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aread2

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Posts posted by aread2

  1. On mine all hoses and cables run through the bottom panel.

    I'm sure the enclosure would support some clips/light brackets but I'd be hesitant to attach stuff to the outside of it because it would all have to be dismounted to get the sides of the enclosure off, which you'd need to do when servicing.

    The rear panel of mine is bolted to the bottom tray. I've never taken it off because the exhaust and prop shaft pass though it.

    The front panel is bolted to the front of the bottom tray.

    The top panel rests on the tops of the side panels and is held down with quick release clips. It has two pins that locate in the end panels. There is a hatch for access to the dipstick and coolant cap.

    The side panels and are not fixed and rest on a lip on the bottom tray. They are held in by the top panel's quick release clips.

     

     

    Typically when servicing I will need to remove all but the back panel for access to the sides and front of the engine.

    Here's the a picture of the setup of mine from the side. As you can see all the hoses and cables come out below the left side panel.

    supersilent_011-540x500.jpg

  2. Most 12v equipment (e.g. lamps, pumps) will keep working even if the batteries are flat, just becoming dimmer/slower. More sophisticated devices like fridges and inverters will stop working when the voltage falls below a set level e.g. 11v. either to prevent damage to the batteries or to themselves.

  3. If it's a vacuum toilet you need to replace the carbon filter regularly or pipe the output from the vacuum pump overboard to avoid smells inside. I originally specified a skin fitting for the vacuum output pipe on our boat but ended up with an open outlet under the bed utilising the supplied carbon filter. This sealed cartridge filter lasted a few months and I replaced it with an ice cream carton that I refill with activated carbon that I buy by the kilogram from aquarium suppliers.

  4. 3 hours ago, blackrose said:

     

    1. Alternative solution is not to put wipes down the toilet in the first place. I didn't think you were supposed to flush wipes anyway?

     

    2. I'm still using the same Vetus flexible barrier hose that I installed the toilet with 15 years ago. No smells coming through and it's never been blocked. I've always lived in hard water areas since living on this boat.

     

    3. I've never had any blockages at the spigot from the base unit to the cassette either.

     

    As I said, perhaps I've just been very lucky. I don't throw toilet paper down my toilet either so perhaps that's the difference. I adopt the approach used in many developing countries and put the paper in a separate bin. I'd did the same thing on a previous boat with a pump out toilet so just carried on doing the same thing with this one. I'd do that on any boat toilet to avoid the potential of having to clear blockages. The one blockage I did have recently that I mentioned was just under the ball and was very easy to clear. 

    All but the pipe blockage with scale occurred when friends had the boat. The family are well trained in what not to put down the loo.

  5. Sounds like a Vertus macerator, not a Dometic Vacuflush.

    But for what it's worth our Vacuflush has bocked in three different places during its 15 year life:

    1. At the bottom of the pan. Under the ball valve there's a one inch hole where all the solids are broken up by being sucked through. Wipes don't break up and so block the hole. Solution is to hold the valve open with the flush lever and either retrieve the blocking wipe or poke the blocked through with a screwdriver.

    2. In the pipe from the toilet to the vacuum/cassette unit. Solution was to replace the pipe as the blockage was limescale. Be sure to leave the pipe filled with vinegar occasionally to dissolve limescale to prevent this happening. Flexible pipe should be replaced every now and then anyway as it becomes porous over time and lets smells out.

    3. At the spigot that joins the cassette to the docking station there is a 90 degree bend. Solution is to remove the cassette, pull back the spring loaded sleeve and clear the hole in the bottom of the pipe. The cassette in this instance was difficult to remove as the blockage prevented the spigot from sliding out of the cassette. You can get at the other side of the blockage by removing the end of the pipe from the toilet and poking at the other end of the blockage.

  6. Ours is a domestic induction hob. We have a 5.5 kVA Travelpower to run it. So we need the engine running to cook or to have shore power plugged in. As the largest ring is 3kW and the other three at least 1kW each I wouldn't dare turn them all up to max at once. In fact it's pretty unusual to use more than two rings at a time anyway. There's no connection between the hob and the batteries. We have a very small electric kettle for evening use. Each pot of tea sets us back at least 5% of capacity.

  7. You really, really need to monitor your batteries' state of charge so you don't ruin them by undercharging. The most reliable indicator of state of charge is the current the batteries are taking. You will need an ammeter to measure this. A panel meter with a shunt in the negative battery cable is probably the best arrangement.

    • Greenie 1
  8. I've got the same basins at home and on the boat. At home we have a flip over plug and on the boat a traditional plug-on-a-chain with a short length of chain. The flip over plug is fine buy will jam shut if any grit gets into it and requires maximum force to open it and it's more difficult to clean the grating because you can't remove the plug. The plug with the chain has nowhere to fix a chain so has a short three inch length to allow it to be pulled out but otherwise cam be found knocking about in the basin or on the counter. One day it will go missing. I'd have preferred to have the flippy plug on the boat but there was no room for the basin waste fitting it came with.

  9. It sounds like it may be a genuine Planar heater but a grey import. That is, a model that's not available from the manufacturer or its agents in this country but via a third party in a country where it is available. Normally hard to get support for grey imports because local agents aren't set up for those models.

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