Detling

Thanks for the above, I know it's not beer as that would be nice but didn't happen. The boat was rocked as usual etc during the last pump out. The only thing I can think of is possibly foam caused by the contents fermenting in the warm weather recently leading to a cap of bubbles triggering the sensor.

Yes I know this is dangerous but does apply to the bucket brigade as well. I have found that the time before my waste tank full light comes on differs enormously. We have had 20 days since the last pump out, usually about 14 days, that light has come on again this time only 8 days since the last pump out. This was a good one, done at Crick marina, by experienced operators with good equipment and witnessed by me. There are always two of us on the boat and we only occasionally use facilities ashore, there has been no change in our habits to cause this variation, 20 days to 8 days with the same tank. Has anyone got any sensible ideas why the huge variation, and do other people also find this variation. . Thanks

Well I don't want the European solution, where you pay per 24 hours wherever you are just like car parking. This one I would be doable as the landowner is charging for access, just a change to the license terms and you pay every day. If the legal nit pickers continue to win their case re CMing and bridge hopping then this is going to be the probable outcome. If you want evidence look at France where mooring charges were banned by Napoleon but in the 1980's there was so much abuse the law was changed and you now pay in most places.

Hirer's don't behave as though they bought the canal along with their boat, or share in the boat. Some I have seen obviously believe they bought the canal and expect all to bow and wave them through, Usually it is a recent boat often with just two aboard and oblivious of all other people, but then you also see them on the road usually in a piece of German engineering.

No real problems today, the car park was a bit muddy but the walkways were worse and one set of loo's needed wellies to access as mud 2 inches deep at least. Lots of straw about but I would recommend good waterproof footwear. Have a good time the weather forecast is better than todays.

If there is water in my engine 'ole under the cruiser stern it is because I have been lazy and not cleaned the drainage channels out, At about 1 inch by 1/2 inch it doesn't take much to block them particularly if moored near trees. (bud cases and catkins at the moment, seeds and flower petals as well as leaves in the autumn basically trees drop mess). Boats for sale are often neglected and at this time of year may have had no TLC since September.

Thanks some good ideas there

Normally when anchoring you don't just chuck it over this will just cause a b****y great tangle on the bottom and will probably not anchor the boat, You should lower the anchor via it's chain rapidly until the anchor hits the bottom, and then slowly let out more chain/warp as the boat drifts away from where the anchor is on the bottom. When you have let out about 3 to 4 times the depth of water you should hold the warp firmly (take a turn around the T stud) and wait until the warp is tight and the boat is turning towards the anchor. If there are no jerk/snatch feeling on the warp then the anchor has dug in and is not bumping along the bottom. If there are jerk vibrations let some more warp out and try again. When the anchor has dug in and is no longer dragging along the bottom the boat should stop moving over the ground, but may be moving through the water (use transits ashore to check). Check that the anchor warp leads forward at less than 30 degrees to the horizontal, and that there is sufficient warp out to allow for any expected rise in water level (tide coming in), make the end of the warp fast and put the kettle on.

Can anyone point me to a good diesel supplier on this stretch of the Coventry and T & M please.

I have no problem with my smartgauge and Mttp controller setup, However i think if you use a pwm solar controller they regulate the charge by 'chopping' the output voltage from the solar panel into small pulses to avoid overcharging the batteries, these pulses can have the voltage of the solar panel maximum volts (usually about 17-18 volts). Smartgauge will see these pulses as an overvoltage error and show that error. I sometimes get this error when I am plugged into a shore supply via my combi inverter, When I start a motor load on the 240v (drill, angle grinder etc.) the spikes the inverter gets causes the battery voltage to spike and cause the smartgauge to display an overvoltage error. Just press any button and it goes away. I would only worry if you can't get the error to go away.

The Instruction sheet for mine said up to 7 years best replaced after 5 years. That I presume is for one switched on 24/7 365 days a year,

kings lock chandlers stock them and other bits for isuzu or anglo welsh at bunbury lock (not sure if they do post though)

The System is never wrong? We recently had problems with a bank who couldn't verify our address, we have lived in the house for 34 years (we built it) had all the planning etc to go through pay council tax and have been on the electoral role at that address for 34 years. Why they had a problem I do not know, maybe they were using a road map from the 1970's, as we've been here ever since.

A fridge 12 volt, or 240 via an inverter is likely to be the largest constant load on the boat. It will typically take 30 to 50 ampere hours a day at 12 volts. In my case more than everything else used in the day. I have a microwave and typically watch 2 hours of TV, plus an hour or so on the PC, I have LED lighting but you can add it all up and the fridge still takes more than 50% of the daily load. Yes Microwaves etc. use a lot of power but only for a few minutes, not 10+ minutes of ever hour, I only use the washing machine though with the engine running.

Max I've seen from my 200 watt panels is 16 Amps for a few minutes around 12:30 in early June via a Tracer 20A controller, The batteries weren't flat but the inverter was running hard at the time so gobbling Amps like there was no tomorrow.

thoroughly enjoyed my time at tattenhall staff are friendly as are the other people there.

My Dingy trailer was painted in galvofroid and 20 years later when I sold it was as good as new. I did have to touch up scratch marks though as they would rust, but the rust did not spread. This trailer was dunked in salt water dozens of time every year and left out in the rain on a muddy damp field all the time (usually with a boat on top), so rich zinc paint will work but is expensive and as explained earlier it won't prevent rust forming where it is scratched. It is also very difficult to paint over which is why boat trailers, hot or cold zinc coated, are rarely painted, the paint peels because as the zinc sacrifices itself to protect the base the paint lifts off.

Although the USB spec says 500 mA per socket a lot of modern devices like smartphones and tablets take more, often they will not charge from a 500mA supply., You can get USB adapters that plug into car type 12 volt sockets that will give 1 amp, and these work well with most things. Apple devices are the worst for being fussy about the USB power and the newer ones are worse than the older ones, my daughters iPhone will only charge from it's 240 volt adapter but the Samsung tablet, even though taking more current then the iPhone, is happy with the 12 volt to USB 1Amp charger.

So there are approx 30,000 boats and 180,000 pounds to find as Pillings hasn't paid, That's only 6 pounds a boat extra to be put on the charges next year. And if he gets away with it, then when the other marina's follow suite (may take a year or so) we could see the 6 pounds become over 100 pounds per year extra on our license fees. Well done PL.

Double skinned flue is supposed to increase the 'draw' of the chimney, particularly when first lit or the fire is cool, this increased draw will cause the fuel to burn hotter (just like opening the air vent) but I suspect will also cause it to burn quicker, and therefore need refueling more often. I can't verify this as I have a single skin flue, and agree it does put a lot of heat into the boat.

Battery to starter is exempt because the cranking current for a cold diesel will destroy most available isolators, When I designed a test rig for starter motors the stall current we had to cope with could exceed 1000 amps not may isolators will take that and not melt.

No one has yet suggested that maybe the marina was designed to fail. If as in much of England planning consent for houses on green field sites was impossible, but getting a marina there was possible, It may have been a deliberate ploy to build a marina which fails and then the landowner is asking for residential planning for houses on a derelict marina and not a green field. Commonly (believed to be) done in the SE to get round the local objections and the strict adherence to the regional planning rules.

Yet another Tracer user having a trouble free life, it is only the 20A one though.

I've had a tracer 20 running well for 8 months now no problems.

As a winter time rambler, I can assure you we avoid pathways/tracks used by horses as even a few horses a week results in 6 inches of mud and other soft brown stuff. There is no way even intermittent riding on some of the towpaths of the shroppie in the winter would leave them fit for any walker. In the summer when the ground is firmer things would be better, our local country park closes its routes to horses from late October till May.