Sierra2

Thank you

coming up in my email account (Gmail), any ideas? I haven't blocked the email address, all I can think of. Thanks Chaz

Not relevant to this post but an idea I came up with recently. If you like to listin to music while cruising and use a car stereo to do so, most head units have a spare input wire that can be connected to a hands free car kit so that the music is cut off when you receive an incoming call. Take a feed off the automatic side of the bilge pump (or pump alarm if fitted). This way you will hear the alarm above the sound of the music when it is cut or just maybe hear the water discharge overboard if no alarm. Chaz

Could work with any boat but would suit smaller open top craft with a noisy outboard engine, while listing to music. If using a car type stereo for music in the wheelhouse/helm, wire the bilge pump(s) alarm feed in to the 'mute' cable on the back of the stereo used to turn the music off when a call is received on handsfree kit. Chaz

Thanks for the replies gents but the belt is 100% fine and has been for the past 2000 miles since. Not to say it couldn't be a pulley or tensioner but I just don't get the intermitence of the sounds and the problems. Surely it would be a sound that gets worse and worse until it fails ? Chaz

UPDATE: Thank you all for your help and advice. We did make it to France for Xmas but not before having to call out the RAC just two miles from leaving home! About a mile away sitting at a set of lights I heard a strange sound that led me to turn off the radio and wind the window down to listen. I guessed this sound might be coming from the car sat next to us but couldn't be sure. As the lights turned green and we moved off I forgot about it and carried on for another mile. This time about 10secs after putting the handbrake on and in to neutral, a tremor came through the floor and the steering wheel getting stronger and stronger. It was scary in terms of thinking the car was going to shake its self apart but I instantly turned off the ignition. Never have I experienced anything like that before. ​Sat with the hazards on, I chanced a restart a few mins later to move up onto the pavement to clear the lane we stopped in and everything seemed to be ok. Sticking my head into the engine I could hear a bag of odd sounds coming from the Aux Belt side including a ticking sound coming from the alternator that came and went. I wrongly self diagnosed the fault as the water pump pulley (was the belt tensioner) as it seemed to be ratter-ling loose and on its last legs. A very nice RAC man came out and told me that it was perfectly normal but double checked the nut torques on everything in that area to rule it out. In the absence of finding anything else I decided to chance it on the offer that the RAC patrol would follow us from Barnes in West London down to the services on the A3 by the M25 junction (we could still get a tow back home at this point). There was no repeat of the problem and following another check around at the services we headed off to Portsmouth and made out ferry. Still some odd sounds at idle and when cold but no repeat of that incident. Bearing in mind the surge/vibration happened at a standstill I'm wondering if the engine started running on 2-3 cylinders for that moment?. Regards Chaz

Pete and Helen: I'm not sure how you got started on LED lights as I didn't mention anything. However, I did change out the aftermarket Xenon HID headlights recently as I was fed up with one side failing approx every 6-8months on a two year warranty. The new kit threw up all manor of error codes, one or the other side failing to ignite, but then igniting when turning off and back on the headlight switch. This happended even after fitting a relay harness to take the power direct from the battery. After a refund I've now gone back to the original supplier and installed a new upgraded set that's not proving problematic. Don't know if related? Chaz Alternator until today, I thought ran off the cam belt but does in fact run off the fan belt (located in the same area) hence my confusion... Chaz

Thanks for the replies all. Would a test with headlights, fog lights, fan heater, demister etc turned on be worth a go?

Just to add, if I recall what he said correctly... The battery was making up the extra voltage from the alternators 12v to get a higher reading?

Afternoon all Firstly I apologise, I know this is not a car forum but I'm in trouble with a 2000mile round trip to France starting tomorrow. I only ask here as I know there are some very clever minds! A mechanic recommend by a friend found a fault during a major service on the plug in diagnostic kit. It/she is a 2007 Vauxhall Vectra 1.9cdti on 52k miles. Normally I would have dismissed what he told me as nonsense, that being the alternator was only producing 12v. When I told him I put a meter on the battery terminals a week ago and read 14.63v (14.31v today interestingly) he straight away asked if I took the reading direct from the alternator. When quizzed he mentioned something about a secondary charging circuit and canbus?. Is it possible to get the reading I did at the battery and only get 12v at the alternator?? I'm not sure he was trying it on as I've been through 3 good quality batteries in two years (partly down to a period of non use) and Vauxhall did mention an error code (although no light on the dash) relating to the charging circuit about 7months ago during a key reprogramming. I dissmised this as I was happy with the voltage measured at the battery. Finally, a noise has recently developed in a week coming from the alternator pulley (much to my relief that it wasn't cambelt or water pump!) Any thoughts, advice? Thanks in advance, I'm slightly stressed as I've no option but to drive off for the Xmas break tomorrow.... Chaz

Lighting is the only factor you may want to change. Solar, antennas can all be planned in advance (even if not installed at fit out) Until the boat is fitted out its hard to gauge exactly where and how bright every light should be (even with dimmers), thus it's the only wires that need to be moved or added normally. Click on my link below and then the 'photos by page' for my recent electrics

For wires you are very unlikely to ever need to change, just run over rated wires and encase them in spray foam. In the event you do need to add more wires down the line, just score a groove in the spray foam and use some tape to hold the wire(s) in place, in the groove while you replace the ceiling pannels. If you wanted to add diffrent lights in different places later on, the conduit would be in the wrong place and useless. Chaz

Great thread, very useful. Iv'e been stuck on what to use for power for the 12v Tv in the wheel house. I only have a 25mm blank plate. Up until now I was just planning on having the flex come out through a grommeted hole. Anyone know if the XLR audio connectors would fit?. it's a 25mm deep drywall box but could change to deeper if needed. Chaz (Quality of items is a lot better than the pic shows!)

I can't link as I'm on my phone but Google LED lightfoot in Brighton and search for Aluminium Track. It's a nice looking track sold in meter lengths in various angles with clear or diffused lens options. The RGB strip mentioned just sticks inside the track for a neat finish and the diffused option means glare isn't an problem. Chaz

Yes, be cautious if the price is considerably lower, there is some counterfeit stuff doing the rounds (I'm told). The copper is of a lesser grade and there is less of it. It should be obvious once in your hand to see and count the strands to confirm the mm2 size. Iv'e used www.vehiclewiringproducts.eu for my build and had no issues with quality and service. Chaz

There are many places but I'm happy with the service from here: http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/

I have no answer to the question but I am interested in the answer. Chaz Thinking about it, if you are running everything on 12v (lights, pumps, fridge, usb chargers ect) then you only need a relay on the battery charger, not the whole consumer unit/inverter ?

I don't think I've seen those, have you a link?. In my case its academic as all the junction boxes are fitted Is that price before VAT? I thought tlc-direct.co.uk were the cheapest supplier I had found

Using the 222 connectors on my build, great piece of German engineering. The only thing missing from the design in my mind is the ability to clip the connectors together to keep things tidy in the junction box.

If you search eBay you can now buy transparent heat shrink/heat sink that will wrap what ever method of cable marking you choose. Great stuff.

Early 90's Yamaha motorcycles used the same much to my annoyance installing alarms.... Give me a Honda any day!

The easiest thing to do would be to hairdryer 'Heatshrink' (Heatsink) sleeving over the sleeve of the exsisting cables to the colours you require (red, black for power, orange for the manual overide) Personally I would change out the wire for 2 or 2.5mm2 for something potentially as critical as bilge pumps. In doing so you can fit the correct colour code. Chaz

Why specialist? Make, model, 2-stroke, 4-stroke, petrol, diesel, lpg would be very useful information to know... If there is an entry point into the fuel source for water through a breather or air intake then you need to dismantle the fuel container (especially if it's petrol), drain, wash with thinners or brake cleaner and dry thoroughly for a few days before reassembly. Same for the fuel lines and carburettor (if it has one). Replace the Air filter while you are at it. If 4-stoke, give an oil change now before trying to start and another once it's running and the oil is hot (assuming there is a crank case breather that water could get into) The coil, HT lead and electrics will dry out with time if it's a pull start type. Electric start with any kind of ECU will be a bigger issue and probably require spare parts. I assume it wasn't running when the flooding occurred? Best, Chaz

Paul C - Simply I don't have one area that could house all the electrics. The location of the two side panels in the wheelhouse are dead space and hence why I want to use them, free up other space for storage (and a planned mini bar ) Secondly as I'm starting from scratch I thought it wise to keep both sides as separate as possible on safety grounds. Not so much for myself but for future owners who might wish to make modifications additions. Yellow Artic 2.5mm2 is being used throughout on the AC side and I plan to not use yellow sleeved wire on the DC side. Bod - cable run is exact, used some other wire to trace the conduit clips/sleeving path exactly and then measure with tape Nicknorman - I take your point on 330aH not being enough but as Stroller is V' planing hull cruiser I very concious of adding weight and want to keep the total number of battery's to four. Indeed when I was stripping her of the old electrics/set up I was very surprised at what I found. Both Port & Star engines had there own starter battery. The remaining two I thought were the leisure bank but it turned out one was dedicated to the Bilge pumps (paranoid owner?) leaving only one battery (110aH) for domestic use and over 12 halogen bulbs through out the boat! My plan now is to have one shared starter battery for both engines and the windlass with a reminder notice on dash (for future owners) to start engines one at a time. Bridging wiring with isolator will be fitted to use the leisure bank in an emergency. This leaves three batts for the domestic side. The proposed use will be at least 75% marina shore power based and 25% off grid cruising. I'm certainly trying to make sure everything is 12v powered or gas cooked (kettle, toaster etc) and don't plan to use the Inverter very much. If things change in the future with moorings and power options then I might look into 4 6v Trojan packs. Smileypete - She is GRP but that's good advice, thanks Chaz

Thanks for the replies and information. She is a new fitout so have space/freedom to work with. What I've aimed at doing is keeping all wiring as high up as possible and also to keep the DC wiring to the Port side and AC to Starboard. Sorry for the blurry panoramic photo. To the left hand side of the photo in the recess with the cable trays will be the DC fuse board and battery charger next to that. To the Right the consumer unit (already in place) and next to that where I wanted to fit the Inverter. The battery bank (330aH, 12v) lives in the engine bay below the DC Fuse Board, hence a 4.2m cable run to the other side of the boat. The inverter could be fitted in the engine bay, to the grey ply sheet just below the door into the Saloon with a 1.8-2m run. This isn't what I want ideally hence the cable question. As I still need to buy a battery charger a combi unit could be an option but I was never a fan of 'eggs in the same basket' In this case I assume fitting the unit next to the DC fuse board to be preferable for the short wiring run to the batts, but mixes up my plans to keep both sources separate Chaz