Ouse on Board?

I agree but as we are a charity and have young people on board we think its a sensible option.

I'm after one of those stickers that show the danger areas on the boat around the tiller and not to walk down the sides or on the roof. I can find one on Ebay which just shows the tiller area but its not quite what I want. Im sure they usually say British Marine on them but cant for the life of me find them anywhere.

Thanks all. In response to Ditchcrawler, there is nothing on the D+ terminal (see photo). I too thought it must need some form of excitation but perhaps being for the leisure batteries its in-built to the unit its self, self-excitation as it were? DMR - I dont normally run it with the isolator off, I was just doing some testing as I needed to be sure that it wasn't battery voltage. I did it with the isolator on as well and as there was no spike when the engine started I made the assumption it wasnt producing any voltage, either from not exciting or just being knackard. Sir Nibble- I dont have a part number of the one we have because a bit of research has deduced that its no longer supported and had been uprated to a 150A version - part number RDG201102021 which I have found stockests of. Lastly - the alternator was working fine, the last few times when I have started the boat I have had to "blip" the throttle to kick the alternator into life then its been fine, but the other day the warning light came on mid cruise making me think it is the alternator rather than wiring (although I'm still open to suggestions of other causes). I have attached a picture and as you can see there are only 2 connections. Sorry for the quality and angle, I took it to see the label rather than an over-all image of the alternator but as you can see, nothing on D+. The contact with the small wire on is for the warning light and I'm not sure what the last contact is for. There are no signs of and snapped or damaged cables which may have vibrated off etc. I believe its always been like this. At the end of the day its a boat, and like all the other toys in the garage, I shall probably just throw money at it until the problem goes away! Thanks everyone for your thoughts by the way.

thats with the isolator off (so batteries disconnected). with the batteries connected it was 13.2 but no change between starting and stopping the engine.

1.4. I think it was

Yes the warning light is on when the engine is running and there is no voltage coming from the alternator. Can you recommend a specialist?

Our domestic alternator has died and I am struggling to find a replacement. We have a Barrus Shire 40 engine with a 140A 12V alternator. I was going to just replace like for like but cant seem to find a supplier anywhere. The Barrus website is as good as useless. Are there any direct alternatives that would fit either new or overhauled? All help appreciated. Thanks (as a side note, I checked the voltage coming out of it today and it was nothing so likely it is the alternator or elements of it)

We offer training on board our own Narrowboat in Cambridgeshire or we can come to you (subject to suitability of boat etc). Narrowboats and Cruisers catered for. We are a charity so all fees go back into keeping our charity running making prices quite competitive. WWW.OUSEONBOARD.ORG.UK

Finally got ours finished and ready to go. Not a bad job but I'm pretty chuffed.

Thanks for all the ideas. Sometimes it helps to have a few ideas thrown around. MK1 made so will make a better version out of something tomorrow. Cheers all

Yeah this is my thinking if nothing else comes to light.

Todays job, trying to sort out the shower. Turns out the mixer just needed a good clean up, however it is missing the knob. I am struggling to find either a suitable knob or something to use as a knob. The main problem I'm having it that its a 7/8" drive which the knob would need to slot on to. All the ones i seem to be able to find online are small spline drives. Any suggestions? Its usable as it is - just, but with wet hands its quite a small knob to grab hold of at the moment There are no part numbers on the mixer unfortunately.

Best addition so far. Excuse the dodgy paint job, this has since been rectified.

Cheers all, I am going to climb down and inspect with torch and mirror, no problem doing that. I have a new relay on its way and a bulk load of 15 and 25 amp fuses so can do a little experimenting (one thing at a time though). You would think being an avionic engineer this would be a doddle but I think we are blessed with much easier to follow diagrams (with internal workings of components). I hate working with coloured wires all leading to boxes, however Flyboys diagrams are much better to follow so i may steal those

Yes that would make sense. It has to be something causing the fuse to blow while the engine is operating. Ive got a feeling the solenoid and starter are one assembly....£££

I'm reckoning that the diagram with the 25A fuse is older and has been replaced with the 15A suitable for the wiring...

Completely agree with the fuse doing its job, the only reason I mentioned uprating it was because of this diagram...

Always turns over and starts, never sluggish or slow. If it was clicking i would go for the battery being low or connection on the starter or solenoid

They suggested waiting for 7 days while we get back to you So in the mean time I thought i would see if anyone here had any ideas

This is our diagram. There is a similar diagram for the 14-40 which has a 25A fuse where our 15A one is. I can change the fuse and engine starts fine, then after stopping the engine it wont re-start and the fuse is blown? So possibly the relay is sticking, maybe as simple as that?

I am after some magnetic ones if anyone knows of any commercially available ones, otherwise i guess its off to the shed

Has anyone had a problem with their starter relay fuse blowing? We have a Barrus Shire 40 and last year the 15A fuse for the starter relay would randomly blow, preventing the starter from turning. Its been fine for most of this year until yesterday when it happened once more and again today. According to the wiring diagram its called the Engine Start Control System fuse. It may well be similar on other engines. I've got a pot of spare fuses but it would be nice to know if this has happened to anyone before and what they did about it.

No I cant imagine it will be. I don't ever recall seeing a boat down there in all the years i've lived in that area. I tell a lie, a couple of canoes once day while i was cycling past. its a lovely area though, nice and peaceful and the bridge at the entrance to that bit of the cut is pretty old (but you wouldn't know from driving over)

Im not 100% sure but it looks wide enough to be navigable and i have heard stories of boats passing through in the past (and of it being re-commissioned as part of this on going fen-rivers-big-wonderful-link-it to-everything-project, along with horseway lock and Welches)

What about this one between the Old Bedford and New Bedford rivers. Not there anymore but the earth works are still there. I guess as the tide comes in this far this could be viewed as a tidal lock but would also have prevented the New Bedford filling up the floodplain during flooding seasons??