Rebotco

That is not a boat at all - it is a heap of rotting junk that is getting worse year by year. It will never move again in a horizontal direction. It can only be vertical - either upwards by removal, or downwards by sinking. Just a question of what comes first. I wonder he did with the £7K he was given to repair it?

Another vote for CraftInsure. Been with them for 12 years now. Everything done online and very simple and clear. Premiums are highly competitive. Had one large claim a couple of years ago, and they paid out very fairly. (Over £6K).

In a normal small fridge, the thermostat is operated by the temperature of its evaporator, usually around -18 deg C. It cuts in and out at a fixed differential either side of that. This is because a normal front opening fridge loses all its cold air when the door is opened. The compressor would then run for an excessive time to cool the new warm and humid air to around 5 - 7 deg C, which in turn causes a large build up of ice on the evaporator. This then becomes highly inefficient and progressively less effective. Using the evaporator as the sensing point allows it to be kept relatively clear of excessive icing up, whilst still controlling the temperature of the air. A chest freezer is quite different in that when the top lid is opened the cold air stays put. I have never run a chest freezer as a refrigerator using its air temperature as the thermostat control, but I imagine it could work up to a point. My concern would be whether it caused short-cycling with the compressor running too frequently and for a short time. It is unlikely the compressor would overheat, as it is doing far less work than it was designed for.

As an ex refrigeration engineer, I would be quite happy with that. It will run more frequently in a warm environment than cold, of course. It will also run more frequently when the thermostat is on a colder setting. I think you are probably worrying about nothing. 👍

If there's enough room, that's what I will do.

Your views and experiences are as valid and important as any other boaters. But they are not representative of the great majority. The danger is that CRT could try and pretend this survey reflects the opinions of ALL boaters - which it won't.

Thanks for the advice. I do have a calorifier and the engine is an Izusu 42, so will do as you suggest.

I have done this "census" as a leisure boater. It is nearly all about liveaboards, not the vast majority who are not. I did point out that any results they choose to extrapolate are totally invalid to boaters as a whole. They only apply to a tiny minority of all boaters. To use any of this census as representative of boaters, would be wanton deception.

Due to a hose clip failure, I recently lost about 6 litres of coolant. Being out in the sticks, I had to repair clip and added just plain tap water. Due to air trapped in the system, I have also had to top up with small amounts of additional water. So now, mixture is far too weak. Question is, how do I restore the coolant to its normal 50/50 strength? Can I just add neat anti-freeze? Will it mix in eventually? (Don't really want to drain and refill with correct strength if poss) Advice appreciated.

This press release from CRT seems to be almost exclusively concerned with information relevant to liveaboard boaters only. Whilst these are significant, they are nonetheless a tiny proportion of total boaters. By far, leisure boaters are the overwhelming majority. Probably in the region of 90% of boaters are leisure boaters. Yet none of their "needs" are highlighted, or even recognised, in this press release. This leads me to suppose that CRT has an agenda for their census, which is not the well being of the great majority, but the management of the few that give them their greatest headaches! Whilst I am in favour of them seeking accurate information for that purpose, I am wholly against them dressing this up as a census of all boaters. Especially if CRT mis-use the results as "evidence" of all boaters needs, rather than of a small sub-group of boaters. I fear this will will only lead to further erosions for everyone's freedoms, as we have increasingly seen over the past few years. It is the freedom offered by leisure boating that is its greatest attraction. More interference and restrictions from "authorities" using flawed evidence, is the last thing we need.

In hot weather my cunning plan is to put about 6" of cold water in the bath/shower tray. A regular cold paddle works wonders - especially at night.

On the contrary, the discussion has been most helpful. As a result I have ordered the BlueSmart 30 Amp charger for £169 and it is due tomorrow> I just hope it was the old charger that caused all the shennanigins in the first place!!

I am likely to have to replace my battery charger for 3 x 110 ah open cell lead acid batteries. I shall need something on shore power that can be safely left unattended for several weeks at a time. Does anyone have any experience or advice for THIS CHARGER Or any other similar recommendations. Thanks

The charger is made for the UK market. You may be right that it could possibly be set up incorrectly (?) That's something I will have to check out. The charger is now disconnected.

HERE is a copy of the user manual for my charger. Hope this will answer some of the questions you have raised.

Thanks all. Here's a link to the charger's specifications HERE Sorry I can't get to the boat for other info requested for a couple of weeks.

You are quite right of course. The figures are SG 1.09 to 1.10. The fridge is a standard 12v Lec type, and is only switched on when cruising.

Thank you gents. That is some enlightening info. I do not have all the info requested, and the boat is 60 miles away. However I can say we use very little electricity. No gadgets, gizmos etc. Just a small 12v fridge, led lights and water pump.

I have 3 x110 ah open cell lead acid leisure batteries, kept charged by 70 amp Alternator, 100 Watt solar, and shoreline Nocco Genius 7.2 amp smart charger. Also 110 ah starter battery linked by a new split charge relay. All batteries were replaced a couple of months ago, but have given problems ever since. As a leisure boater, the alternator charging is used for about a weeks cruising each month. The rest of the time they are left permanently on solar and the smart charger. When out cruising, the engine warning light and buzzer occasionally come on for a few minutes at a time after about an hours cruising. After just one day's cruising, the fridge fails to start without running the engine, and overnight the Tracer MPPT shows a red low battery warning light. The hydrometer readings are showing all cells as between 10.9 and 11.1 volts, and one battery dry, with the other two OK level of acid. The mechanic replaced the dry leisure battery about 6 weeks ago, but it is dry again now, and now tells me he found them all dangerously hot, almost boiling. The starter battery has remained fully charged and in good condition throughout with no problems at all. The initial voltage from the alternator is showing 14.36 v both sides of the split charge relay. In summary, the new leisure batteries are well and truly knackered, the fridge can't run overnight when cruising, the solar display shows red after first day's cruising when engine is off, and the Isuzu control panel buzzes at random after about an hour's cruising. The mechanic says he thinks the Nocco charger is causing the batteries to overheat when on extended shoreline power, but can provide no evidence to support this. I am not sure that would account for all the symptoms either. I'm also not convinced a 7.2 amp trickle charger would deliver enough oomph to boil 3 x 110 ah batteries. Can any of our electrical gurus suggest a plausible scenario that would account for this range of symptoms? Any help/suggestions would be mightily appreciated. Thanks.

If you find it is not continuously running, and is cooling, then that's what it is supposed to do!!

It is not your thermostat! If it was, you would have also noted the contents of the fridge were far colder than usual. Milk or water etc would be frozen solid. If continuous running, with some ice still forming, is your only symptom, then you have lost some refrigerant. That means you have a leak within the sealed system. That can only get worse and eventually the ice will stop forming. It is not normally economical to repair, and cheaper to replace the refrigerator. You will also be wasting your money playing around with alternative thermostats in the meantime.

I believe they are of light aluminium construction. So magnets would be useless.

You can always cheat - like I do! Method is to have crew member stood on front bow with the long boat pole. I put into reverse at tickover, and all the steering is done only from the bow with the pole used as a punt. I just stand on the stern ready to fend off from any contact if needed, and keep the rudder straight. The most important thing is to keep the reverse speed constant for the front steerer to be able to keep sole control of the direction of travel. We can reverse for miles without any stress using this method, as well as complex manoeuvering. You do have to have a crew member you can trust implicitly of course, and they can rapidly get very competent at the task.

Well, you presume wrong. There is a brief suspension of Business rates for 6 months on empty retail premises, to allow time to find a new tenant. But then the rates become fully payable by the landlord, so they are actually losing money on their property. That is why some charity/bookshops get short term rent free shops, especially over the Christmas period. Although the landlord makes nothing out of them, it at least stops them losing money for a while.

Have you thought of the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal? You can continue up the River Severn, and run back for safety when bad conditions are threatened. These are quite predictable, and you soon get to recognise the signs well in advance.