Slim

I have a BMC 1.8 fitted with two 70amp alternators. The general configuration is very similar to Evo's. The engine came out of a Telecom Sherpa van and has a twin belt crankshaft pulley. (I've always assumed this was to accommodate power steering.) The second alternator is fixed to the front offside engine mounting bracket. If I recall correctly I sourced this from AMC in Manchester about 10 years ago. They may still be able to help. Frank

Already asked my marina for a quote on mooring charges.Seemingly they need to get some new batteries for their calculater before they can respond.

My £50 Kratcher wet&dry vac has sucked dry the bilges of half the boats in the marina for the last 6 years+. Oil, nuts, bolts ,kitchen roll even wet j cloths are taken in it's stride. O/k, it's passed it's best by date but keeps going. No use for normal dust/dirt but who cares.

I don't know the engine but where are the spill rails? Are they internal (under the the rocker box cover)? If so a friend had an identical problem on a larger Ford engine of similar vintage. His problem turned out to be cracked brazing where the rail was attached to the individual injector banjos.As a result fuel was leaking via the push rods etc into the sump. We found this by pressurising the spill rail with a footpump which resulted in bubbles through the cracks. If the rail is external the above will be no help at all. Good luck Frank

Don't dispute there are other places to moor. My point was that the [b]visitor[/b] moorings at Rickmansworth are taken up by people who are taking th p**s out of we mere mortals. Also that BW (or their employees) don't give a hoot.,

Not the worlds most prolific poster but I'm driven to to comment!! (a) I was recently told by a BW employee that the winding hole below Casio lock is on private land and therefore NOT an official turning point and therefore they (BW) could therefore do nothing about it being blocked. (b)Bridge blockers (or what ever you want to call them) are more than a pain in the Watford/Rickmansworth/Harefield area. Last week, at about 3.30 pm, there were no more than 4 x 50" moorings available between Stockers lock and the one above Batchworth lock. (can't remember what it's name is!! I,together with two other two boats following me down took up three of them. What happened to those looking for a visitors mooring later in the day? Why were there so few available? Because of individuals who spend their entire life "cruising" between Harefield and Rickmansworth. (if a certain boat named after a previous Queen wishes to challenge this statement please feel free) The 14 day in 1 calender year notice is ignored totally. Do BW take any notice, No! I've been told by several people (could name names but value paintwork) that the BW reps leave you alone in the Rickmansworth area as long as you keep your head down. I could rant on but life's too short. signed A Community Charge, Water rate, TV licence and any other tax you're expected to pay payer (AKA an idiot!)

Just to say that having spent the day checking out voltages at all stages of charging I'm now getting readings that mirror those quoted in the Mastervolt instructions. Once again thanks to everyone especially Dave, Keith and Arnot. Frank (Slim)

Went down to the boat earlier today, disconnected the temp sensor and BINGO!. Float voltage fell back to 13.25 v within a few minutes. Left a few lights on (charger off) and will go back later to see what bulk voltage is once I reconnect charger. In the meanwhile many thanks to everyone Frank (slim)

First time of posting so here goes! My Mastervolt MASS 12/60 has suddenly started charging at slighty higher voltages and I'm concerned about reason for this and the damage it may do to my batteries. The system is a Mastervolt MASS 12/60 supplied by either a landline or on board generator, a Mastervolt MICC monitor/controller and a 550ah domestic battery bank (3 - 4 year old AGMs). I also have a Sterling 150 amp 3 step charger as a backup.(in reality this is 2 chargers separately switched in one case). I should stress that this unit is not part of my problem Up to recently the charge voltages were exactly as stated by Mastervolt eg in bulk rising to 14.4 v, in absorption constant at 14.25 v, in float constant at 13.8 v (with dip switch set to Gel compensation). Now they rise to 14.62 v in bulk, remain at 14.62 v in absorption and fall to 14.3 v in float. Setting the Gel compensation to off reduces the float voltage 13.6 v. The MICC has been checked against 4 digital meters, including one that had recently been calibrated, and is accurate to within .02 of a volt at around 14 v. It is wired to sense at the batteries. Voltages have been double checked back as far as the battery bank using several digital meters. All cables, connections have been checked and double checked. All cables and wires are significantly over spec ed. I temporarily replaced the batteries with 2 almost new 110ah ones with the same results. If I switch off the Mastervolt and switch on the Sterling charger (half of it) I can continue to monitor charge voltage via the MICC. Whilst I can't quote offhand the bulk and absorption voltages I do know that it settles down to a float voltage of 13.25 v. I have spoken to someone at Aquafax who are now the UK agent for Mastervolt and he didn't seem to think I had a problem!! He suggested it could be the batteries (since proved not to be so). He also suggested it might be the heat (we were talking during our brief summer a couple of weeks ago). Not so as the problem pre-dates that time. His final and most forceful 'explanation' was that by disconnecting the boat from the mains when I left it for any any time I was using the charger incorrectly and that it should be left connected 24/7. He didn't want to hear my point that my concern was that the charging characteristics had changed. Am I worrying over nothing or is there something wrong somewhere? Have I overlooked something obvious? Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated