n.b.Goldie

I wonder how many boats are chugging around with poor ones?

Having had nothing but grief with split charge relays I junked mine and went for a Sterling Power Products Alternator to Battery Charger. Extremely easy to fit and totally transformed the system. Charges in a couple of hours and now got more power than i know what to do with. A major problem with split charge relays is that although they can handle the power of the alternator say 70amps or so, if it shorts the other way 330 amps tends to melt them very quickly with the associated risk of fire! Of course a blocking diode overcomes this but a standard alternator will not bring the batts up to their full potential unless there is some form of alternator controller used.

That was fast! Thank you very much, most appreciated. ditchdabbler

Just like storyteller i registered in a hurry. Can i change my username please? I would like it to be ditchdabbler many thanks Chris.durham

If I understand Colin Stone correctly, if, due to a fault , the hull becomes live with ac current and someone steps off the boat it is possible that they could provide a better earth than the water and so will not be protected. If this is the case it is worrying because you won't know about it till it's too late! Is this an argument for not earthing ac through the hull? I apologise if i've got the wrong end of the stick but I know I'm un-knowledgeable about these matters This does seem to be a similar forum to the 'illegal earth connections' forum

I must add to this debate that having been involved in boating for some 20 years and having been a license paying live-aboard for some 8 years I am sick of seeing scroungers living off those of us who pay our way. BW know full well who the scroungers are in many cases for some reason choose to take no action. However, we now seem to have a rule that if we who pay our licenses are for some reason late with paying we will receive a £180 fine! So it seems BW are choosing to go after the soft targets. If however BW are regularly inundated with reports of the the same index numbers followed by complaints about their inaction they might DO SOMETHING! Prices of licenses and moorings are rising relentlessly we should not allow revenue dodgers to get away with it cos WE PAY FOR THEM! This issue is going to get bigger given that our canals are getting more crowded every year... Boats are being made faster than canals are being restored.

I must confess that not being at all knowledgeable I have to take guidance from those that profess to know! I feel pretty much like the fool for a client!!! However the thought occurs to me that when I work on my boat with power tools and I plug them direct into the marina power point on the pontoon via an extention lead with an RCD. Perhaps I might not be doing the best thing. How is it different to plugging the boats system into the pontoon power point?

I can recommend the Honda EU2.0i. It ran all mains on my old boat for about 8 years (washing machine, tumble drier etc..) I had it converted to run from propane so no petrol to be kept on the boat. I think Edge Technologies still do them. All I ever did to it was change the oil regularly. Never even changed the spark plug.. The genny was used at least four hours a day to charge batteries via a sterling digital 30 amp charger. I let the genny go with the boat when I sold it last Feb, wish I had'nt! Fumes are an issue with any fuel and I stood my genny on the back deck with the exhaust pointing over the side. The gas bottle stood next to it. We never had any problems with fumes entering the boat.

Re the hull-earth debate.... I too have consulted a qualified electrician cos i wanted to put ac onto my boat. He said that if i install a ring main then a hull-earth bonding IS a requirement BUT if i put the shore-line input through a RCD/circuit breaker box then direct to the appliance (a stirling digital battery charger/12v power pack) then a hull-earth bonding is not necessary. The guy tested it and it seems to work o.k.

Hi everyone. Not sure if I'm using this site correctly cos I'm new to computers. My question is regarding crankcase pressure/vacuum on Lister Canal Star engines. I bought a used narrowboat last march and the surveyor said the crankcase pressure is positive and it should be negative. The exhaust is not smoky but it does blow an oil mist from the breather. I have not had to top up the oil in 100 hours though. The perceived wisdom seems to be that the positive pressure is glazing of the bores as a result of running out of gear and the cure is to run it at 2000rpm in gear (whilst tied-up) for about 4 hours or so to bed the rings in again. I tried this but the engine will not pull much beyond 1700rpm and the row was unpleasant. I could'nt stand it for 15 mins let alone 4 hours! If any-one could give me some help or advice I would be very grateful! Thanks Chris