PineappleGuy

Thanks, yes I thought it would be a case of repeat until satisfactory. Just wondered whether there was anything better to use and discard than the normal oil. Point taken about using the drain plug. Note that Morris Classic Marine oil is 10/40.

We’ve had a flood in the engine bay resulting in water getting into the PRM 150 gearbox. It has been emptied and refilled but the oil is still milky. Do we just repeat until satisfactory or is there a product that would help? We normally put in Morris Classic Marine oil (API CC) but would a different grade, or their flushing oil be better for shifting water? Should the engine be run in neutral or in gear to circulate the oil/product before then draining?

Are you certain that the thermocouple is faulty? I don't know what sort it is but have you tried swapping the electrical connector at the knob end with that of another knob (if that's possible) just to ensure that the knob isn't where the fault lies?

Could be interesting! Many thanks.

I know that's a winding hole (see my original post) but I was looking for something around Lowsonford or soon after (but not 8 locks further on). I can't see anything that looks promising on Google satellite view so I think I'll have to postpone that particular plan to another time.

I’d like to do a short detour down the South Stratford Canal from Kingswood Junction in a few days time. Nicholson shows a winding hole before Lock 25 but the next one isn’t until after Lock 38. Does anyone know from experience whether there is anywhere in between where a 43 ft boat could be turned? I was only wanting to get to Lowsonford but not if it involves doing 16 more locks in order to turn round.

In series it's 4.95A not 14.85A. The output of the MPPT could be up to 20A (@14+ volts) so within the spec of the MPPT.

How about a Dyson vacuum cleaner? The charger for ours says it outputs 26.1V so I guess that can only be off the inverter too.

That makes sense to me and would also seem preferable to having a row of brackets interrupting the view along the roof.

We've been thinking about getting solar but it makes me wonder whether it's actually worth having tiltable panels if they can only tilt a few degrees and the wider the panels the less they will tilt I guess.

At what angle were your panels tilted to achieve this?

When you buy an expansion tank do you have to take into account whether it is going to experience hot water or cold e.g. are the diaphragms different?

Should there be a fuse between an inverter and the battery from which it’s powered? BSS regulation 3.6.2 seems to be saying yes if the inverter is wired direct but not necessary if it is wired through the battery isolator - what is the logic? Our inverter is 600W. Assuming that the cable is the right size, what fuse type and rating should be fitted and where?

Sounds interesting but can you clarify what you think might be happening? Does it explain why the behaviour tends to get worse each time I operate the grill?

Thank you for the instant replies. It's the fact that whatever I do seems to make it work properly but only temporarily. I'll look into the idea of running a wire from the mounting nut to the valve as I don't recall noticing one on ours (which is nearly 8 years old).

Our Thetford Caprice Mark III grill is reluctant to stay on. I’ve checked that the thermocouple retaining nut is tight and that the prong is in the grill flame. I’ve crushed foil around the prong. I’ve even fitted a new thermocouple but whatever I do, it works correctly a couple of times before deteriorating steadily to the point where I have to hold in the knob for the entire time that the toast is cooking. Does anyone recognise the problem and know the solution?

Out of interest, what model of alternator was it, did you replace like-for-like and where did you get it from?

I don't but at the moment there is no control. Should there be a thermostatic valve in the engine coil circuit to limit the temperature reached in the calorifier?

OK thanks. Can the engine coolant get hotter than that? If you run the engine for a few hours would you get hotter water than a Webasto boiler would ever manage?

Which Webasto have you got that only outputs at 72 degrees?

Thank you for the replies. There are separate lights for ignition, oil and temperature and a buzzer covering all three. The ignition light seems to be normal brightness (the bulb hasn’t been changed) and the buzzer normal volume and both are on continuously until eventually (at the moment) they decide to go off, at which point the battery monitor rises to 13.5V which is as high as it ever gets due to the diode splitter. As a matter of interest, how much current is needed to get the alternator going?

It is becoming increasingly difficult to persuade the ignition light to go off and the warning buzzer to stop. Revving the engine doesn’t succeed immediately like it used to. We know that the two domestic batteries are in poor condition but the starter battery is healthy. Is it likely that replacing the domestic batteries will resolve the issue (i.e. could they be hindering the alternator from getting going) or do we also have an obvious alternator problem? I believe that the belt is sufficiently tight so what other checks/measurements could be carried out before replacing the alternator (HC Cargo 111361; 14V, 67A, several years old)?

I'm confused now, doesn't this imply that it's not worth ever not deploying side fenders, contrary to the advice that everyone seems to be giving, as one goes under bridges or into locks most of the time?

Yes, I can believe that. What I was wondering was, if you are starting from two empty systems (engine and heating) does it matter which type of antifreeze you put into each system? For example, might the organic variety be less aggressive in plastic pipework?

When our Webasto was installed a couple of years ago, the engineer put organic (red) antifreeze in the system but emphasised that we should stick with inorganic (blue) for engine coolant. Others will know better than me whether this is important.