Sunnydays

Thanks everyone .....I've just tried some wet & dry dipped in nail varnish remover. Seems to work. Will mask up portholes on the weekend and make a start. Would rather not lacquer them again but i might change my mind in due course....

Ok folks...all very helpful. My gut feeling is remove portholes and do a proper job or leave them as they are....

Can anyone help me re restoring various external brass items on our boat that have been laquered by the previous owner and are now very dark and almost black in areas. Wanted to start with the portholes but really dont want to go to all the hassle of removing them. Suggestion welcome.....

Now there's another challenge

Thanks Chew - That might be the best option. For those of you concerned re the Glow plugs . As mentioned by others this particular Barrus doesn't require pre heating of glow plugs. The fact there is a warning lamp and the problem re the alternator light would suggest that this is the wrong panel for the engine spec, hence, as I've now learnt, some modifications needed. However I am pretty sure that this was the only option available with regardes repalcment option on my original 10 year old panel. Thanks again for all your help and interest.

Yep....confirrmed. Barrus fit LED warning lights to their latest panels. My starter battery alternator is is around 10 years old and unlikely to work with the LED. Therefore I am going to exchange the LED lamp with the 2W filament type. (See pic) It won't match the others and I'll have to enlarge the hole from 8 to 13mm which is shame with a brand new item... but at least it will sort the problem. Thanks all for your input.

Yep this is definately the latest panel and as far as i know they are the original alternators ....so 10 or more years old. Odd that the light from the liesure alternator goes out though? Will call Barrus tomorrow as suggested. Cheers again for your interest and help.

I am pretty sure they are LED but then why would Barrus fit them to a new panel if they dont work with the alternator? I think I'll call them tomorrow. Abd if they are meant to run with a resistor then surely the guy sent out from the factory would have fitted one?

Yep pretty sure . All 5 lights look like these...https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/mobile/product/711/category/57

Thanks folks - I knew there would be an explanation. If its sorted the problem and not going to do any damage then I'll leave the filament bulb and holder in place . Does lead me to another question though.... how come the monitor light for larger alternator (leisure batteries) doesn't have the same problem?

We've had our n/boat for just over a year and I've never had a lot of confidence in the original Barrus Shire 10 year old instrument panel which had a suspect ignition switch (lose, floopy key slot) and a tacho that never moved. So I replaced it with the latest version which I rather naively thought would be a straight swap - Same size, same block connecter etc. There was however some wiring mods needed one of which was due to now having individual battery/alternator lights for both the starter battery and the leisure batteries. I explained this to Barrus as they originally told me it would simple swap and they, all credit to them, sent a guy out to the marina within 48 hours to modify the block connector etc to get things connected. However he identified that the starter battery wasn't charging due to a faulty alternator which was the reason for the tacho problem and the battery/alternator light staying on. So it was frustrating that having fitted the newly refurbished alternator, both the above problems still continued. However following a suggestion from another marina colleague, I disconnected the LED bulb and holder from the back of the panel and reconnected to a traditional 12 volt/2w bulb and holder. On starting up....hey presto the light went out and the tacho needle sprung into life!. So....whilst some might say - well that's the problem sorted....I am puzzled by such things? Comments welcome but please bear in mind those of you who posses a far greater understanding of electrical matters that my knowledge is limited and I am merely keen to know whether by simply changing the bulb from an LED really has solved the problem and why the starter battery alternator would work with the LED? Thanks in advance

Yep i checked their website but couldn't see anything the same but i think these are 7 or 8 years old so things have moved on i guess. The size is 340x170 x 250 high so i think its a reasonably standard size although Ive been advised to go for gel batteries which may come in smaller dimensions . Anything else i need to know before ordering ??

My existing batteries are Alpha Uktra Plus 12v Type 140L. Does that mean anything to anyone?

All good advice. Thanks. Will vist the boat tomorrow. Remove dud battery. Leave other one in place for now with redundant cables temporarily removed. Next job....order 2 new batteries. I wont mention charging as theres rafts of information elsewhere but i might just ask....wheres the best place to buy batteries?

All very helpfull thank you. You are correct Alan ....with the humidifier being 240v and an electricity hook up there is no real need for the battery at all whilst in the marina. With hindsight I'll probably remove both for now, keep the better of the two as a spare and then replace in the spring with 2 2 ones. The boat is pretty well insulated woth little or no condensation and the reason we've got the dehumidifier is to stop Mrs Sunnydays worrying about the new expensive mattress and new Nabru sofa getting damp.....

Went down to the marina this week to check on our boat to discover a rather nasty smell and one of the co2 alarms bleeping. On inspection it one of the 2 liesure batteries bubbling away and very warm. So I immediately switched off the isolator and disconncted the power to jetty cable. We've had the boat (50 ft nb) for a year and as far as I know the liesure batteries are over 5 years old. My thoughts are to replace both in the spring. I'll also have plenty of time to read and familierise myself with 'battery charging methods' which are covered extensively elsewhere on this forum. So some initial questions. As we are unlikely to use the boat until early spring I was thinking of removing the dud battery and leaving the remaining battery in place and connected via the jetty cable to keep the dehumidifier running and for the occasional winter visit (as the marina is only 10 minutes away) Is there a particular process for disconnecting? What about the vacant cables. Can the connecting ends be wrapped in insulating tape and kept tied back away from everything? Anything else I need to be aware off? Thanks in advance for your comments.

Thanks for your offer Tony but i removed the tank and resealed the pipes which are no longer leaking. I might replace the tank at some other time in the future. Thanks to those that contributed to my original post

Very nice of you to offer Tony. However I think in the first instance I'm going to look at the system in more detail. I think your later comment is right that the service valve is fitted 'to the system pipe' but as I say I'll give it a good look to see what he's done. (The system definitely works okay as we've had hot rads when the stove is lit).

Thanks Tony. What the photo doesn't show is the white cap on tank has a hole approx 2cms to which was attached a peice of hose into a plastic container. So its not pressurised as such. As i say all a bit homemade and I'm sure theres a better option. Thanks Jen. See comnents to Tony....

Our recently purchased boat has a gravity fed heating system feeding 2 radiators via a Morso squirrel stove. The header tank as the picture shows is a very much 'homemade' and leaks... so I'm looking to replace it with something more suitable. Any suggestions as to where I start looking would be appreciated. I am not sure re the capacity but I think its approx 20 litres? Thanks in advance.