Leaderboard

We've had our lithiums installed for just over a year now and best investment we've made. We've been living off grid on our last boat with 1kw solar and 4x t105 batteries for 2.5 years, and this boat with 500w solar and 5x cheapo sealed batteries for 18 months, and now 1 year with our lithiums and 500w solar. With 1kw solar and the t105s we were just about coping from April to September with solar, but still having to top up charge quite often, and running generator if using washing machine etc. With the cheapo batteries and 500w solar we'd decided it wasn't enough as weren't coping except on long sunny days. Batteries were also completely knackered after less than a year, but managed to struggle on for a second summer. The lithiums have been a complete transformation for us living off grid. 500w solar is coping very well, and even allows us run washing machine from solar. As others have said, these batteries just soak up what ever charge is available from solar. I believe charge efficiencies of 99-100% are common with lithiums (our bmv is set to 99% and seems to track charge well). Yes they are more expensive, but the extra more than pays for itself in reduced recharge times. As mentioned above, they are available 2nd hand from various sources. When no longer suitable for ev use they are still fine for our light duty use (I got mine as they dropped voltage slightly too much under very heavy load, 200A+ on 160AH cells). They also have very stable voltage profile, ours are nearly always between 13.3-13.8v regardless of load or charge rate. As to installation and BMS, yes it needs some planning, but not too hard to do, and new products coming out all the time. There's some very slight changes I'd consider if doing it again, but would not consider having a boat without them now. Also never even bother looking at the monitor for days at a time in the summer, they just sit there and work as they should with no monitoring or fussing!

Some interesting stuff here: https://www.macearchive.org/search?for=Canal&has-video[]=1&from=&to=

Hi Arthur The Cheshire ring is a nice route but the bit through Manchester is fairly grim and to be honest, probably the worst U.K. city. Which is a bit of a disgrace considering how wonderful Mancunians think they are! Anyway, we have traversed Manchester a few times and never had any problems. So long as you don’t mind blokes having sex with each other in the middle of the day at the lock in the shadows under Piccadilly station etc OK places to stop are Portland Basin area, Droylsden marina (Top of Ashton flight), Thomas Telford basin (read small print on notice carefully - at first sight it says “no mooring” but a closer look reveals you can moor for 24 hrs) and Castlefield Basin on Bridegwater. The latter doesn’t have much space for visitors these days. Mooring in Manchester is not easy but that is no problem because in fact Manchester is a shit hole and no sane person would want to do anything other than pass through fairly quickly. Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds etc are all 1,000,000 times better!

Water pump up and running again. A simple fix, but not easy to find! Bex established that the switch and fuse holder were ok. So the problem was the cable between the switch and the pump. Much of this is under the floor so we discussed the prospect of replacing the cable, not great! Almost as an afterthought we checked behind the fridge, found a joint in the cable there. Bex did her magic there (continuity test by wrapping both ends of wire together at one end, probes on the 2 wires at the other, brilliant!), established was that the fault was simply this joint, one of those horrible scotchjoin things are whatever they are called. Bex was great, really friendly and helpful.

Some extracts of this film must be post March 1963 as QUAIL (owned by Willow Wren) is paired with SATELLITE (leased from British Waterways Board), and seen turning into the Northampton Arm at Gayton

A short train ride to Liverpool? .............Dave

Just for the record, I've got the circulation pump connected to the 12v fuse board and wired completely separate. This allows me to use the Webasto as a functioning heater. It's only a temp fix until the refurbisher is back off his holiday so he can send me a new wiring loom (he thinks this is the issue). Will update once the new loom turns up.

Effects, affects, always safer to use impacts. But it’s the double exclamation mark that effects, affects, impacts me. Why, oh why, do people think this makes their point even more effective, affective, impactful?

Life is far too short to worry about spelling in this case. Is there anything hard to understand re what the sign means?

Was it this one, took it of my prop on the T&M This is what you really need to protect the side of your fragile steel boat

Yes, give the washing machine it's own, dedicated skin fitting.

All it needs now is some mug to shell out £960 on four of them in the hope that the claims being made are accurate... Now, where did I put my wallet...

Perhaps the reservoir will be covered with camouflage netting to prevent the worlds terrorist powers dying it red? National security, HUMBUG! We all know its there, its on Google Earth. Will they have Google redacted? When will this failed "Charity" be impeached?

Ahem

It’s like a solid fuel stove in a way isn’t it, and I believe you’re a fan(don’t start that again!) of those. There’s more modern if not efficient ways of heating a boat, but for a bit of faff it’s worth it. I don’t think the old engine thing is anything to do with being a hobby or livaboard boater, you need to be an enthusiast of old engines. I wouldn’t wish my Gardner on someone who hasn’t got a clue how the oily bits work, because they wouldn’t thank me. I however can’t handle the idea of a traditional boat with all the trimmings buzzing down the cut like a suitcase generator.

'Loose' and 'effects' are common mistakes which I frequently see in newspapers. It's not just CRT. I suspect you are referring to the first bit though, which could have been put better, but is not a 'howler'.

I could ask you how you know how much progress you would make wearing full welding PPE if you have not worn it, but I won't I hope you never have reason to regret your choice. Accidents happen and a moment's lapse in concentration can be life changing. You have made your choice based on you being a "strong swimmer" I mainly want other people reading this to realise that just because you might be a strong swimmer in a warm sea wearing your budgie smugglers doesn't mean to say you could save yourself fully clothed in a strong tidal current in a cold river.

Seems to me more like ask in as many places as possible, until you heat the answer you want, Then if you enter into a non regulated rental after all the warnings it'll be ok because they're friends of mine.

I liked the way Hutch handed him a bucket! Hutch once roped my father into working alongside a group of prisoners from Gloucester Prison, as he happened to be walking the towpath at the time.

Jack James appeared to the only person who spoke - other than the narrator.