Québec

Hello Wee Vee, thanks for getting in touch. Would happily recommend using Vactan for the water tank without the need for blacking. We did it again last year after a two year gap, and again there were only a couple of small rust spots. Although we don’t, thorough habit, drink the tank water we tested it recently - a friend offered to drink a glass! - and she said it was absolutely fine....and she’s still with us! The crucial thing, especially if you’re Vactanning the tank while in the water, is to make sure the Vactan dries/cures properly before re-filling the tank. We’re talking days here, depending on the weather. The damper the weather the longer you need to wait. One way to test, though it’s a drag, is to start filling the tank with a bit of water. If the Vactan turns milky it hasn’t cured. Just drain and let it dry and cure some more. We used a small electric fan heater to help the process. if it stays black in contact with water it is cured. We’re lucky in that access to our tank is very easy, via a large hatch in the cratch. Others aren’t so fortunate. Hope that helps. Paul on Québec

Thanks James. Galvanic isolator fitted.

Thanks both. Very useful. The fridge is a Shoreline c. 6 yrs old. The reason for asking is as follows. We're not live aboards, more 'every weekenders', and are usually on a 240v shoreline when moored in our marina. However, we've just had a hull survey which shows we need complete overplating due to serious pitting (it's a 30 year old boat) which can't be done for a while. The advice was that we could go back in the water, not go anyway until the work is done, and not use the 240v shoreline when we're not on board. We have 3 leisure batteries, but also the spare leisure one. I just thought it might be easier just to run the fridge from the spare. Yes, we could just turn everything off and empty the fridge everytime leave...but would rather not.

Being summer, we'd like to keep our 12v fridge running when we're away from the boat - often for a few day - with everything else off - except the bulge pump. We have a spare 12v leisure battery, and so are wondering whether we could run it off that and connect it to a solar panel. In which case, if feasible, what's the minimum size solar panel we'd need?