Alan de Enfield

If I remember the BSS section on 'mains electricity' is advisory.

Many marinas offering 'Residential' berths tend to have 32 amp supply - certainly BWML did (so I guess Aquavista) still do)

Recently installed a new electric oven/range which required a 32 amp supply - the installation instructions stated 6mm2 (10mm2 max) cable. The other question is what is the CSA of the shore line, I have not seen any commercial 6mm2 ones and have previously had to make up my own. Edit to add : Found one £128 + postage (20 mt) 32 Amp '20 MTR' 3 Pin Extension Lead 6mm² Heavy Duty Industrial Rubber Cable HO7 | eBay UK

Diesel floats on water. From my boat diesel tank.

Are they automatic bilge pumps (maybe they were originally but have been changed over the years) ? I know you have changed them but - Is the float seized up with oil/grease, rust, a leaf etc etc ? If it is stuck in the 'down' position it will not activate automatically, but will manually.

NO - as Tony explained earlier, this is 'surface charge' sitting on the plates. You either need to wait an hour or two and then measure the voltage, or, turn something on for a few minutes to 'use up' the surface charge.

A 70 amp alternator does not charge your batteries at 70 amps. In many respects having a bigger alternator is a waste of time (if you have FLA batteries). The batteries dictate what charge they will accept and typically when re charging you may get : 50 amps for the 1st 15 minutes, dropping to 30 amps for the next hour, dropping to 20 amps for the next hour, dropping to 10 amps for the next hour and then 4 or 5 amps for the next 4 or 5 hours. The size of your battery bank and state of charge dictates the charging current. When your batteries are (considered) full you will be charging at 1% to 2% of tha battery bank size, so if you have 2x 100 Ah batteries (total 200 Ah) when you are charging at 3 or 4 amps at 14.4+ volts and, it has not changed for 1 hour, the batteries are full If you have lithium batteries it is very different.

So why not just 'scrap' the existing fuel and use the £500+to buy new fuel ? When I had a problem I just got a 1000 litre IBC and pumped all the fuel out, got 200 litres of muck & water, pumped the fuel back in (not the rubbish) - sloshed it around - pumped it back out and refilled with fresh. If you have 'bug' in your fuel lines, filters etc then having your fuel 'polished' will not resolve the problem.

A boat being rented out also needs an annual Landlords gas and electric safety certificates.

The 3rd party element is when the gas system installed by a non-registered installer leaks, goes boom and sets the boat alongside / behind / in front on fire. A 'lived in boat' is more at risk of wear and tear and damage than a lesser used 'weekend boat'. Thats why car insurers charge differing premiums depending on annual mileage.

Boats, caravans and mobile homes that are used as residential come under the GSIUR regulations - where is @MtB when you need him. When does a boat become residential ? That is the problem - we would spend (maybe) 6 months living on the boat and cruising for the Summer, it was being used residentially but not for the full year. So why would a boat used for 12 months of the year require different safety tests/standards/examiners to a boat used for 6 months of the year. There are many types of vessels that use gas for heating and/or cooking. It’s a very convenient fuel but using gas is not without risk. This is why it’s important to ensure any gas appliances on a vessel are properly installed and maintained correctly and safely. It is important to recognise that where any gas work is in-scope of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 (GSIUR), any person undertaking gas work must hold suitable competencies and be Gas Safe registered. What does ‘in scope’ mean? Where the person(s) vessel is hired out for business i.e. rental, made available for the public as part of business like a restaurant, or, used primarily for domestic or residential purposes i.e. living accommodation, any person undertaking gas work would need to be Gas Safe registered. Further details can be found at the Health and Safety Executive website. What is gas work? The definition of ‘work’ in relation to a gas fitting lists specific activities which are: • maintaining, servicing, permanently adjusting, disconnecting, repairing, altering or renewing the fitting or purging it of air or gas; • where the fitting is not readily movable, changing its position; • removing the fitting Therefore, anyone undertaking ‘work’ on an in-scope vessel that could affect the above would need to be competent and Gas Safe registered. Which is exactly what has been said. Residential boats come under the 'GSIUR regs. Non-residential boat do not.

I think she is just bleating !