wandering

something being hard never stopped me from learning. Just takes me more time. I will get on top of this. Already studying your website of electricity treasure, even if it is going over my head right now.

Solar is on my to do list. I am just uncertain how much I might need… time for the energy audit Have you noticed much / any difference between the two?

Is this another way of saying replace with some brand new leisure batteries? Where should I look for that btw? Power use is pretty sparse aside from this minor (turning major) hiccup

I wish learning curves were cheaper 😆

My pet theory, based purely on my own incompetence, is I drained the battery or remaining charge by putting the electric blanket on and I’ve not run the engine long enough to recharge it all back to good health and despite four hours feeling like a lot is actually not realistic after draining them so much so what you say does track.

The blanket going on was a mistake; I only did it as that’s what I had been doing in the marina. Lesson learned! The meter macs monitor I used at the marina shows I don’t use much power really. I also have no solar. Got this boat from a retired couple who had to stop for health reasons.

from Jan (when I bought the boat) to three days ago I was in the marina on shoreline. I have run the engine four hours today and three yesterday. I am only one hour to two hours from the marina I was moored at. Are you only seeing one image or six ?

Let’s see if this works: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Fu7Fk9gzJehNRbxT7 Those are the images of the Victron panel in my bedroom. Any one willing to translate into simple terms speak for me

I believe I accidentally reset it to 100 so I know that view in the panel is inaccurate. I wish I knew how to show images and videos of what I’m taking about here but fie size too big. The rate at which the number depletes, should that too be considered inaccurate? Ok it’s not 100%, that we can agree on, but now it’s going down to 99.6%. Is the change false too then, do you think?

I am currently at Foxton Locks.

Yes, noticing the light change to green when the key is half turned is what led me to post here. I don’t know why. But it could be the starter battery is fine but leisure batteries are not. I’m confused why my engineer would tell me just last week that the batteries were fine after engine service but the consensus here is that perhaps they are not, in fact, fine. I think they were fine but I’ve done something with that bloody blanket. I hate not knowing what I don’t know. It feels both humiliating and humbling simultaneously. I am trying to understand. I have a very basic knowledge and have watched many videos. I have read that primer but I don’t learn reading a big wall of text like that unfortunately. I don’t want to go back to the marina. It was awful there. Like a caravan park. Not my thing. So I do want to get better at understanding all this but all the might in the world won’t make it easy for me to learn. I have a learning disability as well so that doesn’t help things. I think I’ll go back to the marina to enquire and get this sorted.

How do I check whether they are goosed or not ? There is a panel in my room with Victron branding. Usually told me the state of charge. At the marina it was consistently 100%. As of three days ago, when I moved, the power would go back up. Aside from the small panel telling me the state of charge etc, no. How would I do that? During the engine service, the engineer said the batteries are fine. I think putting on the electric blanket might of done something like deplete them / knacker them. My boat is over 30 years old. Batteries may be 10 years old. I’m not in the marina anymore. Left a few days ago. But whist there the inverted was on all the time with no issue. What happens after the pop? Time for the burial? The blanket was on for fewer than ten minutes. It happened pretty immediately. Is the fridge that bad even if 12v? How do you keep your food cold and frozen?

I have a problem and since I am green to the world of narrowboating I can’t tell if something is serious or not. So please forgive me in advance for my ignorance here and if you can, write to me like you would a child. Electrics is all gobbledygook to me so I get lost easily. I left the marina for the first time 3 days ago, after 2 months adjusting to life on a boat. On the first night, I put on my electric blanket but shortly after doing so, I heard a strange noise and what sounded like a whirring fan. I swiftly turned the blanket off and used the dogs instead to heat me. Then the inverter beeped at 2am which made me panic so I turned it off. What inverter do I have? Victron Phoenix 12v 750 A I also have 2 other Victron devices: A Victron Phoenix Battery Charger 12 / 50 And a Galvanic Isolator but I see no direct switches on that. Anyway, I realised I don’t need to invert anything for the time being as all my things are 12v except for: my laptop charger, phone charger, and bike battery charger. I turned it off. The next day, I turned it on and the input level light was still red, not flashing. Even when I turn the engine off and have all my appliances unplugged, I get a red light and occasionally a beep. I noticed the fridge doesn't do its usual go on and turn off after a while and is no longer on/staying on. Everything on the boat seems to work fine (lights, charging my phone, the radio) except the fridge but I can’t say with certainty what might be going on. I ran the engine for a few hours to see if that might make a difference but as soon as the engine is off the light goes back RED, from GREEN on the inverter. I should note when I turn the key a bit (to turn on the ignition, not the engine), the light goes back to GREEN. The fridge doesn’t go back on however. I think plugging in the electric blanket did something here but I’m not sure what. Any ideas about what you would do in this situation?

I solved the problem, folks. My incompetence knows no bounds: I forgot I set the fridge's temperature dial (it was hidden behind some sausages) to 0. I just turned it now and the fridge came back to life. Gonna go cook those sausages now...

Since turning the fridge off, the ice melted. My issue is now the fridge won’t turn back on as before. Yes, my belief is the fridge was working harder than normal because the door wasn’t shutting properly for a day or two. When I turned it off, the ice melted away but now the fridge won’t go back on.

I’m connected to shoreline, if that makes a difference. Sorry, when I say mains I mean the on/off plug for the fridge in my engine room.

Hi there, I have an old Inlander fridge onboard and the other day I noticed I couldn’t close the doors fully. Upon inspection, the freezer compartment was very frosty and icy and the red light was flashing twice. I decided to turn it off at the mains but now the fridge won’t go back on when I switch it back on at the mains. I changed the fuse to see if that was the culprit but the fuse is fine. Any ideas or is it time to invest in a modern fridge?