R27 is home. Couple of questions.

[Midwest Jeff]

We finally picked up our new to us R27 and the custom built Integrity trailer. Most went well with orientation and test ride. Now waiting for decent weather to launch and put in slip for the summer. However, after spending time on her "on land", I do have a couple questions. How can you get lithium batteries out of port storage area? The person who did our orientation said they were on a sliding tray. That is not true. Come fall, I will want to store them in a warm garage. Also, is the solar expandable? Their resident expert could not answer that for me. I have a Ecoflow portable 200 watt panel that I would like to use at times. Finally, what system or brackets has anyone used to mount a standard Starlink receiver on the roof rails? Thanks

 

[venajeff]

Beautiful boat. Congrats!

 

[Submariner]

We finally picked up our new to us R27 and the custom built Integrity trailer. Most went well with orientation and test ride. Now waiting for decent weather to launch and put in slip for the summer. However, after spending time on her "on land", I do have a couple questions. How can you get lithium batteries out of port storage area? The person who did our orientation said they were on a sliding tray. That is not true. Come fall, I will want to store them in a warm garage. Also, is the solar expandable? Their resident expert could not answer that for me. I have a Ecoflow portable 200 watt panel that I would like to use at times. Finally, what system or brackets has anyone used to mount a standard Starlink receiver on the roof rails? Thanks

The batteries are on a sliding tray. Two screws hold the starboard down. Remove them, and the tray should slide.

Solar is expandable.

Solar Power on a Boat

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For Starlink, here's how I installed Starlink on my R27.

 

[Midwest Jeff]

The batteries are on a sliding tray. Two screws hold the starboard down. Remove them, and the tray should slide.

Solar is expandable.

Solar Power on a Boat

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

www.youtube.com

For Starlink, here's how I installed Starlink on my R27.

I will have to look at battery tray closer. I hope your right. Does yours have the bus bars in front of tray?
I should have checked first that you had a video on an install for Starlink. However, I would like to mount it on the roof rack. I really don't want to have to store it while we are cruising and it would be more out of the way. I was hoping to figure out a way to run the cable through the existing route of VHF antenna cable. Thanks for the input.

 

[Submariner]

I will have to look at battery tray closer. I hope your right. Does yours have the bus bars in front of tray?
I should have checked first that you had a video on an install for Starlink. However, I would like to mount it on the roof rack. I really don't want to have to store it while we are cruising and it would be more out of the way. I was hoping to figure out a way to run the cable through the existing route of VHF antenna cable. Thanks for the input.

You never said what specific make/model you have.
The NW editions have 3 batteries (two house, 1 thruster) on a starboard tray in the port lazarette.
The LE edition with (6) 100ah Dakota's, fill the entire port lazarette.
The LE edition with (2) 280ah (or 320ah) Dakota batteries in the port lazarette. This sounds like the configuration you have.

You can see the two screws in the starboard that hold the battery tray down. Remove them, and the starboard tray will slide out.

 

[Submariner]

I should have checked first that you had a video on an install for Starlink. However, I would like to mount it on the roof rack. I really don't want to have to store it while we are cruising and it would be more out of the way. I was hoping to figure out a way to run the cable through the existing route of VHF antenna cable. Thanks for the input.

If you have the Gen3 Starlink terminal, it's waterproof and can be mounted permanently outside. I do not recommend mounting the Gen2 dish (with the motor actuator) outside. Saltwater will eventually destroy the actuators.

I also do Starlink 12volt conversions. Get Starlink running off 12 volt, without the need for the inverter and uses less power overall. This set up works with the Gen2 or Gen3 Starlink terminals. The Gen3 terminal can be permanently mounted to the boat. The Gen2 is best used when not underway, by simply dropping it into a rod holder.

 

[Submariner]

How can you get lithium batteries out of port storage area? The person who did our orientation said they were on a sliding tray. That is not true. Come fall, I will want to store them in a warm garage.

The Dakota 280 and 320ah batteries have a heater/blanket internal to them so they can be operated in freezing temperatures. LFP can discharge in freezing temps, but generally can't be charged below freezing. However, when manufacturers add a thermal blanket to the LFP battery (internal), it permits them to operate normally, usually down to around -20 degrees F. The batteries also could be stored in freezing temps, without shorepower, as long as there is no charging and no loads on it. Turn off the house DC switch, and pull the 24x7 fuses, and put a dark blanket or tarp over the solar panels (or pull the fuse for the DC to DC charger).

I don't take the LFP battery out of my boat, but we also boat year round.

 

[Midwest Jeff]

You never said what specific make/model you have.
The NW editions have 3 batteries (two house, 1 thruster) on a starboard tray in the port lazarette.
The LE edition with (6) 100ah Dakota's, fill the entire port lazarette.
The LE edition with (2) 280ah (or 320ah) Dakota batteries in the port lazarette. This sounds like the configuration you have.

You can see the two screws in the starboard that hold the battery tray down. Remove them, and the starboard tray will slide out.

View attachment 25323

Yes. I have LE with 280 AH batteries. I will take a pic and post it.

 

[Midwest Jeff]

If you have the Gen3 Starlink terminal, it's waterproof and can be mounted permanently outside. I do not recommend mounting the Gen2 dish (with the motor actuator) outside. Saltwater will eventually destroy the actuators.

I also do Starlink 12volt conversions. Get Starlink running off 12 volt, without the need for the inverter and uses less power overall. This set up works with the Gen2 or Gen3 Starlink terminals. The Gen3 terminal can be permanently mounted to the boat. The Gen2 is best used when not underway, by simply dropping it into a rod holder.

View attachment 25324

I do have the older actuated model. But, no salt here in Great Lakes. I won't "permanently" mount it to the boat. As I use it in our RV as well. I am looking for a bar mount that will attach to the 1" roof rack. Then all I would have to do is drop the post into and it would lock in place, like the OEM stand does. There are a couple I have found, wondering if anyone has had experience with those. Putting it into the rod holder would be easier, but we plan on using the sun shade often. The 12 volt is a great idea, but a project for later. Not too concerned about power consumption just yet. I will most likely bring my solar generator and plug it into that.

 

[Midwest Jeff]

The Dakota 280 and 320ah batteries have a heater/blanket internal to them so they can be operated in freezing temperatures. LFP can discharge in freezing temps, but generally can't be charged below freezing. However, when manufacturers add a thermal blanket to the LFP battery (internal), it permits them to operate normally, usually down to around -20 degrees F. The batteries also could be stored in freezing temps, without shorepower, as long as there is no charging and no loads on it. Turn off the house DC switch, and pull the 24x7 fuses, and put a dark blanket or tarp over the solar panels (or pull the fuse for the DC to DC charger).

I don't take the LFP battery out of my boat, but we also boat year round.

I was wondering if they had the internal heaters. Good to know. Here in Michigan, winter temps can get 20-30 below F at times. Indoor cold storage can get even colder than that. I don't want to take any chances with damaging them. Thanks for the info.

 

[Midwest Jeff]

This is what I was looking at to mount dish.

 

[Midwest Jeff]

You never said what specific make/model you have.
The NW editions have 3 batteries (two house, 1 thruster) on a starboard tray in the port lazarette.
The LE edition with (6) 100ah Dakota's, fill the entire port lazarette.
The LE edition with (2) 280ah (or 320ah) Dakota batteries in the port lazarette. This sounds like the configuration you have.

You can see the two screws in the starboard that hold the battery tray down. Remove them, and the starboard tray will slide out.

View attachment 25323

This is a pic of our house batteries tray. No screws. I was able to move it a bit , but it didn’t feel like it was meant to.

 

[Midwest Jeff]

If you have the Gen3 Starlink terminal, it's waterproof and can be mounted permanently outside. I do not recommend mounting the Gen2 dish (with the motor actuator) outside. Saltwater will eventually destroy the actuators.

I also do Starlink 12volt conversions. Get Starlink running off 12 volt, without the need for the inverter and uses less power overall. This set up works with the Gen2 or Gen3 Starlink terminals. The Gen3 terminal can be permanently mounted to the boat. The Gen2 is best used when not underway, by simply dropping it into a rod holder.

View attachment 25324

Found this mount on Amazon, it was a 2 minute install. Seems very sturdy and well built. The stock Starlink post locks right in. I will not leave it up at high speeds or rough seas. For now I will run the cable through the side window.

 

[sogreer]

We finally picked up our new to us R27 and the custom built Integrity trailer. Most went well with orientation and test ride. Now waiting for decent weather to launch and put in slip for the summer. However, after spending time on her "on land", I do have a couple questions. How can you get lithium batteries out of port storage area? The person who did our orientation said they were on a sliding tray. That is not true. Come fall, I will want to store them in a warm garage. Also, is the solar expandable? Their resident expert could not answer that for me. I have a Ecoflow portable 200 watt panel that I would like to use at times. Finally, what system or brackets has anyone used to mount a standard Starlink receiver on the roof rails? Thanks

We used rocket launcher and bought this waterproof cable from Amazon which I wired to a Scotty down rigger male plug. Fits in the down rigger outlet and has on off switch. You can use a piece of pvc as a post mount for dish. It works great.

 

[DDean]

The tray does slide but it slides like you would expect a board with 300 or whatever pounds of batteries on a shelf would slide. There are no wheels or bearings or anything - tons of friction.

I installed a battery monitor on mine last year and pulled it out just far enough to deal with the house batteries. It was extremely difficult to push the tray back in and line the holes up perfectly again. Of course my boat was wired different than the schematics and based upon the results from the battery monitor it looks like my solar positive is on the thruster and the negative went to the house….I am not looking forward to investigating further as that will take a whole day of hard labour in the lazerette moving the tray.

The tray does slide but it requires heroic efforts if the batteries are on it.