colin stone

The internals look just like the photographs. Numbers off the device : WWG Nr : 333 035 010X Code : RS VDO Nr: N02 063 001 Date: KW 37/02 E1 021449

Stuart, thanks for that. Tried the hairdryer trick and it worked for a while. Also tried to pull needle off but wouldn't budge. Guess I need more force? My tacho is around 2003 and the outer bezel is painted brass. Needed a good levering to remove. It is also magnetic pickup from flywheel. I assume that the 24v is of no consequence as the arduino and display are suppled by the 5v header on the gauge PCB. I've downloaded your zip file and just have to get the bits. A winter project. Thanks. Colin

Great topic. My VDO tacho lcd hour meter is just playing up and a new meter at £200+ doesn't appeal! My engine electrics are 24v - will that make a difference. Tacho is also only 3000 rpm, but I don't think that will affect anything. Where are the number of engine hours actually stored? Thanks.

Richard, Looks brilliant and hadn't seen it before. Just need to find a couple of lengths in a store and hope it is not too soft. Thanks.

Thought someone must have done this before. I'm using an ensign staff made from white UPVC tubing which is great as it is good and tall, it bends nicely with weight of flag and looks like the very expensive bent Dutch ensign staffs. It also copes well with low bridges, just bending out of the way. The problem is that brown UPVC in 40 and 32mm is not available. If tried Colron woodstain, but it fades in the sun. So wondered if anyone else had got UPVC to stay brown?

I am also looking at a new controller and veering towards the new Tracer BN series because it has max 150v input and remote battery temp sensor. 2215BN, 20A, is £90 plus £21 for remote meter, but I'll probably go for 30A 3215BN £120. Bimblesolar, with several happy barge customers.

Condensation in fuel is a bit of a myth. Unless you have really hugh air vent pipes, there is just not sufficient air movement to bring a decent amount of moisture into a tank. www.yachtsurvey.com/myth_of_condensation_in_fuel_tanks.htm I have some pretty big tanks and one has been around half full for the last 3 years. Not a drop of water in the tank with a 38mm air vent. I use Racor 500MA (BSS compliant) fuel filters with a clear bowl so one can see exactly what is coming out of the tank. Unit has a turbine action to first spin out water and rubbish and then filter above. After 2 years with them, nothing in the bowls. Plus I dose the fuel with Soltron. Water in fuel is either a leaky filling cap or water from the supplier.

It is the battens. One way to minimise is to have battens for panelling run at right angles to the frame battens. Then there will only be thermal shorts at the intersections. But loss of internal room. I have the same issue but only in the very cold weather in spaces where there is more humidity - cabin and bathroom.

OK. When you are next onboard, it would be interesting to know if you have an H3 reading that is not 0. I think the unit is not calculating it?

Thanks. What readings does your unit have for H3 - H5? Colin Stone KEI

Tim, Could you have a look at the Historical Data values for H2,3 and 4. Press the Select button to enter and leave from the normal monitoring menu. And then scroll through with + and - . Agree great bit of kit but it doesn't count amps back in that accurately with the default settings for It, Tcd and Vc. In particular, It is too high at 4% of battery capacity. Eg for me this equates to 36 amps. When my charger or alternators have reduced to this current, the Consumed Energy will still be reading -40 Ah. CE and SoC then magically jump to 0 and 100% respectively. I changed It to 1%, 9 amps, and now it counts the Ah back into the battery with CE reducing to 0. Colin

Just wondering if any one has one? I have a query about the historical data readings - H2, H3 and H4 - which on mine read 0 and have never read anything else. All other H readings are correct. I think the 601 has the same historical data functions. Colin Stone KEI

I have my engine calorifier connections supplying a Bowman tubular heat exchanger, which is installed in the "out/hot/supply" pipe from the boiler. Bowman £40 at boat jumble is is actually an oil heat exchanger. A boiler heat exchanger would probably do just as well. www.luxe-motor-kei.co.uk/internal/page/image179.html The CH pump switches on 15 mins after engine start - a delay on relay - so that the engine is up to temp. The result is piping hot water all round the boat to 2 calorifiers and 14 radiators. With a few hours run, the temp inside is a toasty 28C. System also works for engine cooling - had an airlock in the keel cooling system and used rads for engine cooling for a few days until I could fix issue. It was August, so very hot inside! Written about system several times over the years!

Been using a 3g Kindle abroad for over a year - coverage is good. Browser is fine but clunky with a 5 way click pad - no smooth movement. Just grey and white OK for emailing and basic web activity. No. micro usb to connect to PC. Can't add a dongle to it. Can job it to act as a 3G tethered modem for a PC, but Amazon can monitor your account.

A France forum will have lots of advice. But for basic medical care, blood test, infection etc etc, go to a public hospital with EHIC. Some time later a bill will turn up at UK address for 20% of cost of treatment. Pay that at a local Finance Tresoir office and then claim back from Overseas Healthcare Newcastle - number on back of EHIC. Works OK if a little slow. Treatment is possible at a private hospital, but you will have to strongly convince Newcastle why you went there to get your money back. Remain with UK GP and don't forget the official UK 3 month rule - out of UK for more than 3 months and you can cease getting elective NHS care until you re-qualify after 12 months in UK. Should not affect a chronic condition. If you need a simple medical procedure done routinely - ie chronic - NHS are amenable to train a willing spouse to do it. I have a unit of blood removed every few months and we just do it ourselves. Makes great boudin noir!

Racor Turbine 500MA - glass bowl and metal outer bowl is BSS compliant. www.asap-supplies.com/search/results/Parker-Racor-500MA-Diesel-Fuel-Filter-30

Drainman - powered by nature. www.bhg-marine.co.uk/drainman/drainman-pump-kit Vessel needs to move around a little though.

Energy Solutions website has a table of RCD cable standards - www.energy-solutions.co.uk/wiring-standards.html and lots of other tables.

15 gross tons in the VAT act, going back to 1972 and pre EU.

I think loose cables should be insulated and sheathed - so 2 layers. I used 4mm2 for my lighting above the deckhead. Some was twin cable insulated and sheathed, some was single cable just insulated and I added sheathing, pulling 20-30ft lengths of cable through the sheathing with welding wire.

I use 57mm twin A belt pulleys on Leece Neville 24v 95A and 110A alternators and have no problem with slippage and engine pulley is 200mm. So just under 8k alt rpm at max engine rpm. Alt limit is 8k rpm, but car/auto derived alts can go to 15k+ rpm.

Very interesting and at 68ft it is 20.72m - so will need TRIWV certification in Europe. Hope the builder was aware of that and has incorporated all the construction requirements eg the visible anchor is weigh too small - on the basis of my 185kg anchor on a 72ft x 15.5ft vessel, the TRIWV will call for something in the region of at least 75kg plus - which will require a proper anchor winch. Plus all the CEVNI 20m+ stuff. If not get 73cm chopped off before going over. I guess displacement is going to be pushing 40-50 tonnes and I agree with Tam and Di - the visible cleats look totally inadequate. A boat this size and weight needs as a minimum a pair of 5 inch diameter bitts on each bow to take a 15 - 18mm rope. Going up in a large lock the boat will experience some pretty violent motion - and even a 20mm rope gets stretched a lot. Mooring in many places, the surge from passing commercials will snap/bend 1" steel bar. Perhaps it is so ugly to crack the HMRCs 15 tons - it is 16.9 gross tons so the cabin roof is the deck argument seems to have been used, despite the little side decks. I'm frightened just thinking about going on a large canal/river in it.

The HMRC Tonnage is a strange beast that they use in the absence of any other tonnage measurement. The words on how to calculate are in the HMRC VAT Notice 744C section para 2.9 and 2.10. Basically L x B X D x 0.16 - where D is the depth of the hull under the side decks or hull centre if there is a deck there. So a 58ft x 10.5ft would need to have a depth at the side of the hull of 1.7m - 5ft hull sides - to achieve 15 tons. A 60ft x 10.5ft would need to have a hullside of around 1.6m deep. There were all sorts of exotic ways to improve the situation. For example have a cruiser style aft cabin at the rear. Extensions above the upper deck line were multiplied at 0.35 rather than 0.16, but the latest words, July 2011, seem to have tightened up on that and other interpretations. The essential test is "design and adaption". The residence requirement by HMRC is not reflected in law. And if you have not realised, I did all the VAT and High Court cases with my dutch barge KEI. You can read all the details here - http://www.luxe-motor-kei.co.uk/vat.htm

>Now if anyone wants an issue to chase the Dometic Travel power needs attention as it's a centre tapped supply using facilites that expect a earth referenced neutral. Yes - I have a Sterling AC alternator that puts out 115-0-115v. So its output is switched by a contactor through the shore Isolation Transformer which converts it to 230-0v. I have an RCD immediately inboard of the shore connection and then one on the main AC board after the inverter.