Llamedos
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Posts posted by Llamedos
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My instinct would be to go back and re check that big old multi plug in the main wiring harness which @Tony Brooks mentioned in his very first post. I had a few intermittent faults with my Beta 38 when I first got my boat, admittedly not this one, but when I separated that multiplug and painstaking cleaned each one of the individual terminals it worked wonders.
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7 minutes ago, Gybe Ho said:
One would hope the underwriters can distinguish the risk of insuring ocean going cargo ships from narrowboats.
Or perhaps there has been an outbreak of narrowboat head-on collisions caused by YouTubers talking to their selfie cams and not looking ahead.
I would think they’ll try to recoup their losses using their entire customer base. We’re not going to get away with it just because we’re the small fry. In some respects that makes us the soft target.
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9 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:
Lloyds have told their insurers that the boat market insurance prices are unsustainable.
Extract from a letter received from my Broker ..................
The marine insurance industry is going thru turmoil at present, with the instruction from Lloyds of London that the industry is unsustainable at present levels and folowing some huge claims Lloyds are changing the requirements from brokers offering marine insurance.
They have told each 'provider' that they must produce a business plan showing that their business is sustainable and profitable, the Business plan must be approved by Lloyds before they are allowed to trade.
Several providers have already had their licence to trade rescinded.
Huge claims? I assume this will be all the Houthi Rebel incidents and also that collision in the North Sea.
We’re small beer by comparison but I guess we suffer the fallout like everyone else.
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@rhapsody blue How are you today? Have you recovered yet from your first post on Canal World? It’s not for the feint hearted is it? 😂
We’re not a bad bunch once you get used to us. Stick with it.
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I’ve completely lost the plot with this thread. 😩
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Sounds like yet another program presenting the waterways as some sort of utopia to escape the pressures of modern life while skipping over the downsides. Sadly there are too many vulnerable people who watch these programmes and destroy what’s left of their lives trying to chase a dream.
There’s a guy who lives near us who had a nervous breakdown and lost his career but to his credit, was getting back on his feet and working again in a steady job. He found out I had a boat and was talking to me about his new plan to give everything up (including his new job) and take his family to live on a boat. I was shocked at his total lack of knowledge about what that would really mean - he’d been watching programmes like this but had done no other research. He had no idea for instance that he would have to move every two weeks. He thought he’d be able to find a nice spot and just ‘live there’ for as long as he liked. I explained that was not the case and he looked crushed. I felt awful at the time, but sometimes a bit of a reality check is the kinder thing to do rather than smiling sweetly then going away and sniggering behind his back.
I heard later he’d finally done some proper research and decided to stay put on dry land.
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59 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:
Unless it all gets carried down the Buckby flight
True. She’s an eternal optimist my wife, that’s why she had the misfortune to marry me. 😂
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My wife made a valid point this morning that heavier than normal boat traffic leaving the Crick Boat Show in the middle of next week will turn off the Leicester line and head down through the Braunston Flight carrying water with it into the pound below. This will help but it will of course, in turn, start to empty the summit pound.
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8 hours ago, matty40s said:
To be honest, the determination to get Crick show go ahead has over-ridden any water saving needs in the Midlands. The reservoirs around may be fairly OK, but no other water flow into the canals usual at this time of year is contributing anything at all.
Indeed! As ever, why let common sense get in the way of the chance to make a quid or two.
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Saw this yesterday too. We were heading over to our boat tomorrow - it's at Ventnor Marina just above Calcutt Locks. Our plans were to head for The Ashby mid-week and spend a week or two over that way. Looks like those plans are in tatters now. This will be the pattern for the whole summer I'm guessing. Oh joy!
What's the situation with the hire boats at Napton @Mike Tee are they still going out or stuck there like you?
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8 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:
As I thought - you are not aware of the different requirements and effect on a human body for 150 V DC.
Do a U-tube search you may find it interesting.
Any fool can work with 240v AC.
Unlike AC voltage, which periodically reverses direction, DC voltage flows continuously in one direction. This constant flow can lead to sustained muscle contractions, making it more difficult for a person to release their grip from an energized source. As a result, DC voltage can potentially cause excessive muscular contractions, making it harder to pull away from the source of the shock.
Furthermore, DC voltage has a greater likelihood of initiating ventricular fibrillation, a life-threatening irregular heart rhythm, compared to AC voltage. This is because the continuous flow of DC current affects the heart differently, making it more susceptible to this dangerous condition.
Another important aspect to consider is the different physiological responses of the human body to DC voltage compared to AC voltage. Unlike AC voltage, which causes the muscles to contract and release in a cyclical manner based on the frequency of the alternating current, DC voltage causes sustained muscle contractions.
This sustained muscle contraction can lead to a phenomenon called “tetanus.” Tetanus occurs when the muscles become locked and fail to release, potentially resulting in severe injuries. It is crucial to note that DC voltage has a higher likelihood of causing tetanus compared to AC voltage.
Additionally, DC voltage may interfere with the body’s normal electrical signaling, impacting the heart’s functioning. While this risk is relatively low for low voltage levels, higher voltage levels can disrupt the heart’s rhythm, leading to cardiac issues and, in extreme cases, even cardiac arrest.
My Dad used to go on about this. He came across DC a fair bit in his job and was very wary of it.
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4 hours ago, Naartjie AKA Duck Hatch said:
Have you looked at the Perlight Delta 300w panels
150cm x 100cm
Mine are Perlight Delta, the smaller 175w version but are performing well so far.
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8 minutes ago, Gybe Ho said:
Where are @Tony Brooks and @Alan de Enfield when you need them? I sense a humongous cut & paste Enfield post is incoming, helmets on chaps.
I anticipate getting berated for posting that pyrotechnic switch video. Helmet firmly donned. 😬🤣
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I bought most of my setup from Bimble Solar. Perlite Delta panels and Victron MPPT controller. Prices were reasonably competitive.
Quite a few others think Craig Solar is good. His website also includes a lot of useful info.
If you can use MS Excel there’s a spreadsheet on the Victron website which you can download. It allows you to input the various panel and controller combinations to see what works. You can also input non Victron panels if you know the specs. I found it very useful.
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5 minutes ago, cuthound said:
My first experience of DC isolators were sprung edge knife switches on DC switchboards like the one in the photo. The springs had to be periodically changed because when they lost tension some really spectacular arcs could be drawn, much to the detriment of the isolator switch!
Same principle then. What was the switchboard controlling?
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12 minutes ago, cuthound said:
As well as a higher current rating, DC isolators should have a shorter "arc time" (the switch opens faster) to minimize the racing which continues on DC, whereas AC automatically goes down to zero every 50mS as it changes from the positive half cycle to the negative half cycle of the sine wave.
That's right. Most of the better ones have a spring loaded mechanism to achieve that.
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1 hour ago, Russ T said:
It also poses the question that if they really are on the roof top (seems unlikely), how the hell do you operate them?
Aussies have got long arms. That's why they're good at cricket. 😀
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That is a good point @Russ T but it’s an interesting read nevertheless and illustrates where a lot of the debate around PV isolators has originated from.
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6 minutes ago, Russ T said:
Given that many are probably already fitted to boats, should they be subject to scrutiny by the boat safety scheme, along with quality and suitability of battery isolator switches? I'm thinking in particular those orrible red plastic removal key type that were prevalent at one time.
What do you think?
Probably.
In the case of PV Isolators checking they were the correct type (ie not AC) would be simple enough but checking the rating might be tricky for BSS examiners as they'd need to see the specification sticker on the back of the panels to calculate the theoretical maximum current.
Here's an article on the law change in Australia if anyone is interested btw...
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5 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:
Precisely, and choosing the correct one, involves assessing the competence/good standing of the manufacturer and inspecting and understanding the specifications and what is needed. It seems to me that the OP justified his choice on the grounds that lots of boaters use that type he selected, rather than the specifications and the current it was needed to handle.
Looking back at my previous comment I described the OP's choice of isolator as being spot on. I probably need to qualify that by saying it was the correct type ie a spring loaded fast disconnect DC version but I didn't mean it was necessarily the correct current rating. As @Tony Brooks says it needs to be sufficient to handle the current produced by the panels and there are several ratings available for that switch.
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Back on the original topic...
There has been a big debate going on in Australia about the use of isolators on solar circuits. Australia, of course, being the country with a lot of powerful sunshine.
Isolators are no longer recommended there because of the amount of fires they were causing probably down to them being under specified or the wrong type being fitted by poorly qualified installers. Doesn't mean they're a bad idea in my book, just that if you're fitting one fit the correct one.
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54 minutes ago, nicknorman said:
The arcing on the DC only arises due to inductance in the circuit. The heater in the video has a lot of coiled wire inside which I guess gives it plenty of inductance. I don’t know what the inductance of a solar panel itself is, not much I’d have thought. And the wiring is in straightish lines so again very little inductance. So I think the video rather over-eggs the issue as applicable to solar panels.
Whilst of course it’s true that a switch rated for ac will have a different (much lower) current rating for dc, that is only an issue when interrupting a high current with significant inductance in the circuit. It has no bearing on the current rating whilst the switch is on. And if you only switch it off when the current is low (batteries fully charged, darkish etc) then again no problem.So yes of course the correct answer is to ensure that the dc rating of the switch is adequate, but in practice let’s not over scare-monger!
Well I'm sure you're right but I'm not taking any chances. I've probably over engineered my setup but better safe than sorry.
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Never ever fit an AC isolator in a DC circuit.
There's one chap who calls himself a professional solar panel fitter on YouTube who fits AC ones he get's from Screwfix! There is a significant fire risk as DC causes a huge spark across the contacts which you don't get with AC, so you need an isolator with both a greater distance and faster closing and opening than AC. The one @Manxcat54 has fitted is spot on.
Here's a rather scary video if anyone doesn't believe me...
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That’s the one I have on my boat, the generic Lucas or Durite type. The keys are cheap on eBay
The key hole in the OPs panel looks different to me. All the Lucas ones I’ve seen have a hexagonal retaining nut, his doesn’t.
Canal etiquette
in New to Boating?
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Don’t call him Shirley, he doesn’t like it. 😂