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Coffee machine won't run on new boat


Amber34

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That is one of the major benefits of hiring - you are either :

 

1) limited as to what electrical appliances you can use, or

2) take a load of electrical stuff with you, 'booger the batteries' and 'walk away' at the end of the week without a care in the world

 

When it is your own boat, you need a bit more understanding, or very deep pockets.

Yes

 

And with a hire boat you ll be running the engine for many hours per day during the hire period . So it may well be the case that you can get away with such needless crap as a toaster & a silly coffee machine .?

 

But when its your own battery bank worth , lets say £400 would you not think a bit harder such things ?

 

It honedtly sounds to me like the OP may well end up spending alot of money on replacement inverters , fuel , generators , & most probably fairly soon replacement batteries ( i think im right in saying theres no shoreline ) unless theyre being charged adequately ( ie hours n hours ) each day .... & for what ?

The " convenience " of not lighting a grill for toast & a kettle for coffee.

 

OP . How do you make tea , do you use gas or an electric kettle ??

 

I know i sound like an old git , but it does all sound a bit unecessary

 

cheers

 

ETA : Having said that , if its a " holiday " boat as opposed to an " off grid liveaboard " then a a change of inverter may fix the issue and as a holiday boat the engine will run most days when away from its mooring so battery charging will be most probably sufficient .......?

Edited by chubby
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Yes

 

And with a hire boat you ll be running the engine for many hours per day during the hire period . So it may well be the case that you can get away with such needless crap as a toaster & a silly coffee machine .?

 

But when its your own battery bank worth , lets say £400 would you not think a bit harder such things ?

 

It honedtly sounds to me like the OP may well end up spending alot of money on replacement inverters , fuel , generators , & most probably failely soon replacement batteries ( i think im right in saying theres no shoreline ) unless theyre being charged adequately ( ie hours n hours ) each day .... & for what ?

The " convenience " of not lighting a grill for toast & a kettle for coffee.

 

OP . How do you make tea , do you use gas or an electric kettle ??

 

I know i sound like an old git , but it does all sound a bit unecessary

 

cheers

 

I too am an old git but methinks the problem lies with younger modern society in General. They are so used to gadgets that they think there is no other way. As a for instance we didnt have a bathroom never mind a bath until one was built onto the house when I was aged about 6/7. Also peeps still dont get it that boats are boats and whilst not having to live like cavemen ( we dont ) there are also sensible constraints that should realy be adhered to with regards energy consumption. We are not nor ever have been hobby boaters and our present boat was built new as a liveabord to cope with full time living but even so silly gadgets like coffee machines are not to be found. each to his own though and the op could use said gadget with the right set up.

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I don't drink tea, although there is a kettle on the gas cooker.

 

The hairdryer and microwave came with the boat. They are both on the pile by the door to be taken off, along with the toast rack, bread bin, cream jug, sugar bowl and various other 'essentials' that come on a hire boat. The vendor is kindly picking us up this afternoon, so we'll return those unwanted items to him.

 

I only drink espresso and don't drink instant, although have used the cafetiere to get my coffee fix this weekend.

 

My post was partly to better understand our boat, and I'm genuinely grateful to those who have helped me with that.

 

I was not intended as an invitation to attack, although I was kinda expecting that, having followed this forum for a few years now. ?

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You had a house when you were 7, I use to dream of living in a shed at that age.

:)

A shed, when we were young we didnt even know what a shed was!

Cue Monty Python sketch ......

 

Http://www.cmoore.com/funstuff/humor/mp.script.weweresopoor.php

Edited by Just Heaven
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Amber, there are a lot of old fogies on here who find a candle rather too high tech (they have a glow worm in a jar but anyway, are in bed by 6pm so it doesn't matter).

 

There is nothing wrong with having a Nespresso machine, toaster etc on a boat. We certainly do. You just have to bear in mind where the energy is coming from and, if from the batteries, how you are going to replace it. A Nespresso in fact uses very little energy since it is only on for a minute or so. A toaster uses rather more (depends on how many slices you have) but still doesn't represent a lot of energy. What you should consider is how you generate power, typically from the engine's alternator. These come in various sizes from quite small in an old engine, to huge on some new engines. Since you boat is presumably not that old, it's likely to have a modern Japanese engine with a decent alternator. That alternator will be able to supply most and probably all the power demanded by a Nespresso or toaster. So the moral is, if possible only use these devices whilst the engine is running, or if you plan to be cruising for the day such that the batteries will be fully replenished.

 

As to the original problem, yes it is because the inverter is a quasi sine wave one. My suggestion would be to try to replace it with a pure sine wave one as soon as you can, otherwise you may find that a lot modern mains equipment gives you problems.

  • Greenie 1
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I too am an old git but methinks the problem lies with younger modern society in General. They are so used to gadgets that they think there is no other way. As a for instance we didnt have a bathroom never mind a bath until one was built onto the house when I was aged about 6/7. Also peeps still dont get it that boats are boats and whilst not having to live like cavemen ( we dont ) there are also sensible constraints that should realy be adhered to with regards energy consumption. We are not nor ever have been hobby boaters and our present boat was built new as a liveabord to cope with full time living but even so silly gadgets like coffee machines are not to be found. each to his own though and the op could use said gadget with the right set up.

This depends what you call a gadget, in the 50's a fridge and washing machine we're the latest and greatest kitchen gadgets you could get and I know many here wouldn't want to go without these.

 

However a boat is limited in both power and space so been selective in "gadgets" is wise whether it's powered or not.

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It takes precisely 1hr. 26mins to heat a tin of ''All day breakfast sausage and beans'' over a standard wrights candle. You need to regularly either lower the tin a bit or raise the the candle a bit to keep the flame concentrated fully upon the tins bottom, or your breakfast will not be done in the time quoted. closedeyes.gif

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I too am an old git but methinks the problem lies with younger modern society in General. They are so used to gadgets that they think there is no other way. As a for instance we didnt have a bathroom never mind a bath until one was built onto the house when I was aged about 6/7. Also peeps still dont get it that boats are boats and whilst not having to live like cavemen ( we dont ) there are also sensible constraints that should realy be adhered to with regards energy consumption. We are not nor ever have been hobby boaters and our present boat was built new as a liveabord to cope with full time living but even so silly gadgets like coffee machines are not to be found. each to his own though and the op could use said gadget with the right set up.

We love the idea you consider us the younger generation! I'll not bother you with the factual stuff about our ages, but just let you know we're flattered ??

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Hi Amber, if you like strong fresh coffee we use an enamel jug and just pour through a tea strainer. You can also keep it hot on the stove for a second cup, just another option to consider.

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I don't drink tea, although there is a kettle on the gas cooker.

 

The hairdryer and microwave came with the boat. They are both on the pile by the door to be taken off, along with the toast rack, bread bin, cream jug, sugar bowl and various other 'essentials' that come on a hire boat. The vendor is kindly picking us up this afternoon, so we'll return those unwanted items to him.

 

I only drink espresso and don't drink instant, although have used the cafetiere to get my coffee fix this weekend.

 

My post was partly to better understand our boat, and I'm genuinely grateful to those who have helped me with that.

 

I was not intended as an invitation to attack, although I was kinda expecting that, having followed this forum for a few years now.

Do worry, I have a gas free boat with a diesel cooker, in the summer we use an electric kettle but we are only hobby boaters, by the way that means we actually boat more than full time boaters who just moor up most of the time.

I bought a Silvercrest Expresso coffee machine from Lidl and that works well. We have a Mastervolt 1500 true sine wave inverter, we also have a mains fridge and we don't even turn it off at night.

Also we don't have a land line and only very small solar panels that only just manage to maintain the batteries when the boat is not being used.

This time of the year we have a lot of home made soup and my wife uses an electric gizmo to munch it into liquid. I told her she didn't need to use the old Besom broom but could have a new fangle electric vacuum cleaner provided I could have an electric toothbrush (they do hate poor inverters). We even watch TV sometimes, thats 230 volt as well, just like this laptop I am use to send this with.

I do like the idea of being considered younger generation at nearly 70

  • Greenie 1
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We also have a Nespresso machine and wouldn't be without it.

I'm buying coffee works out 10p per cup.

Have to say we just tested it on inverter, no problems at all

 

Hope you get sorted soon

 

Col

I usually manage to find it at a reasonable price too, which means not buying from Nespresso! I'm going to try my old machine next time and hope that works.

 

I don't think we'll be changing the inverter anytime soon, but might be looking for an alternative coffee experience ?

Hi Amber, if you like strong fresh coffee we use an enamel jug and just pour through a tea strainer. You can also keep it hot on the stove for a second cup, just another option to consider.

Certainly worth trying,thank you ?

Our small Nespresso machine will run on the boat, but very unevenly, so I've given up using it there. It's fine on straight mains power in our lodge. Combi is a Mastervolt 2.5kVA and it happens both on invert and mains pass through on the shoreline. I guess it's something to do with the control chip in the machine arguing with the inverter controller, but goodness knows what. As with the OP, everything else, washing machine, laptops and so on, run just fine.

 

I use an Aeropress on the boat instead, coffee flavour not quite as good but still massively better than instant.

I've looked at the aeropress before, but always thought too much hassle. Will give it serious consideration is the old machine doesn't work.

 

In the meantime, I'll stick to cider and gin ? (not in the same glass, of course)

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A new product for coffee lovers, much like the aeropress but you brew straight into a cup, got mine at Xmas and its ideal if you want to make a brew and cruise straight away or take in the car.

 

https://the-oomph.com/

Having been a presso owner since they first came out( http://www.rokkitchentools.com ) the-oomph seems an excellent idea for a boat, insulated cup for cold days at the tiller included
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If you run a TV or other expensive stuff from this inverter I would change it too something better.

I've suggested to himself we should change the inverter, but as we don't have a TV or anything else expensive, he's reluctant to change and suggests we should make our own entertainment in the evenings, whatever that means! ?

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I've suggested to himself we should change the inverter, but as we don't have a TV or anything else expensive, he's reluctant to change and suggests we should make our own entertainment in the evenings, whatever that means!

Dont use an electric toothbrush then, and you can read into that what you like.

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Dont use an electric toothbrush then, and you can read into that what you like.

My old quasi SW inverter destroyed my toothbrush. I rang Mr Sterling to tell him what had happened and his response was "Well yes it would".

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There are lots of alternative work-arounds for land-based stuff that you can't use on boats and, as many have said, there's a lot of gadgets, gizmos and "luxuries" you can quite happily do without. That said, if I couldn't get the coffee machine to work on my boat... I'd be looking for another boat! :D

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