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

Once upon a time......etc etc......We bought our boat three years ago and have visited the Crick show both before and after we bought 'Merlot'. The only connection between Crick Show and us buying 'Merlot' was that as we were in the area we visited some marinas in particular Whilton Marina from where we eventually bought her. We havent been to the show for a couple of years but a moment of idleness in the 'local pub' set me thinking tonight that this year we might give it another go and see what Crick has to offer. We didnt consider taking the boat due to the water shortages and looking at the prices of nearly £6.00 per metre to park up ('Merlot' is a tad over 18 metres) we said even if there was enough water we wouldnt go! We did consider camping but also found £48 squid for a tent for two nights a bit steep! Having had a quick look at the Crick Show website it didnt instil us with confidence. Under the heading 'Food and Drink' the website says "We aim to offer a high quality food and drink service at Crick Boat Show 2012 which caters to all tastes and budgets" Thats it. Nothing else!!!!! I dont know who came up with that one but they are obviously being paid far too much!! Under Campsite entertainment it adds "Our evening entertainment schedule, real ale bar opening times, and evening catering facility details for campers, moorers, and those wishing to visit from Crick village and surrounding areas will be available very shortly." They must surely know the bar opening times at least and who is entitled to be there by now? (see below) I would not describe us as particularly 'picky' types but past experience at Crick has not left a great taste in our mouths. (literally) On one of our visits to the show before we bought our boat we took an very old caravan to the campsite and paid for the whole weekend. What we were not told was that the real ale bar closes at 5pm or 6pm ish to the plebs (us) while the evening entertainment is prepared for the 'regulars' or those with certain passes. I dont profess to know who those people are or what qualifies them to the exclusive entertainment but having paid our whack for the weekend, camping and tickets, I did find it a little strange that we were to be excluded. Especially when a guy in an ill fitting suit clutching a 'walkie talkie' and wearing a yellow/green vest came to our table (in the real ale bar) and said we had to leave as the evening was reserved for 'others'. I wont go into detail about what happened next suffice to say that we did eventually have to leave. Strange but I didnt see any of this on the crick Show website! The whole incident was unfortunate and showed a distinct lack of professionalism on the part of the staff! I cant speak for recent years as they may have changed the procedures. I sincerely hope so. The feeling of 'us and them' is not a good one and not one I want to repeat. I suppose my rant is about my sadness that the largest boat/canal show in the country which is meant to be a great showcase for what we do is far too expensive and in my opinion too exclusive. I hope things have changed since our last visit and I also hope that all those who have already booked tickets and are either mooring or camping etc are not treated the way that we were. Come on Crick tell us what to expect! It is only weeks away and still no in depth information! Just to balance my rant and not to put off those of you who may be reading this and have not been before. There is useful information to be gained by visiting the show and speaking to the experts etc. Tony Brooks is one if he still goes. Rant over. Trev and Caz.

thanks guys will try and meet her on the way up. Cheers Trev

Hi, could anyone help with contact details for 'Liz and Steve' who operate a boat selling diesel etc in the southeast? We are heading into London from Hertford and I believe they may be in the Hertford area shortly? Thanks. trev.

Did the marina that did the blacking use an electric wire brush on any existing rust spots? I have heard some just powerwash the gunge off and then black on top of what is there rust or not!

The cost of the regulator and separate digital display unit was just under 200 squid. Looking at other regulators they also have a cut off around 13.7 volts and at least one other forum member has similar problems to me. How many people rely on a regulator to give a soc reading for fully charged batteries? Without SG I probably would and end up with batteries only 80% charged. The sellers of solar regulators dont tell you that.

Hi, thanks for the info and sorry for the late reply but just moored up! I will have a look at the 24v to 12v converter and see if that would work for me. It is certainly the cheapest option. I have also had a look at the link re another MPPT controler with a higher float. Getting expensive but I could always offset the cost by selling my existing MPPT kit on fleabay. Thanks again. Trev.

We currently on the Lea/Lee at Hertford. The Barge pub next to the river is having a crayfish catching day over the BH weekend. Kids under 12 get prizes for the best looking, largest crayfish caught etc. They do this every year apparently. Loads on them around here.

I have just had an email reply from the manufacturers of my IVT MPPT 30 amp solar regulator and basically rock and a hard place spring to mind! They have confirmed that the regulator goes into float mode around 13.7 volts which on occasion could mean a Smartgauge reading as low as 78% charged!! They add that the controller will at this point keep 'pulsing' a charge into the batteries believing them to be fully charged. Not a lot of use and i dont believe my solar panels will ever get the batteries to 100% before the sun goes down!! ( I wasnt expecting the panels to do this anyway but I was hoping for around 90%) One thing the panels are good for is on a reasonably sunny day we can run all our electrical bits, tv laptops etc and the panels will compensate by upping the charge going into the batteries so the bank does not discharge it would remain at the same SOC. But as for actually charging the batteries it is not a good plan! I cant by-pass the controler as mentioned in an earlier post as the panels are 24v and I run on 12 volts. There does not appear to be a way to adjust the float charge limit on the controller so my experience of using solar power has left me somewhat wanting. Does anyone know of an MPPT controller that has a higher float charge rate or at least one that can be adjusted?

Hi, thanks for that. I have two outputs from the controller to the batt. Excuse my ignorance but would it be to the pos or neg?

So if the regulator I have cannot be adjusted it's another regulator thats reqd? What about using the 'LOAD' outlet to charge the batteries?