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lockedout

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Everything posted by lockedout

  1. These guys did me proud - excellent service, good advice over the phone, highly recommended. http://www.barden-uk.com/ (No connection, just recommending a company that gets it right) ETA - not entirely sure they do mail order, but I'm sure they would arrange something for you if you asked nicely
  2. Having just re-done my battery bank... Get the biggest you can afford that will fit on your terminals. make them as short as you can get away with without stretching, but, always make sure that matching cables are exactly the same length. I went to a specialist and got all my cables made to measure, expensive, but well worth it. The science is basically, the bigger the cable the lower the resistance therefore reducing losses around the system. Keeping cables the same length balances resistances around the system which helps to balance the loads. ((or something like that)). HTH
  3. lockedout

    knot

    Seconded! I would never have a backsplice anywhere near any of the very many lumpy water boats I have looked after over the years. The ends of lines should always have either a stopper knot, or be free to run. As with so many things in life, whipping is the answer...
  4. The Thames from Oxford up to Lechlade is considered by most to be the best part of the river. One major plus to us ditchcrawlers is that most of the tupperware can't get under Osney Bridge so the river is much quieter past Oxford. We use Nicholsons and Imray for the Thames, both are pretty good, but I think my naviguesser prefers the Imray guide. As to how long a licence... How long is your piece of string? You could do Oxford - Lechlade - Oxford in a week, but why rush? Just be careful because the EA have a strange licencing policy and it isn't always logical how they work out their licencing charges - worth a look on the website before you fetch up at your first Thames lock, although the Lockies aren't there to rip you off, ask them for their advice, it is usually worth listening to. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/420058/LIT_10050.pdf Hope this helps...
  5. Snap - when our Border Terrorist bitch was lickle she did exactly the same thing. Went to leap off, full of confidence, only for her legs to slip on the (not very) shiny paint and splash she went. We were in the marina at the time so it was relatively easy to reach down and grab hold of her harness. She is now really wary about jumping off, but will jump on without a thought - thinking about it, that is the good way round I guess. Before we lost our Rotty, she used to love a swim and I have on occasion had to haul her out of rivers, canals, mill ponds and the oggin. No wonder my back is so bad!!
  6. We have been through this pain... Do the simple thing before you move on to the difficult thing. I was contemplating having to upgrade the supply cables which would have been majorly disruptive, when, following the advice from the good people on this forum I checked the batteries first... Result - new batteries fitted - fridge works perfectly. Bad batteries will run lots of things around the boat perfectly ok, thus giving the impression that they aren't the cause of the fridge failing. But 12v fridges are really sensitive and need best quality power.
  7. Our two 3 year old Border Terrorists have known the boat since they were about 10 weeks old so they are completely at home on board. We have never encouraged them to jump on or off without being told to, so they are pretty reliable. They can swim but would rather just paddle at the edges. When on canals they just wear their normal harnesses so we have something to grab hold of, if necessary. However, when we are on the Thames, they wear lifejackets. The thinking is that if they fall in the Thames we have a current to deal with and the river is usually considerably wider than a canal, so if they need a little bit of extra support while we turn the boat round or while they swim to the side, they have got it. Also, being fluorescent orange, they are easy to see. However, touching wood, we have only had one falling in incident and we were very close to the bank at the time so Maggie just paddled to the edge and waited to be rescued with a sorry look on her face...
  8. Deffo a lumpy water boat - I was thinking ferro concrete, but on second look I think more likely to be GRP. The topsides are definitely not FC and it looks like one lump. It has a bit of a look of a Westerley Centaur about it - but it isn't. Certainly nothing I would put anywhere near an inland waterway.
  9. In truth... not much of one! But, the NT want to see all of your original documents, insurance and BSCert - I am not comfortable in putting these in the post. Plus - who has a cheque book any more??
  10. Could someone from CRT have a word with the National Trust and explain how it is done please?? Renewing our licence every year means a day off work and an 80 mile round trip in the jalopy - there must be a better way of doing it... And, there is!
  11. I have used three of these http://www.barden-ukshop.com/2126-blue-sea-maxibus-busbar-6-x-18-studs-250a-3008-p.asp in my recent upgrade. Good kit. One for positives off the domestic bank, one for ground and one to take load off the domestic bank the boat side of the iso. switch.
  12. No problem - as long as the ground connections have continuity all is well. From a 'neat and tidy' perspective, I would think about a bus bar so you haven't got everything hanging off the battery terminal, but that is probably just me....
  13. Plus One for BigSte. I use Publisher and also save to PDF for sending to people. I have just finished rewiring Charlotte, major points learned... Domestic bank not 'laddered', each battery is connected to a BusBar, neg and pos, with exactly the same length cables to equalise the resistance across the bank and therefore make sure that all the batteries do their fair share of the work. Fit a third BusBar on the supply side of the domestic isolator to make power take off nice and easy. Fitted a full SmartBank system, as I already have a SmartGuage it made sense. I needed to fit two relays though as I treated my Bowthruster battery as a third 'bank' and therefore had to fit a slave relay. Merlin Power Systems at Poole are a brilliant company! Particularly the lovely Vicky, she really helped me through the process answering my stupid questions both via email and phone with an unfailing good humour. When building a new battery box, think about how you are going to lift 135Ah batteries into and out of your engine hole without giving yourself several dozen hernias - mine now have removable fronts so the batteries will slide forward. Looking forward to a summer's cruising now without the fridge tripping out every 5 minutes....
  14. I actually had one of these squeezed in between two wooden boxes as part of the mess I ripped out - it was 'secured' by being screwed through the side to one of the boxes with two short screws which pretty much fell out when I removed it. It is sitting in my conservatory now, if anyone wants it...
  15. I have just finished rebuilding the battery box for Charlotte - the set up when we bought her was a nasty mess and I have finally got round to a complete rebuild. I made two identical boxes out of 18mm ply, each box takes three batteries and the internal partitions are fixed. The fronts of the boxes are held on by 6 wing nuts threaded on to stainless dowel pins. This allows for the batteries to be more easily removed from the box. (have you ever tried to lift a 135AH battery up and out of a battery box?? I am not a weakling, but I really struggled getting the old 110Ah batteries out). The lids are 9mm ply with slatted vents routed in to the top with raised covers over the slats to prevent any items falling in on the batteries. The whole lot is painted with several coats of Ronseal Weatherproof. Looks a treat!!
  16. Tingdene - have an arrangement that allows berth holders to use other Tingdene marinas - I can't remember how it work though it will be on their website.
  17. I am in the process of refitting my battery bank, which involves ripping pretty much everything out and starting again. The old battery set up was a mess! I have a SmartGuage - fitted in 2010 - which is the 'new generation', I know this because I asked Vicky at Merlin if it would work with a SmartBank, which I am also fitting, and it does. In order for her to tell me which SmartGuage I had, she wanted to see a photograph of the unit as there is nothing on it that gives the game away. I think if the rear of your SG has an RJ11 socket, so that it can 'talk' to the Smart Bank, it is the latest version. If you need any help, give Merlin a ring and ask for Vicky - she is really, really helpful - and, she knows her electrics!! HTH
  18. OS Bench Marks are established by the Ordnance Survey to provide height references. They are usually carved into stonework or other stable material that is unlikely to be disturbed. The centre of the horizontal groove is the height reference. They don't actually indicate sea level, but their height can be reduced to Mean Sea Level. IIRC the number is purely an identifier.
  19. That's the badger Pete! (Except mine is the other way up ). I think the connectors should be ok - I will be using post to threaded pin converters. Have you ever tried to work out a similar scheme for a 5 Battery bank. I wasted a couple of hours this afternoon trying to crack it, and failed. I need somewhere about 550 Ah - so to get that out of a 4 battery bank, I need to go for the 130s. Thanks again...
  20. Thanks Nick and Pete, I was wondering, but the science/maths seems to make sense (A Level Physics was a long time ago) and even the SmartGuage website talks about it - including a connection plan from Mr SmileyPete As I am rebuilding from scratch, battery boxes and everything, I think I will go with the 4 x 130s cross connected with some nice thick cable, take offs from #2 and #3 to some decent chunky bus bars. Robert is your Father's Brother!
  21. Slightly hijacking the thread... Had an interesting chat with Dave from Barden about batteries this morning. I am replacing/rebuilding my domestic bank which is completely knackered and made up of a mismatched set of 5 batteries. Dave's advice... Don't put more than 3 cells in a bank if you are going to connect them 'ladder' style - the fourth battery will only ever charge to approximately 80% and the fifth to about 60%. Apparently, this is due to the resistance in the system which increases exponentially as you move up the 'ladder'. So, either just use 3 batteries or rotate the batteries in the 'ladder' every 3 months or so. So, I did some research and it appears that he is right. I have now planned a 4 battery bank - 4 x 130s rather than 5 x 110s and a convoluted connection scheme which uses long cables and short cables and a cross linked method to balance the resistance across the bank. I can't work out how to do it with 5 batteries in the bank, it is like a Krypton Factor question and I have a hunch it will only work with even numbers of batteries... Anybody else even bother with all this? Or are you all using some form of technical solution to balance the charging across a large bank? Sorry for the hijack!!
  22. Getting something round the prop is the only time that I ever get any kind of leakage through the stern gland. Last time this happened, on the eastern K&A, we got so much water in it flooded over the edge of the sump bund just a little before I cleared the prop and the sump pump (singular - typo) managed to clear it from the rest of the engine hole. I can't actually get anything much bigger than a small coffee mug in under the engine and it is a right pain (literally) so I am looking for a cheap pump with a flexible end so I can suck it dry. Lidl to the rescue! (A sentence I never thought I would type)
  23. I actually need something to suck a small amount of oily water from the sump under our engine. Syphoning won't work, for obvious reasons so I need a pump of some sort. We only get very small amounts very infrequently, usually caused by getting something wrapped round the prop and over burdening the bilge pumps. Therefore I don't want to spend fortunes, just want something to sit in the cupboard of accoutrements for when it is needed.
  24. Doh!! I guess that is why the one round the corner from work didn't have any this afternoon!!
  25. ok - that's my lunch break sorted for tomorrow...
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