timetraveller

Well, I started this thread and I'm beginning to wish I hadn't - I don't really want it developing into a slanging match - I know that Gibbo is a 'god' as far as all things electric are concerned, so I will take on-board (pun intended) his comments on this, so at the risk of upsetting anybody I guess the truth is if 99% of people are on 12v - then that's probably the way to go....but I am waiting to see the response from Pirate Paul later in the day. Thanks to everyone for their input on this, it's all much appreciated.

Dhutch (Daniel) - if you don't mind me asking, what manufacturer of inverter / charger have you got installed ?

mmmmm, me thinks I've opened up a can of worms with this - so having read through the replies so far (and there are some very good comments in there folks) - I'm still undecided which way to jump - In answer to Willawaw, it was the guys on the Vetus engine stand who made the comment that they have never done 24volts on a narrowboat, and also that they don't stock 24v Alternators - and that worried me somewhat.

Hi, we are just in the process of having a 57' (going to be a liveaboard) narrowboat built and took the time to visit the IWA at Redhill today. We were discussing the possible 'electric' permutations with many of the vendors there, of which many stated '24volts is the way to go' - that is apart from the guys at the Vetus engine stand who said they have never done a 24v alternator ever, for a 'narrowboat' - this worried us slightly as we have already budgeted for a 42hp vetus engine. Now don't get me wrong, they did say that they can 'do' a 24volt alternator just that they had not done one before 'as most were 12v). So, is this the case, are we going the wrong way by thinking about a 24volt system ?, how many narrowboats have 24volt (I appreciate that most have 12v) - so we are asking for advice here from people who know what's best - so for a new build do we go with 12v or 24v.? Thanks in advance for your help.

Carrying on the thread, we bought a Kipor 2600 (yellow, pure sinewave generator) last week. The build quality seems to be very good. We fuelled it etc and have since powered, everything from drills and paint strippers to vacuum cleaners from it without any problems. It therefore seems to cope very well, and as far as noise goes we would say they are 'quiet', and the smart throttle works a treat. So at the moment considering the cost was a 3rd that of a similar Honda - we are happy. Of course time will tell, but then in the past we have bought 'major brand' products that have gone wrong almost straight away.

Many thanks people much appreciated we are going to take a look at Honda gennies at the weekend, and we'll not dismiss the the Kipor either - it looks like they could be worth looking at......as usual a thousand thanks to all

Hi Folks, This year at Crick there was a firm offering very quiet portable generators in about three different (Watts) sizes as I recall. I thought I took a leaflet from them but now can't find it, and I can't locate them on the exhibitors list from the Crick show. They also had leisure batteries for sale at a 'show price', the sales guy said the firm always brough about 90 batteries to the show, and they always went very quickly. Any ideas who they were ?? - else I'm willing to get recommendations for portable generators from the group

Just another big thank you to everyone that made a contribution to the thread and I guess that whilst the chances of being struck by lightning are indeed 'slim' - the 'chance' remains nervertheless, and it seems there have been some 'near misses' in the community along the way, so it seems probably sound advice ref unpluging totally all the PC, hi-fi electrical appliances etc.....great stuff and best wishes to all.

Well, I've just got home having posted this question first thing this morning, I never for a moment realised just how many people would contribute to the topic - just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone - and what I have learned from this - well I guess that mostly narrowboats don't seem to be struck that frequently, so yes I'll play the lottery as the odds are better - but at the same time I think I'll unplug all the appliances, leave a door open, close the curtains, and seek refuge behind the sofa ('just in case')

Hi to the group and best wishes to all. Now we are just in the process of buying a narrowboat with the intention of joing the 'live-a-board' community, but with all the recent news report of thunder and especially the 'lightning' we got to thinking about how this wonderful atmospheric lightshow affects narrowboats. typically how does a narrowboat cope with a lightning strike?, we appreciate that cars, planes etc are protected via the farady cage effect - does the same apply to a narrowboat bearing in mind that it is directly in contact with water ?, and are there any precautions that can be taken to protect electrical equipment?

If you get to see this Ernie, I just wanted you to know that I've followed your blogs for quite sometime and I have always been impressed with the photo's and the vast amount of useful information that you make available. I've emailed you on a couple of times and you have always been more than helpful. I will miss your blogs but wish you well as you travel around the country, hopefully in the not too distant future our paths will cross and it would be my pleasure to buy you a pint (or two!). Keep safe Ernie and a thousand best wishes

Thanks Nigel - much appreciated I think that pretty much shows exactly where the restrictions are - Thanks also to everyone for helping out - I've no doubt I'll be posting some more questions and doing some more research on the forum best wishes timetraveller (Nikki)

Thanks carlt - I appreciate your answer but i'm just learning from my friend that I may have posed the question in the wrong way - so just to confuse things slightly I think what he really wants to know is if he bought a boat over 57' in length but still 6-10" beam - where in the UK would that cause him problems so lets say the boat is 60' or above where can he not navigate to ?? - Sorry for the confusion, and best wishes

This is my first post - so firstly greetings to everyone in the forum (and of course please go easy on me I'm new here) :-) I wondered if any members of the group could oblige me with an answer to a question or point me in the direction of where I can obtain an answer. I have a friend who is considering buying a semi-trad narrowboat (beam 6'-10" and length 57') - he is considering the 'continuous cruising option' and really I just wanted to find out (if he were to buy such a boat) where the locks are too short to permit passage. In short he just wanted to know within the UK what restrictions that a 57' narrowboat would cause him, and where he wouldn't be able to cruise - hope that makes sense. best wishes to you all timetraveller (Nikki)