waterdog

We recently bought a new smart TV for use on the boat expecting to connect it to our ee mobile broadband unit, but we just can't. get it to connect. we can get Netflix, iPlayer etc via our Humax box but this means having two devices powered and we thought a smart TV would reduce power usage as just the TV would be on for Netflix etc. Has anyone successfully connected a smart TV on their boat and can give me any pointers. I've. trawled the internet and spoke to ee and hitachi to no avail. The tv sees the internet and asks for password etc but doesn't connect.

Thanks Alan, You have confirmed my feelings, option 2 just didn't seem right but it was worth asking the question.

We recently had to replace our calorifier and the new one (surecal 55l) came with a 1kw immersion so we are toying with the idea of wiring it up. At present we get hot water via the engine or the Eberspaecher but will be in a marina for some of the winter so might as well take advantage of the hook up. We already have a dedicated socket for the washing machine that only works via the shoreline or from the travelpower and I was thinking of connecting to this and fitting a double pole illuminated switch, which unless I've missed something should be fairly straightforward. The second potential plan which I'm not too sure about, is to wire the immersion to the "normal" 240v circuit. We have 1.2kw of solar and a 2kw psw inverter with a nominal 520ah battery bank. Would the solar cope with an immersion on a sunny summers day? I'm thinking of when we moor up for a few days when out cruising and trying to avoid running the engine.

yup, I paid £35 for one at crick show.

Update, spent this afternoon removing the rear steps to gain access to the calorifier This however has revealed another issue, the carbon filter for the pump out tank has got wet and disintegrated, partially blocking the vent pipe in the process. JOY !!!!! ☹️

I'm sure I've read somewhere where it was suggested that modern tanks are not as robust as they once were so calorifier failures are becoming more common due to stress fractures. It kind of makes sense if this is the case that people don't experience any problems with no accumulator if the tank is stronger in the first place.

Thanks everyone, all advice gratefully noted, we will be getting a new tank, accumulator and isolation valve fitted so hopefully this will now be a one time fix. Our experience with the share boat and now on our own boat is that in all the failures, the tanks were vertical, there was no hot accumulator and they all had prv's so it looks like the presence of a prv will not save the tank. Interestingly, all three tanks failed near the top shoulder of the tank, near the join between the vertical sides and the domed top.

Thanks guy's, hopefully there is a schematic attached to this post and it looks like there is an nrv fitted. We've had this boat four months but our previous boat was a share and it had two calorifiers burst in 3 years, no hot accumulator on that boat either. Is there anything I should / should not be doing till I get to the boatyard next Wednesday? PS, where in the above drawing should the accumulator be fitted?

Thanks Mike, there is an accumulator on the cold feed, do you suggest a 2nd one (expansion tank ?) on the hot circuit ? and yes replacing the calorifier is the preferred option.

Just got back to the boat after a shopping trip to find the water pump cycling on and off for no apparent reason, eventually traced it to a leaky calorifier which has split near the top of the tank. I've turned the water off for now and called the local boatyard who unfortunately can't look at it till Wednesday, so is there anything special I need to be doing in the meantime to minimise any issues. I'm thinking I can turn the water off and on when needed and assuming the engine water circuit will be ok even though there is no water in the calorifier to heat. Sadly there isn't. an isolation valve for the calorifier. Any advice would be most welcome.

as above we are heading towards Wigan to have a look round Caldwells factory with a view to getting thermal break windows. Any feedback from anyone whose had them fitted would be much appreciated.

Had an overnight stop at the wharf a few weeks back, there are a few interesting vehicles in the car park. The custom VW looked great with some interesting additions and a custom built open 2 seater too.

yup, top end of the Coventry.

Another vote for Tesco delivery, they delivered straight to the hatch for us at Sutton wharf a few weeks back and last weeks delivery was at hopwas. All it needs is a bit of planning to make sure they can get the van close to the boat.

Oops, sorry about that, we are moored at fradley itself. Thinking about moving up to the junction when the weather improves. You must have gone past us today.

Yes, it is upstairs, not ideal if someone has mobility issues but we'll worth a visit,

Firstly, I wasn't sure whether to post this in the marina review section but as its about boatyard services rather than mooring I've posted here instead. Mods, please feel free to move if you think it's in the wrong section. We recently spent over a week having a gentle cruise on the Ashby, on the way up we decided to stop at Ashby Boats for gas and get a few bits and pieces for the boat. Unfortunately some parts were not in stock but were ordered for collection on the way back and as promised were duly collected a few days later. Nothing remarkable there so far but on both occasions the member of staff was on their own and clearly snowed under with hire boat preparation, boaters wanting pump outs / fuel etc, potential hirers just popping in and a phone that was ringing off the hook all of which was dealt with in a friendly professional manner while still taking time to ensure that we had everything we requested. All in all, an exceptional display of customer service, well done sir! So fast forward a week or so and we needed fuel and a pump out so decided to stop at Streethay, what a pleasure it was to see a clearly defined service mooring canalside. it's a personal bugbear of mine when boatyards / marinas have their services tucked away in the farthest part of the marina or even worse are canalside, but make no effort to sign them or when seeing signs for services that the mooring is blocked by boats that clearly haven't moved for months. If a business can't be bothered to make their services attractive then I'm afraid I can't be bothered to use them. Anyway, rant over and back to Streethay Wharf …... Again they were very busy and although there were loads of staff, everyone seemed to have a job on, Despite this everyone we spoke to were pleasant and extremely helpful, so much so that after getting fuel and a pump out and a general question from me regarding our boats list (its. leaned to the left a bit for as long as we've. had it) resulted in a proposed solution, a quote for the work and an offer to do it if we didn't mind hanging on for a bit which we agreed to do. This resulted in several other boats getting shuffled around to make space for us before the work could begin and I spent some time browsing through the chandlery. This turned out to be a total alladin's cave of boat stuff, normally I hate shopping but I could spend hours in there. Anyway, a couple of hours later we were on our way with a level boat and managed to sleep last night without feeling that our heads were downhill. Sometimes we can get caught up in the negatives and tend to voice complaints about poor service but I think we should also give credit where its due and congratulate businesses when they get it right, our experience with both yards were a credit to the staff and owners and they will certainly get repeat business from us in the future. p.s. the final bill at Streethay came in cheaper than the quote as they did not need as much ballast as first thought. Another plus for them as so often you hear of inflated prices for anything boat related.

To be fair to Lampini, nipper has edited the original post. There was no mention of a body initially. just an "incident" at the locks.

Very quiet for us last Thursday night. after 6pm the footfall through the basin dropped dramatically and there were only a few student type couples sitting on the benches having a chat. When we arrived the visitors arm was full and we ended up mooring in between the two arms right next to the statue. We only stayed the one night and after a visit to the transport museum (well worth it) we left on the Friday afternoon. Like any city though I would expect it to be a bit busier at the weekends.

is this your boat ? https://www.greathaywoodboatsales.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Louisiana-II-Brochure-2.pdf https://www.apolloduck.com/boat/narrow-boats-cruiser-stern/604120 links contain some info (not a lot) on the electrical system in the sales particulars.

Agreed, this is why we went for such a large array, hopefully it will still give something over winter, or at least minimise the period where it will produce nothing. At the moment we can stop for days and not have to run the engine, hopefully it will reduce engine hours on the shorter days too as we head into and out of winter

Horses for courses I suppose, everyone's power demands are going to be different. We are pretty power hungry liveaboards, currently moored up on the north oxford with 240v fridge, a separate freezer, tv, digibox, satdome, phone and tablet on charge all via the inverter, and according to the mastervolt panel the solar is producing more than we are using

I know its overkill but we have 1.2Kw, 2 arrays of 2 x 300w panels in series.