Callum4878

Morning all, have currently “ on loan” an original D series and a RD1/DX1 manual, plus some odds and sods of bigger drawings, but living on my boat and no longer in gainful employment, I’m lacking the means to copy any information I want, so I’m jotting down stuff long hand. I have a photocopied A5 manual for my DM3, but it is quite indistinct in places, and was wondering are the register manuals copies of copies, as the original is far clearer, albeit well thumbed? Keith.

Hi, can anyone help please? Have a fairly new Combimaster and have very recently installed 500W of solar. New installation is working fine, showing batteries coming up to 100% pretty quickly then maintaining throughout the day, dropping to maybe 90% overnight. Problem is my Combimaster panel slowly dropped to 85% and won’t charge the deficit, even though I’m connected to mains power! I’ve a feeling it’s something in the settings between the two systems, but I’ve tried disconnecting the solar completely and it still doesn’t charge. Keith

Panels are easily flexible enough for my roof contour, good to know you find 400W adequate, I’ve gone for 500 initially, but expect to go up another 100 if the series only connection doesn’t work out. Had seen a vlog about the corrugated panels, and may try that if I can do it neatly enough.

Hi Daniel, they are easily flexible enough to follow the roof contour, and I was thinking of mounting them on thick beads of Sikaflex to give them a slight air gap, but still open to suggestions for this. Hate the look of the framed ones, so I’d no choice really. Went for Renogy panels, which is up there with the top reviews, and I’ve bought a 60A mppt controller of theirs, which I’m very impressed with, wasn’t cheap mind. Just waiting for a couple of cables to my batteries and two fuses, then it’s install time. All this sun I’m missing out on ? Keith

Understand what you’re saying about odd numbers in parallel, my 5 100w panels in series gives me an optimum 5a at 100v pressure, 4 connected series/parallel 10a @ 40v, but connecting the 5th in parallel would do nothing, and in series 5A @ 60v. Think I’ll either just connect 4 panels to start, and try to squeeze another 2 in later, or try my all in series plan to start, with a view to adding a 6th and rewiring later. Controller i’m getting will handle any of the above configurations, and rewiring is quite simple. Thanks for the responses. Keith

Hi N, thanks for the reply. I was aware of the shortcomings of flat mounts, but don’t like the framed tilty ones, so I’ll have to live with the shortfalls. My five panels will be mounted all in the same area of my boat , so from what you say series would be acceptable. Controller I’m about ready to order is 150v max and 60A output, and my calculations say 110v 5A in and 12v 42A out, so it allows me a little for expansion if required.. Thanks again Keith

Hi all, I know this has probably been done to death, but I have hatched a cunning plan to install my own solar array, and just wondered if any of you could see any obvious pitfalls in my plan. I’ve decided upon 500w from 5off 100w flexible panels, mainly for aesthetic and available space reasons, and my preference would be to wire them in series to a 60A MPPT charge controller. I know some installations have a parallel setup, or even a combination of series/parallel, and it’s mainly this I’m puzzling over. I already have 5off Renogy panels, and I’m considering their controller, anyone recommend a better choice? Keith

Callum is 28 this year, so very elderly for a very big horse, so I don’t think he’ll be moving again. Also my wife is still working, although not for much longer hopefully. We were planning on becoming continuous cruisers when free to do so.

Really wanted to get away from the L&L, spent a month at Scarisbrick then moved up to Rufford where I am currently. Having said that, with the stoppage may look at the one at Adlington until it reopens.

Hi all, thanks as ever for the replies, hadn’t seen the land slip stoppage, and that has thrown a serious spanner in the works. I’d love to go the long way around but have commitments unfortunately. Acton bridge is still a prospect, so will give that a look. Keith Sorry, think I posted this in the vintage engine section, as that’s where I am mostly.

Evening all, Currently in Lancashire but looking to move into Cheshire as soon as possible, any recommendations for marinas/moorings on the T&M, preferably as close to the Bridgewater as possible? So far have only looked at Uplands and Anderton marinas. Need to travel to St Helens pretty much daily to look after my elderly horse, hence the preference for as far north as possible. Thanks, Keith

Mine is the one Dave sent, I thought it was just a pressure transducer, but so long as it works it’ll do for me.

Thanks Dave, mine does pull down when I sees a pressure drop, but doesn’t return to where it should, and last couple of days has been displaying an alarm too. Think I’ll speak to the manufacturer tomorrow, but will go down the route of Tony’s suggestion also, then for very little outlay I’ll have a backup. Thanks chaps! Keith

Way to go Tony, thanks, Keith

Thanks Dave, I’ll try MCS, was yours reasonably accurate before failure? Mine could go from full to quarter after running a sink full. Tony, your plan sounds the most accurate, but would I have to drill the tank for that?

Hi, had my boat since June 2020, water gauge on 850l stainless tank has always been intermittent and not believable, but has now started to show fault condition. If I disconnect transducer and fill tank, it shows a credible full condition, but over the next day or two goes back into fault. Has anyone had a similar experience and managed to remedy it before I rip it out and replace. If I have to replace it, any recommendations for a reliable replacement please?

Thanks for replies, I’ll try to grin and bear it! And buy a good moo and bucket.

Hi, have a problem with condensation in my bow hold, have regularly to remove a couple of litres of water! Just wondered has anyone experimented with a 12volt heater or dehumidifier to alleviate the problem? I spend most of my time in a marina currently, so am using shore power, and have two 145Ah bow thruster batteries housed in said hold, so no chance of seriously draining them. Any thoughts, suggestions please? Keith

That’s interesting John, presume the foam insulates the cold steel from the aluminium foil? May give that a whirl, thanks, Keith

Have a hotpot stove in my stern cabin which I think is the main culprit, as I use the cabin as a drying room after washing. Was just a bit shocked by the amount of water generated, and s was ondered if lining it might help?

Hi, noticed steel work above and around my weed hatch is dripping wet! I’m thinking maybe spray insulation, but has anyone any suggestion/recommendations for a cure please? Keith

Worth a look, thanks Bee.

Great idea Chewbacka, it's odd I didn't think of it myself, as I have a Francis tunnel light that has been dechromed back to brass, and have a spare chromed Francis that I've got it in mind to remove the chrome from. Going to try hydrochloric acid sometime soon. Thanks, I'll make a few enquires.

Good morning, looking for a brass case 100mm back stem temperature gauge. Lots of stainless examples out there, but struggling to find a brass one, any suggestions please? Keith

Just having something on at night that's not really needed is alien to me, and I would like the ability to turn it off. The Combimaster cannot be simply switched off, as the mains power runs through it, and it can only be switch to inverter or charge. My intention is to have two feeds to my distribution board shore/inverter and be able to switch between them. Leisure batteries total 630Ah and would only drop a few % overnight, and my 230v equipment comes nowhere near my shore capacity. Another reason for this decision is on the recent failure of my Mass Combi inverter I had to rewrite my distribution board somewhat to get my socket outlets back on, as everything goes through the inverter. A similar changeover weiuuuld eliminate this. I would prefer a simple manual switch, anyone used anything like this? A simple 2pole switch would do I think.