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Sam

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Hi all,

 

Darren here, just about to put my, not new, and first boat into the water and getting nervous.

Found your forum really useful when buying, and now I have i thought I'd say Hi.

Darren

 

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Hi, I've just bought a 40ft narrow boat. I'm going to completely renovate it. Has anyone got any does or Donts. I'm a carpenter by trade. So I'm really looking forward to it. A few questions I need to ask, should I put a water heater in it and central heating? I'm going to get it all re wired is there any special cable I need to use or a different type of fuse board needed?? How thick should the ply boards be for the ceiling and walls?? Any help would be great 

kind regards John 

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2 hours ago, Johnylee0787 said:

should I put a water heater in it and central heating? I'm going to get it all re wired is there any special cable I need to use or a different type of fuse board needed?? How thick should the ply boards be for the ceiling and walls?? Any help would be great 

My opinions:

Water heater - yes. Always good to have two sources of hot water  

Central heating - shouldn't need it in a 40ft boat assuming you have a multi fuel stove. 

Cable - your boat sparks (NOT a domestic sparky) should know all about it. If you want to edumacate yourself about it you could do worse than start here: http://www.tb-training.co.uk/cover.html

Ceiling and walls - 6mm minimum. 4mm tends to be a bit too flexible. Go thicker for the walls if you wish. 

Have fun!

Tony

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Dont forget insulation. You,ll need lots if winter livaboard. Also i,d say put your stove more towards centre of the boat if you,ve got no central heating. Get your bed up high as possible to keep warmer, with pumpout tank and calorifier under plus storage. It also helps falling into bed pissed and getting out of bed when you,re over 60 ! Have fun.

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On 4/3/2017 at 10:17, Johnylee0787 said:

Hi, I've just bought a 40ft narrow boat. I'm going to completely renovate it. Has anyone got any does or Donts. I'm a carpenter by trade. So I'm really looking forward to it. A few questions I need to ask, should I put a water heater in it and central heating? I'm going to get it all re wired is there any special cable I need to use or a different type of fuse board needed?? How thick should the ply boards be for the ceiling and walls?? Any help would be great 

kind regards John 

Are you the couple in biker jackets we met at Whilton on Sunday?  We are buying too and may have need of a good carpenter.

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Hello and,Help,a little bit(and sorry if this post turns a bit big)

My name's Darren and have been following the forum for a while having just bought a boat and have found it such a helpful site I should say hello.

I bought a 60ft narrowboat which needed more, A LOT MORE work to do than first thought, I guess this is not the first time you have heard this story :) 

I'm hoping to be on board (liveaboard) within the next four weeks (bought 6 wks ago goes back in water weds) and need a bit of help on a few final things as money is running low and I need to know what is important, and what isn't. I'll not ask too many questions in one post I'll look t other relevant posts as I have been doing but try to keep it specific here.

1. As a liveaboard which tends to be the preferred toilet? (hate to get to toilets so quickly) I have a pumpout But am thinking of later fitting a cassette toilet.

2. Is smartbank worth the money? (I've read all the smartbank threads)

I should leave it there I suppose But Hello again and hope to even meet some of you sometime.

 

Darren

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9 minutes ago, Darrbev said:

Hello and,Help,a little bit(and sorry if this post turns a bit big)

My name's Darren and have been following the forum for a while having just bought a boat and have found it such a helpful site I should say hello.

I bought a 60ft narrowboat which needed more, A LOT MORE work to do than first thought, I guess this is not the first time you have heard this story :) 

I'm hoping to be on board (liveaboard) within the next four weeks (bought 6 wks ago goes back in water weds) and need a bit of help on a few final things as money is running low and I need to know what is important, and what isn't. I'll not ask too many questions in one post I'll look t other relevant posts as I have been doing but try to keep it specific here.

1. As a liveaboard which tends to be the preferred toilet? (hate to get to toilets so quickly) I have a pumpout But am thinking of later fitting a cassette toilet.

2. Is smartbank worth the money? (I've read all the smartbank threads)

I should leave it there I suppose But Hello again and hope to even meet some of you sometime.

 

Darren

Welcome Darren.

Imo

1.Porta Potti /cassette . we have a Thetford 165

2.dunno,sorry, but suspect there are better things to spend your money on initially. 

Edited by rusty69
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On 4/4/2017 at 11:32, Irob said:

Dont forget insulation. You,ll need lots if winter livaboard. Also i,d say put your stove more towards centre of the boat if you,ve got no central heating. Get your bed up high as possible to keep warmer, with pumpout tank and calorifier under plus storage. It also helps falling into bed pissed and getting out of bed when you,re over 60 ! Have fun.

At 50 and just starting as a liveaboard I found the last piece of advice invaluable. Thank you.

7 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Welcome Darren.

Imo

1.Porta Potti /cassette.

2.dunno,sorry, but suspect there are better things to spend your money on initially. 

Thanks Rusty

Was thinking that with the electrics, for later probably.

 

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2 minutes ago, Darrbev said:

At 50 and just starting as a liveaboard I found the last piece of advice invaluable. Thank you.

Thanks Rusty

Was thinking that with the electrics, for later probably.

 

I made our bed high up. it's good for storage. The trouble is if you go away from the boat for a while and sleep in a normal bed and return to the boat, it's a bit if a drop if you forget in the middle of the night. 

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3 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

I made our bed high up. it's good for storage. The trouble is if you go away from the boat for a while and sleep in a normal bed and return to the boat, it's a bit if a drop if you forget in the middle of the night. 

You'll have to stop given me those little hearts, the other members will get jealous! 

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2 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

I made our bed high up. it's good for storage. The trouble is if you go away from the boat for a while and sleep in a normal bed and return to the boat, it's a bit if a drop if you forget in the middle of the night. 

I have always liked the Idea of the high beds cause of the storage, hadn't thought of the heat factor. and I always saw the wisdom of a central fire. 

 

1 minute ago, rusty69 said:

You'll have to stop given me those little hearts, the other members will get jealous! 

OK,

Didn't realise they were so precious

 

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2 minutes ago, Darrbev said:

I have always liked the Idea of the high beds cause of the storage, hadn't thought of the heat factor. and I always saw the wisdom of a central fire. 

 

OK,

Didn't realise they were so precious

 

A central fire seems a good idea,depending what the layout is.

We have one at each end of the boat.

Another benefit of a high up bed if it's next to a window, you can see out. 

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32 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

suspect there are better things to spend your money on initially.

I completely agree. SB and SG are great but they are most certainly not essentials. 

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As far as I can see a Smartbank is only a split charge relay plus bells and whistles, although a very good quality one. Personally I would now use a      bi-directional voltage sensitive relay and put any money saved towards as much solar charging as I could afford. A Smartguage is a different matter and as long a sit is properly calibrated when you get it (seems the factory may be slipping on this) it will go a long way towards helping you not to abuse your batteries and prolong their life. However a digital ammeter and voltmeter plus bt of learning on your part will do as much.

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12 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

As far as I can see a Smartbank is only a split charge relay plus bells and whistles, although a very good quality one. Personally I would now use a      bi-directional voltage sensitive relay and put any money saved towards as much solar charging as I could afford. A Smartguage is a different matter and as long a sit is properly calibrated when you get it (seems the factory may be slipping on this) it will go a long way towards helping you not to abuse your batteries and prolong their life. However a digital ammeter and voltmeter plus bt of learning on your part will do as much.

Thank Tony

I am aiming for solar.

 

 

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On 4/8/2017 at 08:11, Tony Brooks said:

As far as I can see a Smartbank is only a split charge relay plus bells and whistles, although a very good quality one. Personally I would now use a      bi-directional voltage sensitive relay and put any money saved towards as much solar charging as I could afford. A Smartguage is a different matter and as long a sit is properly calibrated when you get it (seems the factory may be slipping on this) it will go a long way towards helping you not to abuse your batteries and prolong their life. However a digital ammeter and voltmeter plus bt of learning on your part will do as much.

Is a voltage sensitive relay suitable? 

I just found today that it's all wired, with a spaded break between the batteries ready to fit one, Happy days.

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14 hours ago, Darrbev said:

Is a voltage sensitive relay suitable? 

I just found today that it's all wired, with a spaded break between the batteries ready to fit one, Happy days.

 

What is "a spaded break" - not a well known electrical term so one can only guess what you mean. Now I am far form sure that you know what a Smartbank is or does.

Suitable for what? If you mean charging two batteries from one alternator then yes provided the alternator output is wired to the DOMESTIC battery. It is no different to a split charge relay except it will not join the banks until the alternator is charging. It will not have the "alarm" and charge the engine battery first that a Smartbank has but I do not see the Smartbank extra features as important. If you have twin alternators a VSR, split charge relay or Smartbank is not needed.

When you fit solar a bi-directional VSR will charge both banks although for the vast majority of  boaters the engine battery is always al but fully charged so needs little if any solar charging.

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Hi,

My name is Monique. My partner Glen and I bought a Dawncraft named Sapphire at the end of last year and we hope to be having many great outings on her. She needs a bit of work, but that's all part of the fun. 

I'm looking forward to picking up some tips on here about boating and to reading up on the forum.

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