frahkn

A Tesco delivery included some frozen items which we had not ordered. As soon as we discovered this (less than 5 minutes after the van had left) we phoned and told them. They said keep the items or throw them away, they were not allowed to take such items back even though the driver was only a few streets away.

I am neither wealthy nor an idiot so there are several items on the boat where purchase decisions were led mainly by price. However, insurance has never been one. I know the company which I use is not the cheapest (nor the most expensive) but they have always been reasonable with me so I have never thought about moving. I understand why some prefer just third party but if you want comprehensive (presumably for peace of mind) why would you opt for just the cheapest?

Rivers, particularly tidal waters but other rivers as well often present mooring issues (type of mooring and frequency of mooring opportunity) which can be difficult for dog owners. You certainly have to plan each day's cruising more carefully and have less flexibility for spontaneity.

You will probably get a lot more replies in the morning when the site becomes active again. If not I'll post my costs (for a 70' boat which is cruised for about 6 months each year) when my brain is working again. Night now.

It's easy to be too negative when replying to questions of this sort. I don't wish to do so but one thing shouts out at me from your query. You have expressed it almost solely in monetary terms - long experience says don't move onto a boat for this reason; don't do it! On the other hand, you can live on a £50k boat for less than the £12k p.a. which you are currently spending and as you are young, you are likely to bounce back from a mistake more easily than an older person would. Others will reply in more detail but some of your costings look optimistic to me.

I disagree with your interpretation of posts 10 and 15 but of course I may be wrong. The two members concerned have posted again but for me at least, have not clarified their respective positions so your interpretation is possibly the correct one. If you wish to stand by your "lazy, ignorant or incompetent" statement, fair play to you. I would want to at least meet the chap before so labelling him but each to his own as they say.

Posts 10 and especially 15, suggest that "invariably" is too strong an adverb?, well anyway whatever part of speech, it's too strong. Look on the bright side, the guy (see what I did there) may never read the forum or not have a lawyer in the family.

Let me just say that I do not know that the starter charge output to is not connected the starter battery and cannot check as I am not on the boat. I think I must emphasise this as both the manufacturer and the electrician have been mentioned by name in my original post. I have no reason to think either were lazy, incompetent or ignorant. While the manufacturer is now defunct, for all I know the electrician is still working and all his family may be lawyers.

True (although the way the cables would have to be run would make it longer) but it's the only explanation I can think of for a good builder like Orion not making the link - if indeed they did not. Of course, as people have said, it's not invariably done this way, perhaps it was not common with Orions?

Thanks everybody. I was never worried about the problem itself, as I said, the boatyard will sort that out. My worry was that something I had treated as self-evident - that the starter battery was charged when on shore-power - was put in doubt by the fitter (and initially, by this forum). However responses to this thread support the idea that this may not be the case, you all can envisage cases of only the domestic bank being connected to the combi. Also, this thread made me think about the distance (12 feet) between the combi and the starter battery, this may explain why they are not connected - if they in fact are not. I am very grateful for all the help and I will post details of the solution when I have them.

Right. So the Sterling kit is not a split charge device (I never thought it was) and now I know that the adverc is not either. So either I don't have one or it is some where else between the batteries and the alternators. See what I mean about not knowing my own boat well enough.

Thank you. I though this was what you meant in the other thread but someone suggested that there was no divergence of opinion and I got confused. I am reassured that a (admittedly non-expert) fitter, who I trust, was not making it up as he went along.

I might have a clue about this (see above) the domestic bank is close to the combi but the starter battery is a further 12 or so feet away - by the engine (which is in the bathroom).

It says "Sterling" and "Battery management system" on the read-out screen. Volts and amps are displayed (rather like on the solar controller) but I don't know if it does anything else. There is an adverc gizmo which I have always assumed was a split charge relay. That is, more or less, what the fitter said. I think it's a "combi" of an inverter and a battery charger.

Very useful stuff Tony, I'll save it all for next time I'm on the boat. Thanks very much, practical advice is what I need even though the yard will fix the problem in this particular case. I do worry that I should know more about my own boat.

Two alternators. Adverc thingy for splitting the charge. No chance of engine running I'm afraid. Alas the domestic and the start batteries are too far apart for me to do this with "ordinary" jump leads. It's just occurred to me that this may be why the combi is not linked to the start battery - if it's not.

Thanks for your reply. I do have a voltmeter, as part of the Stirling battery management but although it has 4 channels, only one is wired up, the domestic batteries. I also suspect the alternator but am confused about 3 things:- * Can a battery go from working perfectly to completely flat in 3 starts? * If it were the isolator switch, would it not be off (I couldn't start at all) or on (things would be fine) - this is not what I experienced. * Either way, wouldn't the time on shore-power put enough back in the battery to at least turn the engine over if not start it? I am confident that the yard will fix things but I have had the boat for 5 years and it's about time that I tried to understand more of what's going on with it.

I hijacked the “Generator” thread, with a question (thanks for the three replies), earlier today but have started this instead so that I can provide some background. I replaced my cheap, basic domestic battery bank last year (with another cheap, basic set) but didn’t change the starter battery. It had always started first time in the 5 years I have owned the boat. During this summer’s boating the starter battery was fine all trip but then, as I was coming home:- On one day there was a slight reluctance to start. Afterwards I cruised for 8 hours. On the next day it took two or three attempts to get the engine started but again we cruised for several hours. On the 3rd day the engine only just started, I was not too far from home so I ran 10 hours and got back to the marina and plugged into the shore-power. On the next day there was absolutely nothing when key is turned. I remained on shore power all day while we packed and cleaned the boat but nothing changed.. I left things to the yard to sort out as I had to get home, as I wouldn’t be moving the boat again till spring, they have not got round to this yet but that’s fine, I am in no hurry. I have not had the boat from new but I understand that the original electric work was done by Guy Taylor when he was with Orion. I have a Beta 43 with the usual 2 alternators, a Stirling battery management system and a Mastervolt 12/2500 combi. I had always thought that this would charge the domestic batteries and the starter battery when on shore power. However the fitter at the yard told me that this would be an unusual arrangement and that normally the charger only charges the domestic bank via shore power. The starter must usually rely solely on the alternator. The fitter is a decent and reliable guy but admits that his speciality is not electrics and that he could be wrong. Obviously charger can be wired different ways but how common is this arrangement? Also, what other explanation could there be? I am not on the boat at the moment but can probably provide some more detail if required. Sorry this is so long but I wanted to provide the relevant detail.

OK, as there is already a divergence of views I will start a new thread on this, with the reason for the question, later today.

Particularly inappropriate (puke invoking) as "pied a terre" literally means "a foot on the ground".

I don't want to hijack this thread but can I ask a related question? I have a Beta 43 with the usual 2 alternators, a Stirling battery management system and a Mastervolt 12/2500 combi. I had always thought that this would charge the domestic batteries and the starter battery when on shore power. However I have been told that this would be an unusual arrangement and that normally this arrangement only charges the domestic bank via shore power. The starter must rely solely on the alternator. Is this generally correct? Thanks.

Well, I've 44 years of frequent leisure boating and I've fallen in 5 times. 3 times from a moored boat, once from a boat leaving a lock and once (the most recent) from a boat into a Thames lock. I've never hurt myself and have always had the luck to be able to get out, either on my own or with someones help. All were entirely to my carelessness and inattention. The most recent was into Benson Lock during a Thames trip in May 2016. So 1. I am not improving with experience. 2. Once every eight and a half years isn't too bad.

No, not yet, I'm a bit of a numpty when it comes to computers and it would be an adventure to try another browser. Also, what would it tell me - I ask because I have gone back to the previous 'theme' (at someone here's suggestion) and this has solved the issue but has not me made me any wiser about the original problem.

No, it's tomorrow night (the night of the 25th) here. Which is good because it delays defeat by a day.

Because it's not consistent - there was no overheating until a month ago and even now it does not always overheat on this site's new theme, though it usually does. I should have been more careful with the wording, it did not occur to me that anyone reading "only on this site" would think that I have tried all the millions of other sites. For avoidance of doubt - I have not - there are probably (almost certainly) other sites which would replicate the overheating.