Quattrodave

OK, but was your electrician doing 240v only or low voltage and 240v ?? I take it that's a 5kw inverter? If so depending on supply voltage that alone could be £2000!

Was your electrician doing 240v only or low voltage and 240v ?? A decent inverter will be well over £1000 solar panels and controller(s) depending how many watts you require could easily be another £1000. You can't use twin and earth, decent multi strand isn't cheap. If your low voltage is calculated properly the guage of cable required will scare you. if you want to do a really good install use tinned cable.

What particularly vexes me is when you ask for butter but get margarine! I don't have proper cow juice, unfortunately it doesn't agree with me 😞

An old race team mechanic taught me to check tappets with the engine running, these days health and safety would have a fit. If you go through each lifter with a feeler guage about a quarter of the specified gap. You can hear the difference and know if it needs a little more or a little less. If you use a T-bar extension, knuckle and socket the adjustment can be made with it running too. The other one to try is putting a screwdriver to your ear and listed to various points on the engine. As others have said, it may not be a tappet/lifter.

If you have access to a PC UPS (uninteruptable power supply) doesn't need to be a big all singing one, most of them (defiantly APC ones) do very good logging. You wouldn't need any load on it but it will still log supply voltage and show when/if there is any drop... Edit: a highend DMM with USB data logging connected to a laptop... not suggesting you should buy one, perhaps borrow one? TBH most chargers I've come across have big smoothing capacitors so wouldn't be bothered by a quick blip in supply...

In my opinion surveys quite literally arn't worth the paper they are written on. If you ever get or see a survey, read the small print, it's a joke! It basically says if the surveyor didn't see it, missed it or made any sort of mistake or omission then it's not they're fault and you don't have a let to stand on... IMHO save your money and do some repairs or maintenance with it...

I purchased a 12v Unispectra TV a while back, for the money its great.

The OP said it was a 'sea going dutch barge' I'd be really nervous about the draft...

If you have a fresh (cool) air supply to the front of the alternator it will last longer and charge better.

Oooh nice find 👍

Used these a few times : https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/mobile/product/1812 Or these : https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/mobile/product/994

Indeed, replace it with a decent one before it fails... I've seen them fail both on and off I.e. you either can't turn it on or can't turn it off!!

The conservationists needn't worry CaRT will have frittered the £14 million on blue signs, more managers & bonuses before the canal opens...

Yes I have a phoenix charger although quite a but smaller than that one!

That's not much solar, I know of boats that have 6KW of solar and they still need additional power. Bare in mind that most of the year you won't get anywhere near maximum yield. First thing to do is a power audit and find out exactly how much power you use.

I was just about to donate £50 but like most shops and petrol stations, you don't accept them 😁

I quite believe it, many years ago I wrecked a windscreen with angle grinder sparks, they quite literally melted into the surface of the glass....

The 3M Scotch Brite Polishing wheels are suprisingly soft, you can run it on your finger for a short period with no harm... I can't really explain it, have a look here : EDIT: They also do different colour wheels with different abrasive-ness (not sure thats actually a word) but the yellow one is the best all rounder IMHO.

It depends how light the rust is but these polishing wheels are amazing!! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264688483728

OK but its not a boat... Again, not a boat... Probably not the wisest thing to post on a public forum, HMRC may be rather interested... Well, you type a lot and seem to want a reaction from what you post. So, pot calling kettle black??

What are you on about?

Two other points to add to this; any work done on a boat must be done to 'code' this in itself can be a steep learning curve. Secondly, any parts/materials used on/in a boat will cost more, sometimes vastly more. You know what they say, BOAT = Boat Owner Add Thousand! Not trying to put you off but please do your research! There are many, many half finished boat projects out there for a reason!

A cheap fixer upper in the long run will cost you a fortune not to mention the skill set you'll have to learn. If done right it will the value will increase, if bodged it won't. What ever happens I doubt you'll get your money back on a fixer upper, it'll have to be a work of love.

An entire socket set, a friend picked up the case without securing the case clips. Everything fell out and immediately bounced into the water ... There were a many choice words aimed at him. Some of it was recovered with a magnet, some just vanished....

Heeheehee I love the idea of building a lock in your garden 😀 I'd be very tempted to build a look-a-like winding mechanism, have a look around a proper scrap yard, not a car breakers, chances are you could find gears, racks, dogs and pawls. Possibly find some big channel and put something together that'd look great...