forsberg

Thanks, nice to have some up to date information.

Hi! Will be on a rental in Bath in a few weeks. Not having much luck finding information on moorings below Bath. There seems to be nice ones above Victoria bridge? Bath council seems to be a bit boat hostile. I did order a guide Book but it has yet to arrive. Any advice appriciated.

There is no standard as it goes in connecting car stereos, sometimes the main current will go in the ignition wire sometimes in the one marked memory/battery+. Worst case scenario you will blow the 1A fuse when you turn the volume up, then you will know and can swap the fuses (replacing the broken one). But with buildt in speakers I assume 1A is plenty anyway and you should perhaps downgrade the 5A instead.

Solar charge during winter may not amount to much but if it's the difference between 95 and 100 SoC it is not usless at all. <- got it right this time I hope Besides some MPPT's have automated equalisation an thats useful too.

I'm not suggesting anything besides doing an audit , but yes it should have been "State of Charge" with those percentages. I did say "similar" as I got no clue as to what the OP can check.

14.2 is a tad low but addressing that is costly so not worth the bother with cheap batteries, unless the split charge relay takes a long time to to engage or cycles I would not bother to swap priority. No lead batteries survive poor maintance, and there is no straight answer if one battery type is better or not as it also depends on metals used. However AGM are supposed to charge quicker which might help your situation if you continue with your current charging regime and not take the AGM's faster charge as an excuse to charge even less time. Your charging regime seems to lack a bit reading between the lines but it also saves on engine hours and that's not bad either cost wise. As Dr Bob points out more batteries might also make sense as while you have a light consumption you dont charge fully daily then again the solar should pick up some of the slack, however if double the bank only gives double the lifetime there would be no gain. It's very possible that your curent setup is as good as it gets, paying a bit more attention to your depth of disharge and trail current might be all that is needed as well as taking care of the solar, is the solar connected in series or parallell and do you factor that in? A table similar to this might shed some light: The influence of solar might make it tricky to get correct readings.

Are you sinking? With your light consumption perhaps you should consider downsizing to 2 batteries as that would give the solar a better chance to charge them properly, might increase lifespan and cuts a third of the cost.

You can find information on most outboard motors at boatinfo.no

Oh we are coming allright! Got my eyes on at spot not far from the Jolly Brewers, might be some time yet though unless I successively piss my boss of and get that redundancy.

Well if cruising you should be ok with what you got, if moored https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50W-70W-100W-Solar-Panel-charger-bag-12V-folding-Kit-Caravans-Boat-Motorhome/302239046712?_trkparms=aid%3D555018%26algo%3DPL.SIM%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D49919%26meid%3Dfeaa2227a9f740648fe4deda4529172c%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D252552016002%26itm%3D302239046712&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851 is only two pins and color coded. ( quick search so link above has stupid postage, but it comes with a regulator which is important.)

Another battery won't help a bit unless you have alternative ways to charge it but the outboard. In fact you might need a smaller battery depending on your charging regime. Not very fond of the words "Suitcase generator" and "safe" in the same sentence but it is a good option to provide the function. Does the pot have a lid ? You get quite a lot of solar panel for the price of a generator.

That depends on where the regulator are, is it difficult to open the trimmer too? If the regulator is in the trimmer and of the simple kind 0.5V extra might harm the batteries. but if you put a diode that drops .5V in series you should be ok. If there are no regulator in the trimmer i would expect some magic smoke after a while. To charge batteries you need a regulator that limits the initial current and protects against overcharge. First one's easy the second as complicated as you like to make it..

Well that rules out that it is a fixed 3V adapter. Still no clue as to wether it is a charger or not unless it specifically says that on the adapter (such statemantes are not to be trusted anyway). So 3.3V will most likley not work well. Either the battery will not get fully charged or not charged at all. The only way to be sure is to dismantle and locate the charge regulating components, photos would do. Also to consider is what kind of USB- sockets you use, some will only deliver 100mA, and some share the maximum current.

Probably not Li/Ion with that voltage, the disposal instuctions can be generic. The question at hand is where the charge circuit is located, in the mains adapter or in the trimmer? If in the Trimmer it might work if the charger circuit can handle 3.3V, if in the adapter you will fry the batteries or perhaps blow the dc/dc converter. Have you measured the output from the mains adapter?

That is halfway true, a wet battery can sometimes be "cleaned" by repeatedly quick discharge and charge (100-200A) 70-30% SOC but if the clag buildup on the bottom reaches the plates you will have to pour the electrolyte and clag out and rinse it a few times and refill with new electrolyte, not something you would do anymore. On Gel batteries or any other fancy construction this is not possible as the clag has nowhere to go. There is a lot of former good advice out there that now are out of context. Just the other day I was told by someone that I should not store my battery on the concrete floor as it would disharge, which have not been true since the invention of plastic casing.

A bit of understandig why you do Equalisation and the consequences is perhaps needed. Over time the 6 cells in a 12V battery will get a slightly diffrent voltage and as a result will not hold a equal charge. The battery can not deliver more Amp hours then the charge in the most unbalanced cell. Using quick high amp loads like a starter helps counter this but eventually you will need a equalisation. The drawback of a equalizer charge is that it is in fact just a overcharge and as such boil away some of the electrolyte which is why you should only do this once every 1-2 months on sealed batteries unless you want to shorten the lifespan. Another way to counter this is to ensure the batteries are well vented so no part of the battery gets hotter while charged and by not stacking them directly side to side. The obvious design flaw being that the 4 cells in the middle always will be hotter.

In Sweden this is, no it can be insured but not insured and inspected. So should something bad occur on a uninspected boat they may not pay up. Then again most of the specifications are quite trivial to amend here as you do not need a licence for any modifications on a private boat here (for a DIY'er at least). There are of cource special policys for historical boats of great value with a high premium. Anything is negotiable with a insurance company but the standard insurance requirers modern-day RCD regardless of build year here. ( still Sweden )

My bad then, things work a bit diffrent up here (Sweden). We do not have a BSS or a demand for insurance, but if you want to have insurance they will require that your boat fulfills the EU Recreational craft directive. They also offer a voluntary inspection at a rate which if you pass gives a reduced premium, should you fail though your boat is uninsurable until fixed. Marinas or paid berths may of cource require that you have insurance so works out the same in the end.

That is a "buy a new boat" / "Upgrade your own" Guide and not the requirements, your insurance company may have a clause about it though (EU Recreational craft directive) in wich case it may invalidate your insurance. No insurance = BSS fail. But I would think that is beyond a inspectors jurisdiction.

Unless he's actually asking to use a male-male cable in the right hand socket for the genny?

An additional input point bumps other security issues so you would have to install a crossover switch. Voltage drop is still important so no harm in going for 2.5mm2 and that would also make it a much better earth connector. If going for Flyboy's neat solution, a socket tester permanently plugged in a socket in the boat will indicate functionality. Will you be the only one using this contraption so all twist's and turn's will be done as intended?

As a quick fix heating is the way to go, I'd suggest a fan assisted cheramic heater like: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-CH2013-Ceramic-Fan-Heater-1500W-230V-2-Heat-Settings-with-Thermostat/122239112882?epid=2254805304&hash=item1c7604d6b2:g:mZkAAOSwfpVZEjmi as it would be easy to find a place for it and the fan will stir the air so condensation will have less chance to build up. Test in store first so it's not too noisy. Lots of small things you could do to help the situation, pre dry clothes under the hood, wrap anything that may store humidity in plastic, make sure your ventilators are open so the heat can take the damp out.

Thanks for replies. So North of Braunston and wherever Naughty Cal is moored at the moment works fine, good to know

Try again, I left another one ripe for comment in that post

A pair of bath sandals makes wonders ignoring gritty floors As my wife has a full set of voluptuous hair the sink option is not that practical, granted the kitchen top and windows/roof would get a good scrubbing too in the process, also I do know whos job it will be cleaning the plumbing. Would Marinas allow you to use the facilites (at a cost) even if you have to moor outside due to lack of visitor moorings?