PeterF

If you stop charging as soon as you reach 14.7 Volts then the batteries will only be approx 85% full. If you have 3 x 100Ah batteries, then you need 1 hour to recharge you have used approx 40Ah or 13%. Therefore you are cycling your batteries between say 70% full to 83% full. This is called partial state of charge (PSOC) use and is very damaging to lead acid batteries and results in the capacity dropping so your 300Ah batteries may now only be equal to 100Ah or less. It takes a lot of time to fully charge a battery. Once you first reach 14.7V that is called bulk charge and can be quick, but to get the charge completed you need to hold the 14.7V for 3, 4 or perhaps more hours, this is the absorption stage and the charge current falls from the 40Amp down to 3Amp, the charger throttling back. It takes so long because it follows a law of diminishing returns. On my boat I am typically using only 10 to 15% of the battery capacity per day so similar to yourself, but it takes me 3 to 4 hours charging every day to get back to 100% charged and keep the batteries in good condition. have a look at this thread Battery charging primer

Yes, one went over when we were going to Stourport, a double header (2 engines for the non cognescenti) which was unusual. On the way back there were a dozen train spotters on the towpath with cameras waiting for a special engine, they said it was a gala weekend.

There was a group of 3 or 4 boats moored just south of Falling Sands viaduct when we passed going to and returning from Stourport on Friday and Saturday.

Have you had battery acid or something similarly corrosive dripping on this specific location, a small drip would eat a small area and end up being neutralized before it spread.

Especially if something like the 230V wiring has been done with single core domestic house cable not multistrand flexible cable per the RCD specification.

If they are the normal then a clothes peg

In early 2019 we booked a slot for a new build with steel work commencing at the start of April 2020 with expected completion in October 2020. We signed the contract for the build at the start of 2020 as we then had the boat specification and plans sorted. The steel work did not start till June 2020 and the boat was finally on the water April 2021. The builder said that they would not cut corners to meet a delivery time and in a way I am glad because with multiple lock downs from Nov 2020 to March 2021 we would not have been able to use it anyway. 5 months on very few snagging issues and none of any real consequence, so again I am glad it was not rushed.

Google search Victron inverter efficiency and the first Victron hit is https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Output-rating-operating-temperature-and-efficiency.pdf If you download the doc it explains inverter efficiency in detail and answers your questions making the point that was made earlier that a 20W load will be 50% effecient because the inverter will be drawing 40W total. when i did my power audit with a 3000VA victron inverter I counted the continuous 20W and took light loads as 95% efficient and heavy loads as 90%.

Not sure if it has been mentioned above. The August edition of Waterways World had an article where a narrowboat had the Isuzu 42 removed to be replaced by a series hybrid. The skin tank was reused for a Fischer Panda 8kVA genset which used a new inverter/charger to charge a 48V 630Ah lead carbon battery bank which powered a BellMarine 15kW motor which needed a new skin tank. The cost of the retrofit was listed as £50,000. The article quoted a 60% reduction in diesel consumption. The work was done professionally so that is why it is much higher than the figures given earlier.

When connecting dissimilar panels in series you have to make sure that that they have similar maximum power currents because if one panel has a lower maximum power current it can throttle the other panels. If the different panels have their maximum power points at different currents, the MPPT controller can not get all the panels working simultaneously at the individual maximum powers, it has to run at a single current and at least one panel will be away from its maximum power. The same applies for dissimilar panels connected in parallel, but in this case it is the maximum power voltages that should match closely.

From memory, the second long length gates at Thornes are rather decrepit and not servicable.

As did mine https://www.midlandchandlers.co.uk/products/header-tank-std-mc-tt-006

I used to work for Johnson Matthey, one of their businesses was refining precious metals, gold bullion bars are much heavier than you expect with a density 2.5 times steel, the same as uranium or tungsten. The joke ueed to be to ask a new start to pick up one of the larger bars, you look at it and think 5kg, try to pick it up and find it is 12.5kg.I Not suggesting it is a viable ballast.

Steel ballast rather than brick or concrete, it is about 3 to 4 times as dense. That should allow a 6" deeper hull to sit down in the water without increased ballast space. Tony did mention high density ballast above, depleted uranium came to mind when I saw that.

This reply is not aimed at the Leesan product specifically but is more generic. Activated carbon filters adsorb the smell chemicals with a weak chemical bond and this bond will not break just by leaving the filter in clean air, it needs to be broken either by heating the filter to drive off or break the chemicals down or by washing the filter. For this service, soaking them in detergent for 20-30 mins may be enough to remove the adsorbed smells or heating up to 150°C. However, if the carbon is impregnated onto a foam carrier that limits how much you could heat it up.

2 panels of 300W each if charging 12V batteries will deliver at peak about 42Amp at mid day on a sunny day, but on average less than this. Most controllers will limit the current to their rated current, 30Amp in your case so you should be OK. Check the manual or see if you can find it on line as some controllers specify the maximum over capacity.

Had a solid fuel stove of some description complete with large insulated flue, showed it early in the programme.

Aqueduct marina gave another warning a couple of weeks ago repeating the no new bottles and short supplies mantra and saying do not leave it until you have both bottles empty.

Aqua Narrowboats from Barton Turns Marina, top quality narrowboats, but attract a premium price for the higher quality. Along the Trent and Mersey to Fradley, then the Coventry and Ashby or go a bit further south until you need to run around. I think a couple of others on the forum have hired from them before. I am not sure what 2020 will be like, but a lot of fleets have had very high occupancy this year.

From the latest CRT boaters update. A start-up business providing a ‘doorstep’ collection service for boaters of composting toilet waste has started on the East London canal network. The Trust is providing funding to Circular Revolution to operate the service for a year-long pilot, to help boaters observe forthcoming restrictions Circular Revolution now provides regular scheduled collections, picking up bagged organic waste from collection caddies, every two weeks. The service also provides a 17 litre collection caddy, and compostable bags to use in the caddies.There is also an ad-hoc ‘pay as you poo’ service which can be ordered for larger volumes (up to 25 litres). The waste is safely transformed into soil conditioner for improving soil health, by an ISO registered facility. The regular fortnightly collections are ordered as a block of three months, equalling six collections, and costs £50. The ad hoc one-off collection is £25. The full article can be found at What to do with your number two (if you’re in London)

It will be because of COVID to maintain social distancing between the chaperone on the boater, we went through in 2019 and steered ourselves with the chaperone on the stern with us.

Yes, the only place I have found them at CRT facilities is in elsan disposal flushing points.

Have a look at the second picture, mine is the same as this apart from the flat top of the handrail continues over the gap, so mine is more of a hole rather than a gap. This means that there is less risk of losing finger grip if not paying attention.

And ours

Yes it is an enjoyable experience, we have been through 3 times, the first time was in the summer when you were allowed to drive your own boat for the first time after the electric tugs were withdrawn, I was really glad that I drove and was not towed through. The boat had just been repainted 5 months earlier and never touched anything. To answer the OP's question, Last time we went from Huddersfield we took 5 days to slowly ascend to Marsden because we made better progress to Huddersfield than expected stopping at Above lock 8E but closer to lock 9E as the sides are shallower near the lock 8E end of this pound Above lock 17E just above titanic mills, there may be some rings here Above lock 24E, the guillotine lock in Slaithewaite, there are rings there from memory and quiet. Above lock 31E, there is a wider winding hole section here so levels do not fluctuate much At Marsden, tunnel mouth. On the way down Below lock 24W, Dobcross, opposite the warehouse Below lock 17W, Roaches, mooring rings here from memory Stalybridge but can not remember where we moored, probably by Tesco. Peak Forest near Portland basin.