This morning I was very pleased with myself because the
generator started all by itself. Last
night I installed a little gadget for that purpose and it worked beautifully.
Starting the generator automatically has always been on the
project list, but seemed like a solution looking for a problem, so it never
made it near the top.
It wasn’t until we
moved aboard and spent some time away from the dock and shore power that we
realized that running the generator was an essential part of our power diet.
If nobody were here to start the thing, our
batteries would die and the refrigeration would shut down.
It meant we couldn’t leave, and suddenly an
automatic generator start became more important.
Yes, we have a large solar array, no, it isn’t enough, and
yes, our refrigeration is grossly inefficient.
If we were going to be gone for a long period, we would probably throw
away all the food and turn the refrigerators off. But if we only want to be gone for a few
days, it’s better to keep everything running while we’re gone.
Another part of the problem was finding the right unit. It is most common to find the generator start
capability as an optional add-on to higher-end inverters. Our inverters have the capability, but not
the option, and they’re too old to find the necessary module. Plus, different generators have different
starting requirements, and we needed a unit that had the flexibility to start our Northern Lights.
It wasn’t until the project received priority that a search
in earnest began. It yielded a few hits,
but none as clearly perfect as the GSCM from Atkinson Electronics. A call to the company had one on the way $249
later. Installing it was really no more
difficult than looking at the back of the Northern Lights’ control panel and
wiring the GSCM to the appropriate switch contacts.
Most of these units are designed to work off battery voltage
to determine when the generator is needed for charging. I could do better since I have a Victron
BMV-600 battery monitor that watches the Amps flowing in and out and calculates
a precise depth of discharge. The
battery monitor allows me to set thresholds at which it will energize a relay,
perfect for signaling an automatic generator start if the unit supports it,
which the GSCM does. I will add a Flexcharge
programmable timer to institute quiet times when the generator can’t run. Typically I only want it to run between 9 and
11am, and when the battery is below 85%.
If air-conditioning were important, I could also use the
timer to make the generator start on an interval, or use a demand device like a
thermostat to start it. But that gets
back into solving a problem that I don’t really have.
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