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John R

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  • Occupation
    Retired
  • Boat Name
    Ashdown
  • Boat Location
    Debdale

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  1. I have a manual sent by email from Beta that is actually the Kubota workshop manual for the base engine. Tappets are listed as check and adjust every 800 hrs. My Beta 43 does not have hydraulic tappets. Suggest you get in touch with Beta and ask for the manual to be sent
  2. Like Darren, i was there at the begining of this battery, and it proably is the best battery in the world.I am retired some time now so a bit out of date. Suggest you look at Enersys UK website and check out Odyssey product which is similar intrenally to 12fv120 but without some of the bells and whistles such as shock resistance that are of very limited if any value on a boat. Odessey also has more capacity / size options. I run Hawker 12volt tubular plate monoblocs "12TP110" which give excellent DOD and cycle life, see also XFC product, another good cycle life high capacity product due to its construction . See Hawker website
  3. I have some experince using danforth anchors to anchor trout fishing boats broadside to the wind. In these circumstances we have proved beyond doubt that the chain is the most important part of the setup. So cruial is it that on a test session, we sucessfully anchored with only the chain and no anchor but failed with the anchor and no chain in storng winds. General wisdom seems to be that you need at least twice the depth of total warp.
  4. In line with earlier posts, a friend of ours always says "If it's yellow let it mellow If its brown flush it down"
  5. I did this job earlier this year and found there are two "densities" of rope, hard and soft. The Morso squirrel needs the soft rope or the door will not close properly if at all if the correct diameter is fitted to the groove in the door (8mm I think). It really needs to be glued with high temp glue or it falls out readily. try www.stove-glass.com, they were helpful and sent everyting I needed quickly and at a fraction of the cost of my local stove shops.
  6. I have read most of the posts and can see where everybody is coming from. There is one piece of data / measurement that would really change any battery monitor algorithm if you can measure it - acid specific gravity - you really would be able to tell SOC. Digital instruments do exist but would be challenging to fit to typical boat systems but really would make a difference to the knowledge of what is going on. Get your thinking cap on - yours is the best system so if anybody could do it !!!
  7. Our marina is 16 amp supply
  8. We were in Gloucester Docks a couple of years ago when they filmed aa episode of Bargain Hunt. To our surprise when the program came out my wife featured full frame in the opening sequence. I guess that now makes her a celebrity in this day and age. I see her every day. We also saw Martin Bell MP crash into the bank big time on the Middlewich Branch many years ago. Saw Timothy watsit and Prunnela Scales at Lapworth but don't suppose they really count.
  9. Lead battery cycling capability is mainly determined by positive plate construction and to a much lesser degree plate separation design. When dischared to 0% as gibbo is doing the posive plate will bend and buckle when attemting to recharge and the active material (lead oxides) on the plates will fall off reducing capacity quickly and will very soon short out the bottom of the plates leading to complete failure. As a rule of thumb starter and leisure batteries should not be dischared below 50% and good ie tubular plate traction or cycling batteries below 80%. Flat plate cycling batteries are capable of somewhere inbetween. They should be sized for the appication accordingly - anything else is at best kidding yourself.
  10. In general smileypete is correct in what he says about the 644,ie thicker plates etc. At the risk of boring people. Starter batteries and leisure batteries are very similar in construction except that plates in leisure will be slightly thicker but also the plate separators will be lined with glass fibre mat. This is to reduce the possibility of plates buckling and active material falling of in the higher cycle regime typically seen in liesure appliactions. Starter applications demand high current and so are built with the thinest plates possible as high current demand only really discharges the plate surfaces. Both types will do both appliactions but in both cases life will suffer if wrongly applied. However if batteries are abused by overcharging, over discharging and overheating they will fail early and you are best making do with cheap starter batteries ( an expensive overheated battery will fail due to internal corrosion just as quick as a cheap one will). Overcharging and overdischarging will cause capacity rundown, overheating is the most common cause of sudden catastrophic failure. In general terms battery capacity is directly proportional to the battery weight ie the amount of lead in contains. Its ability to withstand cycling and deep discharge is proportional to the thickness of the plates and the construction of the plates in terms of both lead alloys used and plate type ie flat plate - the most common or tubular plate - typically used for traction applications. Don't be fooled into thinking that size of the container is everything - you would be surprised how much empty space there is is some boxes, however this then gives more space for acid allowing longer topup intervals. As with all things it is all a compromise between cost, capacity, cycling, size, maintenance, etc and to some degree you get what you pay for unless you buy outside the specialist trade (ie chandlers). You must however look after them if you want them to last any time but one of the most important things for starting is how easily the engine starts ie will it start first time or not which is why car starter batteries last a lot longer and are much smaller than they used to be before electronic ignition, alternators and fuel injection. Maintenance free, sealed, gel etc - well that is another, more complicted story with many more compromises and I believe in keeping it simple when the application is simple ie on a boat. Also there are many old wives tails and cons about. Just keep 'em as charged as possible, topped up above the plates and as cool as possible and they will serve you well. What do I have 644 stater battery and tubular plate monobloc service batteries but without contacts I have I would settle for a good leisure battery here.
  11. We have a multifuel stove. The main reason was flexibility and reduced dependance on diesel /gas but the clincher was meeting 2 people who had suffered small diesel leaks from there systems. They could not get rid if the smell of diesel once traces had got in the underfloor cavity.
  12. We had a 10 yard length of wire corred washing line in Eldonian Village on the way into Liverpool. This was then followed up by a 6ft alligator in Wigan which actually stopped the engine. Took some cutting of but the wife has a lifetimes supply of handbag material. It was actually an inflatable raft.
  13. We did it in 2009 over the May bank holiday and had no problems at all. All locals where pleased to see the canal being used at last. Even the fisherman were pleased we stirred it up somewhat. Echo all the comments so far, its a great trip. Salthouse Dock remains the only place on the network where I have looked out of our side hatch and seen a swarm of jellyfish around the boat.
  14. I wrap black insulation tape arround the dipstick which makes it easy to see the oil level. Make sure you remove when the job is done, it might come off and spoil the gearbox internals if you don't.
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