Sea Dog

I too have had an issue (twice now) with that multi-plug. It'll be wearing a cable tie very soon! Good tip.

I got pretty close to Bakewell on the North Stratford, but I suppose it was really just an Almond Tart.

If you're gonna go to the trouble of fitting an Ammeter, why not fit one that can measure everything in and out of your batteries? One with a sufficient scale (and shunt) to cope with all the amps engine alternator, shore charger, solar, wind turbine, etc, can muster? You'll also be able to see what your fridge is drawing, etc, in fact all you need for a decent real-life power audit. Edited to change real-time back into real-life after the auto correct changed it for me!

Well, this should stop all those posts by folk looking for good boat painters! This all happened because "Gobby" was on a shiny boat, clearly, and if he'd been on anything else he'd have ceased to be a git, I suppose? Good tale of how a clever dick got his comeuppance - didn't really need the divisive shiny boat "us and them" bit though. My boat is kinda middling btw, so I have no particular paintwork axe to grind, but I'd rather not see the wonderful work of some great canal paintwork craftsmen being associated with 'Gobby' and his ilk. It wasn't his paintwork that made him a git - he was probably one before he even got a boat.

Ah, Mr Loafer, I now see you have an engineering background. I read your initial posts and thought you were stumbling around in the dark, hence prodding you towards the safe side. I served my time as electrician before moving on, and boat electrics can be tricky even with that background - not least when earthing issues raise their head! Good luck with your quest.

Yeah, that's a good tip if you're on an alongside mooring. Unfortunately we were out cruising when we were iced in, so ice planks weren't an option. Sometimes I guess there might be a compelling reason to move in the ice. Fir us the ice was a compelling reason to stay opposite the Queen's Head for 10 days. Actually, apart from having the blacking Rogers, it was a nice experience.

That's the very chap!

Gauges for poo tanks are not uncommon and can be retrofitted. Mine is a needle gauge and matches my water tank gauge, and the same company also do digital types.

Maybe if one was to quietly hurtle up behind and then ring the bell like crazy it might be rude, but there's nowt wrong with a gentle 'ding' at a reasonable distance, surely? In fact, it just makes good sense because otherwise one's arrival from behind on something as quiet as a bicycle is almost always going to be a surprise, even at a slow speed. Just a thought. Edited to add that I had noted you were being very considerate

No worries - maybe I took two posts to explain it!

Whatever you do or don't do with earth connections and/or your galvanic isolator, your boat's mains electricity didn't flow through you when you touched the sockets and you didn't have a reverse polarity light showing before. So you either have, or have introduced, a fault. What you need in the event of a fault on your electrics is a proper diagnosis and an effective repair, not a work around. Your choice, but I think your Missus is right to be frightened.

I am a qualified First Aid Instructor and, whilst it may be best to prepare any First Aider for the eventuality that their CPR patient may not make it, it's also important to remember what you're trying to achieve by administering CPR. Are they likely to wake up after half a dozen compressions, cough, say thanks and carry on with their day? No, probably not - but if you can keep oxygenated blood flowing until medical help arrives you'll have done everything you can to give the casualty the best possible chance of a recovery if what ails them is survivable. Do give CPR, and keep giving it until help arrives.

I think you should pull the plug on your 240v system until such time as someone who knows what they're doing has had a look (or has advised here if he can see the obvious cause). Earthing to the hull is a difficult subject, but 100v between the casing and hull sounds very wrong to me. Hope you get more professional advice very soon!

If you have a hundred quid or so to spare in the first place (not always the case I know), a battery monitor such as a Smartgauge, Victron BM or a NASA will really illuminate what's going on with your batteries and charging systems. Only one with a shunt will measure current flow (which ruled out the Smartgauge for me - but that's not to decry that unit} but it really isn't a difficult thing to fit. I settled on the Victron in the end as it had a bigger shunt so can measure my maximum Amps in and out. I'm not convinced by the Percentage Charge Remaining bit since that depends on other factors, not least the present capacity of my aging battery bank which isn't so easy to assess, but I don't think the straight Amp Hour measurements should be too far away, and knowing when you batteries are fully charged from charging current and voltage levels is easy enough and well documented on here. The key thing for me is always being able to monitor the charge/discharge Volts/Amps - which is also what you're struggling with right now.

Ok then: much of the benefit of an LED lamp over a tungsten lamp is negated by inverter losses with a 240v lamp unless the inverter is already running. I think the thrust remains the same - if the OP has the choice, and 240 or 12v was mentioned, a 12v LED would be more efficient. It seems daft to run the inverter just to power an LED desk lamp if you don't need to.

I have a 240V led table lamp in the lounge, but any benefit from the power saving lamp is negated by the inverter losses unless it's running anyway. Hence mine's only on when the TV is also in use. Something to consider if you have the choice of 240 or 12V at the location.

Which is ok if that's something one has decided to accept. However, what about the moored boats one passes which have chosen not to roger their blacking only to have their blacking abraded away anyway by the movement of ice caused by passing ice breakers? My own few month old blacking in perfect condition was through to bare metal at the water (ice) line after just 2 days of this last winter. Towpath side undamaged, outboard side stripped so it was no coincidence.

It's combination the air draft and the tumblehome that's the issue in my experience. We've got good headroom inside but that that makes Gosty a challenge because the curve of the tunnel roof means that there are areas where, before the rubbing stakes meet the wall, the cabin roof can scrape the brickwork. If the canal level is high or the water tank isn't full it's a real struggle.

Island Dwellers?! Bunch of fishing, cycling, rambling, etc, morons!! They should be deported! To, erm, an island somewhere

Agreed - my post was in response to Nick Norman's but the original query was raised whilst I was slowly replying by phone! Edited to sorry out a quote with no comment attached!

I think he was doing something ever so slightly dodgy too.

Oh no!That's just vindictive! Mind you, the product is more easily forgotten than " Everyone's a fruit and nutcase"!

Ah, but.....! You can wipe off all manner of sticky things with them that kitchen paper won't completely deal with, or even use kitchen paper followed by a wet wipe for even better results, not exclusively your stove glass. Custard from the front of your jumper, chocolate off passers-by's babies, otter poop off your wellies, soot off your hands, marmalade off your sausage - the list is endless!

Hmm, I can't help thinking there might be a slightly less controversial way than that!