Echo_Wink

I'm not confused about anything John. I'm just trying to prevent people reading the same advice that I did, about a 240v fridge being OK to run on a boat from batteries (from the old forum) when it clearly is not. The wires I am using on my battery bank are more than adequate exceeding the specs described in the manual, and the wiring for the inverter came with it. I can run my 1500w Hoover and 2000w washing machine without any problems. The point I am making is that even an efficient 240v fridge has no place on a boat as it is not cost effective. You will quickly recoup the money spent on a 12v Fridge because of all the extra money you will have to spend charging up your batteries if you have a 240v Fridge. I know this information from bitter and costly experience. I am trying to help others not to make the same mistake. John and Carol at Limekiln Chandlers told me they have had the same results from a mains fridge. I am trying to help people out here, not get into a petty argument.....

I think you misunderstand my point a little. The fridge I fitted was AA class efficiency . This is currently the most efficient 230v you can get I think. The reason it was no good was that the heavy current draw on start up flattens the batteries very quickly (Its a bit like starting an engine from your domestic bank 48 times a day), and when there is a heavy load on the Inverter the voltage from the batteries drops momentarily. If the voltage drops below 10.5v then the inverter beeps to let you know. This can be a bit annoying at 4 am. This happens even when the batteries are at 11.5v thus reducing the useable range of power available from the bank considerably. While comparing very favourably on paper to a twelve volt fridge, in practice it sucked. So in conclusion I would say if you are going to run a fridge from a battery bank go 12v.

I have the same alternator on an Isuzu Engine. As you say there are two wires which aren't connected when the engine arrives, and mine were labelled. You need to connect one of these for a 70amp alt and the other for 110amp alt, to the IND terminal. The only thing is I can't remember which. I'll have a look when I visit the boat tommorow and let you know in the next couple of days. You could connect both these alternators in parrallel to the domestic battery bank, and then use a split charge diode to connect the domestic bank to the starter battery. The only problem might be putting that amount of load over a relatively small domestic bank. You could use a Sterling alternator to battery charger to regulate the charge (£250 from Yacht bits). These alternators in parrallel take the batteries up to approx 14.4v pretty slowly (8-10 Hours for 750ishamp hour bank). With the alternator to battery charger it takes about 2 hours to go up to 14.8v. It is a lot more efficient. Hope this helps

I've have an Isuzu engine on my boat and when I asked on the familiarisation course you get to go on when you buy the boat they said it could be run on Bio Diesel without modification. The only trouble is I can't find a supplier. There are sites on the net which look hopeful, but I haven't managed to get in touch yet despite several attempts. I remember reading that it sells for about 20p a litre, although maybe this was in Europe. With all the benefits associated I cannot understand why it is proving to be so hard to get hold of. A friend told me in a lot of European countries it is available on every garage forecourt. I don't understand why farmers are being paid to leave fields fallow, while at the same time our government are spending millions fighting and killing innocent people in far off lands to secure oil supplies. Surely bio diesel offers a partial solution to some of the problems ? Have I missed the point somewhere ?

I always thought red diesel is dyed so that it stains the tank, for the purpose of catching those who are using it illegally. I wonder how they will tell if someone has stopped using it when they change the law, if they have already stained their tank from x years use ??

I seem to have a different tack on this to everyone else so I hope I have done it right ! My boat arrived May last year and painting the water tank was one of the first jobs I tackled. I am now drinking the water from the tank and it seems fine and tastes OK. (ie I am alive and well) On the advice of Liverpool boats, the builders, I painted the water tank interior with a cement slurry (2 coats). That is cement and water and half a pint of white pva glue. Also when I was in the building trade this is what we used to line out water storage tanks (enourmous several house sized ones, like reservoirs on stilts) This gave me the advantage of being able to get in the tank to do the job, because there are no nasty fumes. Be careful of the fumes if you use any kind of paint. I did the inside of the battery boxes with a Hammerite rust inhibititing / eating paint, and even though I did it very carefully trying to breathe outside it made me very ill for a day or two (severe headache and vomiting). I have checked the inside of the tank quite recently, and all is well eight months later, so hopefully it will be ok. This might be easier and cheaper than a bituminous solution, although others may have comments. Hope this helps...

I fitted a Lockgate Refleks 2000 in June last year (2004), which has just seen me through the Winter (well a bit left to go but Spring seems to be v. early this year!) It runs 3 radiators and goes through the calorifier to keep the water hot without having to run the engine. It keeps my 57' semi trad as warm as I want, even when the temperature dropped to -5c for a couple of days in Dec. It was a doddle to install, just a gravity feed from the bottom of the diesel tank for fuel and push fit Hep20 (actually used cheaper equivalent from B+Q) for the pipes to the radiators. Total job took 3 Days. Cut a hole in roof with £20 Jigsaw (from B+Q again), had the wrong angle ext chiney for curvature of roof initially but with one phonecall was replaced by return of post for a goodun. Costs £5 - £10 a week to run, depending on outside temp, but then I am having to pay 43p/litre on red diesel where I am. Just email me if you want to know more.

Hi, I too am new to the group (the new group that is). I chose a 240v Fridge because of the advice and posts in the old group, and to save money. I have just replaced this with a 12v Fridge though, for a few reasons. 12v Fridges (at least the more modern good ones) have a soft start motor, which does not draw as much power on start up. The problem I found was that a 240v Fridge draws a lot of power (maybe 8a @ 240v) for a second-ish as it starts up which puts a severe drain on the batteries. I have a 1500w pure sine Sterling inverter, which beeps to tell you when the voltage is getting low, even at 4 in the morning ! The 240v Fridge lasted 2 Days on 700ah batery bank with nothing else running and the inverter on power saving mode, the new 12v Fridge lasts 8 days+. For this reason I would bite the bullet and pay the extra for 12v just because it lasts so much longer. Incidentally when I calculated the difference on paper before I bought the fridge, the 240v looked OK, but there would seem to be no substitute for experience.