Poppin

Yes yes I have the mixer valve installed. As I mentioned, the heating element does not engage as the machine has a cold wash function. My batteries are fine. I'm trying to understand why the cheap inverter works but the expensive ones cut out... Is it simply a matter of superior safety function?

Maybe someone can help me solve my washing machine-inverter nightmare. I had an old sterling modified sine wave 1800W (peak 2800w). Machine had plenty of power but didn't run properly. Got a cheap Chinese pure sine wave inverter 1500W (peak 3000w), works a treat. Was concerned about long term safety so tried upgrading to a sterling pro combi 1600W (peak 3000W), machine ran smoothly but would cut out with an overload alarm before resuming without issues after a minute. Sterling was faulty in other ways so I returned and changed to a victron multiplus 1600W (peak 3000W), again, runs smoothly but alarm trips and inverter shuts off 5 mins in. Does not continue. NOW, the machine runs with the heating element disengaged but the overload alarms happen always at the same time (perhaps the machine activates the heating element for a second before recognising that cold wash is selected). In any case, would 3000W peak not be plenty for this? Why on earth is the cheap Chinese Edecoa inverter working without any issues and is more silent? This whole thing has been a pain

Currently, I have a run from my battieres to the 12v distribution inside the cabin, with thick cable. I also have a separate set of thick cables coming to the same area that go to the shoreline charger output. I have just removed the old pro charge ultra and I have a new victron multi inverter charger, is there any reason I shouldn't just supply both the victron and the 12v distribution from the same cables? If I use the existing cables that were used for the charger, I will ahve to remove them, enlarge the holes and insulate as they pass through the bulkhead, I would rather just have one set of cables for all.

I will soon have 700W of solar on the roof! How do I go about heating the water in my calorifier with excess solar? Current setup has the hot water heated either by engine or webasto, the calorifier also has some kind of 240v 1kw element installed in the top (not currently wired to a power source!). Can I replace this with a 12v equivalent and run it off the load?

No non return valve, there is an isolation valve on either end of the Flexi hose, as well as a spring back lever valve for controlling flow. Bizarre I know. I've been wanting to fit this NRV for a while, but I've just had it isolated until I found time.

no worries, i'm installing the washing machine at that part of the boat tomorrow so I'll pop in a Non-return valve in the loop while i'm at it. Then I can manipulate the taps and pressure without fear!

I've got an interesting problem with the filling loop on my Webasto powered heating. It's a sealed system with no filling tank, so pressure is supposed to be at about 1 bar when resting. I just noticed the pressure at 0! I went use the filling loop to re-pressurize and didn't expect what happened. it pressurised to about 0.3 bar, then nothing more and the pump didn't kick in. I went back to my kitchen tap, opened it and the pump engaged fine, though after I closed it the pump continued for a little bit, obviously filling the pipes near where I just pressurised. So basically the standing pressure in the pipes is enough to charge the heating circuit a bit, but the pump isn't kicking in from the drop in pressure at the back of the boat. Does this mean that the pressure switch on the pump needs adjusting? I did recently replace a 30PSI shurflo with a 25PSI jabsco, could that be the reason? The pressure of the pump must be enough, as the standing pressure it charges the pipes to is enough to charge the heating circuit, its just the pump not sensing the drop in pressure. please help!

I recently posted about getting a proper washing machine on board. Well I went for the Hotpoint top loader that cruising the cut recently got! I have my new washing machine up and running. Plumbed it into both hot and cold feeds via a simple mixer valve. Works well, except for proper drainage! Basically when I run a wash it reaches the end of the program and does a spin. This finishes but instead of ending it starts another spin, and another and another... Until I reset the machine. Now, I am fairly certain this is because the machine senses a tiny bit of water left that it can't drain out, despite the drum itself being empty. I think this because the machine will end a spin cycle no problem as long as I empty the remaining water from the filter hatch. But once it has run a wash cycle again and taken water in, it goes back to repeating spins forever trying to get the last of the water out. I think this is because of the drainage hose, but I am not very experienced with washing machines. The hull outlet hole I am using is at the right height, approximately 80 cm above floor. I am sharing this outlet hole with the kitchen sink, using a Y hose splittler and an in-line non return piece for the washing machine waste. But currently the drain hose comes out of the bottom of the machine and stays low, doing several ups and downs before eventually leaving the boat at its highest point. From what I've now read, you are supposed to immediately have the hose raise to a high point behind the machine, and then slightly drop to the outlet. Would this solve my issue? I'm guessing I have a bit of water constantly falling back down into the machine. Why wouldn't machines be fitted with non return as standard anyway?! Any experience or advice MOST welcome!

I have decided to install the washing machine in the kitchen area and tap into both hot and cot supplies under the sink. Before the washing machine I will install either a thermostatic mixing valve or a simpler mixer valve. The down sides to the thermostatic valve are, as I see it: 1. limits temperature to around 45 degrees max (I cannot find one that goes above this) 2. They act unpredictably regarding flow rate if the calorifier happens to be too cold to reach the set temperature 3. more expensive. My preference is to use something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07CM6515V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 However I would still like to know the rough temperature of the water going in. I cannot seem to find a valve with a simple thermometer that I could install on the outlet of the mixer. Any suggestions? The closest I can find is this but seems to be the wrong size; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-UNDERFLOOR-HEATING-MANIFOLD-BALL-VALVE-WITH-THERMOMETER-RED-BLUE-HANDLE-/142571866682 and these seems to be unreliable: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Clip-pipe-thermometer-hot-water/dp/B00GYV0L5I/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1549146929&sr=8-5&keywords=pipe+thermometer

I have decided to install the washing machine in the kitchen area and tap into both hot and cot supplies under the sink. Before the washing machine I will install either a thermostatic mixing valve or a simpler mixer valve. The down sides to the thermostatic valve are, as I see it: 1. limits temperature to around 45 degrees max (I cannot find one that goes above this) 2. They act unpredictably regarding flow rate if the calorifier happens to be too cold to reach the set temperature 3. more expensive. My preference is to use something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07CM6515V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 However I would still like to know the rough temperature of the water going in. I cannot seem to find a valve with a simple thermometer that I could install on the outlet of the mixer. Any suggestions? The closest I can find is this but seems to be the wrong size; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-UNDERFLOOR-HEATING-MANIFOLD-BALL-VALVE-WITH-THERMOMETER-RED-BLUE-HANDLE-/142571866682 and these seems to be unreliable: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Clip-pipe-thermometer-hot-water/dp/B00GYV0L5I/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1549146929&sr=8-5&keywords=pipe+thermometer

I'm going with the hotpoint, I managed to pick one up for a bargain price so I'll put the extra money into a pure sine wave inverter I think, I've wanted one for a while anyway as current inverter heats things up! I wan't to be able to switch the water feed from hot to cold, whats the best way to do this? So far the only valves I can find for washing machine input hoses are compression tee valves for 15mm pipe. I guess I could tap into both hot and cold lines near the sink with a couple of simple speedfit tee, but I'd need some kind of tap piece for them both to go into, between those and the washing machine hose. Anyone have this set up? Not sure what to look for.

Having just seen the video posted previously about Cruising the Cut using a new Hotpoint machine, I'm now quite tempted by this idea. Cheaper than the smaller machines and can handle a lot more. I just wish I could find some info on average amount of litres used per average wash

This is exactly the scanerio I was thinking of getting. How much did you pay for the new candy? I'm seeing around £450. I was going to plumb this directly into the hot water as well. Do you just tell the machine to do a cold wash and it has no issues with the hot being fed in? I was concerned it would sense the hot and refuse to work or something. I'm guessing it doesn't need that 1.5kw when plumbed into the hot water? That's only when it's heating element engages right? Also our inverter is an old sterling modified sine wave, I'm guessing you have a pure sine wave? This is exactly the scanerio I was thinking of getting. How much did you pay for the new candy? I'm seeing around £450. I was going to plumb this directly into the hot water as well. Do you just tell the machine to do a cold wash and it has no issues with the hot being fed in? I was concerned it would sense the hot and refuse to work or something. I'm guessing it doesn't need that 1.5kw when plumbed into the hot water? That's only when it's heating element engages right? Also our inverter is an old sterling modified sine wave, I'm guessing you have a pure sine wave? This is exactly the scanerio I was thinking of getting. How much did you pay for the new candy? I'm seeing around £450. I was going to plumb this directly into the hot water as well. Do you just tell the machine to do a cold wash and it has no issues with the hot being fed in? I was concerned it would sense the hot and refuse to work or something. I'm guessing it doesn't need that 1.5kw when plumbed into the hot water? That's only when it's heating element engages right? Also our inverter is an old sterling modified sine wave, I'm guessing you have a pure sine wave?

Who has a fully automatic washing machine on board? (not a twin tub). I'm trying to figure out if I can run a small or top-loading one just with engine running a 120A alternator and 2000W inverter. I know that they use a lot of power but presumably that is the heating element. I've heard about people disconnecting the heating element or just running a cold wash, but feeding the machine direct from the calorifier to save power. any advice or descriptions of your setups most welcome!

Just to put this to bed... I changed the belt to a slightly more suitable one, and slightly repositioned the alternator. All seems fine. This is the 120A alternator with standard V-pulley I'm using: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-CANAL-BOAT-ALTERNATOR-HIGH-OUTPUT-120-AMP-A127i-TYPE/181430420788?epid=1260748483&hash=item2a3e188534:g:dhIAAOSwEeFVGmf9:rk:1:pf:0 Now, it seems that neither the engine pulleys nor the alternator have notches, so the fact that my engine has had a cogged belt since we got it seems strange. The new belt that had trouble had smaller coggs, whereas the one I'm using now has larger coggs and small spaces in between the coggs (making it is closer to a standard V-belt). I'll be picking up a standard v-belt soon. Though it does seem that with this belt, and the new positoning, I'm getting more amps with no screeching, even at high revs. Thanks all for advice! edit: I've just read that you can used cogged belts in standard V-pulleys, so perhaps I'll leave it.