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Arthur Brown

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Arthur Brown last won the day on July 27 2013

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  1. In general, the really clever auto washing machines need a really good mains supply. They are sensitive to mains frequency failures (when the generator slows down a bit) and mains voltage sags when the mains or the inverter supply is heavily loaded, AND they can be very sensitive to odd waveforms from "modified sine" inverters. Add to that the simple quantity of power taken from batteries to heat the water then there is a huge can of worms to deal with. Try to find a known working brand of washer and generator, don't be surprised if it's not the cheapest, don't be surprised if you need a 5+KVa supply to keep a full auto washer happy. Keep a bucket/wash tub ready!
  2. Your mooring will NOT be your permanent home. Even if it's a formal residential mooring it's only on a 12 month "lease" or licence. Should you ever move, the 16A socket on another mooring may or may not be fully rated at 16a. You need to consider that your boat should have two or three methods of heating, including something that you keep on board! So oil, coal and wood are obvious fuels that you can take with you, and have in store. Electricity is essential -usually for lighting, electric heaters are usually good but expensive and can only be fed from a shore line. With electricity you must consider how many things will be on at one time and how long things will be on for, then you can do the diversity calculations -calculating the maximum current realistically likely to be drawn. Your boat WILL need to be moved for cruising, repairs, servicing and hull blacking At a guess most residential boaters spend at least an hour per day working on things that just flow in a land home -water, foul waste, gas/coal/oil -Yes you have to carry toilet waste to a disposal place. On top of that your boat will need engine maintenance, hull maintenance, painting and blacking regularly. There are aps and timers for Eberspacher heaters to turn them on as you leave work, so there will likely be similar for the other oil heaters.
  3. Where I live in east London, the beer pubs are mostly closed, the food pubs are thriving.
  4. Buy the smallest set of batteries that will do your job, or the largest set that you can afford to lose. Most battery problems resolve to -I haven't charged them and now there is nothing there to take out , leading to the engine not starting and the batteries being left empty til they are past recovery. The best battery life reported on here is ten years, the worst is ten weeks. the difference is how you treat your batteries. As you have an inverter I'd suggest a complete roof cover of solar 500 to 1000w would be a good start, then accept that for three months solar will produce effectively nothing, so you will need a generator period or a cruise time -or both.
  5. It's seriously important that you do not accidentally power the bollard from the boat inverter -things may go bang! Also that you do NOT power the immersion or the charger from the batteries however you wire things and operate things
  6. Read the data and instruct ions with the panels and the controller! Consider whether these will be your final panel array or whether you will want to increase the panels later.
  7. One of my local churches has installed an external stairlift, but they have had to build a hut round the top landing to protect the chair (and motor) assembly from the weather. They usually need mains to keep the battery fully charged, the battery is in the travelling chair assembly, the lifting is usually done by the battery, the track usually has charging station at the top and/or the bottom. Any stair lift will need serious foundations, will need mains, and may need planning permission. There are also devices to lift people into swimming pools -none are cheap. Ambulances with a ramp access often have a winch to pull patients in chairs up and release them down gently. A ramp could be a simpler thing to find/buy/improvise and a winch will be available from lots of places. www.oh-vehicleconversions.co.uk/ Is one known and respected supplier of ambulance bits, could they supply you a folding ramp and 12volt winch. You will be very unlikely to have or get permission to have any hard fitting to overlap the canal boundary, so you will still need to get people onto the boat from the bank/dock side. You should also consider your emergency evacuation procedures so that any person needing a motor to get them aboard can be evacuated during an emergency, possibly by strangers including the fire service.
  8. Yes. There is no reason why a permanently hooked up boat shouldn't be all 230v (wired to standard ) or all 12v with a huge 12v power supply.
  9. MY Intention with the SMPSU I found on ebay, was to have it permanently set to a float voltage - much less than 14v and leave it on 24/7/365( more like a UPS battery room). It will supply 20a so will supply part of the load needed so will never need to go into cyclic charge mode. Actually it may supply ALL the electrical needs on the boat without batteries!
  10. Currently the only way to keep the batteries charged is to reduce the usage to below the amp hours supplied by the charger. Lights off, pumps off. Sadly if you cannot afford an electrical supply than there isn't electricity.
  11. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mean-Well-SP-200-15-RC-15V-DC-200W-13-4A-Variable-Output-Power-Supply-PSU-/162412997046?hash=item25d091a9b6:g:1a4AAOSwjDZYhf62 Set the adjustment carefully
  12. Once there is some solar available things should improve! Til then probably best to consider batteries as disposable OR take them to a garage/vehicle electricians for a charge once a week. Yes the charger needs replacing with either a beefier one or a OEM smpsu set to 13.8 and left on 24/7. Chargers for the car parts industry often switch OFF after 24 hours on the assumption that if it's not charged by then the battery is not flat but dead, a false assumption in the recreational boating market. A battery is a bit like a fuel tank, you can't take out what's not there! UNLIKE a fuel tank leave it empty for long and you buy a replacement battery.
  13. As an electrical system seems to be essential to modern life, the OP's prime objective should be an understanding of the system fitted to each boat, and how it works or doesn't. Only then can the existing systems be properly used and improved -including preparation for BSS exam (the exam criteria are published so there is no room for error there). Early adoption of solar power could be a good plan if the mooring(s) are sunny.
  14. Probably the most helpful post would be a correct electrical circuit diagram for each boat. Once you see real connections you can make real decisions about the system. Start by listing what runs off 12v, what runs off mains (only) and what runs off inverter supplied 240v only, then there may be stuff that runs off inverter power and or mains power.
  15. Maybe I'd look for a hull write off of the same make and model. If 100 were made no doubt there is one somewhere permanently out of service and breakable for parts. Otherwise £15k would buy a new polycarb or "Perspex" screen moulding for several years.
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