CJR

We were wondering about this too! If it struck our solar panels would we get an instant charge to 100% in our batteries?! D'you reckon our MPPT charger will handle it?

yes,but he had four rubber tyres, we are sitting in a big pool of water

You could also do what we do - cheapest option - poo in a plastic bag, throw it the trees and blame local dog walkers!!!!!!

Just had a good thunder and lightning storm here over the Erne, and we were wondering the obvious - what happens if the lightning hits our boat while we are on board? Do we get fried? Does the boat go up in flames? Does our inverter go bang? Or should we have another beer and forget about it?

Just spoken to them again, and they were very helpful, and they have asked to see a few more pictures of the installation (which is fair enough) - just to make sure it has been done professionally and not botched. They have only heard of this happening once before where the cable had been clamped and damaged at installation stage. My main query was - why had it not tripped out? The photos are going to be passed on the manufacturer to try to find a reason why it has becomed damaged, and have been advised (wisely) not to use the unit!! The unit is around 2 years old and I cannot tell when it happened. It was sheer luck that I found it at all. I will come back to you all again when I have more info....

I've contacted Beta Marine today (as they supplied the unit) and sent them an email with the last picture taken. Will let you know what they say....

Here's another picture just taken. Looks kind of burny to me.

Hope this is clearer? A bit blurry now though. (I've just contradicted myself there!) I think it is definately a heat source, as the brown marking is scorched plastic casing from the other cable it was next to.

Okey doke - give me a min - going back to photobucket now.....

I was having a root around in the engine room the other day - as you do - and this caught my eye and gave me a bit of concern. See picture below. This is the cable that comes from the 240v alternator to the travelpower unit. It is under one metre from the alternator. Looks like a burn mark where something has overheated? It was cable tied to a steel securing point along with the other cables, but I have seperated it from the other wires as shown. Would it be possible for it to short out through the armoured cable? We have not noticed any problems with the travelpack. Any ideas anyone?

What you need is one of these! The Irish Jumbo Breakfast roll! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIIWKA_h12Q

So the sensor is not worth worrying about then? Cheers.

I have a Powermaster 25amp charger and I am wondering if it really necessary to have a temperature sensor fitted? I have read in the instructions that there should be one fitted before use, but guess what - mine was left off when the boat was built! I have tried to get one but the supplier is no longer trading. if it is important, will anything else fit this charger? Cheers.

lift the leg out of the water,and try to rotate the prop by hand with engine in gear,if the prop spins freely without turning engine over it could be the shear pin broken. This is a small bar behind the prop which is designed to break if the prop hits a rock preventing gear box damage. This is easily changed by removing the prop, then you will see where there is a small hole in the shaft which is where the shear pin slides through and locates onto the back of the prop. There may even be a spare one under the hood attached by a rubber clip. Remember to remove the HT lead off the plug before rotating the engine by hand. Just in case it decides to start! Not too sure if your model has a shear pin - it could be a rubber mounted version. Re: cooling problem - has it been used in salt water much?

Was your welding done with a mig or was it stick welding? I have been told that mig welding is a lot cooler than stick. What you have described is what I am worried about, as access to view it from the other side is going to be a problem without removing cupboards and wiring, as it will be near my inverter and main electrical cupboard.

There should be 2 plastic grilles on either side of the leg near the prop - check to see if it is clear, then take the hood off and follow the pipe where the water comes out, back to the engine. This should be a small black rubber pipe that disconnects from the engine - pull it off and blow through. Sometimes smal bits of debris get stuck in it. Keep an eye out for small bits of rubber as it could be your impeller disintergrating. Try not to run it for long periods if it is not pumping water, as it will quickly destroy the impeller. Hope this helps.

Hi there. Thanks for the reply, yes - we know Graham and Steve and we were moored in their yard last week and discussed the wheelhouse with them. Graham is a really nice fella, but is a very busy man, and Steve is not too well and is returning to England for a while so this could really slow up getting work done. Out of interest, does anyone know of a barge called Big Baloo? - a neighbour of ours showed us a picture of it. It's a Liverpol widebeam with a wheelhouse. It could be based on the Thames we think. If it is still around we would be interested to see more photos of the wheelhouse if possible.

Now our electrical query has been solved, we are now moving onto our next challenge... We are in the throes of trying to get an open wheelhouse built onto our widebeam, and welding will need to be done onto the roof for the front screen. I am trying to find out how safe this will be - we have sprayfoam insulation and am a bit concerned about the heat transfer through the steel and onto the foam. Getting the ceiling panels down inside the boat will not be easy. Has anyone had any experience in this sort of thing - I have heard that the welding can be done in small runs to give it a chance to cool before going back to fill in the spaces. There will also be welding required above the diesel tank - how is this safely done? We would like to get a bit of advice before we let someone loose on the boat - there aren't too many boat building welders around here! Would anyone out there like to come over to Ireland to build a couple of wheelhouses for us and our neighbour?!

I need to extend an earth to the batteries,whats the best way to join 95mm2 cable or is this not good pratice.Would it be better to just replace with new.Having a bit of trouble trying to get hold of 95mm2 over here ,.would it be ok to use 2 45mm2. many thanks .

very good! (I don't know who you could possibly mean! ) Maybe we could get some printed up to wear at Crick next year!?

No - he is still wearing it inside out! It was only spotted after we had moored up this evening. I hate to think what would have happened today if we had spotted his wardrobe malfunction this morning!!! Any tips for what he should wear tomorrow to get us back to our home mooring safely?

Had a bit of a strange day's cruising on the Shannon-Erne canal today. We should have seen the signs when hubby put his shirt on inside out (and nobody noticed all day), then had to wait to be rescued out of a lock which broke down (all electronic here), then we had to pull out a young German girl who fell into the river in front of a lock when trying to jump back onto her boat (driven by her Dad who did not even notice she had gone in), then finally the mother of all cock-ups NEARLY happened - hubby nearly hung us on the back cill of a lock! Good job the emergancy stop button works on those control panels!!!! We have travelled these locks so many times, and just a quick laspe in concentration was all it took to have a near disaster. Needless to say we decided to pull over at the next town (Ballinamore) and have decided not to move till morning! Is Wednesday 4th the new Friday 13th?

I fitted a whale gulper between tank and outer skin fitting - works really well. Pump out stations pull the macerated waste through the non return valves with no bother. The only problem with the gulper is it leaves a small amount of waste between the non return valve and outer skin fitting on the gunnel which has to be washed out before you screw the cap back on.

No need to apologise- sorry to disturb you! We only have the paupers free-to-view-channels-on-a-suitcase-satellite-dish package.

What Sky number is Quest on? Never heard of that one. Can you get it on free to view sat?