NB Willawaw

About 3 years. We don't like the looks of rigid panels, so went for these as being "flat" and more unobtrusive. We have two 70W ones in series through an MPPT controller and an 800AHC bank. We don't rely on them for charging the batteries from way down, as they wouldn't in realistic terms. However, they do run the fridge and we use them to keep the batteries topped and float charged when the boat is left unattended. We have a Smartgauge and tend to use a generator to achieve around 80% SOC before letting the panels take them the rest of the way up. We mainly cruise off-season, so they do get used in the shoulder seasons - they are just not big enough to rely on.

We looked at the Solara ones but were put off by some stories of failures. We went with the Sunware ones in the end.

The number seems to decrease with increase in loading - what is it a measurement of ? freeboard ?

This comes up with great regularity. We use the plastic milk crate idea but don't tend to take the cats boating with us so much these days.

Shoreline supply the lights and advise you to fit the appropriate lamp subject to boat voltage. Hopefully, the OP has checked that the compressor is not starting with the power supply connected up ??

Did you buy the converter from Shoreline ? - did you give them the serial number of the fridge to make sure that they are compatible ? i.e the power supply probably outputs at 24V to save on cable drop and if you have an old 12V only fridge, then there is a problem.

The point is, they DO exist. I'm sure you are just as capable of googling for cheaper options as I am.

http://www.mastervolt.com/marine/products/battery-watch/battery-watch/

None of my business, but it sounds very expensive to me.

Steel is quite good, particularly for security.

I've used the 24-12V DC converters from Maplins on 24V boats and they seem quite reliable. They will pack up eventually, but quite cheap. The pukka ones from the big names are quite expensive and nothing is 100% reliable.

The blurb for the F-P DC Generator says it outputs at 12V - how would this be useful to charge batteries ?? I've had a quick look at the manual and although it talks about battery charging, I can't see any spec or adjustment possibilities to achieve over 14V to achieve some form of multi-step charging. Also A 280 Amp output current on full loading is a bit over the top just for battery charging - you would need a lot of 12V appliances to get the full benefit. We have a 5kW 230V generator and it donates about a kW to the battery charger and is then used to drive our calorifier heating element, sometimes the washing machine and any other mains appliances we want to use at the time, so it gets a decent loading when running.

I think calling them thieves is a bit strong. They are in business and their business is not doing cheap fixes on a ten year+ old Dakar. They will spend anything from 30 minutes to an hour finding the fault once they receive it. It may or may not be repairable depending on what spares they still have available for the unit. This inspection has to be paid for, even if the unit is not repairable, as has the freight both ways, if the owner wants the unit back (Dakar's are not light). I don't think Mastervolt help themselves though. If I were in charge at Mastervolt, I would explain from the outset that we only have a few spares for the unit, so its likely to be beyond repair and offer a loyalty part exchange rebate if you buy another Mastervolt model to replace the Dakar. Mind you, they would probably get slagged off for that as well.

I feel you are getting weighed down with the word warranty. Its not so much the warranty that's the issue, as the lack of any sound business proposal. You are using words like "Our aim is to provide an alternative coating system to traditional dated methods. A coating that is many times that of it competitors at reasonable costs". Thats all fine, but it's words. Narrowboaters as a group tend to be very conservative and with much shallower pockets than our salty water cousins. For a number of reasons, there is a hardcore which will never move away from the cheaper "blacking" alternative, no matter what you say. However, there is a strata within that group, who will spend the money if it makes commercial sense. How much better is it than 2-coat epoxy and how does the cost compare. We currently have to dock every four years to touch up the scrapes. From what I'm hearing, your product needs the same attention. So it comes down to ease of application and coating costs. Correct me if I'm wrong.

and a K9 is a dog.

I understand what you are saying, but you are missing the business proposition. I currently drydock every four years, so I re-coat every 4 years. I suspect your coating will cost me more, so I'm trying to ascertain whether I can go longer between drydocks or at least shorten the work that needs to be done to save cost. The boat isn't subject to any more than usual wear and tear and and we use fenders much of the time, so we probably have less hull abrasion than many boats. If you are saying that you will still routinely need to touch up the hull every four years when the boat comes out of the water, then I struggle to see the cost benefit ?? How easy are the touch-up's ?? Most canal boaters with steel boats use blacking because it is cheap and sacrificial. I work on sea-going stuff normally and they use some very advanced coatings, but oil rigs and large ships (usually) don't touch solid objects like walls and bridges.

We currently use two pack epoxy. You are talking about a minimum ten year life for the hull coating. The grit blasting is a big issue on existing boats I guess because many docks don't do it and its costly in those that will, but assume I had a new boat built and had it coated with your product from the beginning. Are you saying that the normal wear and tear of the canal would mean that I didn't need to touch the coating up for ten years ? As others have pointed out, there are a lot of sources of abrasion - many boats don't use fenders, although we usually do. However, this is another factor to consider.

You did - thank you.

Hi Kristian - did you reply to me already on a similar question on Facebook (slightly different user name) ??

http://www.toolsandpowertools.co.uk/product/hyundai-hy2000sei-2-2kw-digital-inverter-generator-with-electric-key-and-remote-start/

Is anybody using one of these ? Very interested how they compare in practise against the more common (and expensive) Honda and lesser spotted Kipor ??

Be very careful. We are at the start of some very uncertain times on the waterways. I predict that costs are going to start to ramp up and those without moorings are going to come under increasing scrutiny as time goes on. I think the days of being free on the waterways and living very cheaply are in the past. If I were considering selling up and moving totally on to the canal, I would leave it at least a year and let the CaRT dust settle first.