Meandering

Hi Lewisericeric, This system is not designed for leaving the bed up, rather it is to gain access to the under bed storage area without the need for drawers are slats.

Hi Steve, The pair cost £79.18 inc Vat and delivery

Hi Everyone, I have recently fitted the bed to my new build and thought it might be of interest to others. The hinges are available from Sales [sales@sgs-engineering.com] the struts are rated at 900N. http://www.flickr.com/photos/nb_meandering/

The older of the two sailaways is my boat Nb Meandering which I am fitting out on site i.e. so not part of the fleet. She should be finished (less externel paint) by end of January. Mr Tickle your welcome to visit after Christmas.

Many thanks to all who have contributed to this item. The way I plan to proceed is to extend the heat protective paneling (as per the soliftec sheet) for the full hight of the stove and flu making a tiled feature of it. The should give the required protection and manage costs. Thanks!

I am in the process of fitting out my sailaway and have reached the stage of fitting my stove. My understanding of the current regulations is that a twin wall (lined) flue is a recommendation i.e. not a requirement. The local advice I have been getting is contradictory, with general confusion over a requirement and a recommendation. As I have already purchased a single wall flue I would like to fit this but don't want to proceed and then have to strip it back out. Can anyone clarify the requirements for me please?

Many thanks to everyone who has responded to my enquiry. A follow up call to Beta Marine has confirmed that I can expect 14.6V from the 100A alternator which should be fine for the AGM batteries.

I am just starting fitting out my new boat (Meandering) and intend to fit AGM batteries (largely due to access). The battery suppliers have advised that I need a 14.8 V charging capability to maintain the AGM batteries. Now, I have a Beta Marine 38 engine fitted but cannot confirm the voltage output from the 100A alternator (phones Beta Marine but they could not tell me which I find bazaar!). Can anyone with knowledge of these engines please advise if I can get the required 14.8 voltage from the standard setup or would I need an external voltage regulator fitted to the alternator to push up the voltage? Thanks.

Thank you all for your useful comments and links!

Thanks for the links!

I am due to take possession of my new lined sailaway at the end of the month to start the fitting out and would very much appreciate some advice from the specialists who contribute to this forum relating to battery capacity and charging. I have undertaken an initial power audit, using my best estimates for winter and summer demand based on the planned installation. These have come out with a daily consumption of 118 and 85 A/hr per day for Winter and Summer respectively. My problem now is with the sizing of the battery bank and recharging of the batteries. In my research I have read the “Narrowboat Builder’s Book” 3rd edition which advises (on page 59) that you only realise some 30% of the batteries apparent capacity and that I should therefore multiply my audit figure by 3 to size the battery bank. However, at the Crick boat show this week I discussed this with three different battery suppliers at the show how basically said this was old data and new batteries would supply their full stated amp hours. I doubt this correct, are we talking apples and pears? As a second but related question, I have just read the “Alternator Paralleler” topic and as this is 2009/2010 based, do the modern chargers incorporate this feature now? I will be fitting a Victron MultiPlus 12/3000/120. As I don’t have the full technical spec for this yet (and would not necessarily understand the finer points anyway) can you advice?

Looking at David's reply made me think. What pump do you guy's use on your boats for the CH system please? I assume it's one of the 12V pumps?

Dont size the expansion tank too small. You need to allow for the water in the system to expand by 4% ?(0-100). You can postion the header tank anywhere in the gravity system line, not just close to the stove, but it does need to be the highest point in the system. Have you considered putting in an extension to a more convenient location?

The L641 B1012 is a 240V pipe thermostate. Does this work ok with an inverter at such a low amperage? I use one at home and have it set at 55 Deg (operating range 50 - 95 Deg) which works well for me.

The inverter(/charger) is a Victron 3000 Va so not anticipating a problem. Good points on the refrigerator inclosure temp. I'll check this out. TA!

Rik, Just used your link and it says the 1.42 are Amp/hours and the .95 is Watts? Already clarified above

Jelunga, the power would come from the domestic batteries. The lower cost I was referring to was the cost to purchase the fridges initially.

Chalky, could you explain "load balance issues" please?

Thank you Allan for the quick reply. Building on your example a 98ltr Shoreline refrigerator is quoted at an average consumption of 1.42 amps/hour so the average annual consumption by the refrigerator would be 149 kWh/year. This does appear comparable to high compared to some of the high quality 240v refrigerators at considerably less initial cost.

I am in the process of deciding which new refrigerator to buy for my boat. Having read threads about the advantages of 240v domestic refrigerators over 12v e.g. cheaper to purchase, use less power due to better insulation etc. I thought I would investigate, however, while I found A and A ++ rated refrigerators they express the annual power consumption in x KW/Annum. Could anyone tell me the calculations to convert KW/Annum to Ah/Day please (I intend to use 365 days as this is for a liveaboard). Your help and comments would be appreciated. By the way there was a surprisingly big range of power consumption between the A and A++ rated refrigerators

Thanks for the comments.

Hi, I am new to this forum group (5 mins) and would like some advice regarding heating onboard narrowboats. I am just about to make the transition from the caravan world to the boating world and have been doing some research into the various options regarding the prime pieces of equipment on board. The one big difference I am seeing is the lack of use of gas, both of heating and refrigeration. Is this due to the humidity problems caused by the use of gas or other consideration?