Posset

Any chance of a picture of your install?

Thanks everyone. I have ordered 50mm cable, terminals and the proper crimp tool to fit them.

They are Yuasa DCB1275-12's

Yes 12V lol. They are supposedly 150ah deep cycle batteries, they arrived this afternoon but I am a little disappointed that they only had 12.55v in all of them. I have put them on charge for a day or three. My boat only has an 80amp alternator which has to charge the house batteries and engine battery so 25mm link cables will probably be fine but I will look for bigger ready made ones before ordering. I hope they perform better and live longer than cheap 110ah ones...

Thats good to know. The current setup 2 x 110ah batteries and 200w of solar doesn't appear to be enough. We only have 12v fridge and 12v tv and by the morning they would be down to 12.4, if the solars control meter is anything to go by on a sunny day the batteries would be fully charge by the early afternoon. The current batteries have lasted 30mths and last weekend they were 11.2 by the morning. Thanks. I am not sure what size the current link cables are. Once I have made the battery box and have then sitting in situe I can work out what lengths I will need and order a full set

Thanks, I must be going nuts as I have read it over and over and cannot see no mention of it not working on 3 batteries lol. Thanks, it looks like I will have to go the method 2 route. What thickness/amperage link cables do you think I should use? The most common sizes available ready made seem to be 100amp 16mm2 and 170amp 25mm2.

Hi All, I have just ordered 3 150ah deep cycle batteries to replace my 2 old 110ah ones. Can someone tell me the best way to wire up a bank of 3 in parallel so they all charge up balanced? I have read through this page http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/batt_con.html and method 3 would be ideal but not very practical with requiring extra external terminal posts. Method 4 looks simple on 4 batteries but I can't get my head around using it on 3 batteries lol.

Ok, having just spent 2 weeks on the cut I have discovered that the amount of water being circulated by the engine at normal cruising speed may not be enough to heat the calorifier. The pipe from the engine is hot but the return pipe stays pretty cool until you get the engines revs a bit higher. I was moored up one day and revved the engine about 2500rpm in neutral and it heated the tank up a fair amount in an hour. It it possible to fit a 12v circulating pump in the system to improve flow?

I don't live aboard and its only ever had leisure use since new in 99.

I had one in my first house that was about half full of limescale, it looked like cornflakes and like you say it still heated ok. Unfortunately the boat's cylinder does not have an immersion heater that I could of remove it have a look. If there is a large build up on the coil i would expect that would affect heating time. Its looking like I will have to bite the bullet and get a new one. If I get a Surecal unit at least I will have two more options to make it heat up quicker if required (ie diesel heater or Immersion).

If I bought a twin coil could I pipe up both the coils to the engine or would that cause more risk of an air lock or would the engine not be able to supply enough hot water fast enough etc?

I have just found out the water is classed as very hard in the BOA area, I thought my friend may have been wrong

I was wondering the same, it has had a total of 2200hrs use. The boat has pretty much always been filled in Bradford on Avon but I don't know if its a hard water area. A friend said it is probably soft as all the buildings are made of sandstone, I will have to find out.

Both hoses rise up from the engine through the bulkhead and down to the connections on the tank. There are no bleed valves anywhere, I disconnected the return pipe/hose at the engine end at the weekend started it up and there was a decent flow of hot water coming from the hose, I also topped the coolant level back up with antifreeze afterwards but it still took forever to get hot water. I was thinking it may just be that tanks built 12+yrs ago may not be as efficient at heat transfer as modern ones, I assume its just a coiled pipe with no exchanger fins like a surecal type???

Thanks, the 55 is the largest vertical I can fit in the wardrobe where the old one is currently fitted.

The engines thermostat is an 82c and the boats temperature gauge stays steady at just below 80c. Yes they are both really hot. Thanks, my pump is only 20psi, there tanks now come with a 4bar relief valve. How long does yours take to heat from just the engine?

Can I ask you guys what size tanks you have and how long they take to heat up when cruising?

It now looks like I need to fit a new calorifier, since we purchased the boat a few months ago we have found it takes almost 5hrs cruising to heat the water to a decent temperature. I have checked the pipework is connected the correct way round on the calorifier and that the engine is providing plenty of flow through the heating coil without any air locks but its still rubbish. I now assume that the 12yr old 55ltr calorifier is not very efficient as I have been told that it should only take 60-90mins to heat it up to a good temperature. What make of tank is considered to be the best or which ones would you guys recommend? I am looking for a vertical mounted 55ltr with twin coils so I can add a diesel heater in future if required.

Ok I had a look at it Sunday and both the hoses go to the front of the engine, one from the head (hard to see but I think its below thermostat housing) the other one goes on to the water pump inlet. I removed the one from the water pump and ran the engine and there is loads of hot water circulating through the calorifier. The hottest hose goes to the lower of the calorifier loop ports although there is not a massive difference in temperature between the two hoses. The water still took almost 5hrs to get a hot . I am now thinking the best thing to do will be to fit a new modern twin loop calorifier, then I will have a spare loop in case I end up fitting a heater i future.

Thanks, I should be able to trace the pipes easily as the calorifier is mounted just the other side of the engine compartment bulkhead albiet inside a wardrobe. I don't think either hose goes to the skin tank, I think the skin tank only has two large hoses, one at each end and looks like its piped up just like a radiator is in a car. I think both the calorifier hoses go directly to and from the engine. I will have a closer look tomorrow.

Mine is vertical. I am wondering if the pipes from the engine may be the wrong way round as that may affect how much water passes through the coil and whether it could bleed itself. The old owner also mentioned having to remove one of the pipes from the engine whilst running it to clear air locks.

Its been like it since we bought the boat in January. I will have a play with it at the weekend. I don't think it'll be the hot water loop blocked as the old owner has looked after the engine and cooling system meticulously. If I cannot improve it then I will strip the boat apart and fit a twin coil Surecal (if they are any good?) then I can add a diesel boiler and radiator in future.

I don't see a problem doing it occasionally and then giving a few revs for a short period when cruising next time to clear it out.

I thought it wasn't right. I was wondering whether it was just because its a 12yr old calorifier that may not be as efficient as a modern one as was thinking of changing it but that would be quite involved as its built in the rear wardrobe. The pipes from the engine both get very hot, tbh I expected the return pipe to run a fair bit cooler than the inlet. A bit more investigation needed when I get to the boat next me thinks.

Out of curiosity, how long do you have to cruise for to get a full hot tank of water in your 55ltr tank? I think my tank is around 50ltr and takes a good 4 to 5hrs cruising to heat up from cold. My engine thermostat is fine and the engine runs at a constant 80c.