I’m working on a somewhat ambitious project: converting a conventional lifeboat into a fully electric-driven version. Our aim is to use a 5kW **48 V E-motor, with a battery capacity of around 225-250Ah.
Before we start designing the full layout:
Has anyone here converted a lifeboat or similar vessel to electric using Victron components?
Are there example diagrams, wiring schemes or photos available that you’re willing to share?
Any experience, tips, or pitfalls would be very helpful.
I’ve successfully converted a dive compressor from 3ph electric to 48V dc using a 3kW motor. The compressor takes about 2.5kW when running. I’ve also looked at converting an old outboard by replacing the powerhead with another 3kW motor. That was only partially successful as the prop was mismatched, and I haven’t managed to get time to sort this out.
The way I see thei is that you would need to be able to convert any CAn data from the motor controller into NMEA2000 standard in order for this data to be compatible with NMEA data from a GX device. This can also give you motor current and Ah consumed. Other would be to include a smart shunt in the motor circuit to monitor the discharge.
That also sounds like an interesting project.
You remarks about the communication protocol dully noted, indeed an important item.
When reading the specs of the GX device, it can handle CANBUS. I’ll dive into this
The Venus CAN bus interface can also interface with the NMEA 2000 protocol, this way Victron devices, the battery and the energy systems are visible on marine MFD’s connected to the nmea system - others have experience with this - I haven’t got there yet. I’m currently in the hull building phase of an 8,8m Cat, which hopefully will be powered by 2x5kW electric drives - with regeneration.
That’s good to know. I’ll explore the possibilities, let’s see how far we come:-). The catamaran is also sounds like an interesting project. I saved myself some time in buying the complete hull 
With the upcoming Venus OS release a Cerbo GX can directly talk to Sevcon and Curtis PMDC controllers over CANbus, with the resulting motor drive data displayed on the Boat page on the display.
