Col_T

Thanks chaps, that's cleared that up for me.

I suppose it serves me right for thinking about this, but I am a little confused. What, if any, is the connection between batteries self-discharging and sulphation? By example, is sulphation a direct result of a battery self-discharging e.g. the chemical reaction that 'stores' electricity is sufficiently weak that it breaks down over time? Another, is the apparent drop in voltage the result of sulphation reducing the surface area of the plates?

Thanks for that, Athy.

I've seen a couple of threads that speak of mooring chains. How are these used when mooring? Presumably you don't just try and tie a knot in the things!?

Thanks to all for your replies, most useful. The additional ballast in question is a pine chest of drawers; I first have to work out how to get that on board!

So, there is movable ballast in the stern and, perhaps not surprisingly, shifting this to the bow causes the stern to lift and the bow to sink a little. Useful to remember when seriously grounded! The question is, if all the existing movable ballast is in the stern, what happens if I add new ballast to the bow? Clearly the bow will sink a little, but will the stern also lift a little, or the whole boat sink a little with the bow sinker further, or what??

A couple of comments:- 1:- 97% on the Smartgauge is clearly not fully charged, however one defines fully charged; 2:- 97 - 84 = 13 so your 23Ah is about 175Ah current capacity from the 675Ah bank - not quite as disastrous as you feared; 3:- Wotever's post suggests fully charged voltage is 12.65v, so had the batteries been charged at some point during the day e.g. the 12.85v you saw when you got home included surface charge; All the above is largely academic though as, however one looks at it, the batteries show the signs of being sulphated, and therefore need to be fully charged and then subject to equalisation charges which, I'm pretty sure, has already been said. NB - I am still trying to learn and understand the dark arts of battery management, so probably best to wait for others to confirm the points I've made!

Thanks for this, Ian. I was only playing with the gearbox end of the cable to get the detente positioning correct, so hopefully the cable hasn't got kinked, but maybe that has altered the cable travel setting a little. I'll have a look when I'm next on the boat and see if I can improve things.

Morning all, The boat has a PRM 120 gearbox, and the gear control cable was fitted so that neutral on the morso control had the selector arm just past the neutral detente toward reverse. I finally got round to fixing this last weekend, with the result that the Morso control lever is now very tight either side of the neutral position and I can't see any adjustment at the control end of the cable. Bother. Is it usual for control cables to be adjustable only on one end? Is the cable being tight around the neutral position on the control lever indicating a cable that's too long? What grease should be used to lubricate the nipple on the control lever end of the cable? Thanks for any replies.

Thanks for that, and apologies for 'borrowing' the thread!

Mornin' all. A quick question, or two:- Do sulphate crystals start forming as soon as a fully charged battery is taken off charge, as a by-product of the lead acid battery self-discharge phenomenon? Or perhaps that should be does leaving a battery to self-discharge cause it to sulphate? I've read on other posts that leaving a battery on float for an extended period of time makes it lazy, in that it discharges overly quickly for a couple of cycles before reverting to expected behaviour. Anyone got any idea why that might be?

My understanding is that silver solder includes a small percentage of silver, I think to help it flow, hence the name. The resultant joint is not, however, silver coloured. I could post a picture of something I've recently done, but that would just demonstrate how crap I am at soldering!!! Looks to me like Bizzard has considerably more knowledge / experience than me on this subject so maybe he might like to comment?

In my very, very limited experience silver soldered and brazed (both made at > 450C) joints show in a shade of gold, whilst soft solder shows as silver.

Surely you don't get that kind of weed on the K & A ! ! !

Last weekend I noticed that the anodes on the boat were covered by weed as, indeed, is the whole of the hull below the water line. Will this prevent the sacrificial anode from doing it's stuff of gracefully wasting away???

Thanks for the comments, chaps. FWIW, I have no problem with Blackrose's comment as it merely states a more cautious approach. Thanks for the help, and here's wishing you all an enjoyable 2017.

With apologies if this has been asked before, but . . . . . I am planning on changing the oil on my Beta BV1505 this weekend, and it has a 7.5 litre oil capacity apparently. For reasons we don't need to go into, I already have 5 litres of API CC rated mineral oil suitable for Diesel engines. You have probably already guessed the following question! Is it okay to mix different brands of API CC rated mineral oil? The oil I already have is a 'generic' product e.g. Rebadged, and I will be unable to obtain additional supplies before I plan to do the change, or should I wait until I've got further supplies of the same?? Thanks in advance for any replies, and many thanks to all those that have replied to my other posts during this year. You have all increased my knowledge, so many thanks. Colin T.

Very many thanks for the replies, gentlemen. Perhaps the original post should have mentioned that I have a voltmeter, with DC clamp on current measuring facility, and that's about it as far as electrical monitoring/diagnostic equipment is concerned. I know that both an Ah counter (correctly fitted!) and a Smartgauge would be a good set-up, given my lack of understanding of the dark magic that is electricals, but those are something for the future - a proper wiring diagram would be useful to! Not mentioning was totally deliberate, spoil-sport that I am, so I guess I should apologise to anyone hoping for another 'discussion' on the pros and cons of the Smartgauge! I must try and workout how to insert those smiley things. Right, that's all from me, so many thanks until next time!

Excellent, nice and simple - thanks chaps.

I am, still, trying to get my head around batteries and proper use and maintenance of them. Reading other threads, there is really only one way to estimate actual battery capacity, rather than original capacity, which is:- get the batteries fully charged, remove the surface charge (by running the tunnel light for a quarter of an hour or so OR by leaving the batteries with no load of any nature for 12 hours or so), apply a known load to drain the batteries until they reach a specified voltage (12.3v on a 12v system), and note the time taken to deplete the batteries to that level, do some arithmetic to calculate to total load applied and, therefore, actual capacity. Surface charge. My guess is that the more fully charged a battery is, the longer it takes to force new charge deep into the plates, that surface charge is electricity that hasn't yet started / completed that journey, and that leaving the batteries to rest (without applying any load) gives the surface charge an opportunity to be absorbed. That description will give you a pretty idea of how technical I am!! Now, I understand this is all theoretical and of little practical value, but . . . . if a known load is applied to discharge the batteries to 12.3v, and the batteries were left for another 12 hours with no load of any nature, would the measured voltage rise by a small amount? The reasoning is that absorbing / providing current is a chemical reaction that, once started, takes a while to slow down and stop?

A typical modern cartridge oil filter has a large central, threaded, bore and a number of smaller holes around that. A simple question - what is the direction of flow through the filter? I guess that oil is either pumped through the central bore and 'sucked' through the outer central holes, or vice-versa but which? Engine is a Beta BV1505, if that helps. Colin T

We moored our boat at Frouds for a month last year, and my recollection is that 3-4 hours is probably about right to get to Newbury. You might want to bear in mind that Frouds does not open directly onto the K & A, but onto a 'tributary' that ends with a weir - the flow on the tributary can get a little interesting as it pushes across the exit of the marina (right to left).