canalboat77

We make about 60 pots of tea over two trips a day - so we do need a lot. We use propane gas for the tea/coffee, and a calorifier for the hot taps for washing up etc.

When we have customers the engine is always running. We are looking longer term about fitting a solar panel as well. At the moment the 4 x 115 Led Acid are more than fine. I have the Victron Connect App and we don't use much power. We would like the option of possible having an electric kettle just to make life in the galley a little easier. Currently we have a gas water boiler which isn't so cheap to run nowadays. Thanks

Searched "battery" should have searched "batteries!"

I did a quick search before posting….couldn’t find anything else.

I own a passenger boat and currently have 4 old 12V 115Ah Led Acid Batteries that need replacing. The engine on the boat is a new (ish) Beta 60 has an 175 amp alternator if that helps. I would like to know what my options are to have the latest and greatest battery technology - and would ideally like just one battery moving forward. I'm also UK based if that helps with recommendations for the replacement. Should I look for something which totals 460Ah?

I have recently purchased a new set of 12V NIKI (HYF-305LT) Twin Horns. For the life of me I can't get them to work correctly - one horn doesn't work, the other is really quiet. Each horn has a black and black/white wire, I connect both blacks together, and both black/whites and then connect those to the negative and positive from the old one. Maybe I have a dud, but can anyone think of what I am missing?

We have been having a lot of issues with our first (tank) fuel filter and filter housing sucking in air, and it's time for a change. We currently use the attached. Anyone recommend one they like to use? Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

I've just purchased one of these horns and when they go off you can probably hear them from London (we are located in Yorkshire). Does anyone know of a way to slightly lower the noise level? Other than an old sock! Thanks https://www.midlandchandlers.co.uk/products/aaa-12-volt-stainless-steel-marine-twin-trumpet-horns-ad-113

So I took some readings.....I have two alternators, one for the starter and one for the domestic batteries. Alternator 1: 14V Alternator 2: 14.6V Battery Voltages when engine running = 13.2V and 14.7V Battery voltages when engine not running = 12.9V and 13.5V Really appreciate everyones help/response.

What reasons would my control panel start beeping? I assumed it would be because the batteries are low, but as you can see, they are fully charged? https://share.icloud.com/photos/0ach0cr9vxaAV6GLj-UdqVtEw Thanks in advance.

Just remembered I didn’t provide closure for this topic, and figured maybe one day someone else might have this issue. The culprit was……temperature sensor out of the box was faulty. I guess I just assumed as it was new it worked. 😒 That will teach me. Switched it out for a magical Bluetooth dongle and it’s all good. Thanks everyone above for all your help. Much appreciated.

You are correct - this is the setup I had. Apologies to everyone for asking the wrong question. To be fair the person I asked said it "might" be live on negative. As it's being discussed - what is the best wiring setup for a bilge pump? We would like to be able to manual switch it on from the control panel as well. Thank for everyones suggestions and time.

So the float switch and bilge pump are separate. Thanks

I have a bilge pump which needed replacing and was. When I took it apart I didn’t pay attention to the wiring (I know). I’ve been told the switch on the control panel is live on negative. Can anyone explain what that means, or better still have a wiring diagram? Lesson learned for next time! Thanks

I know in an ideal world before repainting a boat you would remove all the previous paint down to steel (on about the top section - nothing under water.) If you don’t have time to do that what grade sanding disk would you take the boat down to. Last year (different boat), I think we went down to 180 grade before we painted - does that sound right? Thanks

Thanks so much for your reply - makes sense, I’ll just keep doing the same.

Every two years I paint the bottom and sides of my wide-beam narrow boat . Last time I painted the bits which get wet using Rylard Rytex Bodied Bituminous Coating. Recently I keep seeing on youtube boaters making videos about using 2 pack poly paint. Should I be using this first, and then top up with the Rytex? Just trying to get the hull and bum to last as long as possible. On the Leeds & Liverpool canal which isn't very deep. Thanks in advance. PS: I'm actually required to paint this often (MCA friends insist - LOL).

Yeah, I’ve done the first step and opened up a support ticket with Midland Chandlers - where I purchased it from.

Yes, and no luck. ☹️

Ive only just had this connected and as soon as we did, we had the two lights.

We used to have a Heart Interface Freedom 25 Inverter, which I believe had a rating of 2100 watts, so less. Are you recommending we fully charge the batteries (I have a couple of chargers), and then reconnect them? Thanks.

Here’s a zoom of the cables. The person helping me, who didn’t install this says they look big enough. Do they? Yes I think next step is to try some new batteries to just rule this out. Just got to find someone who supplies them.

The voltage should be around 14V - we tested this yesterday and today buy running them down to 10.6V to see if they would charge back up, and they never did. Oops, no solar.

Temperature sensor - so needs to be on negative.

Hi, just wondering if anyone has seen this before? Just purchased a brand new inverter and it’s not charging the domestic batteries in the evening when it is on shore power. We’re also seeing the bulk and absorption lights flashing together. I’ve contacted Midland Chandler but wondered if anyone might know what’s going on? The low battery light is on but is missed in the photo of the inverter. Thanks so much!