Unix

Thank you for that nicknorman. I will look tomorrow to see where these wires on the negative go to. Actualy I've just looked at a photo of my battery bank and it appears that one of the green wires goes to some terminal block where it's connected to a black wire - which, I'm sure, goes up to the merlin smartguage. The other green wire disappears off screen to where my mains battery charger is located. Out of interest, I saw that you commented on someone's problem with their powerline T105 battery bank - four batts in series/parallel. That's the same set up that I have. I will attempt an image upload.

Thank you nicknorman. I completely understand that a battery can be internal cells in one unit, or many units making a bank. The battery monitor will not know the difference. I just wondered why the manual seemed to focus on a single battery.. Your answer makes sense. I also have a Merlin Smartguage installed; again by the previous owner. So far I've read that this Merlin can be a two or three wire installation. However I haven't finished sketching out the wiring under the floor. I have an OutBack solar device wired in as well. I really need to see what wire is going to which monitor. It isn't that tidy under the floor and some wires and cables aren't easy to follow. I have multiple green wires connecting to tbe battery negative and haven't seen where they go yet. Thank you for your reply.

Hi all, On my NarrowBoat is a BMV-700 battery monitor; this was installed by a previous owner. I lifted the floor to do a sketch of the batteries and their connections. There's a single 12v starter battery and four 6v batteries connected in series/parallel to give a 12v bank. The BMV-700 is monitoring the battery bank but the Victron manual seems to only refer to the 700 model being designed for a single battery. I tried to upload a photo of a page from the manual but failed to show any progress at all. Is it acceptable to monitor a battery bank with this monitor?

Not sure if it applies to this particular rust treatment but I'm sure I read that white spirit shouldn't be used in the degreasing of the are being treated. White spirit may prevent the treatment from penetrating the rust.

Wood, coal (smokeless briquettes), diesel and possibly soon (by the way things are going) Calor gas - are all easily storable sources of energy / power. These various forns of stored energy allows us a great deal of flexibility and freedom; plus the containers to store the energy are inexpensive. Electricity isn't easy to store and the storage is expensive. Soon it will be a crime to enjoy a lovely log fire.

I don't think it matters that the study was twenty homes. Twenty is a miniscule number for a study but it's the thin end of the wedge that's all that's needed to get people rattled. It appears that the government won't be happy until everyone's reliant on electricity. Gas central heating boilers are already being demonized. What will be next? - our Calor gas bottles?

Just propaganda to encourage people to rely on grid power. Sure, some smoke enters the room when the wood burner is opened. Just like it always has. It's never been an issue until the government(s) want to ban fossil fuels.

Might the exhaust pipe, conduit, have pinhole leaks? I'm checking my exhaust system soon and I'm guessing it's going to look like a sieve.

I have recently bought a boat with a Webasto Thermo top C heater unit. I noticed an odd smell in the engine room so I took up the floor panel to view the heater unit. The smell was coming from the heater as it was the only thing running; having just been on the boat for ten minutes on this day. I kept checking the heater unit and then I noticed a bright orange glow on the exhaust system. The location of the glow was on the flexible conduit. The exhaust has a tight (almost right-angle) bend just four - five inches from the exhaust port. The glow then turned bright red and got quite fierce. I turned the unit off and then a small flame appeared. I blew it out but it came back. Luckily After the third blow it stayed out. I had the fire extinguisher to hand but didn't need it. Then the CO detector in the boatman's cabin started sounding so I got out of the boat pretty quickly. Opened up the bow doors and left it to air for fifteen minutes. When the exhaust cooled a fellow boater examined the exhaust by hand and said that the metal pipe felt crunchy under the fire-proof wrapping. I am going back to the boat soon to unwrap the tape and see what the damage is. I imagine that the exhaust is hitting this ninety degree bend and the bend is taking the brunt of the heat. I cannot remember seeing any silencer unit in the exhaust (as of yet). It's still a new boat to me and I haven't fully learned where everything is. Is it possible to get an angled tubular steel section of exhaust to attach to the exhaust port - and then fix new conduit to this? On board I have a spare Thermo Top C and diagnostic software to use. Of course, all help and advice will be great.

Do boat movers on this forum offer to assist in a move? What I mean is would a boat mover move a boat with the new (and novice) owner on board to help the novice learn to cruise / navigate? Not so much formal tuition, but the novice learning by observing and helping out. If the answer is Yes, some boat movers on here do allow a novice owner to be involved in the move, has that now changed due to the Covid-19 situation? I'm interested to see how people feel about this.

Thank you for the explanation. I do like to be pedantic and use correct words, spellings, where there is a definite difference in meaning. I don't want to be upsetting anyone.. ?

I agree. Narrowboat engineering videos are far and few between. Not only would engine room videos be great to watch, but electrical engineering too. I see there are a few videos on the classic engines but not so much on the typical four cylinder engines: Barrus, Beta Marine etc. By the way, is it "narrowboat", or "narrow boat"?

The edge of the hearth tiling nearly approaches halfway into the middle of the floor but isn't noticeable when walking around. As well as moving the stove to the right I'd also like to rotate the stove clockwise about 45 degrees. By doing that I'll be able to set the stove back to the wall a little bit because the rear exiting flue will no longer be pointing directly towards the wall. I know it won't be a huge difference but it will look better and give that extra little precious space.

I only have photos at the moment so can't check the screws but I will look the next time I see her. I will look out for cemented joints - thank you. I have attached another photo of the stove showing the whole set-up. Hopefully the flue size can be roughly estimated from this? Thinking about moving the stove - there must be a limit on how far from the vertical a flue can be installed; with regulations etc. I'd like to keep the same roof exit for the flue if I can. It will be an easier job plus keeping the same roof hole saves a lot of work. If I wanted to move the stove, say, two feet to the right, (and keeping the same roof exit) do you think the flue pipe angle will not be too shallow? I know it may not look great if the flue runs diagonally across the wall but it will help with the layout that I want. It may be that I get on the boat and like it where it is but It would be good to know the options I have available. Thank you.

Wow, my stove does look like it's been modeled on the Charles Portway 'Tortoise' stove. Thank you for the photo and the info! I'm going to look into it being a possible retro-type stove. Thank you

Thank you blackrose. My wife and I are going to buy the boat regardless. We have heard is said many times (as you have here) that a boat is rarely 100% the one you want. The stove wasn't an issue until I tried looking it up on the Internet. I only hear about the brand Morso so thought I'd see what Olivia do. I'm thinking now that the stove may have been replaced since the original build. Maybe I'm over-thinking it now ? I will certainly research an alternative stove just in case this one fails the Safety Certificate. Thank you for your input..

Don't worry, I won't be offended with critical comments. I'd rather have some information ahead of the purchase. The boat will be surveyed quite soon and it's also having the Safety Certificate renewed at the same time. The surveyor seems well regarded from coming across his name when doing general reading in the forums.

Thank you to the first two people to comment. I did compare this stove with other images and see that it does appear to have a French look about it - which I quite like. Not liking that it may be more for looks than practical purposes haha - Winter will tell. ..still a mystery...

Hi all, I am very, very new to the world of narrowboats. Hopefully getting my boat within two or three weeks. I am posting on the forum because I am unable to identify the make and model of the multi-fuel stove on my boat-to-be. The boat's specification booklet says it's called an Olivia and was supplied by Northern Fabrications. I emailed Northern Fabrications asking about this stove. They emailed back and Eddie said that he's never heard of it. I cannot find a stove called Olivia on the Internet, so far - or it's going to take a much thorough search. I have also looked at hundred of images of stoves in the hope of seeing another like it. Please see the attached photo and hopefully someone may recognise it. Thank you in advance Unix