Denis R
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Posts posted by Denis R
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Extracts from the Webasto's operating manual that describe the response to temperature and loading:
"When the temperature rises to reach 72° C the heater
switches to the energy saving part load operation. A rise
in temperature up to 76.5° C causes the heater to enter a
control idle period."
"After cool-down of the coolant to 71° C the heater
resumes part load operation. Another rise in temperature
to 76.5° C causes the heater to enter again the control idle
period. A drop in the coolant temperature during part load
operation due to an increased demand in heat will cause
the heater to switch to full load operation at 56° C."
If your boiler really is running flat out and the fin rads are not almost too hot to touch, you must have a significant heat sink somewhere...
If the boiler is idling a lot it sounds as if there's a short circuit of the feed back into the return.
My ThermoTop runs like an RB211 when it's on full power, it's quite difficult to confuse full load running with part-load or idle.
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That depends whether you even need one at all. Later engine/alternator configurations don't benefit from an advanced regulator. There is something on Gibbo's site about the subject, see: Gibbo's info
Worth researching that page first IMO, if you haven't already done so.
Roger
I wasted a lot of money on an alternator controller that produced pretty much zero benefit, given that my alternator is already charging at 14.4 volts. I second Roger's recommendation to read Gibbo's musings before you make any decisions...
As an aside, the controller was a Sterling and I found their customer service approach not to my personal taste depending on who answered - on a lucky day, one particularly kind and helpful individual who was a pleasure to deal with, and on another day a somewhat tiresome individual who was possessed with absolutely no 'soft skills' whatsoever...
After the unit failed for the second time I gave up trying and went back to the original installation, poorer but wiser...
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Well... I emailed Beta and got no response, so not looking too hopefull.
The thornycroft unit is great, but too big. I can only fit in a 52mm unit.
Any more offers???
Get the build number from the engine (it's often on a plate on the rocker cover and generally starts with a 'K') and then ring them. The Beta wiring loom (assuming yours has a factory loom) should already have the connections for a tacho and temperature switch and Beta do options on control panels, one of which includes a set of useful gauges. Have a look here at page 16 and you'll see the choice.
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That's likely. However the case to which I refer is sited 50 feet outside the existing area liable for compensation.(none of which will be paid till the scheme is finalised) Plus they don't really want to move but are understandably concerned that their one asset now provides no security for the future; surely a worthy aspiration for a family on limited income. And there are plenty in the same situation.
Looking at the line of the route through Ruislip, it isn't new build, it follows the existing Chiltern Mainline trackbed which has recently been upgraded to 100mph running. I lived alongside the Cologne - Frankfurt high speed line and the ICE3 trains made no more noise than a Chiltern Turbo at full chat. Most the fears around HS2 are imagined. Our family home is going to have a nice viaduct across the fields at the end of the road. We'll get used to it, life will continue, because it always does.
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I make fairly frequent trips to Manchester from London and the fare is £70 per person on the days I need to travel - petrol sets me back about £50 (less if I take my time) - usual savings £90 when two of us travel, and funnily enough its usually a shorter day when I drive because I don't have to waste time getting into Euston and back.
With tyres on my car costing £120+ each and lasting, if I'm lucky 15,000 miles and servicing at getting on for £400 a pop for a major, the true cost of running my (mid-range) car doesn't make it a 'no-brainer' over taking the train.
If we had the same loading gauge as, say, the SNCF, permitting double-decker coaches, overcrowding would not be such a problem.
The Great Central Railway was built to the Bruge loading gauge in anticipation of a cross-channel link, but of course that's the one that got canned post Beeching...
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And the NIMBY's whinging on about environmental impact are lightweights. Try this for a bit of real environmental impact...
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Hog wash or not my point was-and I apologise if I made it badly- why inflict the angst on large numbers of people when for political and financial reasons the project will never be finished and probably never started.
Now that is a good point. If the case against is based on the premise that it doesn't add long-term value to GB Plc it's worthy of debate. However, this is spectacularly clouded by the emotive, apoplectic reaction based on 'blighting the Chilterns' and 'environmental damage'. (So that massive gash through Chinnor Ridge that rings in the ears 24/7 didn't blight the Chilterns?)
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I am not a nimby but I have cruised the Oxford and seen where the excrescence will cross and, more importantly than any environmental loss, I have a friend in Ruislip , a widow , who together with her daughter and grandchildren, has seen the value of their house and their lifestyle wrecked because of an unnecessary stupidity that will not be implemented in their lifetime.Madness.
The great thing about the Oxford Canal is that if you close your eyes and cover your ears you can pretend that the M40 doesn't exist.
My family home is in Harefield and the HS2 will pass within half a mile of the house. It's brilliant, I'll be able to train spot in comfort from the bedroom window. Anyway, house prices in Middlesex need bringing under control.
As an aside, I wonder how many of the detractors who claim to know so much about the environmental impact of high speed rail have actually experienced it. I lived alongside the Cologne-Frankfurt high speed route and from my experience most of what the NIMBY's are spouting is total hogwash.
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9 days Nigel? You must be slowing down in your old age. You'll be telling us that it's got working water and heating too next...
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Peter Nicholls built a superb narrowboat. They swam beautifully, and the fit outs were excellent. I wish he still built them.
I think I probably had the last narrowboat built by Peter Nicholls in 2006. Peter is more interested in a different style of boating these days: *sigh*
Oh, and he would be the first to agree the Spall's boat isn't a 'Dutch Barge'. He describes it as a 'seagoing motor barge' - which is exactly what it is...
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The engine space of a boat is not like a car. It is not going to pick up dust and grit from the road. I can't see an engine getting damaged unless you drop something down the inlet.
Plenty of engines in non-road situations do not have air filters. Have something to prevent nuts falling down the air inlet, but above that why bother?
Come and have a look at the filter element on my Beta 35 when I service it in a couple of weeks and you'll see why. It'll be as black as the ace of spades - I don't need that steady supply of 'glaze-busting paste' down my bores thanks!
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That's a good point Iain. My chimney pipe is a single piece from roof collar to stove collar and looking at the amount of cement holding it (quite neatly) in the chimney collar, I can imagine some stress on the stove collar...
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I have just been down this road. The smoke box between the top and the chimney pipe was cracked so I bought a new one, I then noticed a crack in the top, again over the fire box, closer examination found a crack in the front, then the heat diverter was seized, The oval collar I can't remember what came next but I just bought a new stove.They come to pieces very easily, 4 nuts and bolts holt the top on and then 4 more holt the 4 sides to the base.
This is my fear, I'll take the stove out and then find that I'm putting good money after bad, especially at Midland prices - £68 for the collar and Lord knows what it'll be for a top plate (if they even do one). I have to say I'm pretty disappointed with this stove, especially as it's meant to be an improvement on previous designs. The problems you describe are exactly those of mine, which makes me think it's an inherent fault... And my stove hasn't been used in real anger either, not that that should make any difference. It's either designed to burn or it's not. There came no instructions that said it's only suitable for a 30% duty cycle or whatever.
Oh well, I guess it's worth a strip down to see what we're in for, regardless of its fate.
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I think this was a particularly good thread on the Premier stove
here.
Laurence Hogg gives some very useful info about the background to it and also gives tips on how it is assembled and methods of operation etc.
You've worried me now with your story of cracks appearing after ony 5 years! Hope mine doesn't do this!
Richard
Yes, I saw this thread with Laurence's information - until I read that I didn't realise that Midland were the assembler/supplier rather than just a retailer. I'll pop in to Braunston (when it's quiet again) and see what they can do. It's the hints and tips about taking it apart and rebuilding it that I'm after - Laurence saying they're built upside down makes me think there's a knack to it...
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Has anybody stripped and rebuilt a Premier range? Mine has a cracked chimney collar, a crack across the top plate between the hotplate above the firebox and the chimney collar mounting, and the fire bricks look as if they need re-seating. Not to mention that the pin that pulls the diverter plate is seized into the front casting and there's a small crack on the body below the oven door... Apart from that it's in fine fettle
In all honesty I didn't expect that amount of damage after only 5 years occasional use, the chimney has generally been capped when not in use and I can't imagine it's suffered that much thermal shock, but hey ho.
I see I can get a chimney collar from Midland Chandlers and I wonder if they do other parts at a price that isn't exorbitant? However, will this thing come apart and then go back together again?
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We've got an old Sky box at home with no viewing card, (the subscription lapsed years ago) it receives the free channels fine.
What ever you do, avoid the temptation to go for one of those Omnimax, omni-directional 'egg beater' look-alike systems. The one on the boat is next to useless and was bought with more enthusiasm than forethought. Whilst others nearby are snugly watching the whole spread of channels on their cheapo uni-directional 'bent coat hanger' aerials, we've got a passable imitation of a polar bear in a snowstorm. It works fine in a very clear area, but the slightest bit of 'clutter' and it's had it.
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When I'm fiddling about with other peoples' affairs and it involves their care and welfare, I would not take the risk by messing it up, with a slight slip in the wording (which is how my friend's cousin lost a £250k house and all the money to care for him, after the death of his mum).
And this is so easy to do. I was an executor of an estate, disposed of through an inadvisedly worded DIY Will, which ended up a complex and disasterous legal nightmare, cost thousands in legal fees to unravel, and in which none of the deceased's original intentions were met...
My solicitor pointed out just a couple of minor changes to the wording that would have completely obviated all this, if they'd been written in at the time.
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Speaking to guys who have done 10's of boats about this only yesterday. Floor down first, tape over with polythene or similar then sprayfoam. This way you don't end up trying to get sprayfoam bits out of the bilges, the sprayfoamers can walk around without tripping over the bottom braces and your floor doesn't get trashed.
Steve
Just checked the build pictures for 'Whirlwind' and that's exactly how Peter Nicholls did it. There doesn't seem to be a condensation problem beneath the floor - there are plenty of removable sections for inspection and whenever I've checked, including during Winter, it's been dry.
Talking of removable sections, my neighbour re-floored his 60 footer a couple of years back and didn't include one removable section... That seems like storing up trouble for the future to me.
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From my experience, the fact that you've got clouds of white smoke coming out the exhaust suggests that the fuel is getting through. The fact that the fuel pump is ticking also indicates that the glow plug circuit is intact. At this point after two non-starts, the unit is probably flooded. In this situation I remove the fuel connection at the Webasto and place a catch pot to collect the fuel then start it again. Typically you'll find a plume of white smoke coming from the steel fuel pipe attached to the burner as well as from the exhaust. (This at least confirms that your fuel pipe is clear.) A finger over the end stops it... Generally it takes four or five starts to clear the burner to the point where there is no smoke. I then re-attach the fuel line and start 'for real'. If it doesn't start and goes through the plumes of smoke routine again, it's probably time for a de-coke, guide available on this forum...
Even if it does re-start and continue to do so, it's often an early symptom of coking.
Edited to add: Usual caveats about checking battery voltage apply - Webasto's play up if the batteries are low...
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Knowing you Nigel, 3 days and moored in time for last orders.
Denis
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going back to my original question, given our usage pattern of moving on every day and not hammering the batteries in the evening is a smartgauge going to tell me anything useful ?
Well it will tell you your actual state of charge, but if you're convinced your cruising/charging regime is working for you, don't bother. If battery life is an issue for you, yes, fit one.
I'm going to use it to check all the cells of the new bank for future reference . I've got a Victron monitor which is good for measuring amps in/out and volts but for measuring true SOC using the hydrometer it would appear that I have to disconnect everything , leave it for at least 2 hours , then isolate each battery (if i want to check voltage) and take it's SG readings - seems to me that a smatgauge would make it a helluva lot easier .Yep, I too really do have more interesting things to do on a regular basis than clearing a load of stuff out the way, lifting the battery covers and playing scientist. I'm more than happy to let the Smartgauge do it for me.
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I've been thinking about getting one are they any good ? At the moment I'm using a voltmeter and as we usually move on every day and don't hammer the batteries. Given our usage would a smartgauge tell me anything useful ?
Regards
Terry
I've had one fitted a couple of years now and in all honesty can't imagine how I survived without it. I've managed to stretch a set of batteries by about a year by using the Smartgauge to inform my charging regime, and from my experience it will tell you one of two things:
Your battery use is being adequately compensated for by your cruising pattern
Or, you've underestimated the demand you're putting on your batteries by orders of magnitude...
As an aside, I've been puzzled to know how the odd user 'can't get on with a Smartgauge', there's not actually a lot to have to 'get on with'...
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OP. I've just noticed your battery isolators. You need to change them. They're not even close to being man enough. I suspect they account for a good lump of the voltage difference you're seeing between the alternator and the domestic battery.
I think we've probably been down this street before (several times), but could you give a steer on which isolator you reckon would be the 'isolator of choice'?
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Can they do that? I thought there are regulations covering redundancy pay or have they been scrapped? I hope not cos my job don't look too good, I better do some research.
There is a statutory redundancy based on age and number of years service, and a state scheme for a minimum payment if the employer goes under and is unable to pay Statutory Redundancy. Noises coming from the Coalition are that they are not going to make enhanced payments as may have been done in the past.
Webasto heating with Fin rads - help please
in Boat Equipment
Posted
I didn't read the gravity feed schematic quite like that. I interpret the drawing as showing the right hand side calorifier coil disconnected, and the pipes to the radiator shown to the right of the calorifier effectively passing behind the calorifier, being part of the circuit to the left. (?)
However, if the OP's circuit is connected how you describe, that would certainly have the effect he's seeing...