Onewheeler

My Vauxhall Viva gave a very loud clunk and whirr once when starting it. A delve under the bonnet revealed that the starter motor had fallen off and hit the ground.

It may be possible to dismantle the solenoid and clean the contacts. That sorted our old BMC when it was clicking.

Yes, that's a possibility. I had at the back of my mind the thought of a sensor poked down a fill plug hole into the plates!

I'm not familiar with your charge controller but I'd assume that one sensor should monitor casing temperature and the other ambient. Where have you put your sensors?

Are they hot to the touch or is it just the sensor saying they're hot?

A shortish day to Evesham (not far ATCF but much longer as the river meanders. It always surprised me that the first view of Evesham abbey was off the stern of the boat). A longer day, or two short days to SoA.

Don't forget to fit the sink and drainer so that they empty at any normal trim.

I once bought some from a local hardware store run by an eccentric old bloke (long since departed). Asked for a bottle of meths and he vanished out the back for twenty minutes. Eventually he came back, swaying more than slightly, and handed over a Harvey's Bristol Cream bottle filled with meths. They don't make them like that any more.

If I were putting panels on my nb, which I'm not, I'd be tempted to put them into a wooden surround (like a roof box) with a snug fit. That would avoid snagging of ropes etc and could hide a hinge mechanism to tilt them (in two axes if your imagination runs that far).

Horizontal panels work better at capturing diffuse light when it's cloudy. Depending on your circumstances, it may be important to optimise for crappy cloudy weather rather than for bright sunlight. The derating of panels when they get hot may also be unimportant if you want to optimise for winter days when it's cold. The Vetus calculator is useful for designing a system and you can enter your choice of panel parameters.

It might be thought better to identify, locate and repair a fault rather than hiding it...

The EA website shows the level above the lock only fluctuating by about 50 cm in the past few days, other than a 5 m spike which must be a faulty reading. Even the highest level recorded is not much above the recent levels. The recent fluctuations look to be tide related, probably due to sluice closures to prevent downstream flooding. Our Oxford mooring is about 1 m up and seems to have stabilised. It was at least 20 cm higher 2 weeks ago. Martin/

They are a perfect fit in old (i.e. 25+ y.o.) Hep2O pipe.

Just ordered some of this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MEG-Blue-Antifreeze-Concentrate-BS6580-Silicate-Free-All-Year-Use-20-Litres/113340508842? Seems a good price and should do me two changes at 2:1 dilution.

Be careful with the blue retainers on the pump fittings. They break very easily. Even so, one can usually jam the broken bits back in to fulfil their purpose.

In Reims, the Veuve Cliquot visit is worth it for the trip down to the cellars. About €20 with a couple of glasses, book a couple of days ahead. Their fizz is cheaper in Tescos though. There's a good pie shop just across the roundabout outside. Usually there is free music in the Place du Forum at weekends in the summer.

Metz, Reims and Chalons en Champagne are all worth a visit, not necessarily in that order. Chalons has music outdoors weekends in July and is generally very agreeable. Verdun isn't far off your route and is on the Meuse and canal de l'est. I'd happily miss Epernay which, other than a street of vulgar champagne houses (one can see why the stuff is expensive) is rather a dump. Chateau Thierry is on the Marne and is pretty. If you're avoiding Paris to the south, Troyes is lovely but not on a navigable waterway, Nancy & Toul are on the waterways and good places to stop. Nancy is big but has a spectacular son et lumières every summer evening, Toul is a good place for a night or so.

I've seen something like a couple of Stanley knife blades in a vee configuration which would be ideal for cutting the sheath of large cable with restricted access. Blowed if I can remember where though.

The inside of the cover should look something like this: The blue bit is the end of the thermostat and it slides into a pocket. It is only held in by the wires so is easy to change. Try turning it up a bit. If that doesn't work they're only a few quid from Screwfix to replace, just get one the right length. Martin/

More likely that the thermostat needs adjusting or replacing if the water gets warmish. Is it the usual domestic arrangement coaxial with the heater or a separate unit?

A 10 A controller should work but it will only deliver 10 A. It's excess input voltage which will destroy it. Definitely a MPPT controller though.

Maybe in the salty places, but I've never seen one on the shore side inland.

I've never seen a connector like that over on the mainland. Bog-standard blue ones with round pins like here (IEC 60309 16 A 2+E), and very occasionally a variant on the standard 3-pin "euro connector" on the bornes in France.

I'd use relays / latching contactors and a multipole switch to control them.

The usual 'external' connectors are as waterproof as a paper bag (even the IP67 versions). Drill a small hole at the bottom end to let the water out.