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DaveP

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Posts posted by DaveP

  1. 1 hour ago, Ex Brummie said:

    Have you checked the range of your flowmeter? They are not all ranging.

     

    Specification quote 1-30 lit/min.  Wifi already tested and working from middle of boat.  Temperature max is 80degC.

  2. Having added a flow meter to my inlet, I thought (if  mistakingly, please say so!) that water point flows  might be of interest here.

     

    So,

     

    Mile End, Regents Canal - 25 litres/min

     

     

    IMG_20240301_134235.jpg

    • Sad 1
  3. 12 hours ago, magnetman said:

    I'm going to be using Limehouse quite regularly. The conditions don't make much difference for this Boat as it can deal with anything but it is interesting. I wonder what the protocol with the waiting pontoons will be if people turn up later than expected.

     

    It is my theory that it would be convenient for Aquavista and the CRT if the lock became rarely used. I heard they are not taking visitors any more. It is still a CRT lock so is available for licensed craft but of course early exit is very nice. Like a private waterway. 

     

    Its upsetting this has changed but not all that surprising. 

     

     

     

    I'd love to see the spreadsheet it sounds brilliant. 

     

     

     

    So I went online took 8th March as an option and it said '8.08 to 13.56' then the slot was automatically allocated as 13.56. Looking at my tide tables this is -after- high tide so one would not really be getting anywhere. The whole idea is to use the tide to help you along. 

     

    What a rubbish setup. I wonder if the PLA has anything to say about this. Discharging a canal Boat from Limehouse after high tide who wants to go inward bound is not safe. 

     

     

     

     

    I've posted the spreadsheet (it's a Libreoffice one not Excel) in the Canalworld FB group as I can't see how to place it in the forums here...

    • Greenie 1
  4. As ever, CRT's left- and right- hands are entirely unconnected. Limehouse now needs booking through the licensing website -  https://licensing.canalrivertrust.org.uk/PassageBooking - only open for tidal windows within 0800-1600 until Easter and then 0700-1900 (I think).  Brentford needs to be booked separately if you're doing that passage through the same site.

     

    If you want, I've done myself a spreadsheet that shows the available passage timings for this rather than having to paw through their pathetic user interface....

    • Greenie 1
  5. 2 hours ago, MtB said:

     

    I'd say the average small house uses a load more energy than a narrowboat, but that energy costs less than the energy we buy for our boats. So comparing energy costs rather than kWhs disguises the fact that narrowboats use less energy as a dwelling, than a house. 

    I did a little work on this a couple of years ago

     

    My annual usage - continuous cruiser, full-time liveaboard (one plus partner about 50%).

    Electricity - 360 kwh (90% solar, rest by-product of engine whilst moving)

    Gas - 1,200 kwh (7ish 13kg propane bottles)

    Coal -  7,200 kwh (32ish bags of smokeless)

    Diesel - 3,600 kwh (360ish litres)

     

    Average UK house (from some govt website, can't remember which one)

    Electricty - 3,000 kwh

    Gas - 12,000 kwh

     

    So the boat's not too far off the house, especially for heating, presumably because of the crap insulation/stove inefficency/infinite heat sink underneath.  But the diesel isn't directly comparable to anything really due to differing lifestyles and transport needs....

     

    In the couple of years since I did that calculation, I've almost halved the gas usage by switching to lithium batteries and increasing my solar output/usage by 150kwh - which also shows how inefficient gas cookers are compared to induction hobs.

    • Greenie 2
  6. It's clear from the VAT notice (708/6), that the zero-rating is temporary, can only be applied by a company actually installing them (ie not by the end customer merely buying them for self-installation) and the only boats covered are houseboats and those on residential moorings paying council tax....

    • Greenie 1
  7. It will depend entirely on where you are.  Are you in a marina or other mooring with neighbours? If so, ask around and see what works for them.  If you are cruising around - what area(s) are you intending to cover?  There will be places (in my immediate experience the Lower Heyford area is still and quiet on all bands and network providers) where no amount of kit will fulfil high-speed needs without radical out-of-box reimaginings.  What speeds do you need to achieve, or is it merely a daily/weekly quantity of data that needs to be shifted? Is the phone video or merely audio?

     

  8. 6 minutes ago, truckcab79 said:

    Actual manufacturer aside I’ve got a possibly daft question. Many of the inverters have 3 pin sockets as an output.  I’m assuming that in all cases you can also connect them to cables to supply your sockets in the boat?  The instruction manuals I’ve seen on line don’t seem to mention this. I can’t believe you’re meant to just plug in like a glorified extension lead. Or are you?  Seems a bit Heath Robinson.  
     

    Done like this so the actual input to the boat mains circuit (generally a 16A fixed male plug) can't be energised both by the inverter and a shoreline/generator.

    • Greenie 1
  9. On 22/12/2023 at 18:38, MtB said:

    Its always puzzled me how you licence your boat if you really do live on it without a land address. 

     

    Easily - there is no verification of the supplied data against the PAF or LPRN.  I usually supply my planned cruising pattern without a problem.  I did get rung up by CRT this year querying the lack of a postal address and they admitted that it wasn't necessary (their argument was they needed an address to send  me things, I pointed out that they had an email address. They countered with sending physical items such as licence plates or keys - I replied that the transaction would be instigated by me and would be a one off for which I would supply a suitable delivery address.  They gave up and admitted I didn't need one)....

     

    Similarly, with insurance, they use their own address as a place holder.  It did take some time to convince them that their requirement for a 'home address' coupled with the fact that I was insuring the boat as a continuous cruiser was somewhat contradictory, but got through in the end (fortunately the droid on the other end did not think of changing the nature of the address they wanted, eg 'marketing address' instead).

  10. 4 minutes ago, magnetman said:

    "...with our prior written consent."

     

    OK. 

     

    I wonder if they will give this consent without notifying the resident of the mooring. Interesting potential for problems there. 

     

     

    It seems odd that one could pay a low rate for an out in the sticks CRT mooring then use vacant CRT moorings in city areas with no extra payment.

     

    I feel it is not that simple. 

     

    Absolutely! But there's no harm in trying.  And it's going to be even more fun involving different mooring managers, asking wich moorings are vacant (not just up for rent).  The clause is poorly drafted as it implies the permission is issued on a general basis, not (as would be sensible) on a mooring by mooring instance. I'd have used 'space' rather than 'spaces'...

    • Greenie 1
  11. 4 minutes ago, magnetman said:

     

    where does it say that ?

    Most of the CRT moorings actually in London are residential sites. I don't think you would be able to stay on an empty residential mooring unless you have the permission of the contract holder because it is their residence even if the boat is temporarily absent.

     

    May apply to online towpath long term moorings. 

     

    Intrigued now !

     

    In my T&C document from 2021 -

     

    "4.10 When cruising away from the Mooring Site you may temporarily use any vacant mooring 
    spaces available at any other mooring site managed by us with our prior written consent. You must 
    remove your Boat from any such temporary mooring it occupies when we ask you to do so."

     

    There is also a requirement to notify CRT (para 4.9) if you intend to be off your mooring for more than 28 days.

     

    Given there is no mention of additional fees, my reading would be that this term is included in the fees charged under the mooring contract.

     

     

     

  12. 34 minutes ago, Midnight said:

    Some interesting points around the complications of the home mooring v continuous cruiser license. Although we have a home mooring we will spend seven months away cruising this year. Not a dissimilar situation to a ccer who takes a winter mooring. Seems pretty much a recipe for disaster for a C&RT who can't even get the stoppage notices right.

    Indeed, we're planning on spending 15 months off the mooring (which happens to be a CRT one), going down to London and back.  Keeping mooring as it's cheap, and we might need to hurry back for parent care duty.  Might even pick up a little win if people start moving off moorings in town - T&C's allow us to use empty CRT moorings on a temporary basis...  Looking forward to potential befuddlements.

  13. 20 minutes ago, MtB said:

     

    in that case given V = IR the internal voltage drop inside a cell with say, 100A discharge will be 100 x 0.003 = 0.3 Volts.

     

    The power dissipated inside the cell will be 0.3V x 100A = 30 Watts.

     

    This seems intuitively far too high a result so perhaps I've made a mistake. Or maybe that 3 mOhm value isn't right. Sounds to me more like the value for a LA battery. 

     

     

    Having looked a  bit more - prismatic cells ~0.3mOhm, so complete batteries somewhere round 1.2mOhm....

     

  14. 10 hours ago, MtB said:

     

    I doubt it. The internal resistance of LiFePO4 cells is so low that I'd have thought hardy any energy will be dissipated inside the battery during discharge. 

     

    Some basic calculations would reveal the amount of heating effect. Does anyone have any values to hand for LiFePO4 cell internal resistances? 

     

     

    I don't have direct references for the internal resistance, but believe it's of the order of 2-3mOhm for a 100ah prismatic cell.  One will also need the heat capacity of the battery to calculate the temperature rise.

     

    My most demanding supply is my washing machine, which draws 150A at around 12.5v for 10-15min (about 400Wh), this causes the batteries (a pair of 100ah's) to warm by about 10degC.

     

    Screenshot_20230726-091414.png

    • Greenie 1
  15. 10 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

    If they “failed to charge” then the BMS must have a low temp cutoff. The bare cells will charge at sub-zero temperature, it’s just that at low temperatures the chemical reaction isn’t fast enough to absorb a fast-ish charge and the “overload” charge goes to plating lithium metal on the electrode. Which is irreversible and blocks up the electrode. And can cause dendrite formation which can puncture the membrane barrier and cause a short circuit.

    I misspoke - thevoltage shot up immediately to 14.5v and the bms went to float after only about 1-2Wh of input....

  16. I've got a pair of 100ah lithiums (bms is basic with no low-temp cutoff) in a trad stern engine bay.  Had them for three winters so far.  This last one, they did fail to charge on two mornings after prolonged multi-day sub-zero temps.  Ran the engine without the charger engaged for a couple of hours and it all came back and no permanent damage appears to have occurred.  I'm going to be in London for the coming winter, so am postponing putting in a thermostat and heating pad into their enclsure until I return to the artic waters of Warwickshire in '24....

    • Greenie 1
  17. 7 minutes ago, blackrose said:

     

    Ok thanks but I'm not sure I understand? I wasn't asking about saving up time below 14.5v, I was talking about whether the timer adds up all the bits of time at the absorption voltage - above 14.5v?

    Nope, hits 14.5v, starts timer, doesn't care about voltage, counts to 10, drops to float.

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