tosher
-
Posts
337 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Gallery
Blogs
Store
Posts posted by tosher
-
-
A bit surprised by this award considering the state of the pot hole riddled approach road. Many of the berth do not have a water tap dspite what the advertising blerb says - Not 5 star rating in my book. Think I agree with the previous posts on this one.
-
Sounds like a good case for a 12v bilge blower or some other fan next to a vent, wired to come on when the engine starts.
My engine space has 2 vents - one on each side of the boat. If I used a bilge blower next to a vent, would it be better to suck air in or blow air out?
I have this arrangement with an extractor fan sucking the air out. It works well and does not affect the engine breathing at all. It also keeps the engine bay a bit cooler and cleaner. tosher
-
Advice please-----I often leave the boat unoccupied for a couple of weeks at a time and always leave the shore power lead disconnect(galvanic corrosion etc etc). I would like to leave an oil filled radiator switched on to protect against frost. I thought about using an extension lead to connect the heater straight into the leccy post on the pontoon to avoid having to "plug the boat in". Is this in any way harmfull as there would be no one onboard when the heater is connected. The leccy post does have two circuit breakrs on it, one is overcurrent and one is earth leakage(I think). I have a feeling this is not best practice. tosher.
-
Passed him 3 weeks ago in Brewood in exactly the same condition. Must be a valuable cargo???
-
The leading edge extension was also to counteract the amount of prop wash around the back of the rudder on full lock.
Much of the thrust was being lost around the leading edge.
I've still got a theory that the distance between the prop to the rudder distance being a big factor in a good steering NB
Alex
Interesting, that's just what I was told by Crowthers some years ago. Anybody any idea what this measurement should ideally be ?? tosher.
-
Same here, didn't know they were goung up, thanks for that I've just ordered some. tosher.
-
My Sterling keeps mine at 13.6v and about 0.2 - 0.3A on float.
Ditto.
-
So where does the specific gravity come in all this? My four x135Ah batts seem to hold their charge but from new, when fully charged the SG has never been better that 1230 when I expected at least 1250.
Are your batteries "Elecsol" - these have a lower sg than normal open lead acid types.
-
WD40 into the key aperture will not reach the contacts which would be far happier without it anyway. A quick squirt will however lubricate the locking barrel and can only do good.
Thanks, will try it sparingly. tosher.
-
Slightly off topic but is it ok to squirt a few drops of WD40 down the barrel of the ignition switch to lubricate the contacts??? (Isuzu engine panel). Thanks.
-
Hear Hear! I agree entirely. As a reasonably competent electrical engineer (retired from National Grid) I thought I knew quite enough to do a safe and effective boat electrical installation. That was until I joined CWDF, started reading Gibbo's posts (plus the splendid arguments discussions with others) and his Smartgauge website. As a result I have learned so much more and will have a better boat in the end.
Even some of the non PC comments/opinions could prompt amusing and interesting discussions.
I didn't follow many of those perhaps and must have missed the one where he decided to leave the scene however I sincerely hope he can eventually return if only to continue to offer his splendid (if sometimes slightly grumpy!) electrical/electronic systems advice on here.
Richard
Exactly the same here and couldn't agree more. Hope he is back soon. tosher.
-
Sounds like a good idea, but if its not broken why try to fix/service it. Now that white (road) diesel is supplied (with the red excise dye added) by boatyards as opposed to the previously supplied red diesel of sometimes varying quality the burner units on the Webasto should last longer before they fail. (They were only ever designed to run on road diesel or the more refined military spec diesel.
Had thought about sevicing our unit and had printed out someone, a boater, who had done this several times and written out the very full and detailed instructions with photos, which I think is available on this forum. As it happens, had occassion to meet up with someone from Webasto recently and over several pints discussed servicing etc.
Guess the price would be the hourly labour rate by whoever does it plus parts if needed and any consumables such as anti freeze at 50/50 mix if required. Wait until it fails and then face the cost and hassel. I have a copy of the boaters service procedure so PM me if you want a copy.
Keep warm!
What did he say then? leave it till it breaks or service it regularly?
-
I'm a NO on this one as well. No shore line connected = no galvanic corrosion. If boat is only left for 2 or 3 week periods and everything is switched off then batteries will be ok.
-
Thanks chaps for your replies, sounds ok to me.
-
Is anyone on the Caldon canal at the moment or been up in the last few days. Just wondering what the water level and weed situation is like??? Due to go up in a couple of days and heard a few bad things about it. First hand info would be much appreciated. tosher.
-
Help -- I use a 3 Dongle with my laptop top get internet access when onboard the boat. My ISP is Force 9 (Plus Net) who use "Squirel Mail" to send and receive e-mails. This is a bit restrictive and not as easy to use as Outlook express. I can use Outlet Express ok when at home on my broadband connection but can't seem to make it work with the Dongle. Is it possible to use Outlook Express with a 3 Dongle? and if so how??? Thanks. tosher.
Problem solved --- After talking to 3 about this problem it was resolved by changing my SMTP server to smtp-mbb.three.co.uk and the port to 25, exactly what Robin 2 said, and outlook express now works fine. It does only work this way when using my 3 dongle, if I change back to my broad band connection at home then I do have to revert back to my original SMTP server, which is exactly what "whatever" said. I'm happy now so thanks to everyone. tosher.
-
A cynical view I would like to agree with, but as far as i am aware, it is normal practice for Government Agencies who use inflation as a guide for increases, to use the end of September figure.
For me it is not all bad news, as it maens that my Local Government pension will increase by 4.5% next year.
Depends on wether the 4.5% inflation rate is RPI or CPI? If it's RPI then afraid your increase will about 1% less as it's now based on CPI.
-
That'd be good
With Gibbo's departure you're the new resident expert on automotive leccy stuff
Where's he gone? What happened? Must have missed it.
-
Can anybody advise on a problem with a Vetus Bow-thruster (150-55) that has suddenly stopped working. The battery is brand new and voltage checked so not an issue. When the switch is operated there is quite a loud "click" from the thruster but no movement. Any ideas?
Will the motor turn freely by hand? If not then more than likely something is trapped in the prop.If it does turn freely then it is likely to be an electrical problem. The load click you hear is the contactor operating. Have you checked the 250amp slow blow fuse that is connected between the battery and the motor? If that is ok then suspect the motor brushes, clean them, check all the connections and make sure they are free to move inside the brush boxes. tosher.
-
I agree,they don't like fluctuating voltage.I think cheap ones are false economy,as the fuel or electricity needed to keep batteries charged is soon re-couped when using LED's. Google Bedazzled amongst others, the manager Richard lives on a boat so know's the score.
I bought 3 different types from this company 3 weeks ago, all 3 arrived faulty. Sent them back (at my expense) and 3 more replacements were delivered, one of these was the wrong type. Two weeks later and at the third attempt I got what I ordered. Hope their LED's are better than their customer service. Also ordered 4 MR16 LED's from China at the same time, they arrived in 5 days, worked perfectly and cost a quarter of the price of the UK ones. Buy British eh!!!
-
Blackrose -I had an additional skin tank fitted about 2 years ago in exactly the same way as you suggest in your OP. I sanded down to bare metal all the parts of the swim that formed part of the new tank and it was welded into position with the boat in the water. It works a treat and have had no temperature problems at all since it was fitted (did prior to fitting)and can now run at full power indefinitely with engine temp normal. When lifting out about 1 year later for re-blacking we could see where the original blacking was burnt off along the outside of the welds during fitting. tosher
-
My favourite is
'Les Cargo' carrying company.
Who gives a monkeys what is painted on the side of somebody else;s boat, if you are so anal about such stuff OB worry about what is painted on yours and less about what is on others.
I like "Bodgit & Scarper" ---- "Mobile marine Engineers"
-
What have you tried?
Mount it on rubber, wood then rubber again, in a box with sound insulation form. Use flexible hose to connect the pump up.
Edit to add this link... http://www.soundservice.co.uk/enclosure_kits.html
Another edit, do use MDF for the enclosure. It's quite dense so is good for blocking sound.
It is mounted on a wooden pad with rubber feet between the pad and the wooden floor and it is fixed in the bottom of a cupboard under a false floor. I have tried wrapping it in old towels, bubble wrap and various other things with very little reduction in noise. However I have not tried propper sound insulation foam and the pump is connected to solid plastic pipes not flexibles. Will try as you suggest when next onboard, thanks for the advice. tosher
-
I have a Shurflo that has worked well for 5 years but it is very noisy dispite all attempts to muffle the sound.
Marina Receives Award
in General Boating
Posted
Couldn't move the boat my bow thruster doesn't work !