2004 Nordic 32

Bernardi has received significant upgrades throughout its life:

6/1/04-Complete wrap-around 1 1/4 " rails for salon roof and ladder for safe use of salon roof as outdoor area.

6/2/04-Day 'n Nite Shades & Linen Sunbrella interior panels/ On The Water Marine Services 

12/11/08-Added second horizontal aluminum propane tank, doubling propane carried to 29 gallons./ Fisheries Supply

2/19/09-Upgrade to Balmar smart voltage regulator, high-output 160-A alternator./ Rasmussen's Marine Electric 

10/7/09- Quadrupled the house bank. We are now at 840 A-h storage/ Rasmussen's Marine Electric

11/2/09-Initial four solar panels + controller, breaker box/ Wholesale Solar 

12/17/12-Additional two solar panels/ Wholesale Solar

5/29/14- Installed built-in custom 2.5-cu-ft freezer, and free-standing 3-cu-ft freezer. Each with 12-Vdc Danfoss compresser/condenser and Frigoboat evaporator plate. Designed to run off solar-charged house bank off-grid/ Boat Electric Co

6/24/14-Custom hydraulic fabrication for engine and gear oil removal/ LFS Hydraulics

8/18/14-12-VDC pump for oil changes

5/19/15- Added 200 ft 5/16" chain spliced to 200 ft rope rode/LFS 

5/19/16- 6-HP Tohatsu outboard

6/1/16-Weaver ratcheting winch for dinghy

6/14/17-Added rigid inflatable boat (Highfield 310 with Hypalon tubes), complete Weaver davit system including arcs, and Weaver ratchet to tilt the dinghy.

2/18/18-Transom mount for kicker outboard/ PDR Marine Fabrication

2/1/20-WLN10 Smart NMEA-to-WIFI server/ Digital Yacht

2/21/22-Spare fresh-water pump/ LFS

3/30/22-Upgrade shore-power receptacle on helm to SmartPlug/ Go2Marine

9/28/22-Ultrasuede Beaver for fabric upgrade/ Custom Cushions and Fabrics

11/30/22-Upholstery upgrade labor/ Eleven Northwest

11/20/24- Installed ProMariner ProSafe Galvanic Isolator for shorepower. Upgraded shorepower charging with Victron charger.

Spare Jabsco Par-Max-3 freshwater pump.

Brand-new spare T-series overboard discharge pump.

Spare base, motor, and macerator for toilet system. 

Brand-new spare solar controller.

Custom towing harness for dinghy (for when it is being towed rather than on davits).

Two pairs of wooden oars for dinghy.

Custom lever for easy tilting of dinghy when stored on transom davits.

Custom iPad tray to secure the tablet used in navigation.

Miscellaneous spare parts for solar, electrical, plumbing systems.

Complete set of ropes and lines in good condition.

The house bank consists of two sub-banks, one on starboard and one on port. Each sub-bank contains 4 golf-cart 6-volt deep-cycle batteries, arranged in series-parallel to make 12-VDC and 420 A-h. The two sub-banks are effectively in parallel to each other, and together make 12-VDC and 840 A-h. The house bank should never be discharged below 50%.

All connections to the house bank are fused to protect against fires from an accidental short circuit, as per ABYC standards.

There are three independent charging mechanisms: High-output alternator (w Balmar smart voltage controller), solar (with MPPT controller), and shore-power (Victron). The Blue Seas

+Vdc busbar connects all three charging sources to the house bank. The wiring from this busbar to the house banks is exactly per Nigel Calder's optimal layout in Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual (2005), pp. 21-22.

The +Vdc busbar also supplies +Vdc to all house loads.

The bow batteries (two start batteries in parallel) are used exclusively for the windlass and thruster. They are charged from the +Vdc busbar via an Automatic Charge Relay (ACR). This shares charging with the bow batteries when the house bank is above a threshold voltage. But at anchor, with engine off, during nighttime (no-solar), the ACR senses that the house bank is not being charged, and then the ACR turns off charging to the bow batteries. The Blue Seas (part # 7610) ACR has an Isolate feature, which isolates the bow bank from the +Vdc busbar. The bow is isolated from the +Vdc busbar only when the helm control "BOW BATT ISOLATE" is switched up to "ON" (up). If you wish to do so, it is possible to manually isolate the bow when it is providing high current to the bow thruster or windlass, so that it will not draw any of that current out of the house bank. But during cruise, or during solar at anchor, or during shore-power Victron charging, by all means the isolate can be turned OFF (down). For the bow, the Isolate switch is nice but not strictly needed.

Similarly the start battery (a Group 4D, 1000 CCA) is charged from its own ACR fed by the +VDC busbar. In this case, however, the Start Isolation (SI) signal is derived from the

"start" button at the helm. When that button is depressed to energize the starter motor, a +Vdc signal goes to the start battery's ACR which is instantly open-circuited to prevent starter-motor current draw from being supplied through that ACR.

Under all but emergency circumstances, there is no reason whatsoever to tie the Start and House together using the rotary switch at the bottom right of the DC panel. (We have never encountered such an emergency.)