marstonmyst

Having a modern boat I use 15mm plastic water pipe offcut marked with a black marker, cuts the mustard for me! LOL

I had a considerate burgular in the summer on the llangollen. Snipped off the rear padlock, helped himself (or herself) to a few tools, using them to remove the tv and bracket... and worse still my summers supply of beer and wine whiskey and brandy etc even the ones under the seating and not on display which was not sporting. The only thing that made him considerate was the lack of damage to the boat and closing the hatch behind him. As people have said, if you make the boat harder to break in the damage would be greater. I have toyed with the idea of filling the boat with CO gas when it is left, thus burglar proofing; but that would mean I would get done for murder even though it prevents repeat crime. I would be more tempted to leave a doctored bottle of booze on board, who would know who poisoned the 'uninvited victim'! This country is far too lenient on theft!!!

My water guage is even simpler, if the front anodes show above the waterline, the pointy end is too light (roughly 2/3's empty) and it is time to refill the water tank. After filling the anodes are around 1" below the waterline.

Of course you could always buy the TEAC T22LID638 which was nicked off my boat last week. It worked a treat on 12V. He might even trow in the digital TV strengh meter(for pointing the aerial) and the 240V aerial amp PSU which I had adapted for 12 V working, I was amused thathe forgot to nick the aerial with the amp on it so it will be pretty useless, it is just a shame that if he does connect to 240v, it would blow the internal fuse rather than going up in flames! Makes me angry that someone so stupid has also nicked my DC clamp ammeter as they won't know how to use it or the value! I have seen a couple of the TEAC's on ebay but you can't get a new one now, so I am in the position of trying to find a 12V system myself and will have to use a 240v set instead which is not as efficient. Might look up the JVC but getting a larger 12V TV/DVD combi than 19 is a task He also had the gall to nick my summer booze, next time I will lace one of my bottles with arsenic so it might reduce the crime wave on the towpath! The only positive was the guy was a tidy thief and at least the boat wasn't trashed

I use one too, Carrol and Mayall is the make. It is important to modify the earthing arrangement as there is no isolation on the earth. It is designed to be used with power tools!

I had the same problem with a woman needing these fripperies, solution was to buy a 1KW economy hairdryer(found one in tesco last year) which works a treat and far better than any 12v affair. I had a 2.5kw inverter fitted( but a smaller one would have done), so no need for a genny, just 2 or 3 hours cruising a day keeps the batteries charged for all items including the fridge/ 800w kettle toaster and microwave. As to straighteners, there are gas powered versions I believe, but not sure on the Boat safety and gas aspect LOL

It is the same and I fitted one! Things to be aware of, it has a rating of 1650W constant load with a 3.3KW peak for around 5 minutes... when charging batteries my sterling 2.5 kW combi takes about 1kW so not leaving much head for other AC loads, if the transformer heat trips you will be running on batteries without realising it!!! Also with the Carroll & Meynell CM7501/230 you need to undo the 4 screws to modify the earthing on the inside as the Input earth is not only connected to the transformer screen but also to the output earths which defeats the object of having a IT. Probably best to follow diagrram 2 on the smartguage page to ensure RCD's operate. One of the main disadvantages of IT's is they do have higher power losses compared to GI's. The CM does use 40w without any load (iron loss) I am not sure what the copper losses are but drawing the 1650W load I should think they would be another 5% of load. As with anything electrical, if you are not sure what you are doing then it is best to employ a professional as little knowledge can be lethal. Marstonmyst