Paul C

I'd not want a solid boat, we have a hollow one and the air in the middle, apparently, really helps towards it being able to float.

What's the voltage reading of the battery bank just before you had solar power, and with solar power (when its sunny/when its night time)?

Why do you think CRT can't/won't enforce this scenario?

Straight from the horses mouth!

Pragmatically, CRT can't afford to enforce as much as you (and many others) think they should be doing, though.

Yeah but my concern is that a 1600W Victron inverter, trying to run a 1600W power washing machine (which might draw a little more at startup of the drum motor) wouldn't work, and if so then its as much use as a chocolate teapot for your purpose, even if it does look pretty in blue.

It would make sense to space out car tax, car insurance and MoT 4 months apart, if nothing else to ease the financial burden of it all falling at once. I can see how if you own a car from new, they're all going to fall on the same date though.

A car place would do a drop test. Its a reasonable test of the fitness of the battery, but can't show its capacity, or an estimate of how much capacity has been lost, which is probably what you want to know.

I think you'd need the next model up, of the Victron. This will be more expensive.

Ok no worries I'd be tempted to look really closely at that water pump wiring, if the rest of the wiring is of a similar standard then you have issues more serious than just a dodgy battery. It might be a simple loose connection though. Also I'd at least split the 2 leisure batteries (ie take off the interconnects) and do a basic test (voltage check at full charge, then maybe a drop test if someone can lend you the kit) to see if one or the other is knackered, before you spend money on new ones.

If anything, living on a boat you're relying on others more than any other type of lifestyle. For example, if your engine breaks down, you'll need some spares, or expert mechanic. You need to (semi-regularly) fill it up with diesel. Being liner, the canals are difficult to avoid someone if they're coming the other way or passing if you're moored (compare with being able to have a plot of land away from the roadside). etc etc At least in a house, you can set up accounts for gas, electric, water, council tax, etc and the stuff is piped or brought into your home without human intervention, and so long as you keep paying, nobody is going to change that. If you didn't answer the door and ignored the postman, you could avoid contact with people for months on end.

Did you get to the root cause of the water pump not working issue? (The one with the massive voltage drop along its wires)? Anyway, I guess from the previous threads over the past couple of weeks, you have at least 1 knackered leisure battery, and short of a meaningful capacity test of them, you'll not really know what's going on with them, so since you're going to replace them anyway I'd just say go ahead. Just one thing though - how and when (ie was anything else running at the time, was the solar connected or disconnected, was it daytime or not (ie no solar)) did you measure the 12.3V? To be meaningful for an estimate on battery capacity, the batteries must be rested after being charged or discharged for a long time - thus voltage readings aren't too useful for capacity testing. If you know what's been put into them or come out recently (in Ah), and you know what's going into them or coming out right now (in A) then you can make a reasonable estimate of how things are - but for that, you'd need an ammeter too.

I think we did that very same "escape from Birmingham" route, same number of locks, including a lunch break and another break due to low water levels in a long pound.

Check it out and let me know if its wrong!

Read post #55 - I quoted post #55, so obviously I've read and understood it! I've also read your other posts, for example in post #11 you say that the inverter runs 24/7 for 18 months, now you reveal that you do in fact switch it off overnight if you don't get enough solar. I think it would be helpful for everyone if you review your own posts and explain the inconsistencies in what you say, just for 100% clarity.

You'd need to be located on a fairly large lock-free section of canal, to make it a 'worthwhile' day hire experience. Yes, there's some day boats which are located in places so that locks are unavoidable, but generally: 1. Lock free --> discount on licence 2. No locks - no delays which eat into the day 3. No locks - no training required to do locks Once you've sussed the ideal location, then consider that there's probably already established day boat operators operating there. So you'd need to take a share of their market or do something unusual (like, underprice it, or provide a better boat) to get your market share. Then there's the fact that the boat's going to be bashed around quite a lot, and that you may end up paying out on insurance, or outside of insurance, to local boaters more regularly than you'd hope. If it still looks like a goer, then bear in mind that every day its hired out, you're effectively 'tied up' because you're on call. And every weekend you'd be working - especially the nice ones - if you were a one-man operation. Otherwise, you're into hiring staff....and paying NI, income tax, etc etc and dealing with sickness/absence etc. Lots to think about there if you're thinking of buying a business or starting one up.

Yeah as Nick suggests, check the capacity of each battery one at a time. 6 years old Gel batteries seems about right for lifetime if used as a deep cycle battery. Hopefully its just one battery which is faulty.

Not necessarily true (depending on the type of lock - Yale make MANY different kinds!) It might need turning about 15 deg with the key. In that case I'd recommend to get a locksmith out who can bump the lock and turn it to open, then replace the barrel with a barrel/key. In fact, given that the previous owner hasn't given you the key, one wonders where it is and it might be a good idea to change the locks anyway (as general advice for any new boat purchaser).

I think you need to decide if the power drawn by a fridge and inverter is too much for overnight use, thereby needing it to be turned off (and of course, the temperature will go up a little, requiring a longer run in the morning and not saving as much power as you thought); or whether you can cope with the power drawn through the night (with no solar power at night, of course). We have a 12V fridge and leave it on overnight. We have solar power too. Yes, there is a power draw through the night but that's what the batteries are for, and they do the job with no issues.

Is there a better thread than this one: http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=59619&page=1 (which, its worth noting, is not about narrowboat pearl or its owner, but pearlygeoff posts snippets of his own personal situation on it) which gives a balanced view of both sides of this action by CRT?