Jen-in-Wellies

I was given one of these gadgets. Problem was, you can't actually see them when they are deep down in the depths of a typical boat gas locker. The cheap version of the magnetic fuel gauge! Relies on the local cooling of the cylinder wall from the gas evaporating from the liquid surface in the same way as the liquid crystal detector. I find the cylinder empties when making tea when it is dark outside, windy and raining stair rods. For something that you need to do only once every three months with cooking only on gas, I can put up with that. Jen

It had to be green really. Orange in the North?

Narrowboats already sometimes cross internal EU borders and in the future could be crossing an EU and UK border. OK, most of the boats are wide beam, but there are NB's in Ireland. This is another Northern/Republic of Ireland border issue for Brexit. What are the current rules for inland boating red diesel in the Irish Republic? If the Republic mandates white diesel and a post Brexit North stayed with Red, what about boats on the Shannon - Erne waterway that cross the border? How is their fuel use policed? Does it rely on the same fantasy technology that our actual, for real PM is insisting will work for customs inspections? Jen

A bit of white expanded polystyrene packaging between the glass and router might do the trick. White to reflect the sunlight and good insulation with little to no signal attenuation.

This used to be what I used. Until I moored with the MiFi window facing south on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year. That killed it completely. Beware of window mounting. A simple bit of white card against the window and a small gap from the card to the MiFi would almost certainly saved the MiFi from overheating, while still giving good reception of the 3/4G signal. Jen

I don't know. @peterboat is encouraging everyone to go to electric boating, then he buys up all the batteries and solar panels, so no one else can get any. Jen😁

No help at all in answering your question, but the accepted forum spelling seems to be Ebersplutter! Jen😀

The difference may well be down to the capacity of the oil sump. My Beta engine has a sump that holds 9.5 litres, with a 250 hour change interval. A neighbours Vetus that I used to do oil changes on had a sump that only held 4.5 litres or so and a 100 hour interval. I can't remember the model number, but a similar size to the Beta 43. Over double the capacity in the Beta, so over double the hours to get the same loading of nasties in the oil. Other marinisers of the base Mitsubishi may be fitting a higher capacity sump than Vetus. Jen

And the more expensive and sophisticated (higher impedence), the multimeter is the higher the voltage!

Or they may think you've elected a new pope. 😀

If you see 12 point something volts at the fitting, yet the good bulb doesn't come on, then that tells you there is a dodgy high resistance joint somewhere in the system. It will show 12V when a meter is put across the contacts with no bulb, but if you fit a bulb in and try switching it on you'll see that the voltage drops away to near zero between the bulbs two terminals. The problem is, it could be anywhere in the circuit, between the battery and the bulb, including bus bars, both 12V and 0V side, fuse/breaker, switch, any joints, or choc block connectors and the spotlight itself. Nothing for it but to methodically, check, undo, clean, or bypass each joint till you find the dodgy one. I assume by RCB, you mean a resetable overcurrent breaker, MCB is the more usual acronym. Jen

Try before you buy. Hire a boat for a week or two in the middle of winter. Does it still seem like a good idea? Away you go. I got the idea of living on a boat after helping a friend move his over a long weekend in December. You will lose money, but there aren't any pockets in a shroud. Jen

There were a few serious replies in there. Hope they were useful.

Battery technology advances so quickly, it's hard to keep up!

Until someone discovers, or genetically engineers a lemon vole to go with the lemon ant, lemon batteries are not going to be practical for boating.