Tony Brooks

I am not sure that is correct. The ILLUSTRATED one uses screws to clamp the cable into the fitting. The better type that definitely are compliant are those with a stud where the two screws are.

That is not what he was describing. The "blade" was/is spring-loaded and set at the angle of the post face. The toll was placed over the post and twisted so the blade SCRAPED the corrosion off. there was no cutting of the post. Oh, and by the way it is perfectly possible to burn a new post onto the old post base if the post has burned away, but you do need to know what you are doing and have the posts moulds and lead available. It takes less than five minutes, but I suppose at today's labour rates a new battery may be more economic.

So you can get your finger under the clamps to ensure the dressing is fully sealing any gap between the post and terminal, can you. if you can, the clamp has been fitted too high on the post or it is the wrong clamp. 1. Two people (me and Tracy) have told you are incorrect, and both of us have had over 60 years in the motor and marine trade (probably in the case of Tracy). You readily discount ll the training and experience on the basis of "I have not had a problem". That is not a valid argument against all the lead acids battery installations., it is a sample size of one against probably millions. That last time this came up, you were debunked by others with experience in other industries. You will note that I have talked bout terminal dressing, with Vaseline being just one that is most likely to be available on a boat. I have also said the OP can dress or not dress, but if she does not, then the service life of the connection may well be shorter before more attention is required.

Once again, this misinformation rears its head. This was discussed at length not long ago when more than one professional explained how it was used when assembling joints on high current busbars and other applications. Yes Vaseline is an insulator so if the OP and you wish to substitute terminal dressing that looks exactly like red Vaseline or terminal grease (as issued to the UK armed forces) then fine, but they are all insulators in their own right, but that is not their purpose. If no terminal dressing is used then and very slight leak of acid or acid fumes through the post to cell lid seal will penetrate the small gaps between the post and clamp/terminal and create a very hard, black oxide type coating that really is insulating. This works its way across the whole surface and the engine will fail to start, giving machine-gunning and/or other "flat battery" symptoms. Negative terminals are particularly affected by this. If the dressing is cleaned off, all will appear well for a time, but the time period before a problem occurs is likely to be much reduced. Even now with much better post to cell lid sealing one still sees the area around the post, terminal and lead badly corroded with typically white, yellow, or bluish growths. This is normally the result of acid/acid fume leaks, so it can still be a problem. Just because you or I have an idea fixed in our minds does not make it correct, especially when it is contradicted by others with similar training and experience. The OP can take whatever advice she chooses, but dressing the terminals or not will make no difference to solving the problem, it may make the time before the next problem shorter

FWIW I understand that you can use the load output on many solar controllers to charge the start battery. perhaps someone who has done this can confirm, deny or elucidate. That gives you more solar output to charge the domestic bank during the winter, because the start battery is only discharged by a very few Ah on each start's so is nearly always very well charged (providing the engine and battery are in good order). Otherwise, I think for a lot of the time you will be wasting potential solar output. The exceptionally easy life starter batteries have is why that cheapo battery lasted 8 years.

The point that I think you may be missing is that unless you understand and monitor the battery charging you will destroy and expensive battery all but as fast as a cheap one. Unfortunately, we/I don't know if you do understand and monitor your battery charging so the only option is to advise you to buy an open, lead acid battery of the same size and terminal position as the ones you have now. This is so it fits into your existing battery cradle. If you buy a lead-carbon or AGM battery, it will cost more and may not last any longer. As far as lead acid batteries are concerned, it is far easier for an ordinary boater to test open cell batteries for faults than any sealed battery, although sealed ones seem to be favoured by many boaters who have difficulty accessing their batteries, yours look easy to access. I would not buy via either major online buying sites because you don't know who is doing the selling or if such technical data they supply is true. I used a specialist battery supplier with their own website. I think it was Advanced Battery Supplies, but there are others.

I think he is referring to the BMEA requirements and probably the ISOs. I think the BSS says something about that as well. So probably not a strict legal requirement, but something that should be adhered to. If the boat is within scope of the RCD/RCR then if it was questioned I think it would be difficult to justify it as being compliant.

Having another look, I think you are probably correct. It looks a mess. Further looking shows the batteries are rated at 60ah and 540 A EN, so I suppose that is 540A CCA. To try to answer the original question, just one of those should start the OPs engine as long as it is kept adequately charged. Further to Blackrose's post. I can see what looks like a substantial heat sink below the blue casing, so if it is a slit charge diode it is likely to be a passive one. That in turn means there is a very good chance that it is restricting the charging to all the batteries, however, this depends upon the type of alternator and how it and other charging components are wired.

Look for upward or downward bows in the pipes that might allow them to trap air. If a pipe slopes upwards or has a vertical leg where it connects to the calorifier I would not be surprised if air was trapped there. Manipulate any bows to allow air to move to the highest point it and then loosen a connection to see if air comes out.

I think that we need a lot more information. Steel cruiser, steel narrowboat, GRP or wood. Does the rudder stock run in the tube or between a top bearing and pintle on a skeg?

Have you followed the pipes to the calorifier in case there is a valve? If not, I would suspect an airlock in the calorifier Webasto coil or its pipe work.

I am not convinced they are all in parallel. I THINK the right-hand pair are, but looking at the left-hand battery positive, the lead with the yellow label does not seem to connect to the other batteries, so this one might have originally been an engine start battery. If it is or was one start battery and two domestic batteries in parallel then the start battery negative is typically connected to the domestic bank negatives, but unless the positive is connected in the same way they are all not in parallel. If this boat is subject to the Boat Safety Scheme inspections, then how many battery master/isolating switches do you have? I fear that you really need to follow the cables and draw a diagram showing what they connect to, then you stand a chance of understanding the system. As long as you have adequate charging and charging regime, there is no reason not to replace the batteries with similar for those that are only used for starting. If they are used for powering the domestic systems, then you really need to do a power/energy audit and charging calculations to ensure you have enough batery capacity. I am not sure that you don't have a charging problem, that might be simply not enough, so the batteries are ruined.

A run-of-the-mill wet 100Ah battery will have a Cold Cranking Amperage of around 700A or a marine cranking Amperage of around 800 amps. You must check that the case size fits your boat and that the terminals are in the same position as your existing setup. A starting battery has a very easy life, so you don't really need anything fancy and expect 8 to 10 years out f a basic starting battery - unless you have poor charging. So do I, which is why I think we need it clarified. If it is, so I suspect the lack of proper charging was the base cause.

Assuming it is not a sliding window. If the OP can get a length of suitable rubber glazing section, do you think he could cut slots in the inner face to provide drainage. I so do you think that he could use the waste in the bottom of the channel to hold the glass up a little and provide drainage to that slot.

Three in parallel sounds much more like domestic/service batteries rather than starting batteries, unless you use the same batteries for both. I think we need you to confirm they are three stat batteries, there are other domestic batteries, and, ideally, a photo. A single start battery of around 90 to 100 Ah should be more than enough to start that engine. (Note: Ah is not how start batteries are now designated).

Thanks, that is exactly the info the OP needs to understand his window construction. This is more or less as I suspected would be the case. I would also not be surprised if the glass has not dropped to the bottom of the frame rather than sit in the rubber section.

Or a few hundred for a modern single glazed window that has a drain. Or fit secondary double glazing, as described many times on here. Interesting that you have swerved the OP's original question and told him much the same as I have, there was no drain channel on that window, and it is not practical for to DIY fit one. The difference is that I have tried to explain why, that you seem to have singularly failed to do I have tried to explain this to the OP and answer his question. You dismiss my efforts of explanation as what-iffery, yet fail to give any explanation as to why the OP's supposition was incorrect and why his solution is not really practical. You just make a blank statement like "it is a simple drain" and walk away. That is not helpful to OPs who want to learn.

I have never said it was not a drain, but I read what the OP says and claims. As you seem so sure that I have overcomplicated the OP's wish to fit another drain channel to replace the one he thinks was glued onto the frame, perhaps you would be good enough to explain to him how he can do this and how it will work to drain condensation through the existing drain. Of, and answer his original question and tell him what it is called and where to source it. As you seem so sure about how this window works, perhaps you can explain how the glass was fitted and secured into such a wide frame channel, so the OP can have a go at recreating it if they want to. In my view the OP is trying to modify hos frame to do something it was never designed to do.

Hose TAIL, or hose barb

The vent looks to me as if it is on the base of the glazing channel, if this were not so you should be able to see the cabin side through it. That suggest it is a drain for the glazing channel, but how it worked is beyond me. Maybe there was once a large rubber glazing seal instead of mastic, but how that worked with the vent I have no idea. If there was a drip channel as you keep on about, then there would have t be holes in the existing frame vertical, so water could escape from the channel into the glazing channel, under the glass, and out of the vent. There are no such holes, so a drip channel would just fill up and overflow - as the drip channel on other windows do when the glass drops or moss/dirt blocks the holes. I think that the blue glue once secured a wooden trim piece and has nothing to do with a drip channel. It runs up the vertical side of the frame, where there is no need for a drip channel.