Leaderboard

Flat battery. The fridge turns OFF when battery voltage gets too low. The batts rest and recover a bit of voltage which the fridge then detects is high enough so it starts again, then the voltage rapidly degrades and the compressor once again turns OFF. There is a red LED supplied with the Danfoss compressor which gives error reports. Two flashes every couple of seconds is "voltage too low", IIRC, if yours has the LED fitted. P.S. Try starting your engine or putting the domestic batt on charge. If the fridge starts working normally with the higher charging voltage, this gives you a clue.

Nivernais scenes. The straight bit is the portion near Cravant, cut under the Freycinet programme to bypass an uncertain reach of the Yonne.. The other photo is of the river itself at Rechimet

Today I have broken at least 6 traffic rules, (going a bit quick, naughty parking, ignoring 'residents only' road closure, driving with unsafe load in van (motor scythe unsecured) and for lunch I had a bit of Gouda that we smuggled through customs a few weeks ago. After repairing the motor scythe I started it and broke noise rules (the exhaust was not fixed) and I'm sure that I will break a few more before bed time tonight. After I go to sleep most of my dreams are illegal. I feel so GOOD and the day I give up and wear tartan slippers and a caramel cardigan I will put the pillow over my own head. RCD indeed!

If you crack it open there is a little rolled up treasure map inside, telling you the location of one eyed willies lost ship, full of booty! arrgghh!

A few weeks ago there was a lengthy thread on the issue of inconsiderate boaters running engines after 8pm. I said I would contact CRT to seek their advice on this issue, and to suggest that as it seems to be an increasing problem they might like to put some measures in place to monitor it. I sent the letter on 1st Sept. I received a reply this morning signed by Richard Parry, and I don't doubt that he wrote it. So, first point is, if you bother to write to the Chief Executive direct, the chances are he will read it personally. I must admit this took me by surprise as I fully expected to get a reply from some customer relations person further down the line. So credit to Mr Parry. The relevant parts of the reply are: As you might expect, CRT "take breaches of licence conditions seriously" and will make contact with any boaters who have been reported as being in breach of their conditions. The offender is reminded of their conditions and if the matter persists there are processes whereby CRT will ultimately terminate a licence. Mr Parry advises "...others should not take the matter up with the offending boater themselves and potentially put themselves at risk." Instead they should report the matter via customer services either by phone or through the "contact us" part of the CRT website, giving the location and index number of the boat concerned. Not surprisingly CRT would not want to risk any liability issues by advising boaters to tackle boat licence culprits, though Mr Parry doesn't actually say that. Finally, on the issue of monitoring, Mr Parry states that; "We now have a new customer relationship management system in place and can track all cases to identify if there are repeat complaints. It is helpful to receive any reports of boats running their engines or generators outside permitted hours, so that we can monitor the scale of the problem and respond accordingly". Make of that what you will, but the least we can all do is take Mr Parry at his word and assiduously report future incidents as he suggests. We might then find out what "respond accordingly" actually means.

A cover strip fixed to one panel only to allow movement. If you can't hide something, make a feature of it.

The much maligned choc block connector. Used for over a century in their billions, held the British industrial society together. I love them. Used properly they work just fine, its the limp wristed users that can't tighten screws that have problems. The terminals are the same as every consumer unit bus bar so where is the beef? They are far and away better than the American "Screw It" used still on just twisted wires.

I spoke with Ed Shiers this morning and the 'suspect' from him seems to be the starter heater element which he suggests might be staying for the period that the drive belt is slipping. Two minutes seems like a long time for the element to be on to me, but then it does tally with the experience since the belt slippage occurs whenever the ignition is turned off and then back on again, and when you switch the ignition on the heater element always comes on as well (he tells me it is on a timer). Additional to that, the lamp that shows the heater element is working obviously comes on brightly when starting but once the engine is running it never goes out completely although you can only see the extremely faint glow in darkened conditions. Ed has also suggested changing the pulley on the alternator and I'm expecting to be changing the drive belt as well since, after this period of slippage, it is probably knackered. Since I'm heading off up the Caldon canal I've arranged to re-contact Ed either at Park Lane services or at the Leek terminus and he says he'll come and look at it.

Possibly the wiring is too thin causing voltage drop. There is a formula for calculating the correct thickness of cable for the distance from battery to appliance,which unfortunately I don't have to hand.

Ooh, I love this post - it gives me hope! It's how mine is and I dare not look in mine either in case it's there's such a thing as a Schrödinger's water tank. Maybe you could look in mine and find it pristine for me? In truth I check my freshwater pump pre-filter screen jobbie regularly just downstream of the supply valve and have never found so much as a speck of rust or bitumen in it. I'm therefore loath to disturb my tank lid which is little more than 1' square so I'm not sure what I'd be able to achieve anyway.

Came up Bosley two days ago, very little water at the bottom end of the flight, one pound drained dry overnight. Now at Bugsworth, hoping we can get home again! Levels on the UPF and top end of the Macc seem ok.

Think i’m still barred from the Rat & Ratshit due to some shenanigans back in the early 90’s. The Parish is worth a look, as is The Sportsman and The Vulcan

When you say "the battery says", what exactly are you looking at? A battery monitor? A voltmeter? Something else? 14.4v is a reading you should get while the battery is actively charging,for example when you've just turned on the battery charger or started running your engine. After a few hours, the battery charger should drop into float mode and read around 13.2v. So a 14.4v reading is odd if you're plugged in and have been for a while.

RCD like the Building Regulations is nothing to do with safety, it's to do with liability. We stopped being concerned with safety quite some time ago.

Chimes the Yorkie...😉

I bought a brand new shell once with an integrated water tank. I tank blacked it and bolted the cover plate down and was scared to take it off and look inside for about five years. When I eventually did, it looked as immaculately clean and pristine inside as a the day I bolted it down, five years previously.

ALL these water transfer schemes falter when the through-life cost of pumping the water up to the summits in the volumes needed is worked out. There is also usually a secondary problem when the flow rate and water speed needed through bridges is looked at. It is frequently high enough to mean an end to boating on the canal. The Llangollen is often used as an example of a successful water transfer scheme but that is downhill all the way and, in the scheme of things, transfers piddly amounts of water. Fortunately, or Chirk and Ellesmere tunnels would take even longer uphill than they do now. N

That looks a lovely job!

Thanks Dave, I will be in contact with my insurance company, once I've sorted a suitable "address" out. Hopefully they will take a similar view as yours did.

Hi Been boating a very long time and been living aboard for nearly 20 years and this is my postal story. Winter is mostly spent on my home mooring which is bankside and not serviced at all. Spring, summer and autumn I'm out boating all over the place. For a full postal service that gives a street address and mailing service for residential boaters try BoatPost. They are in Belper but that doesn't matter in the least. Call or email David on 07977 597478 or email boatpost2@gmail.com I have been using their excellent service for years. Quite brilliant. That's where everyone from the Taxman to the kind senders of Christmas cards think I live. You can use their address as your own for nearly all purposes including for your car insurance correspondence and give the marina as the place you keep it. If that doesn't work, (actuaries can lack imagination!) talk to the marina as there will be little or no correspondence as you can do it all on line. The insurers should only be interested in where its kept and used. The NHS can be tricky as for them one size fits all so you will have to find an address to use that's where your doctors is. Maybe a friend? If you give a mailing agency's address they'll just remove you from your doctors list and tell you to get GP near there! Electoral roll is no problem, just speak to the Electoral Services office of the council where you wish to vote. They will want to know about your connections with the area but won't care about you giving a postal only address. That's it, easy peasy and works a treat for me. Do message me on here if you have any thing you wish to raise. James

Cut circles and weld in flush, weld both sides if below water level, then grind flat = invisible.