nicknorman

As I understand it, the absorption time lasts up to the maximum time set, but if the tail current limit is reached first, that sends it to float early. Only slight problem is that the tail current is a measure of current going out of the solar, which is not necessarily the same as current going into the batteries. So if there is a constant drain of more than the tail current setting, it won't go to float until the set maximum time is reached. If you have some constant power drains (eg inverter left on all the time) you could add this current to the tail current setting.

Yes best to set it to fixed with a longish time, and use the tail current parameter. Tail current has no effect in Adaptive mode

Well, the nightclub building (ex timber store) was (is) pretty grotty. Things have to move on, especially in cities, one cannot preserve everything as it was 100+ years ago. So for me it is not a big deal. We always moor on the mainline anyway! Birmingham by canal used to be a complete dump, the other side of Broad street was really grotty. They built Brindley Place, the ICC, the NIA, Sealife etc and now it is much better. If it was still as it was in the 1960s, everyone would avoid it. Co-living is presumably student accommodation?

Like all such things there is no right answer. Higher float voltage is better for avoiding sulphation which can shorten battery life. Lower float voltage is better for avoiding plate corrosion which can shorten battery life...!

On the temperature compensation, the relevant bit in the spec is "subtract .028 VPC for every 10C..." VPC is volts per cell and you have 6 cells in the battery so that is 0.168v per 10C, ie 0.0168 per deg C. So your 16.2mV is close enough! It may not sound a lot but if the batteries are at zero C, that is 25C below the datum and so the voltage will be increased by 0.42v, taking the nominal 14.8v up to 15.22v. So you are unlikely to see a significant difference until winter. We used to keep our Trojan float voltage at 13.2v when plugged into shore and away from the boat for weeks or months. I found this didn't really keep the batteries quite full but was (allegedly) best for long term life. I think that if your boat is in daily use and not being charged overnight, you could up it a bit to maybe 13.3 or 13.4v but 13.6v is perhaps getting a bit high for long term life. Dont forget that with the higher absorb voltage, the battery will use more water.

Buying a second hand boat when you don’t really know what you are looking for is very tricky. So if possible, involve a friend etc who already has a boat, otherwise you are stabbing in the dark. On headroom, there is some variation and as I am 6’5” in shoes it was an issue for me. We ended up getting a boat built with slightly higher cabin sides than his standard, but other boats I have been in are fine. There is a fundamental limitation in that there is not a huge amount of distance from the waterline to the bottom of the canal, and in some places eg low bridges not a lot of distance from the waterline to the underside of the bridge. So narrowboats cabins have a certain height for a good reason, and if you find one with loads of headroom this might come at the expense of being problematic with low bridges and tunnels. But I think most boats can cope with 6’2”. Stern arrangement is a matter of opinion but for me it would be trad stern because this maximises the under cover space. A big expanse of cruiser deck is lovely on a sunny afternoon, but for the rest of the time it is redundant space that can’t be used to store stuff. Hull integrity is very important. Interior fit outs can be tarted up and even redone without too much difficulty, but of the hull is a sinking colander you are wasting your time. Hulls can be overplated but this is fraught with potential issues such as poor welding trapping water between layers, and the extra weight lowering the waterline too close to hull openings. Steel cabined narrowboats generally don’t leak fro the roof, but windows can leak. Quite easily fixed though. A solid fuel stove is the best remedy to dry out and keep a boat dry in winter in the face of the human exuding water vapour at a rate!

Maybe it needs to be turned on. Tap the gear wheel icon top right, is there a settings category for smart networking? You have to tell the devices to talk to each other by creating the network and joining the devices.

Not on the boat or in the caravan so I can’t check, but from memory if you tap the icon top right -circle with the 3 nodes as per Quatrrodave’s first image - it tells you what parameters are being sent /received.

I think one has to bear in mind that the canal is pretty warm in summer, 15 degrees at least even at the bottom, so it is not much use as a "fridge". The "top" and "bottom" canal water gets fairly well mixed with passing boats, so especially in summer there is unlikely to be much difference between 1 foot down and 4 feet down. You can use gas to power a gas fridge, depends on whether you are talking about "power" in terms only of electricity, or whether you include other forms of energy eg gas. If you want to be "green" then I would have thought having plenty of solar panels, some Li batteries and an electric fridge would be the best option. The panels may not produce enough power in winter, but then in winter the "canal water fridge" is likely to be cold enough and you can turn the fridge off. Or just a storage area next to the boat's base plate.

It does, and it tells you which parameters are being shared.

Apart from the stuff already mentioned, this need for a higher voltage can be caused by a bad glow plug. You can undo the glow plug fairly easily and check for carbon buildup or turns of the heating wire not evenly spaced. Just be careful with the arrangement of insulating and metal washers on the glow plug electrical connection - don’t drop them, and put them back in the right order! New glow plugs can be obtained, as they are a standard part not exclusive to a Mikuni. But do check the wiring, during initial startup it takes about 25A and a slightly bad connection somewhere will drop volts. I seem to recall there is a fuse or two in the control unit, might be worth unseating and reseating the fuses to clean the connections (and check for corrosion while you are doing it). Oh and the other thing to check is the optical flame sensor on the end of the unit, sometimes this gets sooted up and so the system doesn’t “see” that it has lit.

I disagree, buoyancy aids are very bulky and don’t self-right (well, the ones we had didn’t). My dad had an inflatable life jacket - inflated by lung power that is - into which he put a small amount of air so it wasn’t too bulky. If/when he fell in he would just blow some more air into the bladder. I guess he though that was too difficult for us kids.

Just to clarify, when you plug in the shore power and it goes to charger only, does it actually charge the batteries? (battery voltage increasing) The fact that it changes to charge mode means shore mains is reaching the Victron. If it is charging the batteries then presumably the mains voltage etc is within limits. So this leaves the internal pass-through relay which connects the shore input direct to the Victron mains output/sockets. Maybe the contacts are burnt out or the relay is otherwise faulty. This is relatively easy to fix I think, but obviously requires some specialist electronic knowledge. You could perhaps try Sellweb https://sellweb.co.uk/services/leisure-inverter-repair/

People do moor around Dukinfield Jn, either in the green space shortly before it, or by turning right just after it (have to reverse back a few yds next morning). We did moor there once, but it is not the best place. While we were there some kids pushed a supermarket trolley into the cut, although they didn’t trouble us. The next time we decided to “play safe” and moor in Droylesden Marina (top of the Ashton flight) - I think it was £10 but very friendly folk. After the Ashton flight you can moor in Thomas Telford basin overnight (might be locked in though) or shortly after on the RHS. We have moored in Castlefield basin area but it can be difficult to find space. Oh and don’t forget that you are supposed to book passage on the Bridgewater these days, on the CRT website.

Pretty sure we have done this on the RH bend where the river comes in from the left under the footbridge, ie about 50yds downstream from the lock. 59’. I wouldn’t like to try it if there was much flow on the river though, as you’d be putting the bow in the flow and the stern not in the flow and trying to get it round. If that fails there is of course a winding point just below Wychnor lock.

I would say they fell down the hole because from the outset of CRT, the strategy was to outsource as much as possible. Nearly all own plant sold off, many employees with decades of experience “retired”. Nearly everything transferred to external profit making companies who lacked employees experienced in the waterways. Unless you are pretty incompetent at running a business I can’t see how paying for someone else to do the work, and for their employers to make a profit, could be better value than doing it in house with people who know what they are doing. The whole outsourcing model routinely turns out to be a bad idea in practice, probably only benefitting some accoutant-produced documents relating to “virtual money” to make some KPIs look good in the short term. A more sensible approach would be to keep most of it in house and use contractors to deal with the demand peaks.

Yes. But welcome to the new world order where CRT are too busy with the box of sticking plasters to plan ahead for anything. They have fallen down the rabbit hole of waiting for stuff to fail rather than doing “stitch in time saves nine” preventative maintenance. Once down that hole it is difficult to clamber out again.

No, but women have built in buoyancy bags that are much bigger than men’s

Of course he did, you were paying him a small fortune!

Tarleton lock and the savick brook (probably only after the 1/2 tide lock) are CRT waters, the Douglas and the Ribble are not CRT waters and there is a PRN for both. CRT are not empowered to make any demands on anyone exercising the PRN on the Douglas or the Ribble. My original question was about whether the lifejacket rule was enforced (and thus whether I needed to buy some). It was hijacked by some people being “shocked and outraged” by the thought that I might be contemplating doing it without LJs. So I was not provoking that argument, but when it arose I was minded to point out that things to do with safety are not always as clear cut as they at first seem. Unfortunately in this modern world, anyone with a different opinion from the populist groupthink is considered a pariah who probably ought to be killed to silence the heresy. Never mind, I feel your post may have a hint of “olive branch” and I’m happy to accept it. Most amusingly (not) I have just demonstrated my own point about unintended consequences of safety equipment. When my mother still visited us I installed a handrail in the shower/bath and in fact since my Meniere’s issues I have found the hand rail a comfort. But I don’t think it has ever stopped me falling over. 30 mins ago I had a shower, dropped the shampoo bottle, bent down to pick it up and stood upright - and in doing so I split my head open on the corner of the shower handrail. Much swearing and blood pouring out ensued! Now nursing some butterfly stitches in my rather sore head!

There were certainly plenty of difference between early and late hulls, rounded vs cut and welded gunnels, weed hatch design etc. Yes the later boats including ours had steel laser-cut by the supplier. Do you consider this to be a bad thing? Assembling the flat cut pieces into a boat which had plenty of curvy bits, could not really be described as “just welded together”. It seems you have something personal against him though, so I doubt I will change your opinion. Well he gets full marks for patience with customers.

Been through Harecastle several times, never worn a lifejacket. Our most recent passage was after the chap fell off the back and died. We did have to wear LJs going through Standedge but CRT provided them. oh and a ridiculous hard hat which meant I banged my head a couple of times because I couldn’t see the roof because of the hat peak. We ran it pretty fast on the tidal Trent and there was no change in operating temperature, so I’m hoping it will be OK on that score at least.

“A liar” seems a bit strong. He built over 200 boats over several decades, it doesn’t seem too surprising that the design evolved a bit. What motive would he have for lying in the face of the evidence? Perhaps it was just a miscommunication.

Presumably you wear a lifejacket in the bath then?

Well that was not our experience. But he didn’t suffer fools gladly and maybe there was a “clash of personalities”.