husky

Thank you to everyone who has replied to my post and given us such valuable information. We will be using it all. Feel more confident now. Really looking forward to it and especially the scenery. We are from Tasmania and especially looking forward to seeing the scenery of Yorkshire. P&J nb. Mactra's Filia

Help required please. Going to travel on the Huddersfield Narrow and Broad (and the tunnel of course) then on through Aire and Calder Navigation and on to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. From there, the intention is to then go onto Leigh and onto the Bridgewater Canal - ending up at Anderton (Northwich). We have about 3mths to do this trip. Have looked at the website of the Huddersfield Canals and all the regs. etc., but would greatly appreciate anyone who has done this trip, or part thereof, who could give advice of any kind, especially with regards to safe mooring spots. Any help would be wonderful. Thank you, Jennifer nb Mactra's Filia

Help required please. Going to travel on the Huddersfield Narrow and Broad (and the tunnel of course) then on through Aire and Calder Navigation and on to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. From there, the intention is to then go onto Leigh and onto the Bridgewater Canal - ending up at Anderton (Northwich). We have about 3mths to do this trip. Have looked at the website of the Huddersfield Canals and all the regs. etc., but would greatly appreciate anyone who has done this trip, or part thereof, who could give advice of any kind, especially with regards to safe mooring spots. Any help would be wonderful. Thank you, Jennifer nb Mactra's Filia

I have a BMC 1.8 diesel engine and use Wilko 20W-50 mineral motor oil for petrol and non-turbocharged diesel engines - designed for older and higher mileage engines. Change it every 150 hours. Cost 12 pounds for 5 litres.

Hi all - thank you for your replies, it looks as if 150 hours is a reasonable time and like Alan I often stretch it a bit. So that takes care of engine oil and filter but what about the fuel filter? Currently I change this every second oil change - does this sound right?

I have a BMC 1.8 diesel engine in my narrowboat. Does anyone know the recommended time (hours) between engine oil changes? I currently change the oil every 150 hours but this is only my guess.

I have a Dell laptop(Inspiron) - they are notoriously hard to to find suitable adaptors for as they sense whether or not the attached adaptor is the real(Dell) thing. Went to a crowd called Wisdom-Industrial on ebay and paid £12.89 for an adaptor(12v dc in to dc 18volt 90W out ) so I can use the 12volt plugs on my boat to power the laptop. Works perfectly and has done since April when I bought it. Wisdom-Industrial said that if it did not work they would give me my money back so no risk, just let them know beforehand what type of laptop it is, they were most helpful - oh and they are UK based so it only took a couple of days to arrive.

Hi Kevinl - yes I have a controller, a 20Amp Duel Controller which allows me to divide the current from the panels to feed 2 different sources. Also the instruction book that came with it is pretty sketchy on exact details(it's Chinese) but shows charge voltage, boost voltage and float voltage so presumably it will do all these things. I have used it for 3months now and I have only connected one of the controller output to the leisure batteries(set to 100%) and having a Smartcharge system this will connect all the batteries shortly after the motor is started. I am now thinking, before I leave, of connecting the second controller output to the start battery and setting this to receive, say 20% of the available output. My start battery sometimes struggles so it may be an indication that it is nearing the end of its life and if I leave it for 6 months commoned to the leisure batteries it may drag down the voltages of all of them.

Thanks for all your replies- looks like the panels are a good option. Yes Blodger, my intention was common all the batteries. The negative terminals are already common so I was going to attach some 17A wire to the +ive terminal of the start battery and run this to the leisure batteries +ive terminal.When I turn off the battery isolation switch, hopefully this shouldn't make any difference and still leave them all connected together. But I'm curious to know why you think giving the start battery its own supply might be preferable. Trackman we have a "Smart Charge" system(Smartguage + Smartbank) which gives a readout of the voltage on the leisure batteries so commoning the batteries should include the start battery in this reading. When the smartbank relay closes it will not charge the start battery(it will be isolated by the switch) but the start battery will be charged by being commoned with the leisure batteries - does that make sense?

Every year I leave my boat in a marina for approx 6 months over winter and return home to Australia. I have 2x100W solar panels on my boat - would these 2 panels be sufficient to keep the batteries fully charged over the period I am away without the use of shore power? I have 1 x 90 AH and 4 x 110 AH batteries and these would be the only draw on the solar panels. The panels are fitted flat on the roof and the boat is stored in the Northwich area. Any thoughts please?

Hi Chris - put a power meter into the circuit today. (1)Laptop 50% discharged but not switched on - current 0.25A 40W (2)Laptop Fully Charged and switched on - current 0.16A Given that my power meter may have been fooled do these figures do they have any meaning ? regards husky

Chris My apologies, it was certainly not an attempt to rubbish what you said, sorry if it came across that way. I was merely asking you why you thought differently. Maybe I should put my power meter in the circuit and see what it reads at as my laptop charges. Would this be an accurate measure? And also while I am using it fully charged. regards husky

Chris - Why do you say that it will only take 10A when the calculations that people have told me says that it would be closer to 32A - amperage @ 12V = 20 X Amperage @ 240V. Yes it takes just over an hour to charge from say 40% charged. regards husky

Yeh Alan, have come to the conclusion that the first thing is to fit a 70A alternator and this will be done shortly(couple of weeks). In the meantime I will try to monitor usage, voltages, etc, so that I can see how the 70A alternator improves the system. regards husky

Hi Alan - yes I'm busy looking up the dimensions and whether it is a right or left alternator so I can buy the Lucas 70A alternator. The next problem will be the voltage regulator. From my investigations it seems that an ordinary automotive regulator is a poor substitute which only charges batteries to 80% of their value. Does this riddle never end? All I want to do is enjoy the waterways of England! Aussie expat! regards husky