cheesegas
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Posts posted by cheesegas
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18 hours ago, Tigerr said:
I've been looking at a Nelson in Emsworth. It's got a small engine - a volvo penta inboard 20hp. Am I right in thinking i is simply underpowered for anything coastal? The tidal flow at Bembridge where it would be berthed can exceed its quoted speed so it would be going backwards!
Ive also been looking at a Hardy 20 with a honda 70 outboard - which would have a fair turn of speed.
My brother says I should really think of a small planing boat rather than a displacement hull, as he says the fishing boat he uses (displacement) can easily take 3 hours to get out to fishing spots and small muddy boats whizz past all the time on the way. But then I assume they bob about like corks once they get there and everyone is sick.
I have a similar boat, a 19' Colvic Watson with probably the same engine as the Nelson - a 20hp Penta MD7B. Mine is very recently purchased though - spent a couple of months on the hard standing fixing bits and pieces before launching it, and I keep it on a mooring on the lower Thames. I use it for pottering around the Thames Estuary, 20hp is fine for that, being a displacement hull the small engine gets it up to 6-7knts easily and it'll happily cruise all day at that speed. More throttle just results in more noise!
It's probably underpowered if you have a destination in mind offshore though, it'll take a long time to get there. It is however very stable, 2 and a half feet of water draught, smaller boats really bounce around in the wash of ferries etc but this just bobs a bit.
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17 minutes ago, Bluebell and lunar said:
Thanks for the intel.
Would you guess this conversion is likely be with Danfoss or Secop compressor opposed to chinese clone, or are you thinking it is cheaper because it's using a chinese clone?
Is this a consequence of extreme temperatures or a sign of inefficient design? It is VERY hot at the moment but these temps are few and far between (historically).
I would guess that it's a Danfoss/Secop being Inlander. The Chinese clones tend to be fitted to a fridge designed as 12v from the ground up, but I've seen a couple of conversions, I'm not sure who did them though.
The condensers in the side panels tend to be less efficient I think, but that's not based off any tests, just a feeling! You need to leave plenty of space for air to circulate on both sides, a lot of the time they're jammed into a space tight, or there's stuff stored down the side. I'm not sure why the move has been away from having the coils on the back, maybe to avoid damage during shipping and installation?
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This is a mass market 240v fridge that's had its 240v compressor replaced by a 12v one. Inlander usually use Danfoss or Secop ones which are very good, but I have seen some conversions with Chinese clones of the Secop BD35. They seem to be pretty good, a bit louder and the inrush current is a bit higher than the newer soft-start controllers Danfoss/Secop are using though.
The one thing to note about this fridge in particular, and other similar ones, is that the condenser is built into the side panels rather than on the back like it used to be, looking like a black radiator.
You need to leave a good inch or two between the sides of the fridge and the cabinet it's in, so air can circulate. Fitting it tight into a cabinet will cause issues.
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On 29/06/2025 at 20:33, fer said:
Then, If I recall correctly, after Denham all boats disappeared! just a few dotted here and there. I found this a bit puzzling since the canal looked quite alright. I remember passing West Drayton train station and expecting loads of boats there. No boats.
Plan for next weekend was to go to Limehouse, and then up the Lee Navigation, but having walked that stretch today, I wonder if I should give it a pass. It had interesting bits that I would like to do with the boat, and the bow back sounds interesting, but Limehouse cut was rather grim and barren. ah, and loads of weed. Must be my boat, but I have been down the weed hatch every single day.. more than once!
Then up to Hertford, but with the Ware Boat Festival being that weekend, I wonder if mooring will be a struggle. Anybody there already? Does it get very busy?
The bit from 1/4 mile above Denham up to Harefield Marina is very shallow near the banks, even a V bottomed GRP cruiser would struggle to moor - it hasn't been dredged in many years I think.
West Drayton is usually fairly busy when I've passed, but the bit by the Tescos has benches which people sit and drink on at night which can be loud. Once you pass the station on the right, it's the same issue with the water depth next to the bank, much of it is too shallow.
Limehouse Cut is pretty unpleasant to moor on - there used to be a lot of break ins around there, and the canal is full of weed. The Bow Back Waters loop around the stadium is fun though, you can't moor there or you get shouted at very quickly and in summer it's weedy. I have a relatively shallow drafted Liverpool boat which seems to cope fine with the weed, go through slowly and it's all ok. I've heard that deeper drafted boats like the working fuel delivery Woolwichs etc have real issues though.
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12 minutes ago, Baralacha said:
I stopped using them at the end of last year.
If you are on a PAYG plan, check it's less than a year since you paid them. They stopped forwarding my mail because I'd not paid for 18 months and assumed the plan stayed active as long as there was credit in the account.It doesn't explain the lack of response, however.
Thanks, I'm on a subscription, and it renewed only a couple of months ago. Who are you using instead?
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I've used Boatmail for my post for the last 4 years or so. However, they don't seem to have forwarded any post which I requested just over a week ago, and aren't responding to email or phone calls. Website is still up though. Has anyone heard on the grapevine if something's happened to them?
They always reply quickly and send an email well ahead of time if they're going away on holiday etc, so it's a bit odd. I'm aware that it's only one person who effectively does everything though!
Is anyone else also using Boatmail and experienced the same thing?
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On 22/06/2025 at 09:51, AJLElectronics said:
Only the first iterations of fibreglass, they have been fire retardent for most of Reliant's manufacturing and the same with all the other users, Porche, bus and coach manufacturers, boat hulls etc.
Not sure about this. I have a little 18’ seagoing boat which is currently on the hard standing in a marina. Earlier this year, 8 GRP boats were completely consumed by a fire, which was only stopped from continuing up the line by a steel shipping container. The fire brigade fought it for hours, and in their own words, once a GRP hull catches, it’s very difficult to put it out. I think I’d believe them over someone on the internet telling me that fibreglass is fire retardant.
There’s also plenty of GRP boat fires which result in the hull being consumed by fire down to the waterline.
The glass fibre may not burn, but the resin does, quite happily!
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28 minutes ago, AJLElectronics said:
Not with surface mount sockets. That reminds me, I *think* that I have a bag full of sockets somewhere that I need to dispose of. Maybe I should offer them FOC to posters here? 😉
Yep, those are the 90 degree version I mentioned. Seen a few on boats with either the remains of a plug inside them, or with the housing cracked, presumably because the cable's been pulled - the length of the connector offers a good amount of leverage.
The 5 amp 3 pin BS546 plug is better in most regards - it sits fairly flush with the wall and pulling on the cable is unlikely to damage the connector or socket. There are also BS546 amp plugs available with 20mm internal fuses, allowing you to run thick cable to each socket and then use a smaller cable from plug to appliance.
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Are you heading south on the GU? Try Matt Miller at Bulls Bridge Dry Dock near Southall. He doesn't travel but there's plenty of mooring nearby, just don't leave your boat unattended for long as there's a lot of break ins around there.
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22 hours ago, GUMPY said:
One thought:
Have you got enough distance between where you want to put the projector and the screen to enable you to focus the projector.
I suppose if it's on a humongous great wide beam this won't be a problem but on a narrow boat it could be.🤔
Projector lenses are specified as a 'throw ratio', but the :1 bit is usually missed out. For example, a 1:1 lens means for a 1m wide image, the projector needs to be 1m away. A projector with a 2:1 lens will need to be 2m away for a 1m wide image. Zoom lenses are given as a range - for example 2.0-3.2:1.
However, once you get below 1:1, you tend to get issues with fisheye distortion of the image. The lens also becomes a lot more expensive as you need a bigger chunk of glass.
Something like this Benq has a 1.21:1 ratio, so mounting it on the wall of your average narrowboat and shooting across the boat to a screen on the other side (about 1.4m I reckon!), you'd get a 1.2m wide image.
You can improve the brightness by using a projection screen or paint with 'gain', rather than a plain white wall. For example, Rosco's screen paint has a gain of 1.20, meaning compared to a matt white wall, it'll reflect 1.2 times more light. It's all a bit hazy with gain numbers for paint though, as it's relative.
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3 hours ago, AJLElectronics said:
Can I make a recommendation for Hella DC connectors please? 10A current capacity, a nice tight fit and polarised. They are fitted as standard to many German cars and motorcycles and freely available in free plugs, adapters, chassis sockets and surface mount sockets.
Problem I find with the Hella DIN connectors is that they stick out from the socket quite a lot. Fine for cars etc where people don't walk past, but on narrowboats things are often a little cramped so you need to be careful with placement. If fitted where someone may knock it as they pass, the end easily breaks off and gets stuck in the socket.
There are variants where the socket is at 90 degrees so the connector is parallel to the wall though.
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55 minutes ago, GUMPY said:
Problem with XLR is that the only DC standard I'm aware of is using 2 pins of a 4 pin XLR and they have way less current capacity than the 3 pin.
Yep, the Sony standard in broadcast is the one that's commonly followed - pin 1 negative, pin 4 +12v. From memory, the Neutrik NC series XLRs are rated at 10a for the 4 pin and 16a for the 3 pin which is indeed a significant difference. On narrowboats however, 10a is enough for most things you'd want to use - TVs etc.
29 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:This is the three pin version of the XLR connector. The three pins are 0, 12 and 24V to charge two in series 12V lead acids. According to the manual for Mum's scooter, chargers are available from 2 to 7A, which suggests the 3 pin XLRs can take a minimum of 7A without going in to meltdown.
As above, the 3 pin Neutrik NC XLRs are rated at 16a per pin. They're not used for power in broadcast though, as the 3 pin XLR is already used for line level audio signal, and a lot of things need both 12v DC and audio!
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These are handy for powering low power 12v stuff like routers, air purifiers etc in boats. Most people have USB-C sockets fitted now, and the advantage of these cables is that you can also use a power bank to use the device elsewhere. You can buy them in different variants which output 5v-12v stabilised, some up to 20v with a suitable USB-C socket. No DC-DC conversion happens in the cable - thanks to the magic of USB-C, the cable requests the voltage and the source does the conversion and supplies it.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Xiatiaosann-Charging-Outdoor-Converter-Adapters/dp/B0CP9B12ZY
32 minutes ago, Onewheeler said:I quite like XLR connectors for low voltage. There is a sort of standard for 24 V (charging mobility scooters) and they're cheap and robust.
The 4 pin XLR variant is the de facto standard amongst professional grade camera and grip equipment for 12v power. I've seen this used up to 10a with no issues.
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19 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:
Lot fill and refill 5lt plastic water bottles at water points. I often wonder how often they clean them
Easier to clean than a built-in plastic tank though, which assume rarely gets properly cleaned apart from perhaps a sterilising tablet occasionally.
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On 03/05/2025 at 09:32, BoatingLifeUpNorth2 said:
I take it you going to and staying in London? I have never had a problem filling my water tank on the system, there are ample water points to service your needs.
Maybe the London boats don’t move, are permanent homes for workers who enjoy the City’s lifestyle/nightlife/socialising, so they need to shower/laundry more, so their water consumption if far more than your average boater.
There are also lots of permanent online (canal-side) CRT moorings on the canal system, many of which do not have shore power or water. I'd imagine that a water filtration system is rather convenient for this, as you can purchase drinking water and then shower with the filtered stuff. Avoids having to move off your mooring to a water point and back every week or two.
There is no average boater though, unless you want to end up with the image of someone who doesn't actually exist. People use their boats in lots of different ways; some for leisure during summer, living on land and keeping the boat in a marina, some live on the boat in a marina full time, some live on the boat in a marina for some of the year, others might live on land and cruise all summer...others still might cruise year round and live on the boat. Or a combination of all those things!
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20 hours ago, Gybe Ho said:
Last time I looked it was 2w for the 1st gen mobiles and 1w for the later ones.Watts in RF terms can be measured in different ways due to how it’s basically alternating current…in the air.
It’s averaged over a time period, or in the case of mains AC where the amplitude is constant, it’s the root mean squared. The peak to peak voltage of mains power is something like 330v.
With phone RF, the max 250mw measurement is averaged over quite a long time - 6 minutes by EU standards! You therefore have short term high power peaks which far exceed 250mw (3000mw from what I remember), and periods of less than 250mw.
Just now, Tony Brooks said:No one disputed that, what was disputed was talking about a 25kW battery and then what looked like a defence of that use of units. You quoted a gentle putdown of the person who talked about a 25kW battery and his apparent preferred source of correct technical information.
Ah got you, am replying on my phone and didn’t read the whole thread fully. Oops.
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On 30/05/2025 at 18:47, TheBiscuits said:
I have both a gas cooker and a standalone single plate induction hob. Making a brew or cooking a single pan meal with sunshine instead of propane just makes sense - I don't see any point using gas when my MPPT is shutting itself off before lunchtime because the battery banks are full. Especially when we still have another 9 or 10 hours of daylight left ...
This is exactly what I do too, it works very well! Electric cooking throughout summer to make the most of the free electricity, then when the solar drops off the induction hob, electric kettle and air fryer goes into storage and I use the gas hob.
Just using gas for water heating, a 13kg cylinder lasts for 6-8 months.
15 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:Is KWh not a unit used by U-tubers (some might call them couch -potatoes).
kWh is a much better way of measuring energy than Ah. Victron use it for solar yield prediction on VRM, MPPTs use it for yields in the logs and it’s the preferred unit for domestic things. Makes it much easier to compare energy usage, and with more and more boats having 24v or 48v domestic batteries, it avoids confusion and having to convert Ah to compare.
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4 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:
I agree, total drive plate failure would not normally give any rotation on the shaft.
I’m not sure about this - seen a few drive plate failures, including my own; if the splines shear it makes an awful whine but the output shaft still rotates.
If the elastomer damper fails there’s a metal-on-metal limp home mode on R&D plates. If this is ignored, the captive studs bang against each other into drive but eventually wear so only a bit of power is transferred and the output shaft lazily rotates.
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Great, that link works nicely.
My diagnosis would be the drive plate has failed, given the rattling noises and intermittent movement.
The gearbox needs to come out to change it, which doesn’t look like too awful a job given the decent access in your engine bay, and the length of the propshaft. Parts are around £100-200 depending on your engine and gearbox, but you can’t order the new plate until you know what bolt pattern and spline count you have - the old one needs to be inspected first.
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Can you record a short video with sound? Get someone to aim the camera at the gearbox and coupling whilst you move the engine control lever.
Engine on, boat tied up, put it in forward gear, increase revs, then neutral, then reverse gear and increase revs.
Finally, increase the revs with the gearbox in neutral.
Upload the video clip to somewhere like imgur.com and post the link here as the forum doesn’t do video.
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11 minutes ago, MtB said:
Another suggestion is buy a DC clamp meter and measure the current flowing in the fat wire feeding the starter motor, while attempting to start it.
Anything less than 300-400A suggests a failing battery or a high-resistance electrical connection in the supply cabling.
In my opinion, a better way to test for a high resistance connection under load is to use a voltmeter - one probe on the battery positive post, the other on the positive stud on the starter, then try and start it. Then do the same for the negative - one probe on battery negative post, one on the starter casing.
Should see no more than 1-2 volts on the meter.
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Where are you measuring the 9v? Multimeter directly on the battery terminals or a gauge on the dashboard?
If it’s a gauge, try a multimeter direct. If it doesn’t read 9v too, you’ve got a voltage drop issue between battery and engine.
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Having two separate forms of heating is important I feel. When the grate on my solid fuel stove broke in three bits last year, I was very grateful (pun intended) for my hot air diesel heater. Especially as the grate was no longer in production so I had to order a similar sized one and butcher it to fit.
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2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:
Its an electric drive boat (if it ever actually happens), and his U-Tube buddies have told him he can get away wirh a small amount of solar and just go into a marina for an overnight recharge once every 12 weeks.
For reference, this is the post of mine @Gybe Ho is quoting. Annually, 72kwh of my electricity comes from generator/alternator, 100% of which happens in the darker months. Alternator is usually switched off in April and back on in Oct/Nov, so when I cruise in summer the alternator isn't doing anything. I've got 1kw of solar, not a massive amount but not small either.
With a big enough battery, recharging in a marina every month would just about be feasible I reckon, not taking into account the electric drive.
Government produces guidance for lithium battery installations in boats.
in General Boating
Posted · Edited by cheesegas
This is a widely misunderstood thing by both consumers and insurance companies I feel.
LiFePo4 is a type of li-ion battery, just like NMC is a type of li-ion battery; those are the ones used in phones.
Li-ion is a blanket term which covers a whole family of lithium based batteries. All these are types of li-ion battery - LiFePo, NCO, NMC (those two are the sort used in phones, scooters and e-bikes), LCO (newer phones and things with small cells), and there's a few other less common types too.