Psycloud

I lowered the equalise voltage as it blew a couple of our led ladies lights and were mostly on hookup anyways. Starting from next week we’ll be off grid so will actually start using them in anger. Even though they’re now 6/7 years old they’ve never been below 50% and rarely below 80% so it will be interesting to see how quickly I need to replace them.

We have 4 of these - one of them brought a live mouse in who escaped into a hole in the wall behind a missing piece of skirting and managed to live there for months by getting into the cupboards from behind at night and feeding without ever having to come out. The 4 cats went nuts as they could hear it scrabbling about. The only option was poison as it evaded the traps we tried. I found a mouse skeleton behind the ceiling panels when doing some electrical work a year later.

Everything you need to know about SPAM and Phishing is here https://www.getsafeonline.org/protecting-yourself/spam-and-scam-email/ Anybody who uses a computer should know this or at least know where to find the information. At the very least the following: "Do not respond to emails from unknown sources. Do not make purchases or charity donations in response to spam email. "

I think my D5W has it built into the casing. A previous model fitted to my boat had it as a separate unit.

I did find it in Tesco once... https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/285047163?sc_cmp=ppc*GHS+-+Grocery+-+New*PX+|+Shopping+GSC+|+All+Products+%2B+Tesco+Brand*New:+Non-Food:+Home+%26+Entertainment:+Household*PRODUCT_GROUP285047163*&ds_rl=1116019&ds_rl=1116016&ds_rl=1116019&gclid=CjwKCAjwnf7qBRAtEiwAseBO_L_DPjdlFo75wXZyCOFr2Z0SnlxANmMRBJVBH9LT7FrIctat4mVCSRoCfowQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

OK - well when they send out the panels they are all just loose items that you put together, OP could email and ask if they will swap out maybe the cigarette port and the volt meter for 2 more double USB ports

I built a portable solar charger using one of these cheap switch panels - I had 2 x twin USB ports and a cigarette lighter socket and an on/off switch. The 100w solar panel plugged in via the cigarette lighter port and charged a motorised wheelchair battery (in a miracle grow tub) and we spent 2 weeks at festivals charging phones/ipads/watches/bluetooth speakers for 17 people with no issues whatsoever. So on that basis I'd say these items are pretty stable and didn't fry anything

Does it say you can use them in dongles or is that just based on recent experience?

It's interesting to see the backlash on here, considering by 2050 I expect most of the current boaters will be (a) dead or (b) too old to be boating for 8 hours a day. The current crop of youth are much more switched on and accepting of new ideas and the angst of those who love the sound of a diesel engine will fade into history. Technology advances move in one direction. If it didn't we'd still be writing on stone tablets instead of Canalworld.net.

Household drains go via treatment plant - most boaters washing machines however do go straight into the water.

I thought they showed the length if under 72'. If you look at the Nicholsons Guide for Grand Union (Northampton Arm) the winding hole at the Northampton end of the arm is marked "65' Max" on the map. I can confirm this as true since we managed to wind there (just!) at 64'

So I figured that I did want to try and fix this particular issue for myself. I bought 100micron water filter sock that I think would usually be used in aquarium/pond filter from eBay for £6 and placed it over the end of the outlet hose (I actually discharge the machine into a 25l drum before emptying into the cut) and this is what I caught washing a 10 year old towel and a couple T-Shirts. Admittedly the towel fibres are 100% cotton so would degrade but I dread to think how many fibres collectively we're feeding to the wildlife. Of course the next question is what to do with them now. Landfill isn't ideal so I'm probably going to collect them for a while then give them to my dear wife to take to work where they send waste to a "clean" incineration facility for power production.

I wish for filters to be standard in all washing machines and at least a retro fit option that doesn't cost £150 I see there is already a petition to have this implemented https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/248269 It will have to come one day since ultimately the water in the canal ends up in the sea (well the GU at least) and we can't keep on pumping plastic into the water when a simple filter could be added at manufacture time.

I don't mind cleaning the filter after each wash - it would just be clipped on the end of the pipe. So the question is what could I use? I appreciate I can't catch everything but even if it's just what they got from Hugh's jumper on the program then that multiplied by all the items I wash would be a good start? I've asked C&RT what they think about this too

I would like to be able to put something like that over the outlet rather than inside the machine. Maybe I could make something using a fine mesh and a funnel?

So on last night's War On Plastic program they showed the microplastic in the washing waste water. Like most boaty people our washing machine waste ends up in the canal for the fish to consume. I know you can buy massively expensive filters and also Cora balls but that only captures about 28%. I wonder of just putting a filterbag over the outlet would work? Any suggestions? Thanks David

We did it it mid April. Was quite wet, especially when I fell in! Really lovely though.

Thank you. Once the cold weather is over I'll take it out and take the casing off and make the necessary changes. Previously I just capped off the pipe at the tank end and said it was decommissioned for the BSS but would rather just sort the situation once and for all.

My Eberspacher has a short plastic fuel hose (6") connected to copper by means of jubilee clips which I need to change before my next BSS. I've not yet been able to work out what I can replace the bit of plastic with though as I can't see what the fitting would be inside the unit.