rog guiver

Does the present installation have a seperate pump, and if so does it take its control from a thermostat?

On our last 45' boat the bowthruster had "heavy" cables from the main batteries in the stern. When we extended it to 60' the voltage drop became unacceptable and another battery (in parallel) was installed in the bow. The present installation has the main alternator charging just the service batteries with the smaller alternator to charge the starting, bowthruster and sternthruster batteries. The plan was to use a mastervolt triple diode unit with the sternthruster and starter batteries in the stern and the bowthruster battery in the bow. The cables between the diode unit and the bowthruster battery were selected such that, with say a 10 amp charge current, the voltage drop would be minimal. The system works perfectly and the bowthruster battery reaches a full charge even though it is some 60' from the alternator.

You talk of a split charging relay, but do not say where you are measuring the voltage. There are some lucas relays that are made for "one to one" battery charging and have a max amperage capability of about 50 amps. Anything in excess of this figure could damage the contacts. If your relay is "not man enough" there is no reason why you coulkd not install two in parallel. Also, try bypassing the split charging relay by a single jump lead from the starting battery +ve to the service batteries +v (after the engine has been started). Even without a ammeter the small spark on contacting the terminal with the lead will show if current is passing. Then also check the voltage again.

might be ......

I like my onions to add to the flavour, not take it over. If they are too strong I exclude them... enough said

Mark By "splash" do you mean air coming out combined with the water?

Perhaps I am too honest. I am delighted with my Mastervolt setup (whispergen, inverter and masterswitches) and thought I would pass on the info. I would have made the unit myself, it cant be difficult to power a relay from the priority supply but the masterswitch has the added time delay. On a different issue, have a look at the inverter on e-bay at the moment. The chap suggests "for total power supply you connect the inverter to your battery, route the 240v output to a battery charger and then recharge the battery while your wife does breakfast". He is obviously of the opinion that the inverter operates at 110% efficiency!!

I am sure I have suggested this before, but after the calorifier the engine hot water is routed back through a towel rail in each shower room before returning to the engine. Works very well. Shower rooms very hot in the summer but very, very dry (coupled to a small computer fan in each roof vent which runs all day) even though there are no opening windows!!

Thanks Bottle, now I know I am perfect!!

Just a question, To the left of this post, under my details it suggests Warn: (0%) What is this all about?

You have very little time to bid on my inverter, but if anyone out there is fitting out a shell with a generator and inverter have a look at item 4559230331 on e-bay. Not only does it give priority to the generator (over the inverter) when it is started but it also delays the changeover to allow the generator to stabalize. It can also be used with a landline/inverter installation to give priority to the landline. I have two fitted and delighted with their performance. (I have no connection to the seller, just passing on the info)

I have the visible pipes to the radiators in chrome, so for the hidden connections to the Hep2o I use good old compression fittings (with the insert!).

Ditto !! If you like it, go for it. Likewise I don't wish to have " XXXXXX registered at watford" but if it turns you on go for it.

Hep2o is ok with copper but at home we had a problem with chromed and stainless pipe. It would seem with the "harder" surface of Stainless and Chrome the Hep2o "grab ring" doesn't grip well enough. Having pushed the pipe into the fitting it could be simply pulled out again!!

Gripfill (pink) works fine!

When you leave the M1, don't take the Crick bypass but at the roundabout take the road through the village. You end up approaching the roundabout at the end of the bypass and have priority over all those joining the roundabout from the bypass!

Also, like road vehicles over 25 years old which are exempt to road fund licence dues they are still required to have registration number, MOT and display the exempt licence. Why are BW boats not treated the same. I wonder how many of the BW working boats with a small cabin, gas hob, no registration number (visible), no licence (visible) have EVER been near a boat safety scheme inspector! One rule for them, one for us.

I'm not, but I feel much better for making the call!!

>>Good morning (pretty BW inspector on the Foxton Flight), could I have a word with you regarding un-licensed boats? Certainly. >>What do you do if you come across a boat not displaying a license? Many boats have a license but do not have it displayed. >>But is it not a requirement to have the license displayed? How about, as on the Thames, giving the (few) lock-keepers and yourselves the authority to deny boats not displaying a license proceeding through the lock(s) Very difficult, but they may have applied and not received it. >>Surely you should have the technology via a loganberry, blackberry or whatever it is called to access your database. What about if you establish they have not had a license for years, do you charge them the back-license dues? Very difficult problem. >>Why do you not have a scheme similar to the DVLA? The SORN (statuary off road notification) Perhaps a SOCN (statuary off canal notification). If you don’t inform BW that the boat is "off the canal" them, when (if) caught with no license it would be backdated. Very difficult >>What about short term overstayers, there are three at thge end of the Welford arm, one chap building his boat, the other two are YOUR boats? And the visitor moorings at Fenny Compton, at least two boats that are being built (fitted out there) with obviously no license, no name no number, what are you doing about them. And lastly the “new age travelers” between Napton and Braunston? Overstays are difficult to handle but with regard to the "moorers" between Napton and Braunston we are taking action but you have to understand that the vast majority of unlicensed "old" wooden boats are owned by passionate boaters who spend all there time renovating their boats to a very high standard. >>??????? (basically end of conversation) Suffice to say that the lock-keeper has given up reporting boats not displaying a license. The next day we came across another young girl dressed the same as our BW inspector with a measuring stick and a camera. She was taking measurements of the towpath width and recording dimensions photographically! I have since spent at least an hour on the phone to the Chief Executives office at BW and they have promised a reply! Will post it once received!

Saw the "lego" foot square type at Crick last year, made by Dri-Dek in the States http://www.dri-dek.com/ordernow.asp They quoted almost 4$ a tile. However even though they suggest they will accept International orders they refer you to their UK supplier. The importer in the UK Dek-Tek http://www.dek-tec.co.uk/ quoted almost £6 a tile! The good news is that I found, and have used, a company called Industrial Plastic Supplies who make the same product in the UK. Their price was under £3 a tile (for a reasonable quantity) delivered. Their contact e-mail details are sales@industrialplastics.co.uk and telephone 0113 257 9000

Did once get struck on the windscreen wiper while driving. Mind you, it was a Boeing 757

I was going to comment that our new tank uses the baseplate as its bottom but that might take this topic "off-topic". It has allowed the tank to go under the floor of the passageway and hence keep it more central to the boats centreline and increase its capacity (the volume under the passageway being 4*24*72 inches, with the main part of the tank being 10*36*72 inches) What is worth considering, apart from the vent pipe (where we have a fan that runs during the "dump cycle" of the mansfield and stops "nasty" smells entering the bathroom) and the rinse out (at the front of the tank with the skin fitting in the centre of the roof) is to have two pumpout points at the rear of the tank, one to port and the other to starboard! This saves the question.. Why is it is always raining when the pumpout point is not on the bank-side??

We were going to fit one to our new Beta 43 but the installer suggested it would take up a lot of space. The silencer is positioned to the rear of the engine, exiting on the port side. He suggested that a hospital silencer would have to be placed across the back of the engine with the exhaust exiting through the starrboard side Even without it the engine is much quieter than the Lister LPWS4 that we had in the last boat (with the same soundproofing).

I approached them direct and they pointed me in the direction of a local fireplace shop. At the shop they were more interested in adding the carriage charge and knew nothing about the operation of the plates, hence my query. I will have another go at Morso Thanks again.

Thanks , Do the plates come with the extra grill across the front? Did you find someone who had them in stock?? Roger