Tom and Bex

There is a commercially available option here: https://www.solar4rvs.com.au/rec-bi-stable-relay-driver-bslrd-for-low-side-swit Only site I've been able to find it though. This is what I've used with the Tyco relays, not cheap for what it is though. There's also a circuit design on (I think) the Nordik design website.

We had the same shower pump setup on our current boat. It lasted all of 6-8 weeks before we got sick of cleaning it out every week or 2 and replaced it with a gulper! That was over 4 years ago and not touched it since.

The hot pipes run all along under the gunnells, the rads are generally easier to protect with rad covers, or just by being in a different room (our bedroom!) Full length pipes however just act like a grab rail for toddlers! And trying to fit into existing fitout and using existing central heating system😁

We've had pumped systems for 10 years on both our last boat and this one. Although we've had pump failures, we've never had the dire consequences often warned about on here. Pumps don't generally suddenly fail, we found ours gradually got noisier and noisier before failing, to the extent you'd want to change it long before complete failure. I admit a 230v one adds additional failure points on a boat, that's why we went for 12v. Our last boat had a single gravity fed radiator near the stove so we could run without pump if necessary, but never did. This stove is installed without (just connected to existing central heating circuit for ease). We also didn't want very hot exposed pipework within toddler reach which all gravity systems seem to have! As to what to do if pump fails, why not just shut all fire vents down tight? This causes our morso squirrel to die down to virtually nothing in a matter of minutes, certainly not enough time to boil the back boiler and cause the problems predicted in this thread. We've changed the pump a couple times without letting the fire go out, but as emergency, during the few minutes to let fire die down, we could run the eberspacher which also circulates through the same system. Never needed to though. We've had very very expensive 12v pumps fail in less than a year, but the most reliable we've found is a used 12v auxiliary pump from a jag. Only £20, and still going strong after 3 winters.

My choice would be hire from Alvechurch (easy access by train) and visit Birmingham and the BCN. Our 5 year old loves going to Birmingham by boat, and has done since she was a toddler. Plenty to entertain small children, sea life centre, legoland, science museum and plenty more. All next to or easy walking from canal. Then further on you've got Black Country Museum. You could head though Netherton tunnel and moor at a windmill end to let them run around, or carry on and stop at merryhill shopping centre with lots of kids entertainment. Our 5 year old likes to play guess which way to go at the many junctions on the BCN. Add in some loops to surprise them coming back out where you started! Another thing she likes to do in long tunnels is have a "tunnel rave " - some glow sticks and music and she's all set for the tunnels! Easy trip with as much or as little boating as you want, and just turn back after half your trip. No locks heading into Birmingham, then just an easy 3 locks to hop between the old and new mainline whenever you feel like it. Our 5 year old loves locks, but gets bored after 10 or so. She's just strong enough now to push the gates on her own, sometimes with a bit of help to get them started. Life jackets for the kids would be essential when outside on the boat and especially locking, but hire company should provide them. You would also avoid muddy towpaths in and around most of the BCN and it can feel surprisingly rural in places. It can be an interesting mix of urban and rural, new and old. Cruising under the elevated M5 and railway bridge on the old mainline, having just crossed the new mainline is one of my favourites!

I think that boat design and engine/prop combo probably has a lot to do with it. I notice our current boat (ex- hire) seems to be much more prone to prop fouling severe enough to affect steering and forward power than our pervious boat with deep draft and slow revving prop.

This really annoys me and there's no need at all for it. Feel it shows boaters in a really bad light. The piles of rubbish I'm talking about are clearly left by boaters clearing their weed hatch. They tend to be left in piles by bridge holes or narrows, and tend to consist of neat piles of chewed and twisted plastic and other rubbish that has clearly been pulled off a prop. The piles of rusty metalwork however, are almost certainly left by magnet fishers. I'd like to see this attempted on the Walsall canal🤣 There's miles of continuous floating rubbish to boat through! I agree that there's ways you can reduce your chance of collecting rubbish, but there's definitely no way of avoiding multiple weed hatch trips on parts of the BCN!

This is my go to first action with any problems now! When you flush, can you hear the macerator pump working? Ours will quite happily keep flushing the toilet until the the tank overflows (and still keep flushing and overflowing into the canal even then if we wanted to!).

Car auxiliary water pump from ebay or scrap yard. Much better quality and longer lasting than the cheap solar pumps.

Friend has just used one to good result on very faded paintwork. Boat paint is generally thicker than car paintwork, with larger flat surfaces which help with electric polishing. On the other hand, the paint is a lot softer so care needed not to burn it! Also need to make sure you avoid sharp corners.

Sorry to hear that. Hope you make a good recovery. We're not far from Hockley Heath so anything we can help with let me know. Both Swallow and Lyons have seemed friendly and helpful when visiting shop. Can't comment what they're like to moor at though. PM Sent

When we sold ours a few years ago we had it on Facebook, apolloduck and here. 3 viewings, 1 from here and 2 from apolloduck. Had 2 offers, both from apolloduck and both around the asking price, 1 subject to survey and 1 without. Sold within a couple weeks with no hassle at all. Would advise anyone selling to consider apolloduck as main site for listing on. Didn't get any real time wasting enquires from there unlike Facebook! Most boats including most brokers seem to get listed on there, Facebook seems to be full of chancers!

As Tony says, doesn't help much with solar in winter, we get virtually nothing from our panels in winter. They do make a big difference spring to autumn though. Advantage is no need to charge to 100% and batteries don't limit charging rate (for all practical purposes). As to how long they last, expecting 10 years+ probably more. There's some very long threads on here about them where several of us explain our systems in detail if you're interested. I still think you're doing well to get 2 years out of your existing batteries though, and don't think expensive lead acids will last any longer.

Theory is a wonderful thing! Our 1kw generator would not run our pervious 40A charger at all. Will run our current (Sterling) charger, but only if charger started in low power and increased when running, will trip the generator if started at full power. As said above, the answer to your problems is lithium.... Doesn't fit your budget though. Otherwise just keep doing what you're doing and get the cheapest you can. Like you, can't stand hours of engine or generator running. Before we fitted lithiums, we'd kill a set of cheapo lead acid batteries in 1-2 years, and that's with 500w solar. Still better than constant engine or generator noise though.

Yes 52ft would be no problem even if closed.

Assuming there is a BCN Challenge in 2022, does anyone know what the dates might be? I know it's usually the bank Holiday weekend at end of May, but that's changed next year so unsure which weekend it might be. Need to book annual leave for next year now so really need to know what weekend to book!

Don't think you can wind a full length boat in the basin, you have to turn just beyond.

I believe that the restrictions on winding during opening times only is no longer applicable, but never actually tried it other than during BCN Challenge. It is very very tight winding a full length boat though!

Sorry but I can't let that part of your post go unchallenged. If be amazed if virtually any narrow boat used anything close to those figures for domestic power. 4kwh is around 333ah @12v, 5kwh is 417ah! Our measured usage in winter (excluding washing machine) was around 90-100ah (1-1.2kwh) before we installed our lithium batteries. Since then, our usage has increased by around 50%, simply due to ease and speed of charging. We now use a measured 140-150ah average (1.8-2kwh @13v). That figure now includes an occasional cold wash, but that's not the main reason for the increase. I'm not sure how we could use any more, let alone over double! We are far from economical with power use now, and don't really think about it since installing our lithium batteries 3 years ago. I think the rest of your figures look reasonable though.

We just have the outlet straight through the bulkhead near the steps. Gets the bedroom very warm very quickly. Could easily feed more outlets, these heaters are very good and a quick way of getting heat into the boat. We also have an outlet on the back deck near feet which makes a big difference to winter cruising. Heater gives plenty of air flow to both outlets

We've fitted one in the engine bay on our cruiser stern. As Alan said, 75mm hole in bulkhead for outlet. Ours takes the inlet for heated air straight from engine bay, but might change this at some point to take from cabin to reduce hot engine smells! Combustion air from engine bay as well, and exhaust to skin fitting on side. We fitted one of the generic cheap Chinese 5kw units that are all over ebay. Cost around £80 for heater, but budget on the same again for fittings if needed. You can't use any of the installation fittings that are supplied with kit, as not suitable for boat installation and will fail BSS unless you change them. Heater itself is fine though, well made, reliable, and easily controllable heat level. You particularly can't use the standard silencer - you need the marine silencer, standard silencer has drain hole for condensation, and is not sealed in any way!

When was the towpath removed round Icknield Port Loop, and why? And a followup question, why were the bridges at the end built without towpath?

Currently have 500w. Panels several years old now so low light performance probably better in some of the modern panels. Any recommendations? Considering some bi-facial panels, but sceptical of the claimed benefits, and quite expensive (although probably similar or cheaper per watt than we paid for existing ones!).

But we've got used to only 2hrs a day! Twin alternators that are both A127, but start battery one runs on a smaller pulley. Also only have the one regulator (should have bought 2 before they went commercial!) We were seeing around 100A when starting charging, but have had to dial back the settings to around 70A to avoid killing alternator too quickly! Fully agree! Along with increased water usage, toilet emptying etc! No concept of saving power and water despite our best efforts. Have solar, and surprised how much better it works with lithium batteries. Trouble is we get nothing October to February, and have shading til midday on our mooring in summer due to trees.

Lithiums definitely the best money we've spent on the boat. Trouble is we're now using noticeably more power than when planning our system, due to ease of charging and maintenance! We were using around 90-100ah per day, now seem to be using 120-130ah per day or more! Seriously considering increasing our 320ah of 2nd hand lithiums now, trouble is, to take full advantage of any increased capacity, I'd need to look at increasing our alternator to keep within 1-2hrs a day engine running. And that would require a poly vee belt, so new engine pulley needed, and so it goes on!