The wiring of the solar panels is done, and they are making power!  Happy day!  The controller from Victron is a small blue box with just a light or two one the front, but it talks to a program that runs on a phone, tablet or computer to give me all the performance details. Very cool.

We are still scheduled to be back in the water on Wednesday.  The only hold up right now are the electric motors for the bow thruster. They have been re-built as needed, and are awaiting testing.  As told to me on the phone today, the relay on the shop’s test bed had failed.  Knowing they had promised delivery today, they tried bypassing the relay with a direct connection to the battery with a clamp.  I guess they weren’t thinking ahead…

The main motor for the bowthruster is a beast at 7.5 kilowatt, about 10 horsepower.  They apparently had way more excitement than they wanted when they struck a 24 volt, 300 Amp DC arc connecting the clamp to the battery post. Imagine an arc welder.  Imagine a baby lightening bolt. Imagine molten metal spraying around. Imagine very loud zapping noises.  Imagine much shouting and yelling. I’m sure it would have made a great youtube video…

They have a proper high amperage relay coming for their test bed tomorrow so they can finish testing.