Richardcn

Great, many thanks. Regards Richard Don't worry, I won't be touching anything other than a pre prepared battery acid solution. Regards Richard

Does anyone know roughly how much fluid is needed to top up a cell on these 6v batteries, top of cells to full level? I just need to make sure that I order the right amount of fluid but I've never measured when topping up. 1 1/2 litres (for 6 cells) would seem like quite a lot, although maybe not? Regards Richard

Thanks for that advice. My initial research leads me to think that a pre-mixed battery acid solution should be fine for what I'm doing. After all, I'm not trying to increase the acidity but to maintain it at normal fill levels. The SG of solutions that I've looked at are well below my current, fully charged SG's so unless I'm missing something (entirely possible!), I don't see a problem. As I said though, I'd be filling in stages to allow room for dilution if necessary. Regards Richard

As yet I'm not sure but either the batteries were wrongly filled or I've lost concentration through sulphation and that has led to unacceptable performance. Once I've done my research I'll hopefully have a better idea but either way I'll be stepping very carefully. It should be easy enough to find out what batteries are normal filled with though and go from there.

I think I'll order some acid and make up a solution, after some further research, then top up in stages and monitor the effect over the next few months. That way I can always dilute back down with distilled water if I get it horribly wrong. Also if, when getting low again, the electrolyte is a bit too strong then I'll amend my watering routine to ensure the levels don't go down past midway. That should allow me to retain an improved performance without endangering plate damage by a missed top-up. What the meter is telling me will help me to spot when levels are low in future, once I've recalibrated my brain to take into account the better performance. Regards Richard

Many thanks for your thoughts Tony. I did wonder if sulphation prior to sale was the problem but the subsequent improvement in performance led me away from that idea. Even if that was (or is still) the case then I think I would rather accept that the battery life might be somewhat reduced whilst retaining the capacity that I seem to have regained from the higher (or restored) electrolyte strength. My aim really is to retain the current acceptable performance without having to keep the fluid levels dangerously low and having to top up a small amount far more frequently. In that scenario topping up with battery acid and thus retaining the current SG seems to be a viable solution. Regards Richard

Hi all I have two 6v US Battery 2200 XC2's which have been installed for about a year now but I'm concerned with their performance. A quick bit of background...(btw we are CCers) I bought these about a year before installing them whilst they were on offer. I had intended to install them straight away but the available charge from our solar system kicked back up again and the old batteries held on until the following winter (2018/2019). The 2200's were kept charged throughout that period and equalised from time to time, I try to look after my batteries. I measured the SG of all cells after purchase (once fully charged) and found them to be quite low so I contacted the manufacturer for advice, as I had some other questions as well. They felt that the readings (which now I can't find but possibly 1.260) were "...just within tolerance..." so I left it at that, although I wasn't completely convinced. For the first few months after installation performance was poor but I put that down to them requiring a 'running in period'. However, the poor performance continued. I charge to tail current (when not using solar) so I know when they are 100% or near as. The voltage (12.7v) from full was dropping way to quickly and using the amps counter on our meter I estimated a capacity of approx 100 A/hrs, the rated capacity being 225 A/hrs! At first I thought I must have bought a pair of duds (“on offer”) but being well over a year since purchase there was little chance of getting a refund so we plodded on with them. However.... After a couple more months things started to improve, I was seeing 12.8v when full (after surface charge was dissipated) and capacity was getting closer to what I expected. Obviously I was happy about that so I didn't think much more about it until I topped up (to correct level) with distilled water... straight back down to the previous poor performance again!!! I've just finished completing the same process over the last few months and the same has happened again, albeit that I haven't yet refilled, which leads to my theory and question. I think that the supplier could possibly have carried out the initial fill with the wrong electrolyte strength. The levels at the moment are well down, less than a cm from the top of the plates but the batteries are performing much in line with expectations (as they were prior to the last top-up) with SG's of 1.295/1.300. I don’t really want to go through the same process again if I can avoid it, especially as the solar is starting to ramp down now and the necessity to survive for 3/4 days between charges will soon be upon us. Might a carefully measured (and staged?) top-up with an electrolyte solution, rather than only distilled water be appropriate in this case? Your thoughts gentlemen please. Regards Richard

Anybody know the owner of this er 'boat'? It's still tethered (above Waltham Abbey on the Lee). I have this image in my mind of the owner departing the scene having forgotten that the tender was still tied up! Although the duck tape suggests that the parting was only a matter of time!

Well it appears that the annual weed cut has encouraged some use of the arm. A pair of widebeams went down yesterday and I found two other boats moored further down (but before the M25) and a third coming back along when I took the dog for his evening walk. A dramatic early splash of autumn along the way as well. I didn't photograph the cr*p in the hedgerows that seems particularly prevalent in this area though. And the cut-through from the towpath to Argos just down from the junction is absolutely appalling, it's like a small landfill site!!!

Just as a follow up. We did eventually meander along the Slough Arm, after switching plans several times! It was a gorgeous day (Mon) and I thought why the hell not. I have to say it was pretty shallow, even in the centre, up to the bridge 4 winding hole but we never travel quickly so it suited us. Paula did her first wind there as, not only were there no gongoozlers but there were no boats either! Where else can you say that this close to London. The early autumn wildlife was lovely and the odd walker or cyclist that passed by was jovial. I had forgotten the pleasure to be had from a narrow canal. We really enjoyed the peace and quiet, yes even whilst the DM2 was chugging steadily. However, there was nowhere that I would have felt comfortable mooring and probably nowhere we could have got in on that stretch anyway. You can see and feel the potential but you can also see it is slipping (or has already slipped) away. I fear that, with the location of the travellers camp (and the notoriety of its residents) unlikely to change, the Slough Arm may never achieve its potential. What a crying shame.

Good advice without a doubt.

Good news... and bad news! Daniel, the owner, was at the boat this evening. Nothing was taken and he's now moved on to find a better spot to board up the window (he was contacted this morning btw). Bad news is that there are a lot of scrotes around here. You can see them dealing just around the Slough junction, they're not exactly subtle! And the really bad news is that another boat, a little further up, has been broken into in broad daylight and had a lot of valuables stolen in the last few days. The Police were apparently unavailable to answer the phone to allow the owner to report it! Sadly, a sign of the times it seems. Time to move on methinks.

Looks like I'll be moving a boat later then...maybe.

Well I don't know, I've never found myself in this situation! I'm just trying to help out! But being as they have an 'Emergency Line' that does cover this then I would expect then to contact the owner, then if they had no joy there then send out one of 'the team' to board it up or make secure BECAUSE that's what they implied they would do "...send one of the local team out.. "!!! (Exclamations for exasperation)

I don't want to make the location known for fear of inviting looters but I've just found out the boat name from its licence disc, 'Dada'.