David R

Thanks again Robbo - much appreciated!

Thanks.....also wonder is some are more easy to apply than others! Hi Robbo - not sure! We aquired the boat 2 years ago so this is the first time out of the water. Hull seems in reasonable shape - very little pitting! Have yet to jet-wash which may reveal a few clues.

Any advice on which blacking product to use please? 1-part, 2-part etc, etc! Used to anti-fouling GRP so steel is unexplored ground! Thanks David

When we acquired a boat, it had a small 300W inverter of dubious provenance which just about coped with powering the telly and fridge. We now have a 1KW Sterling inverter which is excellent in all respects however, we now are having the following problems: 1) A DAB radio (with an off-board 240V>9V power supply) display flickers constantly and audio also breaks up. I have tried running this on domestic 240v and with a replacement power supply with the same fault. 2) We had an LCD TV that also has an off-board supply (240V>12V) - again the picture breaks up. Have also tried this at home with domestic 240V and a good digital signal - same problems. I don't believe this has anything to do with the change to the Sterling inverter since I was aware of the TV fault at the end of last season (and the end of the old inverter!). I have a nasty feeling that the old inverter has somehow affected the power supplies for these two bit of equipment which in turn have damaged the actual equipment. Is this possible? If this is the case, can the same thing happened with the new inverter (quasi-sine) or is it that the power supplies are not suitable for use with inverters? Any clues please? Thanks David

Thanks Nick, I shall try the experiments first but I can tell you a)It is a steel roof...I cleaned the aerial mounting hole to bare metal during instalation but will check that there's no corosion. The distance from the inverter to the tuner is about 1.5 M and from inverter to aerial, about 2.0M. c) The Sterling inverter replaces a small 300W job of dubious provence which, for all it's faults didn't cause any noise! Thanks again David

We have the usual ex-car radio/CD on board - the aerial is roof mounted and of the rubber helical whip type. All was fine - good quiete reception. We've now got a new 1Kw Sterling invertor fitted. When this in on, there is a great deal of noise on the radio - certainly drowning out the signal. Has anyone experienced this and how did you solve it? Thanks David

Thanks to all contributors - I think the best thing I can do is to get a good set of readings as per Tony's advice. I'll publish these when I get them. Thanks again. David

Al Thanks again Blodger - seems like sound advice to me - I'll get some pics of the alternator when i'm next at Swanley. Also, I'll monitor the voltage to see if we can get to the 14.2V. Not too shocked Tony! But I AM grateful! Thanks! Hi Graham - that's interesting! I rewired the fridge to switch outlet for 12V with polar 2.5mm2 cable but should have carried this thinking through to the other end on the switch panel which does get rather warm when running off 12V! When we're out - usually 6 hrs in the Winter and 7-8 in the Summer. David

Thanks Wirren.....the fridge is one of those old 12v/240v/Gas jobs...could try running off 12V I suppose! The TV is 12V in fact......uses a 240V>12V adaptor. Just not sure if such a unit would cope with the 'raw' feed from the batteries! David

Thanks - will investigate cable to inverter....length? About 2M at the moment and as for mm2...I dread to think....if like everything else on board when we got her....'the cheapest' option!!! What do you suggest for mm2 of cable? Thanks David

Hi Blodger - the diesel is a Honda 1250GD so runs fast/medium (to use a cricket term!) It's a generator/stationary engine design not an automotive one - Max revs is 2500. The 13.6v is the steady reading after about 1 min of running. David

Hi Tony - thanks for this. I used your own advice on Canal Junction and had the following results. 1. No load: 13.1V (I've tested the batteries individually too and the results are the same) 2. Didn't do the starter test since the cranking battery is fine. 3. Engine running charge - 13.6V once settled. The batteries are all 12 months old and topped up correctly. I have no real idea about the alternator's make or age I'm afraid. When starting in the morning after an overnight, the engine has to be revved quite hard before the charge warning light extinguishes - the (crude) voltmeters on then jump up to 16V (which is probably deeply inaccurate!) Thanks again David

I could do with some advice on options for improving power availability for our 40' boat. We are not live-aboard and tend to spend 1 to 5 nights away. Currently there are three batteries. 1 X 110Ah for cranking and 2 X 110Ah for domestic. These are charged from the alternator (I've tested this set-up and the batteries are being charged correctly). There is a 300W inverter which we use for TV (LCD) + signal amp and the fridge. Lights (fluorescent or halogen) water pump and radio are 12V and we also have a an 'electric' cool box for fridge overspill. At the moment, the inverter reduces the charge on the domestic bank rather quickly (I have a feeling this unit is not all it might be since the output voltage drops to 205V AC even with the engine running!). As I see it the options are: 1. Increase battery bank - there would be space issues for additional batteries but could be done.....I think a bigger/additional alternator might be required though. In addition purchase a new bigger inverter.......are cheaper units less efficient? 2. Put up with running the engine in the evening...it's a bit noisy and not terribly good for the old girl I understand??? 3. Purchase a generator to provide 240V when required. Any comments or better suggestions please? Thanks David

Hi - Swanley Bridge Marina near Nantwich provide a haul-out and blacking service - v reasonable!

We've recently had a stove fitted in our boat - fireboard was fitted in the correct places.......the job was done professionally! I now need to fit some fireboard to the wooden ladder to the rear deck as they are close to the stove. Please could anyone advise on the best method of fixing fireboard to a wooden surface? I am assuming screws are out as they would conduct heat through to the surface which the fireboard was protecting...or am I wrong? Thanks David