blackrose

What do you mean by pretty recently? I've been living full time on the waterways since 1998 and I can assure you that everyone living on boats thought about their licenses 25 years ago, especially the minority of liveaboards who tried to evade them. There are people on this forum who've been living on boats for a lot longer than me. Clearly in asking whether a licence in necessary and whether there are people walking around checking you have demonstrated that it's you who is new or at least completely unaware of living on the canals. Yes there certainly are people walking around checking licences but not all of them are paid to do that job. Plenty of your fellow boaters will willingly report your boat if they see that you aren't contributing to the maintenance of waterways facilities which we all use.. There's nothing wrong with asking forthright questions, but in doing so please remember that's there's also nothing wrong with people posting equally forthright responses.

I think you're right, having to deploy an anchor is rare, but that doesn't mean having an anchor and appropriate chain/rope can be ignored. My engine started to overheat on the tidal Thames once between Brentford and Teddington because of a snapped fanbelt. Fortunately it happened at slack water between tides and I was travelling with another boat and had their phone number so they turned around and came back to give me a tow. Otherwise if I'd been alone I'd have had no option other than drop an anchor.

How many people on here have 48v DC systems on their boats? I don't follow the lithium battery threads. Are they set up as 48v systems or something? Just wondered why you've brought it up? And I've never seen a 48v bow thruster on a canal boat or any other 48v DC equipment like pumps, lights, etc. Was this a serious post or were you just thinking out loud?

The installation of the BT battery bank charging system is important. On my twin alternator engine the start alternator charge is split using a VSR between the start battery at the stern and the BT batteries at the bow. It works really well even though the charging cable from stern to bow is only 16mm2. Where you do need fat cable is between the BT batteries and the motor. With this system I've never run out of BT power, however I try to use mine sparingly.

They're not. They're generally attached to GRP boats.

If the engine is keel cooled with a skin tank (rather than raw water cooled) then there's no reason you can't try starting the engine with the boat out the water. Just don't put it into gear unless you're sure there's nobody standing below within vicinity of the prop.

I've also used both electric and hydraulic BTs and don't agree with this. I prefer independent systems. The last thing I'd want to do when handling a big boat at close quarters with other boats or structures is having to slip the engine into neutral and rev it to get enough pressure into a hydraulic system to make the BT work and then quickly slip the engine back to propulsion again so as not to crash into anything. On the other hand, if an electric BT system is properly set up and not overused then there should be plenty of power and no messing around with the main engine revs.

I've never heard of a GRP BT tunnel fitted to a steel canal boat. I think maybe you just invented that system Tony! 🤣

I'm not sure why you'd need to paint your boat every 2 years, unless you're not prepping or painting properly in the first place? Anyway, why don't you just wait until next spring to paint it? If you're really doing it every couple of years then it must be well protected so leaving it over autumn & winter won't make much difference.

Indeed. I personally wouldn't switch off my equipment by disconnecting cables because we have devices called switches, but as you say are many ways to achieve the same outcome so I have no problem with you doing whatever you want with your equipment on your boat.

Ok thanks.

Thanks it's just that the glands take up extra space in the area where the switch was going, but I'll figure it out. I'm no electrical expert but your method doesn't sound very sympathetic to the equipment. My panels will be connected in series and if I did that in full sunshine could it possibly induce a voltage spike and wreck the controller? Anyway, I don't accept that installing a switch is making life more complicated and adding potential failure points. What do you do when you want to switch a 12v light or pump off - take a wire out? 🤣

I wouldn't be quite as tolerant as mrsmelly. The etiquette when you see someone trying to get their boat into a mooring near you is to get out of your own boat, stand at their pontoon and offer to take a rope. If that doesn't stop them hitting your boat I'd definitely say something even if it's just a sarcastic comment along the lines of them improving their boat handling skills. It can be irritating if they keep hitting your boat.

Bimble included one on the kit they proposed for me. I didn't buy their kit in the end, just the panels and controller. My neighbour's installer showed me the breaker he was fitting between panels and controller yesterday. So yes people are fitting them. Thanks. I'll keep this switch then. Can it be fitted without the waterproof glands if I'm fitting it indoors or do the glands act as cable clamps too? Thanks. I'm doing the same thing.

Ok yes. But my other point still stands: IF you're fitting a breaker between panels and controller (albeit apparently there's no requirement to do so which I've admittedly just learned), then there's no point fitting an automatic breaker because it's never going to trip by itself and shouldn't be operated manually. So if I do want a breaker between panels and controller or should be a properly rated device? Is that reasonable?

Sorry I was led to believe that you did? I'm sure my BSS inspector mentioned it to me recently. So why are people fitting breakers between panels and controller if they're not required?

Surely you would need to switch them off any time you were working on the battery cables or even topping up the batteries. I always switch my battery charger off when topping up, why wouldn't I do the same with panels and controller? But the other point is that since you're required to have some form of isolation between panels and controller why wouldn't you fit something that you can safely operate manually? An automatic breaker is never going to trip by itself because the panels can never exceed their max output and it shouldn't really be operated manually because it's not rated for voltage spikes, so what's the point of it?

To be honest I'm struggling to understand the point of fitting an automatic breaker since the panels can never produce more than their rated output? In what circumstances is the breaker ever going to trip? So surely the only isolator you would want to fit is one rated for frequent manual use? Or is that wrong?

You mean this? Are they rated for frequent use to be used as a manual switch? I can't tell if they're dual pole? Which one should I choose?

If I got one of these instead why would I need a 63A version? The panels are only going to output about 11 amps or 22 amps in parallel.

I see. I don't think I can be bothered with it. I'll return it. There must be something more convenient on the market?