leechy

Chris Many thanks for your concern.To try and calm your worries i do have a basic comprehension of 240 v wiring being a joiner in the building trade for 20+ years ,im not saying i havn't had a whack or two but this inverter blowing seriously worried me and made me glad i was there when it happened due to the potential fire it could have caused. I know the regs on earth bonding on terra firma and how RCDs operate ,which in turn made me look closer at the boats wiring.I know i need an rcd out going from the inverter and a 240amp maga fuse is supplied with the inverter for the incoming,i think the cables are supplied form victron but if not i appreciate they will need to be in the region of 70mm2.The point im trying to make Chris im doing this out of neccessity and not pleasure and i think that anyone like me should be encouraged to visually probe their own electric systems to ensure they are the best and safest possible which like mine with no 240 rcd obviously isn't Many thanks Leechy

Hi Everyone Havn't logged on for a bit ,been busy on the boat.Anyway blew up my 1500 w cheapo inverter last week,put the willys up me actually as it banged smoked and banged again.I isolated everything then opened it up and found the five internal fuses were fine .so then tried it again and sure enough bang smoke and bang.Have read all the other threads on inverters and earthing but still puzzled .old inverter will be carefully stored in the bottom of my bin but iam going to buy a new 2000va victron phoenix inverter (not combi ).i dont have an rcd at the moment but think i need one( or two)Could any one advise of the safest earthing for my boat as i dont seem to have one of those either .also does both the 12v and 240v need earthing or bonding or whatever you call it?.The shell is all steel,don't have (won't have )shore power.Can any replies be suitable for some one who shortens wood for a living and not an astro physacisty person.and by the way does anyone know why the internal fuses didn't blow. Many thanks Leechy

Hi Stuart Went into this at great length a couple of months ago ,i ended up getting an aqadrive, think i paid £490 from TW Marine .They both look and act almost identical but as John said i went with the Aquadrive for its proven record plus you get full ten year guarantee.I looked at the python drive at midland chandlers ,they have a few different models on show although in my opinion the Aquadrive seems more robust and bettermade . To answer your original question they both allow for forward -backward and side to side.Hope this helps. Leechy ( By the way it works a treat)

Hello everyone Started on new engine electrics today,ended up going to Limekiln for my batteries(5 x 115amp).The new engine has a starter alternator of 45amps and leisure alternator of 150amps,i will fit a battery isolator to the starter positive but do i also need to isolate the cable from the 150 amp alternator to the baterries as this is only there to input power to my leisure bank ?Also am i ok to isolate the 1500w inverter and all my house electrics form the same switch or would you recommend having a separate isolatoer for the inverter ? Thanks folks Leechy

Hi folks Still going through ideas for my engine room refurb. Firstly my new engine(Beta 43 Greenline) has calorifier take offs flow and return,at present i am not putting in a calorifier and wondered what to do with these take offs (15mm).Would it be possible to fit a single or double rad in the engine room from these pipes to serve as heating for winter cruising and drying wet clothes?If i can fit a rad would i need any sort of non return valves or gate valves.Now to cooling.Ive looked through previous threads and found the general opinion when sound proofing an engine to maintain good ventilation, so i wondered if i could ventilate the engine compartment with cool air from the bilge by means of some tidy 4 inch ducting and a 12 v bilge fan(about £23) switched to come on and off with the engine.If my plan works i,ll have cool air from the bilge flowing over the engine plus i'll be circulating the static air under the floors ,what do you think folks good ideas or not? Cheers Leechy.

Thanks Alan gone through previous thread answers my question .

Hi everyone. As i've said before i'm in the process of fitting a new engine (Beta 43 Greenline).In the past i've been told that when running your engine while stationary ,to charge batteries for example,that you must always run in gear to put the engine under load .Is this true or just an old wives tale.Ive asked this question before and some say its nonsense and others swear by it. Is there anyone out there who can clear this up and put some genuine fact on one side or the other? Cheers Folks

Cheers Alec If you wouldnt mind having a look that would be great ,Manchester not too far for me either.

Ay up Jill This months Canal Boat magazine ,Waterways World aswell i Think ,Lime Kiln Chandler's full page ad. Hope This helps Leechy

Hi folks After your previous good advice ,now need to buy wet cell baterries for my new bank.Can anyone recommend where to buy some or a specific brand or size I was planning on say 5 x ( maybe 6 x )110 - 120 amp hours as this size will fit perfectly on shelf that sits on my swim taper . At the moment my best deal is £47.00 each for Exide 115 amps ,collect only. Cheers

Hi Gary you wouldn't have a very cheap brass effect houdini hatch by any chance .Hope you were going to Rhyll for the weekend and not a round the world cruise? Leechy

Hi Stuart Done some shopping for this stuff recently.The same stuff you describe is around £86 plus carriage @£14 for 4 x 1000 x 600 x32 triple layer,fire proof ,foil faced ,NON adhesive back from TW marine ,They source it from Halyard the main supplier and they are around the same price.There are 2 more grades in facing at extra cost if you want tear proof, but the price becomes rediculous and another set of grades in thickness at 45 mm,but this stuff is around £76 for 2 sheets and it only reduces noise by around 5db at nearly double the price.The 2mm inner membrane is a dense pvc layer and cuts easily with a stanley knife.If you buy the adhesive backing this is more money again and i was told that it only works if the area you are fixing to is perfectly flat,smooth and free of moisture dust grease ect.In the end i went to Midland chandlers and bought exactly the same stuff but a slightly smaller sheet (900x600) £20.00 each .I used contact adhesive with a 2inch paint brush to fix and it worked a treat.I would say if you were sticking 6 sheets you would use a lot of adhesive as the foam sucks all the movement from the glue so buy say 2-3litres for six sheets .Another tip don't wait for the glue to dry ,as soon as both surfaces are coated put the sheet in place ,if you wait for both to dry as in the instructions and touch the surfaces together in the wrong position you have the first of many expensive mistakes Hope this helps

Thanks again folks all this advice is great and also gives both points of view.My new engine does have flexi mounts so that should help with stopping the vibration .After reading all the views on the prop position i think i will leave it at 2.75 inches and give it a test then if it does need trimming i can soon take out the Aquadrive and trim a bit off the shaft.I have started to insulate the engine bay with fire proof,foil faced foam with an extra internal plastic membrane ,total thickness 32mm (midland chandlers again im afraid £20 for 900 x 600).The trouble is i dont know how far to go.I've done under the counter all round the back of the diesel tank,dont know wether to do the weed hatch,then i'm going to make a removable ply cocoon,with foam, for the engine ( joiner by trade so that shouldn't be a problem). should i do the 200mm under the engine supports and the metal engine baulk head.lastly any ideas on ventilation methods for the engine "cocoon" and how would you make aventilation baffle ?

Hi folks , dont know if this will help but go on kinver boat services web sit and you can view ther expansion tanks ,they look cool but are not cheap (£150.00) but they have blow off valve ,glass level gauge ,pressure tasted and you state the feed size pipe See Ya Leechy

First things first thanks to all the replies on my new battery bank. Now down to buisness.As i said before i am currently replacing my old engine (Perkins D3.152) with a new Beta 43 Greenline,The primary reason was noise reduction so the the next hot topic is fit a hospital silencer or not ,are they any good,ive priced one from Midland Chandlers Online (£180.00).My mate is having a brand new boat built by a well known Stoke-on-Trent firm and they advise to fit 2 ordinary silencers at £20-£30 each instead as this works just as well at half the cost.Right thats the first one out of the way ,here's the next.I'm fitting an aquadrive CVB10.10 and dont know how far forward or back my prop should sit from the outer bearing.Is there a set distance? My shaft used to sit about 1.5 inches before but i've asked other people and opinions differ from between 1 to 4 inches. The total shaft movement is about 9.25 inches untill it touches the tiller. Ive put the thrust plate in for the Aquadrive today and if the shaft clamp is tightened in this position the prop will sit about 2.75 inches away from the outer bearing ,so basically is this OK or do i need to cut the shaft to get it down to about an inch ? Thanks Again Leechy.