cabinfixer

Hi, thanks for the advice so far, the alternator is a Vetus attached to an M417 engine not sure of the model but it is just 14months old,the other equipment was repaired under warranty, apart from the batteries which I had to pay for after being told that I had not maintained them correctly. As far as I can tell all the connections are sound, before the alternator kicks in the voltage reading to the battery lead is 0.5 volts and the charge warning light stays on dimly, when it does work every thing is fine with a reading of 14.5 volts to the battery lead. It seems a strange coincidence that almost all of the electrical equipment has failed in such a short space of time,I just wonder if it could be the way that the boat was wired up when being built,unfortunately it seems that there are no boat electricians in the Ely area to ask, I am reluctant to pay for any more repairs until I can have the electrics checked. Roger

Hi all, after all the problems we have had with the electrics, I did not think there was anything else that could go wrong, how mistaken I was!. After having new circuits in the Victron inverter,new travelpower generator and six new 125amp batteries, everything seemed to be working well, that is until we went away for a week,on starting the engine I noticed that the charge warning buzzer was sounding, checked the lead from alternator to starter battery and no current, it seemed that the alternator was not charging but I needed to get from the marina to the pump out,so started the engine, still the same. After about 15 mins the buzzer went off and the rev counter started to work and all seemed OK, went for a little run with no problems, returned to marina. Next morning same thing, ran engine for about 15 mins and all worked again. This morning started engine and no sign of a charge, ran it up to 2000rpm and rev counter started flicking up and down a few times and then all was OK again,I must say that I am a bit dim when it comes to electrics, so the question is, could it be a knackered alternator or something a bit more complicated. All answers much appreciated. Roger.

Hi, just returned from our three month trip to find on the last day that the batteries were flat,hoping that this was nothing to worry about I plugged into shore power an when the inverter went into float mode, switched of and left overnight, next morning low battery warning on the inverter and noticed that it was getting very hot. On inspecting battery bank I noticed that two batteries were boiling and that they were actually bulging, switched everything off, disconnected the two batteries and switched on the inverter/charger and it soon went into float mode with the remaining four batteries. I should explain my setup with is all just one year old, six 110v batteries,Victron multi inverter, 12v/3000kva/120amp, which was repaired by victron at three months old,Dometic travelpower 230volt generator which was replaced by Dometic at nine months old. As they say these things happen in threes. If anyone has any suggestions as to what might have caused this latest problem before I pull out whats left of my hair I would be very grateful. Roger.

Thank you both for replies, I managed to find a local boat electrician to look at the travel power, after all the usual tests it seems that the generator has given up, only eight months old. Now to get it sorted under warranty. Roger

Hi. can anyone recommend an electrician in the Stone area on the Trent and Mersey, Travel power has gone dead and need to keep wifes insulin at a cool temperature. We are traveling back to Ely at the moment but might have to hold up for a while until the problem is fixed. All advice welcome. Thanks Roger.

Don't know about the showers, used the pumpout today, and the contents of tank come out of manhole covers and no water at tap to flush away

Ok thanks for that advice, I will stick to Ash. Roger.

Thanks for replies so far, Fudd, it does not have to be ash, so long as it is a hard wood anything would do. Roger. PS will be travelling past Braunston in the next couple of weeks, can pop in to midland chandlers but prefer to get one sooner.

As the title says I am looking for a 38mm ash pole for my brass boat hook about 2.4m long, local chandlers want to sell me pole and hook complete for £45.00, this seems a bit steep. Does anybody know where I can pick one up. Thanks Roger.

Hi all, another question following on from Vetus oil change interval. The vetus owners manual says to use engine oil sae 20/30 in the technodrive TMC 60 gearbox and the technodrive manual says to use ATF. What do you recommend. Thanks Roger.

Thanks all, I will probably stick with the 100hrs where possible,it's just that we are going off cruising for a couple of months or more which means an oil and filter change approximately every two to three weeks. Better make sure we stock up! Roger.

Hi, Vetus stipulate changing oil and filter every one hundred hours, this seems a little excessive to me. Boat builder recommended every two hundred hours, what do you think.

Best of luck on your first trip, we picked up our boat from Middlewich last Friday, heading for Ely, onto the Oxford in the morning enjoying every moment. Roger

Thanks to everyone for your help and advise and thanks to capntommo for his offer. This will be our biggest adventure so far and although a little aprehensive we are looking forward to it. Thanks to everyone for your help and advise and thanks to capnthommo for his offer. This will be our biggest adventure so far and although a little aprehensive we are looking forward to it. Can anyone tell me where I can purchase the various BW and EA keys at short notice. thanks. Roger.

Hi all, we will; be collecting our new boat within the next couple of weeks, we will be travelling from Kings Lock Middlewich to Ely Cambridgeshire. Could anybody advise on the best route so that we can try to avoid any stoppages that might be forthcoming. Do you think we might be stuck for the winter at a particular spot. I know that some of the stoppages begin on 2nd November, which might make it a bit tight. Any help appreciated. Thanks Roger.