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Clifford

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Everything posted by Clifford

  1. THANKS! Very grateful for this heads up. At first I thought it didn't apply to me. We have no fabric anywhere near the bullseye in the kitchen ceiling, and the picture on here shows the sunlight being focussed several inches below the ceiling which would be harmless on our boat. But in a sunny moment one morning a few days ago, I idly thought I'd have a look at our bullseye. OK, the dome is outside; the flat side is well recessed inside a hardwood liner like a mini porthole liner. I tried to find whether the bullseye was focussing the morning sun. Hand few inches below bullseye, no heat felt. Hand higher up, nothing. Hand inside liner, almost touching glass, nothing. That's all right, then. But as I removed my hand, I noticed that one side of the inside of the liner was much brighter than the other. Touched it..... HOT! The morning sun was hitting the dome not from above, but on one side, and being focussed in a VERY short distance ( 2 cm below the bottom surface) onto the opposite side of the liner. I put my finger in the beam and it rapidly got too hot to bear. Looking at the liner closely, there is a fine very dark crack running horizontally all round. It was not obvious before because the wood is dark anyway, and who looks up there normally? It hasn't set fire to the boat in its seventeen years, but I can't now ignore an obvious sun scorch mark. I'll be emery papering the glass next time I'm on the boat. Score another reason for being on here. Thanks again.
  2. Does anyone think that Whilton really believe that buying a boat (a depreciating asset) puts someone on the "Property Ladder" ?
  3. I have OSMAnd on my Android tablet (Nexus) and phone. It uses Open Street Map maps, which show canals, footpaths, buildings, pubs, shops, street names, etc. The app lets you download maps for the whole counttry, rather than relying on online use, like Google Maps. So once it's downloaded, you can use it anywhere, even if you have no data connection. In the open countryside, the GPS on my devices is accurate to about 5m.
  4. Interesting to look at the power dissipated in the wiring.. For 480 watts of 12v panels wired in parallel wth 10m of twin 6sqmm cable. Resistance of 6mm single wire = .003 ohm per metre Resistance of twin wire = .006 ohm per metre Resistance of 10m of twin wire = .06 ohm Current in wire to controller = power / voltage = 480/12 = 40 amps. Volt drop along wire (both ways) = current * resistance = 40*.06 = 2.4v Power wasted in heating wires = voltage drop * current = 2.4*40 = 96W So in the worst case you would lose about 20% of the power you are collecting, by heating up your wiring. Putting panels in series would reduce this. EG 4*120w in series would raise the voltage at the controller to to 48v, but cut the current to 10 amps. The volt drop in the wires is reduced (in proportion to the current) to a quarter (0.6v). But the power dissipated is reduced BOTH by the reduced current AND the reduced volt drop, so it is reduced by a SQUARED factor (1/4 * 1/4 = 1/16), so power wasted = 96/16 = 6W. (ie Power wasted = 0.6 volts * 10 amps = 6W) So by going to series wiring, you've gone from wasting 96 w to wasting 6W. In reality, you'd have to look at the real lengths of cable involved, but if the furthest panel was 10m away from the controller, the above is about right. Series probably reduces it a bit. 10sqmm cable would reduce the above losses to 6/10. saving about 40W for parallel (about 2.5W for series). That is, gaining you an extra 3.5A (.2A in series). So possibly worth it for parallel, probably not for series.
  5. If you are permanently on shore power, I can't see why you need more than one battery (for both domestic and starter). It would never discharge? Happy for permanently-wired liveaboards to tell me I am talking bollards.
  6. "Trad stern gives more internal space" yawn. Not USEFUL internal space. It's filled with a boxed-in engine that makes it difficult to get to the back deck. Now a proper engine room, that's different...
  7. Yes, £400 or so per share per year is a lot (just for circulating the booking chart and arranging for someone to do repairs). Remember that the £4000 per boat per year doesn't include any actual repair costs.
  8. The Woolly Sheep pub is a Skipton landmark. Close to the canal (but so is everything that is actually in town). Used to be on Laterooms all the time.
  9. Private is much cheaper. Our shareboat was managed. After a while, it began to feel a bit like the management company taking over, and thought of itself as a hire firm with all its capital costs paid by the 'hirers' (owners). They even chair the owners' meeting, which is crackers! And they have absolutely no incentive to get repairs done cheaply. As you can tell, I was a bit disgruntled by the majority decision to go with this company!
  10. Keep reading up about boats, and go and look at some even before you are ready to buy. You'll soon build up a picture of what's possible and what's important to you. When you eventually get a boat, you'll choose with your heart. We nearly all did, if we're honest. But you'll be choosing BETWEEN boats that are all suitable for you, because after a bit of learning and looking around, your head will reject most of the "bad but cute" ones straight away. Don't ignore the techy stuff. On the land, you can dismiss techy stuff as 'just for nerds' but on a boat, techy stuff is 'just for anyone who wants to keep the lights and telly on and stay warm (and even dry)'. Unless you have enough money to pay professionals to look after you. Enjoy the research, think of it as daydreaming, not a chore.
  11. People are much the same everywhere, individual Wigan kids are no more evil than kids anywhere. Apart from a few psychopaths, kids don't wake up in the morning thinking "I'm going to make someone's life a misery today", they just want to hang around with their mates and do what their mates do. To them, they are acting normally. The problem is that in some areas it has become 'normal' to mess about with lock gear and to see narrowboaters as outsiders. In other areas, boats are seen all the time, and are just part of the neighbourhood. Changing a culture is not easy, but we should all try. Leicester has a bad rep. Going through a lock we felt a bit worried by three 'dodgy' looky older teenagers hanging around. At first we were studiously ignoring them, and they us. But I took an opportunity to nod and say "howdo". Straight away they were asking all sorts of questions and seemed genuinely interested. No doubt up to that point they'd been as suspicious of us ('them snobby gets on boats', probably) as we'd been of them. I think there's just a chance that if those lads were with other mates who were talking about 'snobby boaters', they might just stick up for us in a small way ('they're not all bad') and just make it a bit less likely that the gang would decide to spend the day chucking stones at boats, or whatever.
  12. At the Armouries, I can recommend the outside bit, free to enter, where they keep the horses and the birds of prey. You can also see into the workshops where they repair (and make) weapons and armour. The nearest pub to Clarence Dock (other side of thge main road) is the Palace. Real ale galore, but not just for old gits like me, it's very popular. From the Palace it's a nice short stroll through the old lanes to the city centre. Past the Armouries, it's a nice short cruise under the city bridges to the lock up onto the Leeds/Liv canal. You can moor above the lock for another brilliant pub. http://www.thegroveinn.com In the city centre, you probably know Whitelocks if you are from within twenty miles of Leeds. But since others might read this for tips about Leeds I can't help mentioning it. Beautiful Victorian brass and mahogany pub hidden in a city centre alley. Don't go at any time you might expect a pub to be busy!
  13. Had a waklk round the central Brum moorings a few weeks ago, scouting for a future trip. Looks fun, can't wait. Just one heads up. The mooring by the NIA is often recommended as a slightly quieter spot for central Brum mooring, but there's a bit of building work going on there at the moment, with scaffolding right on the towpath. Might not be the best spot if you are planning on a lie in.
  14. Having read another thread, I'm thinking my rudder has a bit too much 'balance' in front of the pivot. Hence the rather weak centering feedback and a pronounced tendency for the boat to wander off line. On clear stretches (especially like Martin's photo!) it would be nice to be able to get a few seconds down below when I realise I've not got the tiller pin in, or something. But I still say you should never SEE anyone doing this. If you are there, then the stretch is NOT clear, and they have no right to leave the deck and put your boat at risk, however experienced they think they are.
  15. In trying to be economical with leccy/gas, I sometimes go too far and UNDERfill the kettle. By the time I realise, the kettle is very hot or boiling. No problem, as both my kettles (home and boat) can be topped-up via the spout. Taking the lid of a boiling kettle would not be qadvisable, I'd guess. But if a bit of extra water can at least be trickled in via the Le Creuset spout, that would be Ok for me. It's certainly a nice looking bit of kit.
  16. 150w is over 12 amps at 12v. Are narrowboat 12v circuits always capable of carrying that current? Or would you need to check first? (Not a theoretical question, I'm thinking of getting a Maplin doobry, too.)
  17. Some (many) marine chargers (my old Sterling 1230 for one) say they don't need a battery conected at all. In "powerpack mode" they just work as a 230v to 12v power supply.
  18. Yes, bridge hole for me when 'popping downstairs' for a coat or whatever. Even on a straight boat-free stretch, the boat would be in the bank if I left the deck while the boat was moving. For the sake of any potential new boaters reading this, let's be clear ..... only a smug, arrogant git who cares nothing for others would leave their boat steering itself for any time at all along a stretch of canal with moored boats about.
  19. J. For photography? Planning on which day the sunrise sun (or shadows) will be in the direction you want? Kind of a reverse calculation to the one I thought of. And more useful!
  20. Loved it. Concept of "tide" a bit lacking in some Yotties brains ? Yorkshire Post referring to "River" Humber (picture caption)!! Whatever next? Referring to Saddleworth as being in Lancashire?
  21. Basically, anyone with a shoreline or generator will have the setup you describe, but most will have it wired in properly. If you only feed the charger from the shoreline, then it can be smaller (30A for a 300 Ah battery bank) than if you have a generator. This is because you always have all night to charge the batteries from the shoreline, rather than having to turn the genny off at 8pm. Some reasons a *cheap* car charger may not a good idea is because it either won't be able to supply enough amps, or because it charges at a fixed voltage (which will be too high to leave on all the time you are not on the boat). Or because it will turn itself off after a fixed time. Also, it will only charge one battery bank (not a problem for people who charge the starter battery just from the alternator.)
  22. I went to our local le Creuset shop today, to feel the weight and balance of the conical kettle. Felt as nice as you would expect. Obviously very stable. Not sure what lawe of physics makes the domed top particularly efficient? The nice man did tell me how much it cost, but it blew my 'silly price' circuit breaker, so I don't remember what he said. I'll keep an eye on TK Maxx. Question for users? Can you fill it through that little spout? (Yes, with the whistle flipped up!). Or do you not find it inconvenient (and sometimes painful) to remove the lid each time.
  23. Clifford

    Keys

    Exciting indeed! Enjoy, and try to keep at least 10% of your brainpower for thinking rationally, rather than the other 90% which will be going "ImssoexcitedImsoexcitedImonaboatImonaboat... Ooh! Shiny!". Or perhaps that was just us, six months ago.
  24. The basics you need to get right (by calculating your planned energy usage): - how many batteries you need : too few and your lights and telly will go off at 9pm and you will flatten your batteries and knacker them : too many and they will not get charged properly and you will knacker them. - the size of your alternator(s), 230v battery charger, solar panels, and (possibly) generator : too small and you will again flatten your batteries every night and knacker them. - the size of your inverter : too small and you won't have enough AC to run your mains-powered stuff. - the thickness of the cables connecting your batteries to each other anbd everything else : too thin and you will lose voltage and power heating your cables up (and possibly melting them). None of this need be too daunting with help from this forum. But you will first need to read up on Volts, Ohms, Amps, and Watts - and Ohm's law. Otherwise you won't really understand what anyone is saying. When you understand clearly the very different consequences of connecting stuff in series as opposed to parallel, and the fundamental difference between Amps and AmpHours (and why you should ignore the advice of anyone who mentions amps/hr - joking, folks), it will all start to make sense quite quickly.
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