Trev

Hi, can anyone recommend someone in the Leicester area to install an mppt controller? Thanks Trev.

Thanks for the info guys. Its given me a starting point. It probably didn't help that the boat was under water for a week last Christmas!! Thanks for that Bottle. I have been in touch with Beta recently (over several weeks) re some travelpower engine brackets and to be honest I haven't been impressed with their service re that particular matter.

Thanks for that Frahkn I will have a look at the connections on the blower and see where they disappear too. At the moment its a Bentley Canhardley!!

Hi, thanks for that. I suspect mine should fire up straightaway from the ignition switch but not 100% sure.

Hi, I am looking for advice please re my engine blower? I have a Beta 43 which has a cocoon which consists of 2 end sections two sides and a top cover. When removed there is visible a blower fan located in the main cocoon base. When I fire the engine up the blower does not run and I cant recall from past use if it should run immediately the engine is running or if it works on some sort of temperature cut in? Does anyone have experience of a blower and how it should operate, wiring etc? Thanks. Trev

Hi Guys, I had been intending to post a picture of our sunken boat but we have been a little bit busy over the last week. the good news is that the water levels have dropped sufficiently within the marina to allow a realistic chance of getting her refloated today. as i am typing the pumps have just started so will post again later with good news. Trev and Caz.

Thanks for your replies. The MPPT controller is an IVT and I'm not sure about what charging voltage it is set to? The batts are wet open and I have always kept them topped up above the plates. They are in a ventilated box in the back of a trad stern not tucked away where they could overheat. I am going to test the sg of the two remaining batts today. The batteries are/were connected via batt cable with the positive feed on the first batt and the negative feed/return on the last batt. I have seen WW yet. What did it say about the batt connections? Thanks Trev

The four Numax batts were only two years old and only being charged by the solar panels. Two had boiled dry but and one was warm but not boiling. The other batt seemed ok. My solar controller was bought from fleabay, Germany. Had no problems with it since fitting. I think in future I will disconnect all charging to the batteries and isolate them and just turn up once a month and put a charge in them. Trev.

We parked our boat in the marina at the end of October last year. We had cruised during the summer 2011 and we left it without a hook up relying on the solar panels (2 x 136W & 2 x 68W) which run thro an MPPT controller. We made regular trips to the boat over winter and the Sgauge reading was never below 90%. Plugging into the mains we always left the batts at 100% before we left. We recently returned to the boat to the smell of sulphur to find that two of the four 135amp batts were seriously gassing off and the SGauge reading was down to 32%. We hadnt left anything on to drain the batteries and hadnt done anything different on previous visits to the boat. The carbon monoxide detector was showing 22ppm so we disconnected the boiling batteries. The solar panels were still showing as putting amps into the batteries. Not an excessive amount I think is was 4 or 5 amps. I will be replacing them all at some point but I cant work out what caused the failure so as not to have it happen again. Anyone got any thoughts or had a similar experience? Thanks Trev.

I have the same Beta 43 and 160 PRM. I replaced ours about 18 months ago. I contacted Beta and gave them the serial number of the engine and the driveplate was there the following day. My engine has a soundproof housing so I had to juggle with ropes etc and lift the gearbox out completely. If you dont have to do this its a bonus! Once the gearbox is out of the way just undo the driveplate bolts and it will pull off. Just reverse the procedure and job done. You can rest assured that if the driveplate was to fail it would be when you go to put the engine in reverse to stop in an emergency!! My old driveplate was literally falling apart and wouldnt have lasted much longer. No special tools just a good socket set and a sense of humour!!

My wife tells me every boat should have a dipstick and I'm it on ours!! Trev

Hi, sorry to hear you are in this position and I think someone with more legal knowledge than I may answer this comprehensively but I would check certain things like was the deposit paid on the understanding it was non-refundable? I would think the marina would have terms and conditions within which to operate? Can you prove the staff have lied to you? If you do think you have a case the small claims court may be an option??? Trev

They seem to breed quickly! I think before we actually left the bar another two had arrived. They did seem a bit lost when we said we intended to finish our drinks before we left. They didnt have a plan 'B'. They were only doing what they had been told it's just that they had not been briefed correctly or no one had considered what to do in these circs? I would be interested to know what has happened in recent years if anyone knows? Are the campers/boaters now allowed to stay for the evening entertainment? trev