Clodi

Fuel boat Bargus on the north Shroppie has no problem with fuel Red is £1.59.

We use Boatmail, which I don' hesitate to recommend. The Doctors here in Nantwich were quite happy to accept our CRT mooring as our 'address'. If we need to visit the Dr we just get a taxi etc if we're away from the mooring, Otherwise it's all online for repeat prescriptions etc.

Thanks for the info Tony, good research is hard to find. The agricultural sector also are waking up to the problem.

The Yachting! Monthly is running this warning about Biodiesel-Warning .it seems similar to Diesel Bug but different!

Thanks everyone, To reply to Tony about not spending money I don't need to, and god knows things are getting tighter. I cannot foresee us ever staying any period of time in a marina on pontoon moorings etc, but, as we get older it's possible we may have to escape the mud during the worst of the winter months & seek refuge in a boat-park & it makes sense to future-proof. Alan. thanks for the diagram, I just used it to explain to my son exactly what the potential problem could arise.

Quick question, WE don't have shore power but I'm fitting a galvanic isolater & at the moment there is only a DC bond to the hull. I understand best practice is to add a bolt within a couple couple of inches from the existing bond my question is is there a BSS standard size 230v earth cable, or what size cable is recommended? Thanks.

We used to have a very similar set-up years ago, saved our bacon on at least 2 occasions, thankfully in warmer waters.

Finally, solved. My 6 Trojan batts, wired for 12v are in 3 purpose made battery boxes. The domestic neg goes to a shunt & then busbar. I moved the batteries out to clean etc and found a battery cable from the neg side of the shunt leading to the starter battery (neg) but instead of being connected it was coiled and tucked away out of site. The only route to the hull/ engine bond was though an 'earth' lead from a cheap Chinese inverter which was installed at the same time. Needless to say all has been rectified now. Surprising enough the cheap inverter still works but has been replaced. Thank you to everyone who commented.

There's no mention here of urine disposal. We have been composting our waste both onboard & on our smallholding for the last 30 years. It can be done properly but this recent craze, mainly in London it seems, has resulted in the disgusting bag and bin fiasco & now this. Asking boat dwelling friends who reside in the capital it seems that most piss goes over the side. As the water authority seems to get away with it I quess it's just accepted.

To reply to Tony, There is definitely NO continuity between the domestic negative & the hull. There will be in the morning mind you. As I already mentioned, surprisingly I have had no problems to speak of since I had the batteries and Cyrix installed. The only reason I didn't do the job myself is due to my disability, at the time I was physically unable to carry out the work. I didn't specify the details as I assumed the boatyard was competent. At the same time I had the Trojan Hydrolink system installed & it was the first time they had come across that bit of kit, I wonder if they simply forgot as there is an empty stud on the negative busbar just waiting for an appropriate connection. I'm reluctant to name and shame as they were doing me a favour and it was a 'Cash in hand' job. I guess you get what you pay for. Thankfully there's no real harm done as I'm certain there has been no domestic short as until recently there has been no domestic circuits due to fitting out.

Yes the starter battery & no there are no other negative connections.

1is from the engine block to the earthing point then on to the starter negative. Looking at the workshop manual for my Bukh DV36 the aforementioned attachment on the engine block next to the Jabsco water pump is the neg for the Starter Motor. So the neg from the starter motor runs from the battery to the hull then on to the starter.

I understand about the need for the switch to be between the starter + & the starter battery+. The boatyard that fitted the batteries did not do this and I am in the process of changing things. As I mentioned it's gone though 2 BSS without this. However the negative Busbar on my domestic side of things definitely does not show any continuity when I connect to the hull bonding point as shown in the photo. The batteries do charge OK. I've never really thought about it as obviously we do not use the hull as negative as in autos & the basic circuits were installed professionally & it is only now I'm able to really go into it. Just lately I have questioned weather the Cyrix VSR is working ok, but that largely was due to the starter battery being 9 years old😁 Should I add a negative lead from the domestic busbar to the hull bonding point? It will be very easy to do & I'm in the process of re-jigging my engine bay anyway. I must say that I'm quite disappointed at the quality of the work that didn't come cheap, but, at the time my disability stopped me from accessing the engine bay. As they say if you want a job done properly do it yourself.

Can I ask about the 'common negative'?. My engine is bonded to the hull as shown in the picture, but my domestic side of things is not. There is no continuity between my Domestic busbar and the negative in the picture. Should there be?

Does this switch have to be on the wire between the starter and the battery? I have a single alternator and do have battery cutoff switch but not one on the cable in question. I actually have 2 cut off switches 1 for the domestice and the other is between the vsr and the starter battery, It's been that way for the last 2 BSS with no problems.

Every mooring seems to have an 'expert' who dosn't hesitate to venture their opinion & guidance. Our 'expert' has just informed me that unless I insert a cut-off/ isolation switch between the starter and the starter battery it's now a "certain BSS fail" Is this true? given the plethora of ridiculous rules and regulations I don't know what to believe but I don't fancy adding any more connections than necessary. TBH the guy has a nice new shiney boat but, whilst he may be an engineer I don't really think he's much of a boater, more of a caravan on the water type.

Thanks everyone, my main reason for asking is that I'm re-jigging my engine bay and the fittings on my 'Fuelguard' are 10mm my original fuelpipes are 8mm & I have a spare coil of 10mm copper left over from fitting 2nd fuel tank for the Heritage Uno.

Thanks Tony, fortunately It's not the pipes at the injectors or pump end, it's more the supply from the fuel cut-off tap to the first filter & the return pipe.

Another quick question. The fuel pipe for my Bukh DV36 is a combination of 8mm copper and rubber pipe to the injectors. Will I cause any problems replacing the 8mm copper with 10mm copper. Logic says no but I'd appreciate advice. Thanks

Anything glued to the hull will only be as good as the paint bond on the hull. I doubt if a glued on fuel filter would meet the BSS requirements.

Has anyone fitted the Solar Heating Dump Kit - With 12V And 240V Twin Immersion Heater - 2 1/4" BSP from Bimble solar? it's more the 12V And 240V Twin Immersion Heater - 2 1/4" BSP I'm interested in. I'm in the process of moving my horizontal calorifier to the engine bay and pondering fitting one of these whilst it's easy to get to.

Thanks everyone. I should have mentioned that I do intend to have welded brackets done when the boat goes into the dry-dock later this year where I'll be getting a few odd jobs done as well as re-blacking. I just want to fit a new silencer now rather than wait.