rodgarrish

Bubble stoves do not have flame failure devices fitted, unlike some other diesel fires. We once had ours go out repeatedly whilst moored in some what freaky wind conditions. We thought at the time that the wind was eddying around a nearby building. The problem being that even though the flame is out, the diesel continues to flow!!! Having said that we love it, but if we were to go down the route of fitting out another boat, we would fit a unit with a flame failure device, such as a Kabola. Regards Rod

Bit of thread drift, but seems a reasonable place to ask this question. A friend of mine has just had a pre-sale survey done on his boat. The surveyor said that as part of changes, it is proposed that as from June 2013. Inverters will need to be RCD protected, and his isn't.The purchaser is saying that they will not proceed unless the work is done. I have looked at what I can find on the new proposals, but can't figure out exactly what if anything will be required. Any info would be appreciated. Regards Rod

Try E7 Taxis 0796 222 8908 I have used them to get between Lichfield station and King's Bromley marina

Licences available from the Lock at the junction with the Thames (sorry cannot remember name) costs about £50 for two weeks.Sorry cannot be more accurate, not on the boat at the moment.

Levels here below Shepperton lock were down a couple of inches yesterday morning but gradually went up during the day. They are, however, down on the peak when the the water was about three inches over the bank behind Desborough Island. This AM they are still at the same level as last night. The lock keeper said that they are hoping to get to amber boards for the weekend, but was unsure of that. I would think it unlikely, we arrived her last Saturday and cabin fever has taken a firm hold, fortunately we have a large water tank, and we can walk the Elsan cassette up to the lock. Looking at water levels on the EA site, can't see much improvement, but this is my first experience of red boards.

Tonka Thanks for that, you are right we are on the green, we are fine here we are on the rings, we walked up to Shepperton lock this morning, lockie said he thought levels are about peak at. the moment. It is just lapping onto the grass. We wait to see what the expected rain tonight brings. Thanks again.

We were on the EA mooring below Penton Hook lock Friday night, both boats needed to empty elsans and fill with water so yesterday we both moved down and are now moored behind Desborough Island. The cruise down was uneventful bur fast, although turning was interesting. Woke up this AM to find that levels have risen about 4 or 5 inches, and they are still rising, 6 more inches and it is over the bank. Our first experience of such conditions on the Thames. We have scrabble and loads of books on board,

We have just come down the Claydon flight and at the bottom lock we met the lockie who was closing the flight for the day. He suggested that the summit may have to close at the end of the month due to lack of water. He said that two weeks notice would be given? Does anyone have more information, and how do you think the closure may be applied, ie may boats returning to home moorings be allowed for a while, as happened on the Leicester line last autumn. This is my first post so forgive any procedural mistakes.

Alistair Good point regarding thw wiring, trouble is my monitor covers the engine generator and the battery charger (whichever is being used) if I wire up as you say that will still be the case whilst the Solar panel regulator will only monitor the panels (the manufacturer cautions against any other charging device being run thriugh itn and in any case it is only rated at 30A and the engine genny would presumably destroy it) Both of the units tot up AHrs in and out, so it it is preferable to have only one lot to deal with, can you or anyone else out there see any problem with the original idea of monitoring the panels thru the original monitor. albeit not the ideal way. NB Willawaw The units are made by Kyocera, and were supplied by a chap in Oxford, he has a web site the address of which I will post later, but his prices were 2/3rds of the usual places, even so the total price of panels, regulators and temp sensors was £1000!!!!!!!!!! I'll certainly let you all know how it works, we use approx 48AH in a 24 hr period and he reckons that we should be self sufficient in summer but prbably not in winter, but as we are not live-aboards that should be OK. I know it is an expense, but the ability to remain stopped for a few days in summer without engine running is attractive. I now await the calls of rubbish, much the same as when I use the bow thruster, but Hey!! Its my pension anyway. Regards Rod

I have just bought 2x125 watt solar panels plus Steca Charge Controllers. Now comes the fun part , Getting it all connected. Because I have two battery banks, I was advised to connect the panels in parallel then take a feed of to each bank via its own controller. The controllers have three lots of contacts one feed from the panel, one to the battery and one for the load???? I have a battery monitor which monitors both battery banks via a double shunt, it is similar to theDCM600. but I am not sure of the make. I see no point of wiring the load from the Panel controller, and I am very happy with my monitor (it seems to be better than that of the panel controller) FRom looking at various threads on this site, does anyone out there see any problem with dispensing with the load wiring from the Panel controller, and wiring the negatives from the battery banks from the shunts(non battery side) back to the panel controller. I am not on the boat at the moment so am not exactley sure how it is all connected, but I do know that my battery monitor, picks up the charge from my sterling battery charger, and I would like it to pick up the charge from the solar panels. Sorry if I have gone on a bit, I think I need to go and lie in a darkened room for a while. Regards Rod Garrish PS I look foward to reporting on the performance of the panels, I met a guy last summeer with an array af three panels on his roof and I saw the associated ammeter showing a massive charge,here's hoping

We had ours made by afirm called Mastawerks sorry on phone number , but the eddress is Thr Old Mill Mead Lane Saltford Bristol BS31 3ER Actualy near Keynsham, we were pleased with the service. Good Luck

I have a Sterling 1500 Quasi and it draws approx 1.8 amps according to my Ammeter Regards Rod Garrish