Category: Electrical & Engines
I have owned Panboat 2.0 for a little over 3 months. Unfortunately, I haven’t made as much testing headway as I hoped courtesy of a very busy fall with boat shows, speaking engagements, and dodging hurricanes. I leave for Amsterdam to attend METS shortly, but once home, I don’t have another show until Miami in mid-February. So, it’s high time I get to work outfitting the new Edgewater 280CX with the goodies needed for testing and begin rolling in some new technology.
In a first for IBEX, this year’s show featured a startup pavilion for early-stage companies to display at IBEX in a cost effective manner. I spent some time checking out the exhibitors in the pavilion and was very pleased to come across Solid State Marine’s booth. I was quite excited to see Solid State Marine present with their solid state lithium batteries. Solid State Marine is, to my knowledge, the first company offering solid state lithium batteries to the marine electrical market.
We are excited to announce the release of Venus OS v3.50. A massive milestone and improvement for our range of GX control and monitoring solutions. Whether you’re managing a system at home, in a marine environment, or on an industrial site, this release has something for you. The most significant change in the new release is the new graphical user interface. The new UI brings a modern look, improved functionality, and a faster, more responsive experience. The best introduction is through watching this video…
Dockmate, the leading manufacturer of advanced wireless remote controls for yachts, announced today that its revolutionary new feature for their wireless remote control systems, Dockmate Positioning System (DPS), has been completely redesigned for easy retrofit, increased safety and ease of use. The magic of DPS V2 is that it is completely self-contained within the Receiver. Because the Dockmate Receiver already handles control of engines/motors and thrusters through its existing integrations, DPS V2 needs less hardware to achieve the same results as much more expensive aftermarket dynamic positioning systems…
Egis Mobile Electric is a relatively new company with extensive marine industry experience and some creative ideas. Egis’ submissions to innovation awards over the last few years have highlighted their creativity. This year, they’re back with a new version of the their XD Series battery switches, but now with NMEA 2000 digital switching support.
Today TEMO announced the creation of its subsidiary “TEMO USA Inc.” in the United States (Delaware) with an operational unit in Portland, Maine. With a logistics center to manage goods and after-sales service, as well as sales offices with a dedicated team, the company is fully operational to accelerate the development of its brand in North America…
IBEX 2024 was a show to remember for me. Starting with Hurricane Helene’s development and potential threat, it was unclear if the show would proceed. Fortunately, although there was some impact, the show was able to proceed. My show began Sunday morning, two days before the official open, with two days of judging the IBEX Innovation Awards. Every year, the awards afford me the opportunity to get an early jump on the new and exciting products displayed at the show. This year, the crop of entries was exceptionally strong. I’m going to write a series of entries covering the products that caught my eye. I. believe it’s a testament to the strength of this year’s entries that quite a few of the products I will highlight were not selected for innovation awards. First up in my list are Revateks’ Altion and Altion Max alternator regulators.
At first glance, the SFK 275EX looks like many other 275-300 amp hour internal BMS lithium iron phosphate batteries. With Bluetooth communications, heating, long cycle life, and a good warranty it seems to compete well with other batteries. But, closer inspection reveals a battery with features above and beyond anything I’ve seen in similar form-factor and priced batteries. Not only that, it comes with a thorough and readable manual.
I have big things planned for upcoming battery tests. I’m working to evolve my testing of LiFePO4 batteries to match their evolution. Battery capacities are increasing, physical size is decreasing, prices are dropping rapidly, and acceptance is increasing. New options hit the market regularly and keeping up with the pace of change can be challenging. In the coming months, I will review quite a few batteries in different positions in the market and try to help readers decide which price point and battery is right for them.
As part of a well-engineered system, lithium batteries can replace generators and make life on a boat seamless with or without shore power. But they aren’t perfect. The battery industry continues to research improvements and alternative chemistries.
