pearley

This is what we have with an adaptor on the outlet to take two hoses. http://www.diavia.it/eng_aura.php?categoria=89&sottocategoria=0&marchio=0&id=117 We were lucky is as much as the company we owned before retiring installed vehicle air conditioning and we had a couple of these in stock. We often fitted a second air conditioner and heater in the space above the drivers head on Transit minibuses. A bugger to bleed the air out of the coolant but once you had it gave no trouble. We later bought a thing from Hella that evacuated all the air from the cooling system which made filling a piece of cake. Regards Pete

We went up there twice in the 80s before the Spine Road was built, on the first occasion staying overnight, on the second time breaking a tooth whilst having lunch. Tried to go again in 2000 but only got about 200 yards before the prop was badly fouled and evil smelling black muck was being dragged up from the bottom. Ended up pulling the boat back to the junction by rope. Will be heading to Walsall and Brownhills after the BCN Bonfire Rally but won't be trying the arm again. Regards Pete

In 1982 we hired 'Gamecock' from Alvechurch and spent 2 weeks around the BCN. Went up the Walsall Arm then. Had to moor on the coal wharf shown on the right in order to get off the boat. No pictures unfortunately as I forgot to reset the wind on lever on the camera so took about 20 shots on top of each other. Regards Pete

Coming up this lock yesterday the boat started listing badly and look a bit of freeing. On examination the stone/concrete coping stones on the towpath side overhang the brick lock wall by about 2 inches. By only opening one paddle had pushed us to that side. No damage other than cupboard doors open and a chunk of paint./ So take care. Regards Pete PS. Posting this reminds me that I need to put a coat of undercoat on. Primed it yesterday.

Ah but! Your modern motor car has loads of ancillaries driven from the front crank. High output alternator, air conditioning compressor, air or vacuum pump, power steering. Most modern car engines will run for 200,000 miles without major problems. Regaeds Pete

The closed signs were out at Barton Turns yesterday.

Although a continuous cruiser, this wouldn't affect me, even if cruising the K & A. But I can't see those 'overstayers' already there accepting these. They pay 80% of the average mooring licence but still have to move every 28 days! And who amongst them is going to be stupid enough to buy a winter mooring, even with a 50% discount. Given that the situation already exists, why not just regularise it by designating the community moorings, taking the 80% fee from them and leaving it at that. At least then, those that don't pay/wo'nt pay, can be evicted and it would save money on all those enforcement officers who are going to visit every day. Regards Pete

If Victron are true to their words, the repaired unit should be waiting when we get back from Italy. My wife has said 'sod it', she'll just empty the freezer and sleep soundly! Regards Pete

If it was 230v it wouldn't be a problem as I've bypassed the inverter/charger by joining the mains input to the mains output. Getting something from ebay not an option as we leave tomorrow! Leaving the smart charger on overnight took the SoC from 90% to 91% so a 2 amp charger ought to cover it OK without excessive gassing. Regards Pete

A couple of days ago the mains transfer switch in my Victron Multi-Plus failed so it is no longer charging the batteries from the shoreline. We are leaving the boat on Thursday for 10 days and want to leave the freezer on so need to keep the batteries charged enough for this. I've put a Smart charger on them but, it is too smart and shuts down after 24 hours with a fault code displayed which because the battery hasn't gone into float mode after 24 hours. If I bought a cheap 2 amp charger and left that on for the 12 days am I likely to cause any problems? With a 540 amp battery bank that is having a 16 amp load every few hours I would think not but what do others think. Regards Pete

The RJ45 socket is where that blue cable is plugged in. My Remote Control is plugged in there. I just unplug the remote and put the cable end into the VE Net adaptor. The remote is only held in by 4 screws. Regards Pete

It has been a few years since I came up them but, yes, they don't obey the usual rules. Regards Pete

When we had Joanie M built we decided not to have a stove, probably for the same reasons as you're reluctant, and rely on Webasto for heating. Big mistake! Stopped working just 4 months into winter with burner problems although that was on gas oil rather than current diesel. Week without heating with snow on the ground is no fun! Had a stove fitted by original builders and now hardly use the Webasto. Get the stove now whilst you can do it easily. Regards Pete

Despite what Canaltime might say, the pontoons in the basin are for anybody to moor on. It is £8 a night including electric. You pay in the Canaltime office and get a BW receipt, maybe CART if they've printed new ones. When we were there two months ago boaters were being told that the pump out was out of order due to a leak but Canaltime were still using it. During the week we were there, it was a man running it, not a woman. (For Canaltime read Alvechurch Boat Centres) The pub by the basin is closed! Regards Pete

Don't bank on being able to moor at Roaches Lock. It is very shallow. When we were last there in 2011 a BW workboat made a convenient mooring pontoon. As far as Stalybridge, I personally dont like to moor in the pound near Tescos. In 2010 the fluctuations in level as boats worked through the lock left us sitting on top of a shopping trolley. I prefer the moorings in the pound below alongside the Chinese restaurant. Mooring by the pub at Frenches Bridge can be difficult as when they built the pub and marina they didn't fit any rings or bollards. The supports for the lift bridge and the saplings make good temporary moorings. Regards Pete

Much the same with T-Mobile/Orange when we there last week.

Gibbo, I'm not ignoring you. I just want to know how to get the best from my panels. Firstly, I didn't post the full story and secondly, other posters say I need a full spec on the panels and controller. For asthetic reasons and security the two panels we already have are semi-flexible Solara. We want to augment these with similar panels. We have two roof boxes, a platform for coal, 3 houdini hatches and a plank cum pole rack so there is limited space if we want to glue or screw the panels down. Hence the choice of two Seaspray 80 w panels as they will fit in the available space. (I did suggest to my wife that we could fit 4 rigid panels to the roof boxes to give us more power at lower cost but she likes things to look right!) So I have emailed Seaspray asking for the full spec on the panels and will re-post when I get the info. Actually I enjoy reading your posts but I would disagree with your throwaway comments about DAB radio in cars! Regards Pete

So I could connect the two 45W which have an open circuit voltage of 22.6 in parallel and the two 80W which have an open circuit voltage of 21 in parallel and then connect the two arrays in series. Would that give me the highest output?

I have 2 off 45 watt panels at present and am planning to add 2 off 80 watt panels to them with a MPPT controller. T he blurb for the controller says the panels can be wired in parallel or series. What are the advantages and disadvantages of either way? If in series, if one panel is shaded is than going to affect the output of the whole array? Regards Pete