Wild Is The Wind

Thank you Bottle. I know my questions are basic but trying to learn from scratch so advance warning of anything to look out for is very helpful. Its a great feeling when each of these jobs is done and we know what to do ourselves in future. Tried looking at other threads but couldn't find anything, except one about adjusting the pressure in the accumulator. Hoping we don't have to do this!

Thanks for this advice. Our Johnson pump also has a 'pump protector inlet' which I'm assuming is a strainer and something similar would be available for the Jabsco version? Its connected to a small accumulator too. Will the pump be fairly straightforward to replace, we have someone with basic plumbing knowledge helping but is there anything special we should be aware of?

Help please? We can't work out why our existing Johnson WPS 2.9 pump is leaking or find anywhere to buy parts from. Can anyone recommend what to buy to replace it? We could then keep the existing one as a spare (if we can ever find the parts to fix it). Planning to replace it this weekend and hopefully have full running water again

Thanks, have now found a manual and will look at the Aquafax site. Apparently a strainer should be fitted so trying to locate that too.

Thanks Martin. Am looking on line but not finding the usual 'fix it' advice but will try looking for a seal repair kit and see if that helps.

Great start to the weekend this. Our water pump is in a box in the corner of the bedroom and we've just noticed water damage/damp all around it, as well as signs of water damage/damp running for about six foot along the floor on this side of the boat. All hidden under the bed/waste tank. We've turned off the stop cock and the water pressure and pump switches in the cabin, opened the box and mopped up the water there. We unscrewed the pump from the floor, dried the area out and its sitting on a plate for now. There doesn't seem to be any leaks from the plumbing connected it it, but can feel a little water on the underside of the pump. Spending today unscrewing the pipe boxes to let the area dry out and having a look to see if there is water in the boat. The pump is a Johnson WPS 2.9 12v. Any advice gratefully received.

Is this a good deal (from Ebay)? 200W Watt Solar PV Panel 12 24 48v Battery Charge Marine Boat Caravan Motorhome - £169.50 I can just about afford two of these - but then need a controller and a fitter too

Thank you. If anyone can link me to threads recommending good deals for solar panels, etc, i would be grateful. I have a widebeam so plenty of roof space, and would like something I can add to in the future when funds allow.

Thanks for these last couple of replies. From the advice in these posts and the fact that we are still managing with the existing batteries, it sounds as if investing in a smartguage and solar might be the best way to go first. Then replace batteries when absolutely knackered, with a generator down the line if necessary. Does this make Sense? Will be back when the power audit is done and alternator size checked.

I hadn't thought of getting a gas fridge but will look into it. Can you tell me Sue, apart from the fridge, how did you build your boat specifically so you can live without shore power. Any more ideas? Smileypete and Matty40s - thank you for your input. Its gonna be a couple of days before I can get the audit done and find out about the alternator, but I will be back to report on progress and the next steps Feeling a bit more confident now

Thanks Tony, I will This is really useful to know and is sort of what I was thinking, and i've accidently given you a greenie too lol

We never intended to treat the boat as a small house and were expecting to live with less applicances, etc. However the boat builder encouraged us to use these things as he said we had the inverter - the problem was we took this advice on face value with little knowledge on how to charge the batteries effectively. We have a gauge that we were told should not fall below 12.4 and we should attempt to charge above 14 - this isn't enough information so I guess we need a Smartguage to replace this. We charge the batteries with the RPM gauge on 10 or just below - 12-13 if microwave is used. This is really helpful thank you, I will work on this. Its a newly built boat so would have thought it was a fairly good one, but I will check.

Thanks for your quick reply and the tips! The reading links are great and I have tried them (and will continue looking) but they are a bit too complicated - loved the bucket and water analogy though lol I will work on getting a power audit done and finding out the size of the alternator as the next steps (hopefully something will be written on the alternator - i've never known what type it is, just that there is a seperate one for charging the starter battery). Then from reading these posts I need to - replace batteries and possibly alternator (based on power audit) - fit a smartguage - be clear about the charging regime - look at fitting solar panels and a controller (possibly a system I can add to when funds allow) I think the in-built generator you mention will be way out of my price range.

After struggling through many threads on this subject, I would really appreciate some simple advice on what to do next... We don’t use shorepower, and our current batteries have lasted 12 months still running LED lights/pumps/electric flush toilet/12v mobile phone charger (and while the engine runs charging laptop daily, microwave 2-3 times a week, hairdryer/travel iron 3 times a week). The washing machine will not run anymore. The engine charges the batteries (4 x 110ah + starter) for 2 hours every night / 2 x 2 hours Saturday, Sunday and days off work. The red (low power) light now shows on the inverter (Victron Multiplus 3000w) within 10 minutes of the engine being turned off which even I know is not good! I don’t (and may never) understand how to do a proper power audit, but we plan to get a 12v charger for the laptop, lose the microwave, add a 12v fridge, do one or two washes a week and eventually add a 12v TV and music system. I really want to learn in basic terms how to improve and look after things and I’m going to do an engine maintenance course soon, but I still have loads of questions about boat electrics - I’ve just read on another thread that the batteries should be deep charged for 8 hours at the weekends – should I be doing this? - Can anyone recommend what kind of new batteries we should buy and how much they will cost? - What is the best way to manage the battery charging by running the engine as we do now? - When we can afford it should we go for solar power or a generator first? And what are Travelpack generators – should we consider this? - Any recommendations for sourcing solar / generators and the likely cost? Apologies in advance for such a long post – any advice will be gratefully received and hopefully help us move forward

Good luck Dean, will be interested to hear how you get on with the batteries. We started cruising 12 months ago with 4 x 110ah leisure batteries, seperate starter battery, 2 alternators, 3000w Victron multiplus inverter. We knew very little about power management on boats, but were told we could run a washing machine, microwave, toaster, hairdryer (with the engine running) and 240v tv, laptop and fridge (fridge off a night) through the inverter once batteries were charged. We have led lighting, electric flushing toilet, water and bilge pumps. At the end of this 12 months the batteries are knackered I think. We gave up using the microwave, toaster and hairdryer long ago. Now the washing machine won't run even when cruising because the batteries get too low straight away even if the engine's been running for a while. We don't use the tv or fridge because the red light on the inverter flashes almost instantly even after charging the batteries for 3 hours or more. The batteries just don't charge like they used to - it was like there was a secret drain somewhere at first but we've concluded they are well and truly knackered. Its disappointing but we've learnt a lot and will definitely do better with the new set of batteries! We now charge laptops on 12v and watch tv on these for now, and the other basics on the list work fine. All of this said its been a great year and we've learnt to live happily without all the power hungry stuff we started with.

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=51779&st=0&p=968529&fromsearch=1entry968529 this link may or may not work

439 signatures in 7 days isn't bad.

Any idea how many people have signed so far?

And thanks Allan (nb Albert) too, the governments guidelines for consultation are quite clear and I hope CRT trustees are aware the organisation is not adhering. I'm writing my response now, and I have signed the petition and hope it gets a good response from boaters - if the consultation is stopped and re-done properly I hope everyone who is currently excluded gets a chance to be involved.

Many thanks Alan and Jenlyn for your replies. This is going to take a while for me to read through but very interesting.

Forgive my ignorance on this, but can you tell me when the last boater's survey was conducted, how it is sent out and to how many licence payers (does it go to all)?

But its a big trial - how will CRT monitor and review such a trial if there is no evidence to show it was really needed in the first place? And so many boaters are being left out - they don't know its happening and will not even get a chance to have a say. I say this consultation should be stopped to allow proper research to be done and clear communications with boaters put in place first.

At first I was really pleased to see CRT making more of an effort to consult boaters. But given the short timescale between releasing the 'consultation' and the planned implementation it does look like its a foregone conclusion that it will go ahead. It will take a lot of time to prepare, commission and install signage (which will be quite extensive) - let alone recruiting the number of people required to enforce all of this properly, which they must do or it will not work. So they must be pretty well prepared in advance for roll out. These are big changes that will affect all licence payers eventually if they go ahead, and we deserve to know the reasoning behind these plans - so in my view just responding to the consultation alone is not enough. Thank you for the petition and the FOIs. Not all of us have the time needed to find out all the facts and challenge when needed and I'm very grateful to everybody working on this.

Tuscan, on 13 December 2012 - 05:36 PM, said: This seems a fairly negative approach , hopefully rather than leading to point scoring this is a document that can lead to further discussions alongside the input from other boaters organisations and the forums. -------- I think its scary how this document has suddenly appeared, just skim read but think it mentioned proposals being introduced quickly across a large poorly defined area (not just London) and what happens from this will obviously be used as a template for other areas. How will other boater organisations input their members views, if they are all even asking for them? Its quite complicated trying to get involved with some of these organisations (even London Boaters - not criticising them just saying its not easy to find stuff on their proposals). I am all for local consultation and involvement, its vital, but what about individual boaters views, ideas coming up from the forum, etc? In some ways its a well thought out document if it is a starting point, but it doesn't come across that way.

Can you briefly expand on why you say this Chris? I don't fully understand CRTs accountability in relation to its customers. Alongside the diabolical auction system it would seem CRT has also inherited a strategic aim to "reduce long term mooring along towpaths". The mooring policies state they will begin a review in autumn 2012 and I would guess as a new organisation (with the same management team and very little knowledge of effective customer communication/engagement/partnership working techniques) its going to take CRT a while to develop a clear vision and make the changes so obviously needed for the benefit of the charity as a business and its customers. Nevertheless I prefer to be positive and I believe (like Jenlyn and Cotswoldsman) that CRT does want to engage and work with boaters in the longer term - because it has to - we all need the Trust to be a success. Perhaps CRT should therefore take short term action by doing a couple of trials to tackle some specific issues like Winter Moorings, working with customers to plan them, and then learn from them to shape future policy changes. It would also help if CRT representatives could be a bit more open about explaining the reasons why some things are not open to change right now (eg the Auction System). This (and better communications) could help build trust and increase revenue which can only benefit us all in the long term. There are some really good ideas on this thread and I'm so grateful to Jenlyn and others for pushing things forward.