Stephen Jeavons

Thanks for the responses guys. I like both schools of thought. As a decoration I find it more pleasing on the eye (unintended pun) than the diamonds that some folk have Stephen

Is there any symbolic meaning to the yellow spot design painted on many narrow boats (mine included)? Some also have a sliver of yellow on the curve on the right. Just wondering. (We did it cos it looks nice).

Both my Shoreline fridge and freezer came in cartons with Shoreline stickers over the makers name (they have no shame). The maker is AMICA. They come from Poland. I doubt Shoreline has much input. Danfoss units are probably installed at the factory https://www.amica.pl/en/page/15-Amica_in_Europe

Maybe you can't hear the fan cos its seized from all the dust ? Actually, modern ones have the heat-exchanger underneath (crazy idea cos heat rises) so need the fan. If yours has a conventional heat-exchanger up the back, it may not have a fan.

Anything such as a bad connection which adds resistance into the circuit will reduce the current draw not increase it. Both my Shoreline fridge and freezer each run on a 15A breaker without problems. My money's on a tired breaker as stated earlier.

Curious. If alternator fans draw air from back to front as someone stated earlier, isn't this opposite to the natural flow of air in a vehicle (from which many of these engines are spawned) where air is pushed front to back by the forward motion of the vehicle?

On the BSS website under the heading "The Boat's Wiring" it states this: "New or replacement cables should be multi-stranded and of the correct size as determined by reference to Table A.1, ISO 13297 - check with your competent installer." So from that I take it that OLD cables don't have to be stranded. All a bit vague isn't it cos you could install single core wiring everywhere and just say it is old wiring? They couldn't fail you. Badly worded requirements are worse than useless.

Sounds like my BSS inspector was wrong as one of the first things he checked with me was whether I'd used domestic (flat twin and earth) cabling for the mains wiring. I hadn't as I'd been told this before by more than one individual. I thought the reason was that single core copper wires are prone to damage by boat vibration which is why they say never to solder wires either but crimp and tag or use screw fasteners

Where in the Herts area are you? There is a guy that I use who does a lot of work on canal boats in the Rickmansworth area and surrounds. He is also part of RCR I believe. Very knowledgeable generally. He should be able to help with most things. PM me if you'd like to contact him. If he can't do the electrics, he's sure to know someone who can in the marine world.

Er, so that means you have created 240v AC right. As blackrose mentions above, this is the same thing. Is the earth for that 240v grounded to the hull? (Do generators ground the Neutral leg like the mains? I don't have one so not sure)

OK, I see where you're coming from. As we haven't seen how the wiring was done on "that" boat, it's pointless to speculate on the potential (no pun intended) risks. I would still use an earth.

But the Genny is producing 240V isn't it? Same as being on mains so the risks are surely the same. Doesn't matter where the power is generated, 240V is 240V

Point taken. However, I feel that at 5kw, the Eber is just too much for 3 rads and a heated towel rail. Would prefer something lighter and work it harder to limit cycling, hence my interest in the variable output heater

An update on the alleged stolen boat. It wasn't stolen after all, the numpty got so pissed at the Festival, he'd forgotten where he moored it. Apparently, this chap is well known for this as it's happened before.

T'aint a stud. it's a stainless bolt through a hole drilled in a rib of the boat followed by the wiring lugs, a spring washer and a nyloc nut. That lot isn't going to come loose. However, just to stick with convention I may separate AC and DC by drilling a second hole

Anyone know anything about a boat that was allegedly stolen on Saturday night from the Ricky Festival area? Someone came charging round our mooring in the wee small hours but didn't mention the circumstances other than it was a 30-something foot narrowboat and the owner's dog was on-board. Didn't hear any more about it yesterday.

Got it! I have a nyloc stainless nut along with a spring washer on top of all my tags so unlikely to come loose. I understand the principal though Many thanks for the explanation.

Incidentally, is there a reason that it is recommended to bond the DC -ve to a different earthing post on the hull but adjacent to the AC earthing post? I bonded everything to the same earthing post.

I like the idea of variable output ( OP's first email) and may be considering the Webasto Evo 5. Boat came with an old, non working 5kw Eber. I don't feel like spending the money to have it refurbished and then to sort out all the old attachments, many of which need replacing. More than one person has advised me to toss it in the skip as they give too many problems. I'd also like to work it in parallel with the electric flow boiler which we use when moored at our residential spot and plugged in to shore juice. A few 3-port valves to switch between the two.

Assuming the shore power connects to the same point as your generator i.e. on the south side of the galvanic isolator, then it's the same thing. It shouldn't make any difference as you're not using the shore earth on the boat. My system is exactly like this except that I have an isolation transformer instead of the galvanic isolator

Please provide the name of the boat so we can all give it a VERY wide birth

That's clever (not). An item with a fault (framing the live) will make the frames of every other plugged-in appliance live e.g. a microwave oven, iron, electric kettle. Some of these items have exposed steel. Sounds like a nasty accident waiting to happen

Yikes! Assuming he has 3-pin sockets on his boat, I wonder if this means he hasn't wired up the earth pins on any of them. Also means he has no earth leakage protection if he plugs a faulty power tool in. Guy's a nutter

It's this weekend, Any of you going to be there? I'll be there but on foot cos I moor nearby Stephen