MarkHez

Can I ask, what are you going to be running that requires 7kw of power, or even 4kw for that matter?

To elaborate on mikes answer, if you use the search "Site:canalworld.net oil" it would only show results from canalworld https://www.google.co.uk/search?btnG=1&pws=0&q=canal+world.net+oil&surl=1&safe=active&gws_rd=cr,ssl&ei=qOn1VMKsKsm2abjgguAC#safe=strict&pws=0&q=site:canalworld.net+oil

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/11828751.Mystery_as_14_foot_python_found_dead_by_Leeds_and_Liverpool_canal/?ref=trn "Mystery as 16-foot python found dead by Leeds and Liverpool canal"

Hi Neil, Really haven't measured, thinking about it properly its probably 3" on engine 2" on alternator, so 1.5:1 ratio. I have to run quite a high tension on the belt to stop it slipping under high load, bigger pulleys would slip less. Mark

My 5.5hp Honda engine is mated to a 75 amp alternator, pulley ratio is only about 1.8:1 (not actually measured them, just used what I had), it generates 30amps at idle, stalls out with a 50amp load at revs less than 1200 or so, and outputs 75amp at 2k revs and above. - my limiting factor seems to be engine power at low revs, now that the alternator can't output higher amperages at the RPMS it spins at.

Do 'em on the stove top! ( I have since finished making the fireplace!)

I made my generator from an old honda G40 I picked up off a farmer, and an alternator that I got for a £10 from a local car breaker. Using jump leads at the moment till I knock some cables with anderson plugs up, but its a damn sight better than a battery charger in my eyes!

Harvest is moored up near my "local" at the moment, it is a wonderful if a bit strange looking boat, took my a while to work out which end was the front and which end the back to start with! He was moored up about 50 yds down from me a few weeks ago, unfortunately I never saw the owner to talk to him about it, even though I had to walk past his boat 4 times a day!

A laptop takes a hell of a lot more power to charge than can (realistically) be achieved by using peltier elements.

I really don't understand all the hate towards people who carry on cruising when it's frozen over, just cause you don't want to move doesn't mean everyone else should stop!!

Just a bit confusing when you said " apps are fewer than for an ipad" it comes across a bit confusing. I always use the surface pro 3, handy that it runs on 12v so you can just modifiy a standard charger cable to work from a 12v socket.

Surely generic windows applications are far more available than mobile apple apps??

Could do, but I think the chances are rare, Ice boards almost remove the risk entirely. I went out before christmas Ice breaking to get to the water point and empty my elsan, ice was only half an inch thick at the worst places and yet a narrowboater lept onto his deck and starting shouting how much damage I was doing to his boat..... I'm in a 1960s fibreglass cruiser, and there was hardly a scratch on it after doing 2 miles!

Some of us don't have much choice - no coal boats on the Lancaster canal!

The Biolite camp stove generates electricity to charge usb devices https://www.nightgear.co.uk/en-UK/Biolite-Camp-Stove-Cooking-System/5242695ng.htm?colour=Silver&size=One+Size&utm_campaign=googlebase&ref=googleshopping&gclid=CL_CuM7qqcMCFQEFwwoddREAhg

What, like people?

Having had an engine failure, pulling a fibreglass boat isn't a problem.... until you come up to another boat moored on the towpath and you cant get past it. Outboard or Z-drive = no rudder.

I lived on a 23ft Shetland black prince, and now life on a 27ft Creighton mid cockpit. It isn't all as bad as it seems, I knocked up a genset with a honda 4.5hp stationary engine linked to a 75A alternator, this charges the batteries as quick as an inboard would for a fraction of the fuel usage. Heating is the main problem for me at the moment, gas blown worked well until it packed up (old 80's unit) so woodburner going in now. The amount of people who have told me "you can't possibly live on a cruiser" is ridiculous. Go for it and good luck!

Get a solid state flasher relay, a bimetallic strip one goes off load instead of flashes per minute. [edit] Just found you can't change the volkswagen indicator relay without replacing a larger unit, get some ballast resistors and fit them onto the rear light clusters. (a method that I really don't like, but it may be your only option)

A friend that I go shooting with hit a deer a couple of months back, it was near as dammit completely destroyed by the impact, and when he got out of the van to inspect damage (and to see if there was any meat worth taking home) he said the stench was unbearable straight away - possibly something ruptured inside.

Home sweet home

Good thinking, hadn't thought about that, wouldn't be too hard to mount the shaft in a bearing, but it has got me onto the idea of lister single diesels, they're simple enough for me to get my head round!