarine.com/image.php?type=images&img=stern1b

If you decide not to use the straps available from Kato, I suggest you consider some other form of load/stress distribution for your davits.

I liked the Kato products for their quality and the fact they were located 20 minute from Sea Dragon making shipping, service, & support easy.

Garner

[PeteW]

Jpendoly,  I'd get the straps they don't look like they will add much to your cost and if your stern pulpit is like mine, you need the straps. 

In regards to the reefer. I suspect your evaporator is one of those aluminum freezer boxes. Problem with them is there is no thermal mass. Explains why your compressor is cycling every 15 minutes. There's no efficiency to be had in that mode of operation.

Mine runs for an hour or 2 then shuts off for 3 hours. That's because I have a huge holdover plate in there that freezes like a 20lb block of ice. Lots of thermal mass thanks too the phase change of the eutectic coolant in the plate.



The adjustable Danfoss expansion valve really helps dial in the temperature range. I bought a digital thermostat that has 5 degrees C of hysteresis. That also keeps the cycling down to 5-6 times a day.

Pete

[jpendoley]

Pete, I appreciate the input, everyone's experience is really helpful to me as  learn the systems on this, new to me, boat. I live aboard full time, so I have lots of time to think about needed improvements!

[PeteW]

I picked up these custom made davits from salvage. They came off a 41' Westsail and were an insurance total after they got dinged in a collision. They are quite heavy and long which allowed me to mount them well inside the stern pulpit.



That's a 160 Watt Monocyrstaline Panel monted on 1" SS tubing that can be articulated to track the suns position. I installed it with an MPPT controller. The controller I bought has a separate load +V output. Its important to separate the house 12V house buss from the battery and run the house load on this connection. There is a second current shunt on this terminal that ramps up the controller when a load like a refrigerator comes on.

Its worked well in conjunction with the alternator system and the shore powered charger. Nothing to turn on or off.  It seems well behaved.

Pete