Jen-in-Wellies

If you put logs on your solar panels, they won't generate any electric. 😀 If you are even asking the question, you know you're going to give in eventually and buy one! Bow to the inevitable...

Back in the 20 naughties, solar panels were very very expensive. I had a gadget, made in Slovakia, that turned the two 80W panels that I could afford to follow the sun through the day, then return to the start position overnight. If you were really keen, you adjusted the tilt angle between the seasons manually. Part way through the solar panel price crash of the previous decade, I bought a third 80W solar panel and mounted all three flat to the roof of the boat. Still get more out of them than two panels following the sun. No more dismantling the panels to cruise. No more worries about the win

Also, how tall are the people who will be steering the boat? Having to stand on tippy toes to see over the top, or peer round the sides would be a pain for any who are vertically challenged. I try and keep all roof mounted things as close to the roof as possible. Still had to remove stuff to fit through some canal infrastructure. Standedge tunnel particularly. Jen

4 panels wired series/parallel. If one has been completely smashed, then the other wired series with it will also not be connected. The other two will likely be unaffected, so you have two panels still. Even the broken panel may still be doing something, depending on how it is wired internally. There are series/parallel connections within the panel. The exact way will depend on the panel, but if there is still an intact series string between the red and black wires heading out, then it will still be producing something. The reduced capacity of this panel would likely drag the other one wired i

Not a wetvac. Lots of simple cheap hand pumps around. An example for £10, which I've not used, but can't be bothered finding the one I have on-line. Use some 8mm copper pipe so you are sure the intake side is at the bottom of the tank and pump in to a clear jar till you get diesel, not water. Jen Edited to add: Or this for £8. Lots of others.

If you buy from Amazon, some of the money goes to Amazon, so yes, nefarious.

Some other locks were being worked on in the Tinsley flight in 2016. CaRT put in this floating platform to work from. Getting the lorry in to the car park needed a gate post and a sign removing. The crane then placed it in the water.

From April 2016. The gates of lock 2 of the Tinsley flight were replaced. There are boats moored both top and bottom side of this lock, so some musical boats was needed to keep everyone afloat. Why are all the boats gone from the upper pound? This is why! All the things people have accidentally dropped in the cut are revealed. The crane for lifting old gates out and new ones in. While this was going on, all the boats were huddled in the lower pound. When the bottom pound was drained to replace the bottom set of gates, everyone cramme

A short, clear and accurate answer. You'll never make it in politics! Yes there is. That was a straight up and easily found out lie. I could go all the way to the top in politics.

Yes they are. This is in the Museum of Science in Boston. (The American, not the Lincolnshire one). If you ever get a chance to see them running their van der Graaf generator, do so. It is amazing. Jen

The purpose of the uxter plate and the motor narrow boat curved stern was to protect the propeller and rudder when towing an unpowered butty. Now most people don't tow a butty, but the design remains for the look of the thing. It also gives extra space on the back deck and provides some protection to the rudder and prop when in reverse.

Next time you see a boat that seems to swim really well, without a lot of wash, ask the owner to lift it out, or turn it upside down so you can take a look at the hull shape. 😀

Zooming it in till the picture starts to pixelate, I read: 2.8 USGPM (US Gallons per minute), or 10.6 lpm (litres per minute) flow rate. 7.6Amps maximum current. 12 Volts 30psi, 2.? Bar. As @Tony Brooks says, go for a similar flow rate and operating pressure. Jen

Be careful what you wish for. If CaRT had a cap on the total number of boats, then the situation would be the same as their moorings, where the total number is basically fixed. CaRT could then introduce an auction scheme for any boat licenses that came up. Alternatively, CaRT could introduce a bounty scheme. If you want to place a new boat on their waters, you have to prove you have "taken out" an existing boat. Boarding a boat with an unwary crew, stealing their license and scuttling the wreck would be the path to new boat ownership. 😀

Yes, a lightning strike typically vaporises a narrowboat so thoroughly that there is nothing left but a hole in the water where it used to be.

Yachts on the lumpy water are usually the highest thing around. Boats on a canal are usually lower than trees, buildings and tall people on the tow path. Never heard of one getting struck. Ever.

We are over thinking this. Hire boaters with no prior experience go up Tardebigge every day of the summer. It is harder to do on your own (done it twice!), so that is a good day to arrange a crew and lie to them about what they'll be doing. 😀

I'd say move it yourself by water if at all possible. Easiest route is to get it moved to Worcester, then up the Worc and Birmingham. Aim to stop overnight at the top of the Tardebigge, then do the run through the outskirts of Brum to the top of the Lapworth Flight of the North Stratford canal in a day. Other than that, you can stop pretty much where you like. By the time you've done all the narrow locks from Worcester to the junction with the Grand Union, you'll be an expert at them. Then it is learning the extra tricks for doing wide locks on the Grand Union all the way to the north end of t

What is your definition of reasonable? Remember the old adage, Good, Quick, Cheap - Pick two. Except with painting, good and cheap are not an available option, neither is good and quick, which doesn't leave many. Welcome to the forum by the way

Is there any way of finding out what charging voltage settings for bulk absorption and float have been set on the Sterling? A quick Google suggests that Elecsol make sealed and AGM batteries, so they may have needed different charging voltages for bulk, absorption and float to their replacements. It is possible that the new ones are not getting recharged fully during the week on shore line, if the charge voltage is too low, or it is going in to float too early, which will lower the capacity they can take. I'm no expert on battery charging voltages for different types of lead/acid batts, but th

If it is on a shore line during the week, one hopes they are getting properly charged. What make/model of battery charger, or combi do you have? Might be something in the settings perhaps? It doesn't sound like you have a way of measuring current in/out of the batts. Just voltage, which will make it hard to find if/when the current drops to >5% of the Ahr capacity.

If it is a simple, cheap no-name ebay type LED voltmeter, it may not be too accurate. I tried one, as it was free and it is typically reading 0.2V different from the voltage given by the Victron battery monitor. I'd trust the Victron more, though none has been calibrated against a traceable standard. Are you getting anything like low voltage beeping warnings from say an inverter, or the 12V fridge?