Top cat

We use cheap "disposable" carpet and expect to change it every 2-3 years, its a fairly dark fleck that doesn't show the dirt. But we put it down over a thick undelay which cost more than the carpet T C

The alternator that supplies thedomestic batteries is marked CJF Rotating electrics. REP Lucas A517. 0012010006. Code C70801. The (often wrong) documentation that came with the boat lists it as a110A alternator, however my local (very knowledgeable) car parts man tells me its identical to the 70A Lucas A127. This sort of makes sense as apart from labelling it looks identical to the start alternator that has 70A written on it and is described as such in the documentation. Also the most I've ever seen it put out is about 70A. So my question is. Is the A517 just a A127 in disguise? I've attatched a photo of the label and the rear T C

I've had a look at the brushes on the domestic 12v alternator and the Travel power, both seem to be Ok. Here's a picture of the travel power brushes ( since cleaned up) So unless I'm missing something 4500 hrs seems to be well within the expected life . T C

We had a small leak on a hose going to the skin tank from the header tank, trouble is the heat from the engine evaporated it before I could find it. To find it I wrapped tissue round the ends of the pipes, any leakage turned the tissue blue from the antfreeze even if it evaporated. Its important to find it as a failing pipe can fail suddenly T C

Thanks Mike have contacted him T C

My Izusu engine has about 4500 hrs on it and I'm wondering if I should be doing any preventative maintenance on the alternators and travel power ? Like checking the brushes etc. The start alternator is an HMI 900021-ALS rated at 70A The domestic is a Lucas A517 rated at 110A The travel power is a Dometic 400 rated at 3Kw with a silver control box. The units appear to be functioning correctly apart from intermittent flashing of a neon on the travel power at low revs but fiddling with the connector fixes it. Is this a case " If it aint broke don't fix it" or am I wise to pre empt a breakdown. If I should be changing brushes etc anyone know where to get them and point me to instructions Thanks T C

We have an Izusu too, I fill the header tank to about 2" from the top, any more and it comes out as the engine heats up. Does your engine have a small pipe coming out by where you put the water in, this is an overflow get a plastic milk bottle cut a cross in the lid and shove the pipe in it, psh the bottle down besides the engine. If you are overfilling the header tank the water will end up in the bottle and you will know.

There is no evidence of bulging. From one comment it sounds like fiddling with the Adverc won't achieve anything and it the internal regulator in the alternator thats giving the higher voltage. Did I interpret that correctly? I've considered my batteries to be charged when the current at 14.4V drops to 1% of the original capacity at C/20. But if we are doing a long day we go beyond that down to in some cases 0.1%. Once we stop cruising then the solar takes over, sometimes it won't cut in till the batteries drop below about 13.4 then it maintains them at 13.8 while it can. Recently the oldbatteries have been going straight to 14.4V on starting the engine, the current varies according to discharge. This makes me wonder about the remaining electrolyte levels T C

Umm.. I thought I picked up the idea of max voltage from someone on here. I have asked the suplier ( Multicell) what the max voltage should be but they haven't given me a straight answer. There's nothing special about these batteries, they did about 350 cycles so only about a year for a liveaboard. I wouldn't recommend or un recommend them , I put the relatively long life down to being a bit obsessive about charging. The previous set of mismatched sealed and open batteries lasted us 5 years plus what ever time the previous owner had them. From reading various comments it seems like my theory is incorrect, I may need to re evaluate my ideas on the care and feeding of the next lot of batteries. I'm considering adjusting the Adverc to give them a slightly higher charge voltage, the spec says 14.2 -14.6V for normal absorption and 14.6-14.9V for fast charge absorption. Float 13.8V T C

I can see that they have all leaked electrolyte, which I interpret as an indication that they have been taken to too high a voltage. T C

My sealed liesure batteries have lost most of their capacity after 4 years, with evidence of electrolyte leakage. In normal use , ie cruise for 5 -7 hrs then use power overnight, the max voltage they get is about 14.5V, which shouldn't do any harm. But we sometimes do day trips from the home mooring starting with the batteries fully charged from the solar panel and don't bother to start the fridge or put any other loads on the system. If we do that then the voltage goes up to 14.78V which the batteries don't like long term. It seems that running the alternator with no load gives excess voltage despite the Adverc controller. So in future we will start the fridge before we go to load the system. I just thought I'd mention this in case anyone does what we do and are cooming their batteries . Top Cat

Just buy one of those big rechargeable led torches and put it on the slide pointing to the right , also useful if the headlamp bulb blows T C

I should point out that when Rose boats did the blacking 3 years ago with Intertuf they did an excellent job. The problem could be with learning to use new technology or the new technology aint as good as the claims. Time will tell. TC

It's difficult to say, I have a habit when ascending narrow locks to get off the starboard side leave the boat in gear, putting the tiller over that way so the boat drives itself out. But that does scrape the rubbing strip. However I have been doing that for years and the previous Intertuf blacking seemed to last very well in that location. The other rubbing strips are only slightly worn. I have found no evidence of flaking. My key point was go to someone with experience in using the stuff, having only half the expected amount applied can't be good. T C Top Cat

I had my boat done with Keelblack back in March, its pretty much gome from the rear starboard rubbing strip after 90 hrs cruising and 135 locks. The rest seems fine. A man from Keelblack has come to look at it and is blaming the company that did the application ( Rose boats)He does have a point in that only about half the expected amount of blackingvwas used. Apparently companies who normally use conventional blacking tend to apply it too thin and put it back in the water too soon. So if you do use it go to someone with experience with the stuff, Rose had only done one boat with it before mine. I will be discussing the situation with Rose boats once I have a report from Keekblack, but I'm not expecting to get much of a positive response. Any one want to buy 12.5 litres of Keekblack? Should do a 60' boat, pm me if interested. Top Cat

Sorry to hijack this thread. I need to increase the voltage on my (working) Adverc from 14.4v tp 14.8v, I see the comment about turns per volt but which way? Thanks TC

I'm not aware of any option to adjust the adverc, its about 11 years old. The manual such as it is says nothing about adjustment

Sorry, it's batteries again. Four years ago we fitted 4x Multicell sfl110 , 110Ah vrla maintenance free batteries. Now after 350 mainly shallow cycles they are well down on capacity such that the voltage collapsed at about 70Ah discharge . Normally we discharge them to -40Ah and they handle that just fine with the voltage stayng above 12.8most of the time. They also handle very occaisional brief loads up to 90A and recover to almost the same voltage quickly. I noticed that there is evidence of electrolyte leakage from the relief valve, does that indicate overcharging?. We have 3 charge methods, alternator via an Adverc controller, solar panel via a victron controller and on rare occasions a ctek mains charger. All of those are supposed to limit the voltage to 14.4V but my BMV monitor has recorded up to 14.5V but at low current. The batteries are never left discharged, normally we cruise for about 5 hrs a day and by the end they are up at 14.4V taking less than 4A. They spend a lot of time on float charge at 13.8V from the solar panel soget a very shallow cycle each night, I havent included that in the 350 cycle count. When I start the engine the battery voltage goes straight to 14.4v no matter what the discharge, after the -70Ah event the initial current was only 37A from a 110A alternator. After all that background some questions Is 350 cycles a reasonable life from sealed batteries? Is it time or cycles that kill batteries What should I do to increase their life Is an Adverc suitable for sealed batteries? If I take the adverc out what do I do with the white wire coming from the field connection on the alternator? Should I get conventional open cells next time? But access is difficult and topping up might not get dome often enough or very accurately ( thats why I went maintenance free). If I go for the fancy AGM or gell batteries will i have to replace my chargers and controllers? If so with what? Any ideas on what could be causing the electrolyte loss? Thanks Terry

Thanks guys. I'm not convinced having one is a good idea but I have been told we are having one. So I've decided on one that claims to be able to run for 7 minutes. Of course that would completely drain the battery so its self limiting. I'm thinking a 60 second timer with a 30 second reset should do it. Or maybe have a coin operated system, insert one old style pound coin for 1 minutes operation.:). Top Cat

I've just had my boat blacked with Keelblack so read this thread with growing concern, but time will tell. What sold me on it was the experience of a nearby boatyard who swear by the stuff and have gone over to it exclusively. I'll report back if things go wrong Top Cat

I had considered a hydraulic one but the only one i have used required the engine to be revved up out of gear to get any grunt out of it. I thought that might lead to the inexperienced claiming it doesn't work or them reving up in gear causing other problems. For the electric option I was considering fitting a timer to limit the on time and set a minimum gap between uses. Maybe a relay to only allow operation while the engine is running. But thats all the more to go wrong Another percieved disadvantage with hydraulics is the need for an uprated gearbox and hyraulic pipes going the length of the boat. I could be wrong on all of the above and am open to persuasion. If it were left just to me I would use a pole (if they don't all go home after Brexit). TOP CAT

I'm specifying equipment for a new 68' steel community narrowboat which will probably weigh something in the order of 22 tons. The boat is operated by volunteers some of whom are inexperienced with bow thrusters. The trustees have decided that it is to be fitted with an electric bow thruster to aid turning in very confined spaces probably with floating debris. Does anyone have any recommendations for a suitable system? How much force should we aim for? I've seen the Vetus rim drive which cllaims unlimited run time but haven't found a price which tends to suggest its extortionate Any advice on making it fool proof? I'm envisioning a timer to prevent over use.

You might be better removing the sealed units on a cold dry day, cold air can hold less water vapor than warm air. A bright frosty morning would be ideal but hold your breath and use gloves. Top Cat

We started with single glazed aluminium framed portholes and had massive condensation. Ive replaced the frames with fibreglass ( wood look) ones and plugged in secondary perspex double glazing. Problem solved. So if i were starting again i would fit double glazed portholes with thermal breaks in the frames. Top Cat

Its all of 20 yards to our boat which is moored at the bottom of the garden. Love it! Top Cat