benjamino

Ok, thanks - so what's the best way of mounting car speakers in a boat - is there an optimium size for the volume behind the speakers? Is it best to make a small enclosure for them or to try and cut a whole in my lining and mount them flush?

Ok thanks - and what about using a car stereo head unit with normal household speakers - is that ok or do they need to be car speakers?

Can you wire up a car stereo so that both left wires go into one left speaker and both right wires go in to the other? Effectively giving twice the power with just a normal two speaker setup? Would that be ok to use with any kind of passive bookshelf type speaker or similar, or is there is a reason why it should only be used with car speakers?

Sure - I thought as much. Blimy this is turning out to be a major job. I have a horrible feeling all the windows are going to be surrounded by a halo of slightly off-colour paint now though. Anyway - what undercoat should I get? What is the quickest drying stuff? Also - looks like the red oxide spray stuff drys a lot quicker than if you paint it - is that worth using?

Thanks very much for the info - so red oxide primer needs a gloss cloat to be properly effective at preventing rust? How will I make a smooth match between the old paint and the new paint? I guess if I keep it very close to the edge of the window it won't be noticable but would it be a good connection betweed the edges of the paint? Would it be better if I sand the edge of the old paint so its a smooth edge onto the bare metal, and then overlap it with the primer, undercoat and gloss? At the moment the current coat of paint stops in quite a neat edge where the window frame ends, so I could just paint the half inch of metal that the window frame covers and butt up the paint to the edge of the existing.

I'm in the process of rebuilding my windows (replacing the rubber bits etc to stop leaks) and have removed them from the boat to do so. In the process of scraping back the area around the window opening to remove grime and prep for the seal when the windows go back in, I've taken it down to the metal, so I guess I need to prime/treat that before putting the windows back? Is just a primer ok for that or should I paint gloass on top up the edge of the metal as well? Not sure how I'm going to get this done if its raining tomorrow!

I have my t-mobile dongle on the end of a 5 foot pole inside a plastic bottle - works a treat! Height is the key I think, interestingly the reported signal is still quite low but get a very solid 1.8-2Mbps download speed. I have that connected via usb extension cable to a Billion router which is an amazing bit of kit, wi-fi anywhere on the boat and don't have to worry about clicking connect on the laptop everytime I start using it.

Interesting - any pointers? I had a bit of a shock over the last week as have spent about £5/day on coal! Not on the boat now until chrissy hols but intend to live aboard full time in a few years and certainly can't go on like that! Wondering I'm burning it too fast or something...

Looking at some options on maplin, depending on the power requirements on your device you could look at this or this - the other laptop type power supplies that can handle higher currents tend to start at 15v output so would probably be too high. I went for the Amperor 12v stabilizer as it outputs 12v but supports higher currents.

I have recently had a similar situation with a hard drive (a Drobo actually) - it uses a 12v power brick to run on 240v. Being sensitive equipment I wanted to make sure I fed it with a stable 12v so I bought the Amperor 12v Stabiliser which has a standard 12v coaxial type plug which is the same as on the end of the power brick lead. If you have the same connection (there are 3 different types available with the Amperor unit) you could probably do the same.

Think I've actually come up with a much simpler solution. I havn't checked if it will fit yet but I think the genny will fit in my middle bow gas locker. So, it can be stored in there along with the maximum 2 allowed petrol cans. Then, I refuel and use it only on the towpath. If it's raining I will have some kind of wooden/metal cover for it. I found these but looks like they are USA only - anyone know if anything like this exists in the UK?

thanks, ok so genny nor fuel cans be stored in the engine room! So, looks like I'll be getting a locker fabricated for it. Still not sure where the fuel containers could go. If the locker was big enough they could go in there while it's not running but wouldn't want them in there when it's running. Also, what is required thicknes for the locker material?

Hum good point. Presumably though if the density of the fumes was strong enough to be flammable it would be strong enough to smell? Will do from now on! What if its raining? If I keep it in a metal locker on the back (positioned how you describe below) presumably it would be ok to refuel in-situ providing the engine room doors are closed? How much space around would you think it needs? Vents on all 4 sides and 3 or 4 inch space all around it inside? I'm thinking some big top-hinge flaps that I can open right up when its running but will still stop rain getting in. Would like to know the offcial BSS line on storage though. Is it ok to store the genny in the engine room with fuel it? And what about storing plastic 5ltr fuel containers? Are they ok in the engine room?

Ha! I was talking with a friend the other day about racing narrowboats. We concluded that anything with an engine has probably been raced somewhere but I couldn't find any videos on YouTube to my surprise! Personally I haven't done much cruising and haven't found anywhere with concrete sides yet so haven't been over the 4mph. Boat is also 30 years old and has an ageing BMC 1.5 in so not really sure its the right way to treat it!

Report it but not challenge personally I think. No point in trying to make a personal stand as it will end in fistey-cuffs no doubt. However, you can't punch BW! BW will obviously have a stronger chance of preventing the individual doing again in the future.

This is interesting - I had no idea petrol fumes sink. I have frequently been running a genny from the inside of a trad stern engine room, sitting just inside the doors with exhaust facing out. I always have an electronic CO detector present in the cabin, so know no CO is getting into the cabin at all (it always reads 0). All refilling was done on the deck well outside the doors but thinking there might be a chance fumes could have wafted inside. Is it worth me getting a pipe with a fan in it sucking out air from the bottom of the engine room for a few hours? I store the genny and petrol in the engine room. Fumes don't get out of genny of the plastic 5 litre petrol tanks do they? Fumes are only a problem when refuelling correct? Thinking about the metal box for storage/running area but can't see anywhere I could fit in on a traditional stern, any other ideas in that department? With the running it only on the bank idea what happens if you need to use it when it's raining? Maybe a removable metal box (open at one end for the exhaust) that could be placed over the genny when on the bank in any weather?

Sounds like a rare but sacred blip of natural selection in a blood line of wholly unnatural selection. The extreme continuation of which has caused lifetimes of suffering and surgical intervention for unhealthy mutant dogs that have been forced to reproduce for other attributes and are now seen as desirable and 'pure' bred! Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the need we have to keep pets, and do like some dogs, but, every punter seems to have at least two these days and we are suffering from over population of humans as it is, shouldn't we be saving space for ourselves and not covering it in dog crap for our children to get in their eyes? Wouldn't it be nice to allow children to walk/toddle in a public area without fear of them putting their hands in any? Not to mention how about a towpath free of shite so we can tie up mooring ropes without scouring the area first. The idea of owners picking it up and taking it home has even been turned into a disgusting self-convincing ritual of putting it in a plastic bag and then leaving that in a tree or hedge, so its off the ground but it will NEVER disappear now its in a non-degradable plastic bag! I appreciate this is a minority so please don't think I am labelling all dog owners with this.

Heh - electrical problems do seem to be like opening a can of worms! Still, I am indeed very happy with the information and discussion that has come about from this. This is one of the most interesting forums around!

What does that mean? Ah ok so I get the switched sockets I need to use that method?

They're a lot cheaper than the switched version on the site I linked to earlier though, still would be nice to have the switch. The second vote for this way of doing it is making me think there's no reason not to do it this way now

Yikes! So the main issue is with the chance of the plug going walkabouts to a 240v socket? As in if I'm confident I can prevent that from happening (big red '12v only' label on it and make sure it doesn't get into the wrong hands) there are no other safety issues? Thanks.

Found these: http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/TLPT5.html and: http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/MKK2891.html Take it those are the ones that I should go for? By the way - re. the info about cutting of cigaret socket plugs to replace with these, good advice I'm sure, luckily the two adaptors I am using are just fused plugs and the gubbins is in an inline block/brick, so I can get the wire cutters...

Ok so I would just leave the earth pin empty? Any idea where I can get these plugs and sockets?

Would you be suggesting putting a sterling engine on the baseplate but outside the thermal enclosure, i.e so it has a hot surface above and cold below, and then have that drive some kind of fan in the enclosure to keep hot air moving out? Or something else? Perhaps add it to your sketch?