Leaderboard

Copper washers don't need to be crushed. If they have gone hard you can soften them easily in a gas flame on your cooker. Just hang them off a fork and heat until cherry red. Then drop them and said fork into cold water. This is not essential to the annealing but stops them melting carpet or counter top!

OP didn't ask a question about charging the batteries. I think we have all been told to mind our own business in this regard. After all, OP's hubby is a diesel engineer so he knows all about these things. Mayalld has given the best response to the specific question in his 4th paragraph.

If you live on the boat then the offence becomes burglary, rather than theft, criminal damage etc., and it enters a different category of severity. George ex nb Alton retired

The thing is that this is a discussion forum. People discuss things. It isn't just a Q&A session where you ask questions, and people have to stick to the questions that you ask. That's what happens in discussion forums, and essentially you either work with the way discussions flow, or forums may not be for you! You did indeed ask a very specific question, one which you imagined would have a yes/no answer. The trouble is that no matter what the answer to the question you asked was, it was clear that you were asking the wrong question. No matter whether the marina does or does not have an RCD, you need one on board, and you need a proper 240V consumer unit and earth bonding, rather that treating the immersion as a portable appliance plugged direct to the shore line. Once people see that you are asking the wrong questions, in their eagerness to help, they are quick to spot the questions that you aren't asking that you probably should be asking, and what you posted suggested that you have a hole in your power strategy. You have very nice batteries that can store lots of power but not a lot of means of getting that power. that is likely to mean that; 1) In the winter, you will run out of power 2) In the winter, your batteries will fall to a low SoC, and end up goosed. You mention their SoC being 85%. How do you KNOW this (many battery meters can give misleading figures)

Don't force it Lad! Get a bigger 'ammer. N

Excuse the digression! https://picclick.co.uk/Matchbox-M4-Ruston-Bucyrus-Excavator-302029684290.html http://essexmodelsandminiatures.co.uk/blog/matchbox-ruston-bucyrus/rb22-2/

Electric propulsion is great providing people realise it is equaly as polluting as Diesel because the lectrickery has to be generated somehow and fossil fuels are slightly lol more efficient than solar for doing the job especialy in january. Its like electric cars drive 150 miles then park up for half a day whilst charging again or have an internal combustion engine in yer prius which in reality is what propels the car. I moor forty feet from a railway station platform and a train has just stopped for a minute and as it set off there is a humungous noise from the diesel engine revving like hell to fulfil the initial boost of leccy to turn the leccy motors to move the train. Leccy motors are awesome and very powerfull for their size but green? absolutely no way.

But what about the sound chip, amplifier and speakers to make the nice noise

What exactly is your point when you keep mentioning that generators run on diesel? Most boats are going to have a generator anyway and a decent sized battery bank. It was established in an earlier thread that 2000Ah of 12v batteries is ample for a typical day's cruising without needing the generator. So that might be £1000-£1500 more than average battery capacity on a boat. A suitable motor, controller and ancillaries can be sourced for around £3000. The motor is about the size of a shoe box so there's space saving to be considered. As well as that, there's the possibility of using solar, wind, shoreline etc. Then there's servicing and maintenance. I fully respect others in choosing to have an engine whether it be because of the tradition or ease of use, or for whatever reason. I looked at the options and couldn't see a strong enough argument against electric. I read a quote a few days ago and wrote it down because it rang so true: "Whatever falsehoods each of us currently believes are necessarily invisible to us"

Its amazing over 12 years with full tractions no shore connection not ccing and still my batteries work a miracle in fact! Two years ago I removed one bank at 10 years old and had them checked, they were still fine in very good condition for age with good capacity how did that happen?

I have known this boat since 1976, and possibly earlier, when we removed it as a full length open boat from Stewarts and Lloyds Ltd. (well British Steel Corporation), Coombswood. I can confirm hat this boat was Stewarts and Lloyds Ltd. 101, and it was me who identified it as such to a previous owner at Welford

I'm going with electric drive. I can't possibly see how an efficient electric motor even if it was only used with a decent generator can be less efficient than a clunky old diesel engine. Anyone suggesting that electric drive is only suitable for small craft might want to consider this diesel electric tiddler: I'm not here to evangelize to those who cannot be converted but for anyone who is interested in electric propulsion there is a dedicated club: http://www.eboat.org.uk/

Chap standing at a bus stop took out his glass eye and started bouncing it on the pavement. Another person asked him what he was doing. ''He replied'' There's a bus coming and I'm trying to see if there's any room on top.

Much can be typed but in a nutshell in 2017 they are a no go too expensive and still need mr fossil in reality to charge the fifty billion tons of batteries. Electric propulsion for boats is a bout as sensible option as a composting bog

Actually, I know several Scottish English teachers. But no English Scottish teachers.

Not if he's eaten them already. Jail him for 5 days and wait for the evidence. Otherwise, the police have nothing to go on........ Oh...

"Newbie qwestion sorry....., I've bought my boat from a guy who says I have 3 batteries, where are these please, and why will my sunbed not work. Another boater 2 boats nearer the towpath than my mooring has said there are high voltage cables under the towpath in this area, how can I plug my landline into these"

Being provocative, some don't really want a boat, they want a flat but in London can't afford one, so onto a 'flat' but floating on the canal..............

Because (in general) those asking the questions are 'newbies' and they don't yet know it is not a flat.

Here's an (English) electric engine:

"Coolant Recovery Tank" - never heard of it but if that's what the manual calls it then its 99.9% certain it is the coolant header tank, especially if a very small blob of the liquid it contains tastes slightly sweet or bitter, more so it the liquid has a red, blue, green or yellow tint to it. If so then As the Gypsy says it should really be topped up with a water & antifreeze mixture - no greater than 50 - 50 but could be down to 25% antifreeze, 75% water. Make sure hoses from this tank connect to the engine cooling system in some way, if not it could be a central heating header tank. If the tank only contains water (test with an antifreeze hydrometer) then you should really drain the system down and refill with A 30% to 50% (no more) antifreeze mixture because antifreeze combats internal corrosion. Now the important bit re your question. Absolutely no one knows the total cooling system volume on a given boat that uses keel or skin thank cooling so any advice or markings from automotive sources stand an excellent chance of being wrong. Your boat almost certainly uses skin tank cooling and it will hold far more liquid than any automotive cooling system so ignore the marks. The best way to find the correct level to top up to is to fill it nearly to the top just once when its cold. Then go for a cruise. After a while coolant will pour out of the overflow. When the engine is nice and hot stop and let it cool down. Whatever the level is then when cold is the correct level. However as long as you can see coolant in the tank when cold it is fine and no damage can be done to the engine..

I didn't realise that fridges could cause Altzheimers

Back in the early 80s before boats got complicated we had a colecraft with 1 yes 1 battery and a Perkins electric only start engine. As impoverished people our solution was simple. Buy a second battery and take the flat one on the rack of the cycle to work every other day. ( work being in the physics lab at Brunel university) in those days you knew when the battery was flat when the lights dimmed to nothing. At which point you gave up we always filled the kettle when the lights were good. Weekends were spent boating which helped. Charging the batteries by running the engine while stationary was a cardinal no no, and pretty pointless given the low output alternator. Starting the Perkins was always done fingers crossed. When we bought a car, it was equipped with a battery box in the footwell and a set of flying leads to attach to a spare battery for the boat. We went through a lot of pairs of trousers with battery acid...

I am going down this route with my broads cruiser, I bought a Cedric Lynch electric motor years ago with 24 volt controller. The boat weighs 5 tons ish and has a 1500 BMC which is ok but far to noisy, so I plan to gut the boat and refit it this year, I will use solar on the roof and also have a new 24 volt whispergen to aid charging. I reckon if I cruise every other day and run the whispergen at the end of every journey for hot water and to boost batteries it should be ok, and more importantly so does Cedric who is a dab hand at this stuff. I am a member of the EBA who have lots of working electric boats so their is nothing new about any of this and the Broads are heading that way as well. whether we like it or not electric is what we will be driving so how long before diesel is either to expensive for boating or not available? You should google electric boats and see how far on they are some ferries are all electric and from what I can gather lots of seagoing ships are diesel electric, perhaps us dinsaurs wont be roaming the waterways for much longer?

I get this too with my occasional ludicrous/outrageous comment which was obviously written with tongue firmly in cheek. Someone always takes me seriously! Edit to add: Laurie, robbing a bank is not a good way of raising boat finance. For a start its illegal and people doing it are likely to get prosecuted and put in prison. I'm amazed you didn't know this when you advised it. .

Discharging batteries hurts them charging batteries hurts them, especially if trying to ram the amps into them. leaving batteries hurts them, especially if you leave in a state of discharge for long periods. leaving batteries on a charge hurts them (reason why decent chargers don't stay in float mode). charging to 100% daily (wet cells) reduces the amount of damage you do to a battery. lithiums tend to be different as they don't mind been at a stage of discharge (it's actually recommended to keep them at 50% for long periods of non use)

So without knowing more, could it be fair to say:- THE BATTERIES ARE FINE ?

What about an engine driven alternator?

Chaps - no I am not gone. I am however a bit horrified about how you all make assumptions about things you know nothing about? I asked a specific question in the General Forum about a shore line and potential connections. That was it. I think we are battery covered thank you my hubby is a diesel engineer for 30+ years, original question was about LECKY 240 - Would a RCD be present in the marina ?. The Shoreline - but lets leave that then Thanks for your input Really ? :-)

If you get advice you don't like sit and think a minute, please. We do know nothing about your cruising because you have not told us. I'm worried that your expensive batteries will not last a year. It's no skin off my nose, I was only trying to help!

Crikey don't even start them off is my feeling ! They know nothing about our cruising/mooring etc . Only joined here last week I am off !

Why would they be goosed in a year please? We don't sit in Marina all year around, and we are domestic users. We have solar that keeps them topped up and as of yet we have never seem them drop below 85% - what do you know that we don't ?. And yes we do have a Generator - don't use it

I completed a paper license license application when I must have given boat dimensions. The dimensions are shown in my boat details on the C&RT site. But the dims cannot be edited (by me). In fact they have my draft wrong (by a metre). But I don't mind as long as the license fee isn't changed to being based on draft !! Yes it would be possible to re-register under a new boat name and input whatever dimensions you like . I hope people don't think I am suggesting dishonesty. Just pointing out flaws in the system.

I have a 'spare' 240 GB SSD that I would happily donate to your server if it helps, Rich. (not had a lot of use so plenty of life left in it)

There should be a consumer unit on the boat with a breaker.

Hybrid is horribly inefficient and only rendered effective because the average driver drives as if the point is to turn fuel into brake pad dust as quick as possible. A battery set up will be quieter and greener but costly and restrictive. What are your priorities?

Can't be. He's in Slade prison.

Boating Perquisites - Version 3,429.5 Alarm, crew summoning ding-dong Anchor with associated chain and rope. Antifreeze Anti-vandal key & spare Baby wipes - loads Basic toolkit Batteries for LED torches & spares Beer Beer money Binoculars for seeing what is happening on the lock ahead Bread knife Boat hook Boat license stickers Bottle opener BSS stuff Bucket Burgee (optional) BW key & spare Camera Carbon Monoxide alarm Cat o' nine tails to keep the crew in order (& some soft rope) Chair Chocolate biscuits - loads Clock (for tunnels) Clothes & footwear & spares (note all may be needed in a single day) For cold weather For wet weather For warm weather For hot weather Cash - loads Coffee Compass Cooking Stove & fuel for it Corkscrew Cup-a-soups Cutters for use in weed hatch Depth/draft gauge Diesel Dipstick for diesel tank Dogs - minimum 2 max ~ 12 (edited) Duvet - 99Tog or better Electric Blanket (edited) Emergencies Action Plan (edited) Fan belt(s) - spare Fenders (for sleeping) - various , to taste Firelighters, box of, & spare First aid kit Floats for keys Fuses, spare Gang plank (for mutinous crew) Gas bottle spanner (must be reverse thread) Gas lighter thingy for lighting stove zip lighter blocks (edited) Glasses (optical) as needed & spares Gloves, nitrile, for dealing with weed hatch material which can be sharp. Grease - stern gland Guides - eg Pearson's, Nicholson's, Waterscape Hammers 2 - sledge/lump (edited) Headlamp & spare bulbs Heating system & fuel for it Horn Iphone or other pale imitation (edited) Jubilee clips, Stainless Steel, spare, in a range of sizes Jump lead - used on your domestic batteries if for some reason your starter battery dies Kart tyres on a few metres of rope as fenders Kettle "Keys" for eg water filler toilet pump out diesel filler Keys to everything & 2nd spare set (with keys individually identifiable) Leatherman/Swiss army knife Lifejackets (primarily for rivers) Lock key longthrow with roller handle & spare Lock key shortthrow with roller handle & spare Loupe & tweezers for splinters Magnet with string already attached. Maps Mirror Mobile phone & charging system Nappy pins 4 Nail scissors (edited) Oil, spare, engine Optimism - large size Padlocks - spare Paper & pencil Pins 4 (2 extra long) Pole, barge (Must be comfortable with spending long periods of time on the roof) Quaker's Porridge Oats - for use as a temporary adhesive/sealant only Radio (for weather forecast) RCR membership or similar Ropes, at least 3 (bow, stern, centre) but 4 (2x centre) makes life easier for some Sacks, plastic, black, for the storage of all manner of thing including Smokeless Fuel & Rubbish Salt (pinch of) for treating expert advice & traditional wisdom Saw Scaffolding pole, 8ft, preferably heavy gauge aluminium Scissors Slippers Sponge Stationary wallet, plastic, to keep paper stuff dry. Sticky Tape - sellotape, duct tape, easy-off tape, double-sided tape. (edited) Sun glasses & spare Sun hat & spare Tea Thermos flask Tiller bar and pin Tin opener Tinned food - loads (for emergency use) Tissue - loads Toilet paper - loads Torches (LED) & spare Towel (for travelling the Galaxy) Two-it (must be round) (edited) Umbrellas - 1 large 1 small (edited) VHF radio & certificate Vinegar for chips and wasp stings Walkie-talkies, pair Water Waterscape Boaters Guide - print Water hose Wellies (aka Wellington Boots) Wire - spare, electrical Wok plus two large wooden spoons Working toilet with more than adequate capacity Zip ties Zip (or other) fire lighter blocks (edited) Note that boats under 12ft in length may have difficulty in passing under low bridges when carrying the full inventory. Note that the alcohol may be for guests use only - or not.

That will usualy depend on how long your eyelashes are and how fluttery for the fairer sex.

When I went to school I learnt "The English Language" as a class in school. In addition to the spoken word, we learnt how to convey things using the written word. We didn't learn the various emoticons, though. So its possible by using emoticons, that you'll be misunderstood. No such misunderstanding should occur if you use the English language properly too.

In my view it's intended to turn out nice little automatons to service the state (as well as baby sitting)

Look, can you stop coming up with reasoned debate, sensible suggestions and other case scenarios which are similar with no complaints, Panda will not have any of this. Just sign the bloody petition will you....... Yes , all of you, or go and stand on the norty step.

Oh dear, what a shame: The policy means that children who live on boats can end up having to travel up to 20 miles to school which is not always possible. If the parents are unable to travel that far, they risk losing their home. I can think of plenty of areas around here where children may travel that distance, and sometimes more, to get to school. Perhaps Panda would like to get all the rural village schools reopened.

I think there should be canals run by Warners, children not allowed.

It's a pity that these petitions don't have a 'disagree' hutton.

Well that puts me in an awkward position as although my records have gained it was me that suggested returning to the subject of this thread. I felt that although the Stewarts and Lloyds Ltd. conversation was interesting it probably warranted its own thread, especially as it had become unclear which boat was for sale. This was not intended to be political or start a debate on what is allowed and not allowed on this Forum. My apologies if I have pi$$ed anybody off (especially as I might be on here tomorrow asking for a favour from our south eastern contributors)