Johny London

At the risk of hijacking the thread - I have a similar set up (tracer controller and 600w solar now) and am finding that even with these sunny days I'm only getting to 96-97% capacity. I know my batteries are knackered and that's prolly the cause of it but I was wondering this: why is it ok for the engine alternator to continually pump out 14.5v for as long as I am cruising (It could be all day long) whereas any half decent charger - be it solar, mains or other - will give out more like 13.6v or so with the odd burst up to something over 14v. Would it not be acceptable to set the solar controller to permanent 14.5v to speed up charging, and just "pretend" it's the alternator running? Richard - how much current does your tracer controller say it is putting out when you reach 100%? (And what capacity battery bank).

Yes, most replies not sticking to your criteria - so here's my take on it. The other week I was auditioning several different sets of hi fi speakers - it's amazing how different they sounded to each other - initially at least. And then the brain kicks in and does it's thing and you forget all about that one prominent frequency, or a dip in the low mids. My point being - see if you can get used to what you have. I have a little (24"?) 240v Technika (tesco) tv - the sound is a bit rubbish really, but for normal viewing I'm quite used to it. I will run it through my stereo if watching a music concert, but otherwise perfectly happy. It's the physically limited size of the sets not having any room for decent speakers I'm afraid. One other thought - it should be possible to connect to the speaker wires inside the tv, and use that signal to power external ones (don't forget the internal amp is prolly only 3 watts per side!) - you'd have to get in there and fit some sockets or something but then you could try and find a half decent set of passive pc speakers or similar.

Not sure if you intend going on the Thames to Brentford or Limehouse? If the former, the bit through London gets quite grim in places, (between bulls bridge and Paddington, though there are decent bits ie Horsenden Hill). You should be able to stay in the Paddington Basin too. Sure the Regents is nice. Hertford Union and first bit of the Lea don't bother stopping. You won't get a look in at Victoria park anyway. The Lea really gets into its own once you reach Stanstead Abbots, and there is a big boat yard there. All the places are nice, Ware, Hertford etc, you really can't go wrong. When you get to Hertford - make sure to have the Brisket on a Sunday (if they still do it) - it's the waterside pub right at the end of the line, you can't miss it. The Stort is great - definitely stop at Sawbridgeworth - lovely spot. If heading north up the GU, it gets nice-ish from Yiewsley onward (though there's a bit of industry around) - don't forget a quick tootle up the Slough arm while you are there - just to tick it off your list like - don't stop there or anything! Uxbridge is a good town, (and has a tube) couple of boat yards etc, then you start to get away from it all a bit more. If you get as far as Berkhamstead, that's well worth a look and of course there are the Chilterns if you like walking. I think you'll be hard pushed to get the most out of that lot in just three months though! Enjoy

I did a very good manuever getting in there actually (if I do say so myself ho ho) - only had two feet left in front and nothing behind. Not sure how the hire boaters I met further along got on that were headed that way. TBH it irks me when people have to tie up right at the very first inch of bank after the landing stage, or even put a cheeky rope on the last bollard, some places mooring is very limited, but this was really unnecessary - there were lots of spaces a few yards down if the one immediately behind him wasn't to his liking.

Goes to this little plastic boat and its owner. (Not me, I'm the blue one just stopped to go close the lock gate!). Not content with being moored/camped on the landing stage, generator running - there was a perfectly sized space right behind him but obviously he either couldn't be bothered or hadn't got any mooring pins. I did question the chap as to whether he knew the rules about landing stages, but got some waffle about waiting for the lock keeper to bring him a key, or something, his paint roller in hand as he worked on the boat.

Another vote for the LP. I do see a few of those bulky cross shaped things and they are just too difficult to stow. I have a long extendable pole, and you can rotate it from the bottom so no roof climbing required. As for the aerial app - I do sometimes refer to it, but rather confusingly there are usually many transmitters within range, and the nearest may not be the best, depending on any local obstructions. Don't forget, sometimes a retune of equipment is required, so you may need to point the aerial correctly and retune before you pick anything up.

yes, inside!

The relative appearance of darkness of the tint will depend how much light you have coming in the boat - so on a very windowy area you might need to go fairly dark with the tint My favourite used to be "Dark Smoke" as a good compromise between privacy and being able to see (especially at night). PS: different brands will have different hues - some tend toward a redish/purple ness, others can be a little bluish, some are very neutral.

Don't forget this useful resource... https://www.abnb.co.uk/submenupages/length.html

I've tinted a few car windows in my time, and it sounds like the one you want is the mirrored. It'll look just a tad silvery/dark from inside looking out, depending on how the light is, but mostly pretty much unnoticeable. From outside it will mostly look like a mirror, depending on how the light is. I think Matchpoint is prolly right about the effect reversing when the light is the other way, but I'm not certain. What I do know is how to apply the stuff. It's actually a bit tricky the first time you do it, and pealing off the sticky backing can leave you with a large flappy sheet getting stuck to its self or at least picking up dust. Once it gets a crinkle in it, that's your finish gone. So, cut to size first - just a tad over for trimming after it's on. Use plenty of water from a spray bottle to keep a mist on the window and the film, and ideally one person is removing the backing as another sprays and coordinates (It all gets a bit staticky as you peel). You need to get the film on AS you peel, not after. If you get the film on, you can slide it around provided you have enough water under it (ideally add a tad of fairy to the water) but be careful not to crinkle it. When it is in place, start squeegeing out from the centre until all water is gone. Use a sharp knife to trim but be careful as if there is water still at the edges, again the film can ruck up/crinkle as you work. Dry it all off when done (cloth round the edges) . It's one of those things - you'll prolly get better at it after a couple of goes so get plenty of film! Quality of film varies a lot too - the best is thin and strong, the cheaper ones are a bit thicker but if you are doing perfectly flat windows, it should be one thing you don't have to worry about (compound curves on cars require stretch heating prior to fixing). Good luck!

I've finished the basic boxes and lids - though lids will need cutting near their rears to add piano hinges - will wait till I get the "penny coin" rubber flooring first so that I can put the hinge in the most appropriate place, aesthetically speaking. The heights feel ok - obviously I was used to something else (there was just one box/step as a temporary measure). Looking at pictures of other boats, more than not seem to have divided the height equally to the top of the door ridge, as I have. Though I did see one that seemed to have the first step exactly level with the deck, then two more after, which I think would have been pretty good but then more steps means either making them shallower or encroaching into the floor space more. All a compromise.

Presumably the glue down version doesn't expand at all? Can't see how it would work otherwise. Not saying it's a different product, just that if glued it''ll hold good. Regarding expansion, the overall amount must be dependant on the total area - so if they specify 5-10mm that must be based on an "average" room size? "Rooms" on narrowboats (or even wb nb's) are smaller, so surely would experience less than average expansion? On the other hand - they do have wider temperature differences, so that would put us back where we started I guess. Still, easy enough to fit skirting over and hide the gap?

Just to add - you'd really need to go for glue down if you have liftable sections.

I'll be using lvt when I get to doing my floor - it seems perfect for a boat. I suggest you lay the floor in such a way that the pattern works with any joins in the floor that you have - I have plenty of joins because I have it in sections that will still be easy to lift once the floor is down (incase I need to reballast or check bilge). Why not start laying your planks from the centre line (iether width or length ways?) and make a feature of it. You could do a strip either side following the line, then do the rest at 90 degrees? And another length ways run of planks either side of the boat. You might have to take plank sizes into consideration in order to keep waste to a minimum and to make life as easy as possible, so a good bit of thought and planning first. It's a good opportunity to make sure you do have at least some liftable sections. Something like this...

I think it's to do with having to kind of stoop through the doorway as you come in - makes being in good balance harder. When I was experimenting earlier with my boxes, the deeper the step the easier it all seemed. One box done, do another tomorrow, maybe even the tops then I can really test them - if necessary can make a bit smaller. No room for a banister though

Thank you for the pics - I love to see what other people are doing/have done and will be sure to get a couple of snaps of my efforts. I am indeed making them as boxes, but was planning on doing piano hinge lids. I like the handle holes on yours - I may do leds on mine In the end I've gone for a fairly deep step - 26cm plus any over hang, might as well make life as easy as possible though of course it takes up floor space.

Thanks. Infact I made a mock up with couple boxes etc and found that agree with what you say. I'm doing the tops of the steps at 24cm and 48cm, the top of the door ridge being 72cm. Now just figuring out depth and overhang! (Appros 24-26cm with 1 or 2cm overhang.)

Mr Smelly - I don't! That's why I keep knackering my batteries! (That and advice like "just give em a good charge once a week or so"). I use the s/g, which actually may be fairly well calibrated, because when it gets to 100%, the solar would typically be putting in <1amp. (remember my 440ah battery bank is down to about 100a total capacity!). I have a shunt to connect, but the battery access is poor so I was putting it off until I either replace them or go lithium and do a full re wire etc. I think cuthound may be right - 93% efficiency at full load but if I am using it for small current draw that figure looks very different.

I'm building steps from the bow doors into the saloon. I have height to the door threshold 72cm, but outside the well deck sits 12cm lower. I want two steps but unsure whether to include that 12cm difference in my calculations (ie 72 divided by 3 or 60 divided by three, to give the height to each step). I'm leaning towards a compromise, or going toward the 60cm and not counting the 12cm extra of the door threshold. Just about to start cutting...

What's the power consumption like with the larger routers? I mean ones with lan sockets and external power supplies as opposed to the portable type with built in battery ie osprey mini / zte etc? I feel I can afford to leave my little zte router on all the time, for convenience - and also in case later I have remote monitoring systems. Would a router with a socket marked lan/wlan work or is that different again?

I'm wondering what's going on with my Victron then - it definitely ups the power drawn from the solar by around 3.5a when its switched on with no load. (I haven't got an actual shunt/ammeter set up yet but am looking to, so I can be more certain of what's going on). The Victron manual does say it should only take 6w on "Zero-load (economy) power" so maybe I need to switch it into economy mode. But I don't have it running unless it is actually powering something, so for small loads it would be taking the 3.5a plus whatever the load needs? It may well be that it is 93% efficient (the spec quotes) at full load but with a standing 3.5a current self consumption it's efficiency would be terrible at low loads. I may enquire at Victron but I'd like to be more sure of my figures first. What I can say is, running the telly and stuff off the small inverter uses a lot less power (as proven with sg soc and a few evenings of actual use) - about as much less as I'd expect, given these figures.

Mine's built into the car so it will turn the music down if it has something to say (as will the hands free phone) but unfortunately the yankee woman doing the voice (on the sat nav) is so appalling it has to be set to silenced all the time (annoying yankee drawl) "In five eighths of a mile..."

I'm in favour of the rubber matts too I'm afraid - as already said they should have nodules underneath so are mostly not touching the deck itself. If you have a waterproof paint (not oils) it will be fine and protected from all those bits of scratchy rock that get caught in boots. Also you can walk onto it in your bare feet in summer or winter. Go for smart new decking benches either side - will hide your diesel tank and you will still have storage under.

No I have not fixed it yet - it's all cleaned up and put to one side while I try and figure it out. I don't do Facebook I'm afraid but would be interested to see how the other chap is getting on. In the meantime, I made rather a good blanking plate from a jam jar lid. What happens when the tank gets full if you don't empty it and carry on using it? Does it come oozing out the air vent or does the bog just not flush down anymore? Might be the way to go.