steve4063

i'm using the inverter because our leccy is charged at 15p a unit so anything i can do to reduce that would be great thats why i fitted a combi boiler last year we had electric oil rads ouch was all i can say as for alternators i'm not 100% sure to be honest but we don't really use the engines i haven't started them since easter lol we live a board and have a permanant moorings in a marina so don't need to move one day tho we will actually get time to travel on the broads and use the boat for what its intended. so basically i am trying to get the boat to a point where its cheap to use stuff and that if we did want to go down the river we still can without losing all the power i think what i might do is put another plug socket from the mains input f/b near the inverter and then just unplug the plu from the inverter and put it in that skt until i want to move and then just switch the inverter off at the master safety switch thingy that way no power will be getting to it and drain the batts hopefully sounds a weird set up but shud work

thanks for the replies chaps that link looked spot on for what i want steve one other thing i am struggling with i have a sterling procharge 3 outputs and a sterling 1800w inverter battery wise 3 x 110ah leisure and 2 engine batts all brand new apart from the inverter which came off a canal boat (working) every few hours or so the inverter alarm comes on saying low voltage and the volts drop to about 9v the charger then kicks in again and boosts it back up to normal i was under the impression that the pro charge monitors the batts and charges as necesary i run sterling.......... he said have it on 2 hours and hung up never seem to get a lot of joy when i ring them. many thanks in advance

thanks for the 1 reply lol annoying because i really needed help with this one lol steve

Hiya Right i now have a sterling pro charge 3 outputs 2x 1 engine batteries (i have 2 engines) and 3x110ah leisure i have a sterling 1800w inverter which i wired up yesterday how i have done it is i have 240v coming into a small household fusebox with 2 outputs 1 to the charger and the other going to a couple of 240v sockets that will run the microwave, hairdryer etc basically big stuff that i'm not sure the inverter will cope with and then i have the 2 main 12v wires from the inveter going to the battery bank and then a 3 pin plug coming from the inv into another household fusebox and from this to the rest of the electric sockets (i have double rcd's on both fuseboxes) the trouble is i'm finding is that the charger fan is really going for it most of the time not a propblem just don't want to break it and that there are a couple of things that don't seem to like the inverter the dab clock radio for one hums like anything and the lpg combi boiler hums too and the clock on the cooker seems to be gaining 10 mins an hour strange hey but never done it while on shore power is there a way i can wire it up so that i can use 240v shore power when i'm in the marina but switch it over to inverter when i go out this is all new to me many thanks for your help

i'm sorry to sound dumb but how do you fit anodes? i have a grp cruiser with only about 12" of propeller and shaft poking out the back i've been told that i don't need anodes and then again i've been told i do what sort should i get if i do and where do i fit them and how many thanks

yes it is AC but i've never found anything that wouldn't run off 12v Dc before maybe i'm wrong well i am because it won't work but i always thought it would be fine to run DC through it yes it has got a ~ it says 12v ~50HZ 14W

hi i have bought a low voltage 12v extractor fan for the shower i bought the 12v specifically so i can run it off the batteries it says 12v output 50hz 240v input trouble is it won't work i have tested it using the transformer that came with it and it's fine it just won't work connected to the battery 12v any ideas

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=290256019485 this is the charger that i use it is a black and decker V1085 auto battery charger is this ok?

thanks for the replies so far so how do i wire the batteries up i gather it is + to + and - to - that is how i've got it and once i get this charger what is the best way to charge it because i was also told that if you charge them wrong only one will charge and the others won't its hard because i can't actually find any info on the net which explains how to do things on a boat we live on this and are finding it extreamely dificult to do things as we've never had a boat before this is our home and at the moment we are on the verge of jacking it all in unless we can actuallu figure out how to do things on here properly there's ppl about who don't have any external power. how do they do it and what do they have on their boats

You need to use the right kind of battery charger designed for boat application, stsndard car battery chargers don't do the jod as well and might be the cause or the 2 batteries you mention going pop. will this do the job http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=110356489612

thanks for the replys firstly i am being charged £75 service charge yearly and then 15p per unit used and in a week i used £35 12v what i am intending on using isn't actually that much its mainly lights changing to led x 9 hopefully a microwave thought about a kettle but they all seem to take ages to boil so will prob go with gas bilge pump water pump shower drain pump hairdryer etc and prob what ever else i buy will try and get 12v so not actually that much maybe a heater for now until i can get an lpg combi with rads set up i reckon its the kettle that uses most as i do drink loads of tea and yes on the broads we do get charged heavily for everything as foor the charger i thought it would be cheaper to charge the batteries than to run 240v stuff i will want to get some solar panels asap (money permiting) and that will reduce the 240v charging hope that gives you some more info

another thing i'm after doing is how is the best way to insulate the grp boats and what about the engine bay is mid wheel house so engines are very noisy got 2 big diesels ford 2800 beasts and any ideas about condensation on metal windows thanks

hiya i'm new here we live on our boat on the norfolk broads (cruiser sorry ) when i bought it it was a shell and i had to do everything myself never having owned a boat before and being a builder i treated it like a house bad move so now i'm starting again one of the main problems i have is battery power at the minute we have 240v but its costing us £30+ a week ouch so i'm looking to change over to 12v we will always have a good 16a 240v in the marina where we are so thats not a problem i just want to save money at the minute i have 2 x 110ah leisure batteries which i use to start my 2 diesel engines and run 12v i actually bought 4 of them originally from unipart but 2 have gone wrong they popped i have a charger in line all the time its black and decker one that monitors the battery and charges as necesary i also bought a wind turbine which never really worked so is old that so please help me how do i do things i have 2 batteries left do i need more what is the best way to charge them (they are down in the engine bay so not easily accesible) if i go for solar what size panels etc this is comp new to me and i haven't a clue so please help thanks