Steve42

Regarding the RCD's. The one in the land line I think is or was a requirement for boat safety and should be as close as possible to the land line to protect the wiring to the inverter. The travel power output should be protected by an RCD as you have shown. Is the travel power Neutral connected to the chassis and boat ground? if not the RCD won't work. Not familiar with the Mastervolt, if it's like my Victron Quattro and the switched output is only ever live on a land line or generator the RCD is superfluous as one of the other 2 will protect the circuits. The RCD on the Mastervolt inverter output is necessary.

Even if the LA battery is fully charged is should absorb the load dump.

If you want to raise the charge voltage can't you just reduce the sense voltage with a simple resistor network? with careful consideration for current draw on the sense input etc. Also careful consider all failure modes, what happens if any component fails? , will the charge voltage increase to a dangerous/battery damaging level?. Can any failure be detected and the charge stopped?

"The alternator is rated to 125°C so that is a bonus" you shouldn't get close to this! The operating temperatures quoted for automotive parts is the ambient temperature, almost always -40 - +80 C in cab, -40 - +125 C under bonnet. As part of product validation it will have been put in an oven and left to cold soak to -40C started up and run for a couple of hours, then ramped up to +125C and held there for a couple of hours while operating, , then ramped down and to -40C turned off and the cycle repeated. Normally while be vibrated at the same time. All the time it will be monitored, any errors it fails. The case and internal temperatures will get considerably hotter than 125C

It will try to control the voltage on it's sense input at the regulators set voltage, so compensating for voltage drops in cables, connectors blocking diodes etc. Yes you could alter the charging voltage by connecting it to something else.

"You’ll need to borrow a gorilla’s arms when you put the covers onto the foam". indeed.….

Just bought one. Standard everything. Initial thoughts are it's strong, comfy and very good value. I bought a wide 2 seater. They are all quite deep front to back and take up a lot of space. I can't fault the value, I looked at making my own but couldn't buy the foam and covers for the price. Assembly by one person is possible but two would be much better. FORGET doing it in 5 minutes like their youtube video. It comes on a pallet, there's a lot to it, so you need to get the wagon as close to your boat as possible, or have it delivered to home and take it in bits. Delivery was my only issue, Not Nabru's fault, but the wagon driver that delivered was an idiot. Delivery instructions clearly stated ring before delivery. He arrived unannounced at 06.55 when the yard was locked. He returned a few hours later and dumped it outside the office, the boat being fully accessible a few hundred yards away. A piece of the MDF was broken, it must have taken some force. Credit to Nabru though, I phoned them and sent them a picture of the broken bits and they couldn't have been more helpful. New bits arrived next day via a proper courier. So in summary, yes I would buy one again. Customer service is excellent. really pleased.

We've just finished fitting out my new narrowboat on DIY hardstanding. This made taking deliveries of materials much easier than on a jetty. If you're starting from scratch you'll be using a lot of stuff. 8' x 4' sheets can get heavy if you have to carry them far. I used 50+ of various thicknesses. Mine was much cheaper too, rent was not much more then the license I didn't need. Also rented a container next to it.

Very good point the weak link, often omitted. When I was attaching the fenders to my first boat Bob Allen (Les Allen boats) told me off for chaining the two buttons on, said I should use rope 1/4" ish. Adding a weak link's a good idea though.

"it should be moved next week down to near home." If it's being moved by road check that crane/road transport is covered by someone.

Do you know what sank it? A boat sinking is thankfully quite a rare event, two in the same spot? one known to be malicious..... Don't think I will more anywhere round there.

I moored there for a couple of years about 2009. I wouldn't leave my car in the woods. I was there last week, there is a small car park off the main park I the woods. The rubbish in there suggests it is a popular night time haunt for youths I cars drinking etc. Not saying they cause trouble but..... You get used to the trains. Picnic are could generate a lot of noise. Handy for the station, good shop. There are liveaboards there for security.

If it's an automotive based machine, all automotive components for under bonnet use are tested and have to work from -40 to +110 or 125 C. Ambient.

Hi, I'm fitting out a narrowboat that will have a squirrel with a back boiler, the rads will be a combination of thermosyphon and pumped. On my last boat the pumps made was very loud, has anyone got any suggestions for a quite one?

Fit a Yale or mortice deadlock, but leave the hasp and put the lock through it not locking the door, or somewhere obvious, it look like you are in. Deadlocks can be hidden more easily as you only need a key sized hole.

Don't know if anyone else has mentioned this but FIT A FUSE! if the new supply can supply more than the rated current, or connecting to the boat 12V, you must protect it. I once had a 12V car to phone charger that kept popping it's fuse, so despite knowing better, fitted a slightly bigger one. It worked fine for a few minutes, long enough for me to think 'they don't call me clever Steve nothing' it then caught fire and I had to yank it out the socket and chuck it out the window, still in the company car park with on lookers! When asked what had happened, I told them it was cheap rubbish and they shouldn't be allowed to sell such dangerous things......

They've been about for a few years in telecoms use. There's a lot of focus on LiFePO4 because of their weight advantage and so their use in automotive. I will buy a set in the spring when I get that far with the boat build. It's not a huge investment wrt to lead acid, and I was considering Lithium. Only minor design consideration is NorthStar (the ones I have data sheet for) specify an ideal absorbtion voltage of 14.15 (so 14.2V is fine), but only for 4 hours from when this voltage is reached And the current starts to decay. So on a long cruise it MAY be necessary to reduce the charge voltage, but I suspect not as the data sheet is aimed more at standby applications where the charge will continue as long as the mains is on, so switching to float is more critical. In any case they also recommend a extended period at the absorption voltage as a equalisation charge every two weeks, so the odd long cruise wont hurt and would probably be beneficial.

Any one tried lead carbon batteries? seem to have all the advantages of lithium, but cheaper. 1 hr charge, 2500 cycles to 50% DOD etc

I suspect culprit is the generator. Inverter generators work by using high frequency pulse modulation, which is stepped up in voltage and smoothed to remove, in theory all frequencies other than the 50Hz fundamental, however some harmonics will remain. The generator is at the cheaper end of the spectrum so I suspect more of these are getting through. There are various papers on the internet about how RCD's respond to these higher frequencies, some suggest they may trio at a lower current. The RF suppression in the inverter and maybe other equipment my also be passing some hf current to earth.