Jump to content

aread2

Member
  • Posts

    305
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by aread2

  1. On 07/31/2017 at 22:30, WotEver said:

    Okay, here's one way of doing it...

    • Small alternator charges Starter Batt via an isolator
    • Large alternator charges Leisure Batts via an isolator
    • BT Batts have their own isolator
    • VSR fed by Leisure Batts feeds long 10mm2 cables which link the BT Batts to the Leisure Batts with a 100A fuse at each end of that cable.

    Hope that helps, Tony

    This is how my BT battery is wired, except for the VSR. The advantage to this setup is that the BT battery is effectively part of the domestic bank. The disadvantage to this setup is that the BT battery is effectively part of the domestic bank.

  2. My PRV dribbled for 8 years as the calorifier heated up. It's plumbed overboard via a skin fitting. Then the calorifier split. I now have an expansion vessel in the circuit and the new calorifier doesn't dribble.

  3. I've actually used an anchor to stop a 70ft hire narrowboat oing over a weir on the Severn at Tewkesbury. The coupling in the drive shift parted and we ended up with the stern about 10ft off the lip of the weir. As I recall it was a 20kg Danforth.

  4. There is a warning light showing it's full, but not fully understanding to consequences...

    It should stop well before it reaches that stage. There's a float switch that should prevent the pump from pumping well before the contents reach the vacuum pipe, even with another flush on the residual vacuum. I have read somewhere that the float in the cassette can jam with scale, preventing it from moving. It should rattle a bit when the cassette is empty. I don't know if it's possible to even see the float to check up it's jammed.
  5. We have a 60 ft narrowboat with Beta 43 fitted with Traveller and 175A domestic alternator. On our first trip we ran dry at the end of the 9th day. Most days were about 8 hours running time since we are gas free and use the engine for cooking. The tank is about 100 litres and lasted around 65 hours, giving about 1.5 litres per hour.

  6. Rewire is good, getting it right is essential.

    Mains in needs to go to a selector unit to direct it to sockets or charger,

    Generator in needs to go to the selector but it MAY need a N-E bond to preserve RCD function, check the generator instructions too!

    Inverter OUT needs to go to the mains selector Should have one N-E bond to preserve correct RCD function.

     

    Mains and generator need to be able to feed the charger but inverter must NOT!

    Mains Dis board needs correct cable and chosen breakers -maybe some diversity is appropriate but most shorelines stop at 16A or less generator and inverter will be less.

    12v Dis board needs appropriate breakers and fatter cable than the tables indicate (calculate volts drop rather than use Ith )

    Unless your inverter has a transfer switch that allows it to act as uninterruptible power supply, in which case the selector switch output goes to the inverter, with generator and shoreline as the sources and the distribution board after the inverter.

  7. I've just received the old style coloured ones through the post, about a week after receiving the pdf by email as confirmation. I was considering displayed the self printed black and white fake looking ones but it seemed a shame not to display the nice colour ones now I've got them.

  8. The red knob looks like a Pressure Relief Valve. It's there to protect the calorifier (hot water tank).This can be activated as the water in the calorifier expands when it is heated. Most calorifier manufacturers recommend using an expansion vessel to take up the expansion of the hot water but not everybody installs one. My boat has only recently had a vessel fitted and always wept a little water from the PRV when heated by the engine, but since it is plumbed to a skin fitting the seepage was piped overboard.

    It may be the water in the calorifer is being heated to a higher temperature than it was previously and so is expanding more or you may have always had this seepage from the PRV and not noticed it. It may also be that the PRV is sticking open ever so slightly due to limescale. Try twisting the red knob a turn or so; it may have an arrowon top indicating a direction to twist. This will open the valve momentarily and it should close again immediately as it it spring loaded, flushing any debris off the valve seat, allowing it to seal.

  9. Has anybody else received licence plates from CRT ordered as part of the "amnesty" in March at half list price? I received an invoice but no plates and when I called CRT was told the demand was so high they had a backlog and would take a few weeks to produce. Still waiting 8 weeks later. I'd have cancelled an order that took this long to fulfil from any on-line supplier and demanded my money back.

  10. The Victron Bluesolar is usually wired directly into the Victron Combi unit which will be connected through a shunt ( posh fuse) to your battery bank.

    If you haven't got any other Victron kit bar the MPPT, then yes, you will need in line fuses.

    I think if you were using the shunt as a fuse you'd be in trouble. Surely the shunt should also be protected by a fuse in the circuit.

    • Greenie 1
  11. Beta BV1903S

    supersilent_02.jpg

    Beta Marine's super silent acoustic box is quite well sealed from the outside. On the left of the picture (in front of the engine) they have provided some large vents. These are positioned opposite the alternators; not by accident. Also on the right there is a blower to remove warm air, roughly doubling the intake of fresh air to the housing.I think you'd have a hard time sealing an engine room on a narrowboat sufficiently to cause problems with combustion intake. The main danger would be the reduction of cooling air flow over the alternators.

  12. I've got one, mounted in the "normal" place for a clonecraft trad. Hospital silencer and deckboards on top. It's quiet. Access has never been a problem. There's a little hatch on top above the dipstick, oil and water caps and you can see the belts through it. The housing can be dismantled in about 5 minutes. You can hear the exhaust if you stand next to the outlet. There's very little engine sound to speak of inside, just the usual vibration transmitted through the fabric of the boat. I never felt the need to add sound insulation under the deck boards.

    Forced ventilation for the alternators is provided by a blower.

     

    Ed to make ventilation arrangements clear

  13. Yeh, ill try keep it short and hopefully not have to fork out too much just for the cabling. Planning on running a 2.35kW electric oven off it (dislike gas oven, uneven heat). Luckily if out on the cut the engine will have a 240A alternator on the engine and can more than provide for the draw of the oven.

    Be careful not to exceed the capacity of the combi's transfer switch. Our installation is gas free with electric oven and induction hob. It's powered by a 5.5kva Travelpower alternator. Originally the cooker and oven were wired downstream of the Vicctron combininverter and although it wasn't powering them the full current was passing through the transfer switch and it failed because it was under specified for the load because it was a 16A one not the 32A version. We now have the oven and hob wired upstream of the inverter and have no problems but we have had to get a separate electic kettle for use when the engine is off.

  14. Wouldn't the average muddy patch on a towpath benefit from having ash spread out on it?

     

    Alternatively, is there scope for marinas and/or CRT to use it as an ingredient for a proper cheap paving material for paths? If they can, and bins for boaters to put their ash into were provided, I'm sure that most would be happy to use them, keeping much of the fire ash out of the cut.

     

    According to this an ash and cement mix (known as ashcrete) makes a "fill material suitable for non-load-bearing applications":

    http://www.pavingexpert.com/aggs01.html#ash

     

    As to small metal items, at home I produce a steady trickle of these, mostly dug up in my garden or from my carpentry efforts, and I just chuck them in a bucket on my patio and take it to the dump for recycling when it gets full. On a boat space is at more of a premium, so unless you're on a marina which has a metal recycling bin I guess it should go in a rubbish bag.

    Breeze is a synonym for ash. In the US breeze blocks are called cinder blocks.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.