PeterF

On the CombiMaster product web page under specifications it states it has a ground relay. It also mentions this in the brochure.

I ask this out of some naivety, I think it may be a useful test but not 100% sure, someone else like @nicknorman may be able to confirm. Would measuring the resistance between a bare piece of hull and one of the earth cable terminals that you can access show if the earth cable is bonded or not, ideally measured when disconnected from shore power. If the resistance in close to zero then you only need find where it is bonded.

The WS500 connects to the Cerbo via VE Can, the Zeus alternator regulator does the same and communicates both ways via a subset of NMEA2000. The Cerbo sends the battery current and battery temperature to the WS500 from the Victron system shunts so it can use this information. The WS500 measures the battery voltage itself, this needs to be rapidly sampled and is mission critical so it is not a good idea to work this through VE Can. The new version of the GUI currently in Beta testing (which my screenshots are from) has an alternator as an automatically defined device so it pops up on the overview screen and as a configured Device as I have shown in the OP. Other than making sure the VE Can settings were correct I did nothing to configure the alternator on the Cerbo, once it recognises a defined alternator regulator it receives the required data and populates the information. I believe that if you have a SmartShunt set up as a DC Energy Meter (rather than as a battery monitor) and set it as the type "Alternator" then the alternator box on the Overview screen turns up and of course you will also have the SmartShunt on the Devices list. Finally, something similar happens if you have one of the new Orion XS DC to DC chargers but I do not know exactly what.

Fitting the dumb brush holder was the most worrying bit, but it was simplicity itself, it just plugs in and out. Had some alternators where changing brushes was a nightmare. Yes, when bringing down rpm the response is very quick on the WS500 as is the case if a large load stops to avoid voltage spikes.

I have had the Wakespeed WS500 module for some time but have not got around to fitting it for a couple of reasons. The first is that last year there were reports of hunting / cycling as Wakespeed had adjusted the PID parameters in the control which I know led Ed Shiers of 4 counties Marine to lean more towards the MasterVolt Alpha Pro. I was not going to go Alpha Pro as the boat is all Victron including the Cerbo GX monitoring system. Secondly, the boat was launched mid 2021 so I was waiting for a few years to pass just in case something went wrong with the boat before I started tinkering and giving an excuse for not honouring warranty. I may have considered a Zeus now or the WS500 Pro with Bluetooth, but I had the older Wakespeed kit so I have stayed with it. I have a standard Beta 43 with the Iskra 175A alternator driven by a 3:1 belt which means at tickover the alternator can deliver more than 150A cold. My battery bank is a set of 6 x 115Ah AGM batteries giving 690Ah and these can take in a lot of charge. This meant that first thing in the morning the engine would struggle on tickover when put into gear. Even later in the day if a high power ac device was started whilst at low revs the engine rpm would get bogged down. The thing that has pushed me to get around to doing it is a few instances where the AGMs had started to get overcharged this year as the alternator has no float. One issue with AGMs is if they get full then they start to warm up, which reduces the resistance, which increases the tail current, which increases the rate of heating and thermal runaway can occur. This has typically occurred where we have done long days in the summer. I bought a basic Mahle regulator/ brush holder from ebay, cut off the regulator and soldered wires onto the brush contacts using high temperature cable with added protection of fibreglass sleeving. Changing the existing regulator for the hacked dumb brush holder was straightforward. I added an alternator current shunt (a basic Victron 500A/50mV bare shunt). Due to the way the boat is wired I could fit this into the negative circuit avoiding the need for fused sense wires. The install was straightforward apart from the CAN cable from the WS500 to the Cerbo GX. The devices use different pin layouts and a few years ago the UK importer did not stock a premade cross over cable. My own cable needing remaking during the install. The supplier now sells properly made cables. On the back of the engine panel, I disconnected the wire from D+ and replaced with the lamp wire from the WS500. I also cut into the domestic alternator +12V supply that is live when ignition is on (purple cable on mine). I have the controller set up and tested to give 40% field current at tickover which gives 50A charge current, rising to 100% field at 1200rpm. I may be able to have it ramp up faster but will see during use. I have the feature in wire connected to a relay on the Cerbo GX (could have been a switch I suppose) to force the alternator to float. In the summer on days with lots of sunshine, I can leave the alternator on float when travelling and let the solar charge the batteries. I have also got the WS500 set to slower response based on comments about previous problems. The only downside to this is if the rpm is increased to 1200rpm, then the WS500 slowly increases the field to the new value so the alternator loads lags behind the rpm due to the pull back function. After a few seconds the rpm starts to sag as the alternator comes up to full load, but once there it does not hunt. As more experience is gained then I will try the faster ramp. I have not yet had it on charge for long enough to see how the temperature regulation kicks in. The info sent to the Cerbo GX means that I get everything needed so not having the BlueTooth functionality is not an issue for monitoring as I can see everything on there. I still need to take the lid off to do programming to connect the USB lead but once set up that is not a major issue. The plan is to make sure it all works and see how the AGMs are working next year, they are showing some signs of ageing but still working well. Then next year see about a lithium install.

MRBF fuses are enclosed fuses and ignition protected and acceptable for use in engine bays on boats with inboard petrol engines. Therefore they are OK for use on battery terminals.

I am.just wondering why you would want to release a CO2 extinguisher in a confined space where the atmosphere is already becoming unbreathable because of the fire. On a narrowboat the extinguisher is to beat a path to the outdoors if the fire is between you and the only escape route. Swap the fire for a non breathable atmosphere in your escape route. The recommendation is not to use in small rooms. https://www.safelincs.co.uk/how-to-use-co2-fire-extinguishers-section/

That because for 250 and 500 hours it says do what is listed for 50 hours plus some extras so it gets the oil change by incorporation of the 50 hours.

I expect most of the visitor moorings on the Severn or in the basins just off the Severn are only 2 days at most so that means regular cruising required.

The volunteer diary for Johnson's Hillock to Greenberfield locks states that putting your plans on does not mean that there will be volunteers, but if volunteers are present for part of the day they can synchronise their time to coincide with boat movements. Therefore there is value in the system.

This sounds like it could be some grit/scale in the valve holding it open or the seal in the valve leaking or the spring in the valve sticking as well as possibly the solenoid sticking open.

How about this diagram from the Victron community to exemplify the wiring, but Nick has already answered.

Went to Whightwick Manor (S&W just south of Wolverhampton) a few days ago as we were passing. NT property, we are not members, £15 each for an afternoon, it was raining so we did not go round the gardens. In reality it was £30 for the wife and I got in free and stood around like an ornament as she talked fabrics, designs and paintings with the curators for hours. Bloody good value in marital karma points.

If the inverter has its own isolator you can work on the inverter or 230V ac without shutting down the whole DC system. My boat has sepeirate offtake direct from batteries via isolator for the inverter and another for the rest of the electrics. Also puts less load on the master isolators once you are up to 3kW inverters.

Pretty much seems OK to me. Changes I would make is add an isolator for the inverter, and you need a connection from -ve bus bar to hull ground point. You show a negative from the alternator, that is unusual, they normally have bodies connected to negative so you still need a connection from engine block to ground or -ve bus bar.

Had the Webasto running the last few evenings heading south on S&W, not cold enough to bother lighting the Refleks. Vollie at Bratch said he had got up to some frost.

Although the Wigan Flight Crew page is independent of CRT, many of the crew are (were) proper CRT vollies. Apparently earlier in the year some of the Wigan flight crew were helping a boater and something went wrong and the boater was injured. Apparently, whilst the people helping were CRT volunteers they were helping outside of their operating hours so not acting as CRT vollies. Subsequently CRT said their services were no longer required and started recruiting new vollies. I guess this letter means that they continued to help and CRT are re-iterating they are not to.

The state pension is a state benefit. Government response to a petition The State Pension is described in legislation as a “benefit” in order to root it within the existing social security framework as a statutory scheme paid out of monies in the National Insurance Fund. See https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/121267

Acrow Props may well work, you can probably hire them easily enough. See link to see examples. https://www.scaffolding-direct.co.uk/acrow-props-prop-mates/

Just guessing here, someone has done 6ft 10in at 2.5cm per inch gives 2.05m so we will list 2.06m rather than using the correct 2.54cm/inch. It would be interesting to ask CRT about this.

Very squarish stern, very on trend for this type of builder and buyer but completely wrong if you are tight on length on the Calder & Hebble. Just can not tuck behind a gate for that extra squeeze.

Yes, the hardware will support bi-directional charging but the firmware does not as of the date of posting. Victron are being coy about if / when this will be implemented saying they have more important things to sort out first.

I use muc off dry lube on mine, seems to work and unlike grease does not trap dust. However, it does need reapplication from time to time. https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-maintenance/bike-lube/muc-off-dry-lube-bike-lubricant---120ml-955310.html

If you only go out for a few days at a time then cassette is probably best if you have a spare cassette you could do 4 days with 2 of you. A small pump out would need emptying after every trip out and if at some point you go for longer trips, 100 litres would hold less than 1 week giving you very frequent pump outs.

We were on there June / July and it was the same, straight through Grindley Brook in both directions.