Chewbacka

kW is energy or power and kWh is power by time. Ah is just current by time, but until you know the voltage you can not know the power. In answer to your original question one kW at 12V would require a current of 83Amps. So 1kWh at 12v would be 83Ah. Now of course battery discharge and charge all depend upon the rate and efficiency, so very roughly allowing for losses etc I would guess that 1kWh of charge in is 40 to 50Ah of usable charge. But then it gets more complex with solar, because if your fridge etc is running, some of the solar energy measured by your controller will never get to the battery but will disappear off to the load (fridge) so you will have to estimate how much goes missing to work out what is left for the battery. So on a dull day, the load may take all the solar power leaving nothing for your batteries, so though you may get half or one kWh over the day, the batteries may not charge much at all and continue to discharge at night.

I do use it and it still drifts a bit at currents close to zero. Maybe mine is a bit duff? Anyhow thanks for the idea. In case I'm giving a bad impression of the meter, I would buy another if / when mine breaks or I drop it in the cut :-)) Great for checking inverter and starter currents. For small currents I have one of those meters that plug into the fuse block. I would recommend having both meters.

A word of caution - I have one and it is not very accurate at low currents, so if your meter shows a low discharge current when you are expecting none, check before you start opening up circuits trying to find a 'leak' that is not there = been there.

Short answer is replace them I have tried the you tube method with a 12v drill NiCad and it works for a couple of charges, but fails quickly. So the last thing I want is a fully charged drill which is flat when I need to use it. I bought a couple of replacements from China and they work just fine. I will not say what the youtube method is as It is a bit risky.

I know you said 'make' but if you can be flexible Amazon has an interesting range of "waterproof garden cushions"

Just a thought, even if you get them close together, the current rating of 50mm2 is 217A so I would not go below 50mm2. If you are making your own cables, anything over about 50mm2 is not easy to cut with a hand held cable cutter :-) but it can be done, but I'm not saying it is safe.

I have used these in the past, so I guess they still do small orders. Less than £9 per m inc VAT for tri-rated 95mm2 cable. Comes in Black (no red). I wrapped red pvc tape neatly around mine and the BSS guy was fine with it. If you were feeling rich, red heat shrink might look better. http://www.csecables.com/acatalog/Tri-Rated-Cable.html

If your boat is a live aboard then it is classed a residential boat (not sure if that is the exact name in the regs), but a Non-gas safe registered BSS inspector is not allowed to touch a test point on a residential boat, he can only use a bubble tester. On the other hand a Gas safe registered guy may prefer a proper test point, and having one makes things a bit easier. So I fitted both to my boat even though it is only a leisure boat - but hopefully one day that may change :-)

Many boats have an oily bilge, so the pump should leave the oil floating on the top in the bilge and not pump it into the canal. I think that is why bilge pumps are designed that way and it is probably cheaper as well. I am NOT saying that you have any oily bilge, or that you would ever dump oily water into the canal - Just a comment on pump design.

I would suggest that if you have a non return valve on the cold feed to the hot system then you must have an expansion vessel. The surecal warranty requires one, otherwise the life can be much reduced. If you don't have a non return valve and you do have an accumulator on the cold system you may be lucky, but the pressures are different (different job). I have both an accumulator and expansion tank. Note that the PRV is an emergency release, it is not intended for daily operation.

This is my understanding - That if the craft has an engine and basic electrical system (starter battery) and is in the water (CaRT waters) then it must be insured and licensed as a boat. It therefore needs a CIN - by CIN I mean a unique identifier, ideally complying with the ISO std, but BW 'as was' is not strict on that point. It does not need a BSS as it has an annex111a which is the RCD declaration up to that point in the build. CaRT presumably aware that many changes will take place over the next year require that the boat has a BSS 12 months later. Again presumably if it were CE marked at the end of the year then the RCD would last - from memory - another 3 or 4 years before the BSS is required. Should you wish to self cert as a DIY builder I have no idea what CaRT would require before they would accept that you were competent to self cert. In response to Ally above, I would guess that he does not licence the craft during the fit out (on land) so it is from a regulation viewpoint not yet a boat and therefore does not need a CIN. The CIN is required when it is finished and 'put on the market' - which he then applies. As a self build, and if there is no intention to apply a CE mark, then the CIN does not have to comply with ISO, but the Craft identifier should still be unique. If there were a single register of boat CIN and keepers like there is for cars, it would make life much easier, especially when proving ownership at sale time etc.

If you go to the trouble of removing the varnish and you are going to use ply, then I would lay the ply on the floor (smooth and flat) coat with adhesive and then lay the door on top. A couple of weights placed on the door will have everything nice and snug. If you use a polyurethane adhesive then it will cure within a few minutes, with handling strength within an hour or so. Polyurethane is good for exterior use and sticks better than PVA. It is quite cheap as well, and a bit of damp - not wet - will actually speed the cure. Not too thick or it will ooze out and at best make a mess and at worse will stick itself to the floor - I know this :-( http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Adhesives+Sealants/d180/Wood+Adhesive+PVA/sd3198/Polyurethane+Wood+Adhesive+750g/p93568 If you want a perfect fit then I would cut the ply slightly oversize and after it is fully bonded on, run round the edge with a trimming cutter in a router.

I never said I was :-) I was just explaining that my annex 111a clearly states the CIN and as said above as the boat was fit for use as a boat - albeit not very comfortable - then my understanding is that the shell builder must supply the CIN - which he thinks did. I am fitting it out following the technical requirements of the RCD, but I doubt if I will ever complete the technical manual (and the owners manual) to a standard that would allow me to self cert and apply a CE mark. So as above, the CIN not complying to ISO is not a problem for me.

ISO structure for the 14 characters is - Position 1~2 = country code - ok hyphen = in my case it is missing 3~5 = Builders code - ok 6~10 = unique serial code 11~14 = Date code as table 1 of the standard My CIN is only 11 characters long. 1~5 are correct (apart from the missing hyphen). Characters 6 to 11 are derived from the build date and serial number but does not meet the ISO standard. Though this 11 character identifier is clearly stated on the annex 111a declaration as the CIN. So as far as I am concerned I have a CIN, but I agree that it is not ISO compliant. - I would prefer that it was, but so far it has been no problem, and I do not worry about it.

I understand your point. I asked the sailaway builder if I should arrange my own CIN with RYA and he said 'no; as he would apply his. It starts off ok with GB (for UK) then the 3 letters assigned to him, and then it goes a bit wrong, and in that respect it it is not fully ISO compliant. The builders view is that it is a unique id, it does contain the boat date and builders code and is unique to that boat, therefore it is ok. So in summary - Does it fully comply with ISO standards - no. Is it unique - yes Does it identify the country and sailaway builder - yes. So whilst not fully iso compliant it has not caused my any problems and on balance I think life will be much easier having a boat with a identifier that matches the annex111a declaration than one that does not - even if it better matches the iso standard. So I have used the builders 'CIN' - which I admit is not fully iso compliant. The one think I have learned doing my own fit out is that though there are ISO standards I am not convinced that new boats comply with every requirement and are still happily marked with the CE mark. There does not seem to be any form of policing, and the BSS, insurance and what was BW do not do any random checks. Only if it goes wrong are questions asked- some one killed for example - demonstrating compliance would presumably be a good defence. But I can not see how a CIN that is not fully compliant would be of any relevance to that investigation.

Hi - My sailaway was built with an engine and sprayfoam. The builder is one of the biggest - I think best, but that is probably contentious - he applied a CIN. It is 'written' in weld fillet on the front face of the fuel tank. It is also on the Anex 111a declaration. I have put it in numerous places during the build. So first off have a look on your annex111a declaration. If it is on there I would use that, as that is quoted and if you use another CIN (say issued by RYA) then it will not 'link' to the annex 111a so you will have problems using it. My understanding is that the 3 letters identifying the builder are provided for single boat self builds by the RYA. However I used the CIN applied by the sailaway builder, As an aside, the builder did not comply with the ISO standard, and when I discussed this with him he seemed to think it did - it does not have enough characters. However I have never had any comment from BW (now CaRT) when I first registered it, no comment from the BSS inspector, so I guess it is only us self builders that care :-). So I would use the CIN if one is quoted on your annex 111a document as you need that for CE marking

If the boat was square, so no pointy end and no swim, and is 45ft long by 6' 10" and sits 18" deep it would weigh 13 tons. So if you reduce the volume by say 30% around the bow and swim, then depending upon the actual dimensions would reduce the 'weight' by a ton or two. So about 10 tons seems not unreasonable to me, given my guesses.

He will probably fit a non-return valve and an expansion vessel. Short term you could do without the expansion vessel and let the excess water out of the release valve while it is heating and expanding. However it does stress the copper cylinder, and the cylinder can only survive so many cycles after which fatigue cracks will form and then it will leak. So you need an expansion vessel. Note the expansion vessel is usually pumped up to a higher presser than the accumulator. If the pressure is too low, it will fill up from the pump pressure (as does the accumulator) and then wont have any space left for the expanding water. If you see what I mean.

I drill a hole a in the roof a couple of inches from the fingertip rail. At this point the roof slopes down towards the rail. Then I put a coax wall cover on using a good gun adhesive. I don't seal the cable to the roof. So far no leaks and the oldest cover was put on 4 years ago. The fingertip rail stops the wind blowing up the roof. If you have an open rail or not much slope on your roof then this idea may not work. Coax cover http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TV-Satellite-Burst-Brick-Blast-Cable-Cover-Wall-Hole-Plate-Pack-2-/310299584023?pt=UK_ConElec_TVAerials_RL&hash=item483f4be617 Adhesive http://www.screwfix.com/p/unibond-megagrip-plus-water-resistant-grab-adhesive-300ml/30141 Rub the bonding surfaces with a bit of wet & dry to give the adhesive a key. Plonk a weight on to keep it all in place as the adhesive cures, then a bit of paint to protest the cover from UV and jobs a good en.

I tend to put some in if I am not using the boat for a while. Been using it for 4 years and no diesel bug. As to long term injector or engine damage, well I guess you had better ask in another 6 years :-) Saying that, if I thought it risky I would not use it.

Monk Meadow (crt) near Sainsbury's in Gloucester centre sometimes has space for a wide beam boat and there are certainly canal side moorings. Just had a quick look on the CRT moorings site and there are 2 going. Patch Bridge at 14.5m and Saul Junction at 13m. Both are advertised at less than 4m but as they are canal side and the canal is wide it may be negotiable. Give them a call. As to depth, the G&S is generally a deep canal. I also suspect they don't offer too many sites at the same time - maybe helps to balance demand with availability.........

I loose laid some wickes bamboo flooring directly on top of the ply base in my narrowboat. I did put an expansion joint half way down the boat. I joined all the 'planks' with pva on all 4 sides and in the bathroom and galley added an extra layer of Flag varnish to to ensure no water can get into the joins. It's over 2 years old and no problems, and am pleased with it, though carpet hides the dog hairs and dust much better :-)

So do I. Works well and looks good as well.

This is the 2006 list of manufacturer's codes enjoy http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20060715190903/dti.gov.uk/files/file30285.pdf

I bought a tray from a DIY shed, a very low profile one, and a glass folding door from e-bay, so far not what you want, but side walls were made with 2 sheets of WBP ply separated by studding - sideways to make it a bit narrower which gave a lovely stiff wall which I then tiled using tile on wood adhesive. So to make clear the walls on 2 sides were about 3 inches thick. The back wall was the bulkhead which was also part of the wardrobe and bed so quite stiff from those.