a-mac

It ended up being both mop and mechanical in the end. We managed to get access to power and so took our power washer to the marina. So we jet cleaned and mopped and I'm still really stiff and uncomfortable but the boat looks super! It took 4 hours to do even with the power washer and it wasn't THAT dirty! And following our session yesterday we now have a brush mop head and a power wash jet lance lying at the bottom of the canal. Doh!

Thanks bottle for your innovative concept. It could catch on However, I specifically wanted to avoid that as I have some shoulder and hip joint problems and it's easier to spray than mop. However it looks like the mop it will have to be. Thanks to everyone for their insights and advice. Much appreciated.

hi I'm new to the forum and hope someone will be able to help without going all techie on me. We have just a small 26 foot narrowbeam cruiser which we run very happily as a day boat using basic 110 amp leisure battery. We only need power for lights and starting up and so haven't really thought about any more power until now as we charge up the battery at home if we need to. In the past when we've wanted to clean the boat or do electrical work, we have simply moved it out of the marina and moored alongside a friend's house on the canalbank and used an extension lead to get power from his house and also a long hose to get the water, etc etc. Now the friend doesn't live there any more. We can sort out the water by buying a 100 metre hose which will reach the marina water supply. However we would like to use our jetcleaner, as usual, to clean the above water part of the boat. The jet cleaner is 240 volt, 50 Hz, and 2.1 kw. There are other things we might occasionally want to use like a microwaver or fridge but only for light day use. I have been looking at inverters and was planning on buying a 3000 watt (peak 6000 watt) modified sine wave inverter to run from a 12v battery. In the process of doing so, I was told by someone with no personal agenda, that the modified sine wave wouldn't work properly and what we needed was a pure sine wave 3000 watt inverter costing nearly £1000. Plus a whole stack of batteries to run it - another £1000. Not going to do that for an annual clean! So my questions are: 1) Will a 3000 watt (6000 watt peak) modified sine wave inverter run my 2.1 kw power washer or must I have pure sine wave ? 2) How long would the powerwasher run for with the inverter operating from a fully charged 110 amp 12v battery? 3) So I can work it out for myself next time, what is the mathematical equation that answers this? Someone once gave me two equations to work it out but I don't fully understand them. One was voltage of battery x number of watts to be consumed / length of time. So I reckon that's 12 (v) x 2100 (w) / 60 (mins) = 420 amp hours. So does that mean if I only want to use it for 15 minutes, I only need 105 amp battery? Except batteries only give you 50% don't they? Hmmm. The other equation was current = power / volts but I think that's wrong. Anyone know? 4) If the length of time I can run the power washer would be miniscule on the current battery, what size battery would I need for 1 hour of operation of 2.1 kw powerwasher only? Please don't tell me this thread has been done to death. I'm new and can't find it.