benjamino

My boat was built in 1976, 6mm bottom and hull sides, we had it surveyed four years ago when we bought it and it had got a bit thin in places. There was a bit on the side of the bow which had got below 2mm so we had that overplated. The bottom was mostly ok but down to 4mm in some pitted areas. I guess we'll get the bottom overplated in a few years time. I don't really see it as a big issue, although it will be expensive, but she's lovely a boat and I intent to look after her!

Do you have an accumulator tank with that? Also - just noticed there are actually two versions of the Par Max 3 - with different pressure cut outs. Do you know if it's the 40 PSI version of the 25 PSI version?

Thanks - Do you have/use an accumulator tank with that?

Do you know what pump you have?

Hiya, I have a rinnai instant water heater and am having real problems now that the water is colder coming from the tank. I have a Jabsco Par Max 2.9 pump and also have an accumulator tank. I have tried with and without the accumulator tank, and at various pressures on the tank. Basically when I bypass the accumulator tank the pump just cycles very quickly, the heater ignites and goes out very quickly too, and it doesn't get hot enough. When I use the accumulator tank, the heater goes out way before the pump kicks back in as the accumulator tank looses pressure. Not sure what to do! Do I need a pump with a higher cut-in pressure? Or just a slower pump to try and use without the accumulator tank? Getting very frustrated with it now - as is the wife! Thanks, Ben

Hi Alan, I have a Rinnai (replaced a paloma) and I'm pulling my hair out with it! I had to replace our water pump as well because it gave up - but I think I might have now got a pump that is too fast for the heater. It's very cold outside now and our water tank is in the bow of the boat so it's probably starting off at 1 or 2 degrees. If I run it straight off the pump the pump just kicks in and kicks out very quickly at most settings on the heater, it just lights up and then goes out very quickly and the water never gets hot enough. Can I ask what speed/flow rate your water pump is and if you use a pressurisation tank (thing that you pump up with air to allow pump to cycle at full speed when drawing off water slowly). When I use one of those with the rinnai it spends most of it's time not lit because the pressure isn't high enough, but not so low that the pump kicks in to recharge it. Hopefully you can shed some light on the situation if you are happy with the rinnai! Thanks, Ben

Thanks for that, I've looked at these two pages which seem to clarify a lot. http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/nb_ac_sys.html http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/earthing.html - however there doesn't seem much clarification of the earth/neutral thing. I think I need a diagram to get my head around it! Also - I don't think my inverter has a any switching in it, I don't think it has any way to be connected in a way that would allow it to detect a shoreline. So basically I think what I need is a E/N connected plug/socket that I can use to connect the inverter or the generator to my AC circuit. If the inverter has it built in it shouldn't make any different if I connect them outside the inverter as well right?

Crikey what a headache! I've just got a new inverter and want to check over my electrics and make sure its all set up correctly. So, the earth connector on the inverter should be connected to the hull, at the same point all the other earth stuff is bonded? I think thats right. However, I start to get confused when it comes to where the earth on the AC circuits should be. Am I right in thinking the earth of the AC circuits should not be bonded to the hull when using shore power? i.e the earth will be part of the shoreline and disappear away to the shore somewhere? But, when using the inverter, the earth of the AC circuits should be connected to the hull (before the RCD)? So, is that what a earth/neutral bond is? When the earth of the AC output in the inverter is connected to it's earth terminal which connects to the hull? Not sure where the 'neutral' terminology comes into it there. How do I know if my inverter is set up like that? It's a Victron Phoenix 12/350. What about using a generator? That just has rubber feet so presumably doesn't earth anywhere, should the AC circuits be bonded to the hull when using that? Many Thanks, Ben

Trouble with that is there's nothing to stop it swinging in when a boat comes past, I tried keeping the stern right out from the bank with my boat pole but a widebeem cruised past too fast and the force snapped my pole! I couldnt believe it! I'll definately look into the car/bike wheel thing though. I presume they only float if they're on the wheel itself and inflated?

Well the truth of the matter is I am realising that the way I would like to use the canals isn't going to be classified as continuous cruising, so I can't attempt to comply without moving the boat to other areas of the network - which I'm not in a position to do. Therefore I'm seeking to find a legitimate situation that isn't breaking any rules and still allows me to use the canal how I'd like. I.e I'm looking at ways of working with the system, not against it. I have the mooring right now, its a real birth in a real marina and I'd even be happy to spend a fair portion of the year moored up there if it would help me not be classified as spending too long in the same area. Please don't mistake my question for how to evade the system, I just want to get along with BW and stay out of their way, I have no intention of breaking any rules. I'm very pleased to hear that having a mooring is what is necessary to not be forced to cruise the whole network as if that wasn't the case I'd have to find a residential mooring or throw in the towel for the whole waterways lifestyle which I'm so longing for!

Hum this is a bit worrying. I was intending to CC on the K&A between Bath and Devizes - and was hoping that would be a large enough distance to satisfy them. I appreciate it is larger than the Bath-Hilperton area in question but seems like I could probably get painted with the same brush. Anyway - wondering how having a marina mooring would effect this. If you have a marina mooring (non-residential) can you just tell that to BW and they'll stay off your back if you stay in the same 'area'? How long do you need to stay in the mooring to get away with staying roughly in the same area (bath-devizes) when you leave the mooring? Obviously I'd still be honoring the 14 day rule, but would perhaps spend 3 months in the winter on the mooring and then cruise up a down a few times (over several months) returning the mooring to drop off the radar for a while. The question is how long do you have to drop off the radar in the mooring to avoid this 'staying in the same area' attack?

Just heard back from Sterling Power - Charles Sterling said: --- I think you are using the wrong words.. Quasi sine inverters take about 0.8 amps to exsist ( the quiescent current ) so it does no matter if its a 350 or a 1800 watt inverter they will both take the same quiescent current to exists. After that they are both 90% efficient. So it actually make no difference to the efficiency which unit you use --- So seems like they're all much the same at all loads after the power they need to exist is taken into account - Gibbo - does that sound incorrect?

Sterling Power’s website seems to indicate that. They're supposed to be 85-95% efficient. I can only find the max-efficiency for the Victron sinewave inverters and that is 89% for a 12v 350VA inverter. So not a great deal in it, but then again it's hard to say what loads would generate those levels of efficiency (what is the Victrons lower efficiency theshold?) and if there's a difference in the efficiency curve gibbo mentions between sinewave and modified sinewave inverters. Incidenatly my 12v amperor stabilizer only claims to be >80% efficient so if need a stable 12v it's probably going to about the same as using an inverter and then a normal spower supply?

Thanks - where would I find one of those? Can't seem to see one on Victron’s website.

Getting fed up of building my own 12v power supplies for my laptops, speakers etc, and am thingking about getting an inverter. Don't need pure sine but would like to know how eficient they are when not under full load, relative to their rating. So for example how many watts would a 350 watt inverter use when powering an 80 watt device? Would a 1000 watt inverter use any more power to run the same device? Thanks,

Actually the ports are on the back of most speakers arent they - but on the front of those ones I linked to earlier - is there a difference between front ported speakers and rear ported speakers?

Guys thanks for the info - I'm getting a bit disalusioned with all this now! I consider myself pretty keen on sound quality. My benchmark is my friends KEF Q1s. Actually I'd be happy with sound as good as my old KEF Cresta (annoyingly a bit too big for the boat I think). I dare say apart from maybe volume I would probably not care much about improving on the Q1s, they're not massively expensive and if I could get close to that on the boat I would be over the moon. Anyway - if I go down the car audio route as per Arnots recommendations I would have to make sealed speaker enclosures which would look crap unless I spent a long time building them, then I'd need a head unit and probably a sub to make the most of the setup. I apprecate that they might be better suited to the boat accoustics and heat/humidity but for all the hassle I still think a decent pair of bookself monitor type speakers that I could run on a low voltage power supply (wihtout inverter) would be prefereable. Does anyone know of an 8ohm amplifier that has an external power supply so that I can use a 12v power supply instead? That way I could just get any passive speakers I can afford and not worry about buidling my own enclosures! My worry is this buiness with the ports - it seems most speakers have them, event he KEF Q1s - which sound amazing to my ears. Maybe they wouldn't sound so good on the boat? The Kefs did come with some foam bungs which were for blocking the ports, so maybe they intended them to be used with smaller rooms or something?

Boy this is getting expensive!!! Would you not recommend the all in one powered sub unit? I think I might try and live without a sub for a while - is there a way I can get more bass from the normal speakers? 6 1/5" speakers or something? Thanks for all the info!

You mentioned about the Alpine time adjustment feature - it looks like you need a seperate box along with head unit to get it? Link - am I looking at the wrong thing? Also - you mentioned Focal speakers in this thread, and JBL in an another thread, are Focal the better of the two? Seems they are a bit pricier. Edit: just realised it was someone else who mentioned JBL! Would a pair of these, an alpine head unit and some sort of sub (I like the form factor of this) be a good setup?

Interesting! Thanks. So does my enclusure need to be sealed completely? I'm not quite sure what you mean by an air gap in between the front and back of the speaker, thats where the speaker itself is isn't it?

Thanks - just exploring some options as the idea of installing a pair of car speakers is seeming like a pretty major job! Can you elaborate on the phase errors? Is that something that is only going to happen in a narrowboat environmnet? Regarding car speakers - do they need to be sealed behind the speakers? I'm wondering if I was to just cut a whole in some mdf and then position that at an angle facing down from the top corner of the cabin, so there would triangular gaps at the sides, if I'd need to fill them up to make the best of it. Either that or just below the gunwale recess, but still would have gaps at the sides of my enclosue. Almost certain theres not enough space to mount them in the plywood lining there. Ideally I just need some circular 'spacers' so that I can mount the speakers flush to the surface - do such things exist? Thanks for your help!

Hi Arnot, Do you have any experience with Audioengine A2 speakers? They seem ideal for a boat setup, just two small speakers (no sub) but peoples descriptions of the sound in reviews sounds amazing. They're small and most importantly they are active but have a 17.5v DC input rather than a built in AC PSU - so you can presumably just use a maplin type DC power supply with them and avoid using an inverter, or need a car stereo. Any thoughts?

Old post I know! Just wondering what the power supply is on the Acoustic Energy Aego M - can you plug a low voltage input straight into the sub or is it only for 240v AC?

Ok demoed some speakers in halford, the JBLs did sound the best as it happened! Problem is according to their website they need nearly 6cm of depth to mount them, I don't think there is that much behind any of my lining. So think it's going to turn into a bit of a headache as I'll need to build some boxes for them. Also - what thickness wire would I need to power the head unit?

Thanks Tony - what do you think of Infinity? I've also heard good things about them.