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Genny vs engine vs solar?


Jak

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6 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

I used to project manage the installation of standby generators, amongst other things.There are 3 sources of noise from a generator, all of which need addressing to make them quiet.

 

1. Mechanical noise from the engine. Relatively easy to reduce by boxing in with sound deadening materials and using double rubber seals on opening panels to minimise noise breakout. You may also need antivibration mounts to prevent vibration from being transmitted to the hull.

 

2. Noise from aspiration and cooling air. Relatively easy to reduce by louvres and baffles, but care must be taken to ensure sufficient volume of air whilst slowing down the airflow to make it quieter.

 

3. Exhaust noise. This is much more difficult to attenuate, because you cannot simply add a bigger silencer and more pipe to the existing exhaust. You need the engine manufacturers backpressure figures, then to come up with a design that meets this and is approved by the generator manufacturer.

 

Cheers- its only of academic interest to me, I wont be needing a genny for a few years yet, touch wood, and when I do get one it wont be another cheap and loud model. 

 

But there are dozens of youtube videos (particularly from the US) showing what they call 'hush boxes' to reduce the noise from their gennies (or gennys, perhaps? I don't know the collective noun for generators).

The safety of these home made boxes is of course a complete unknown, and I'm certainly not mentioning them in order to support or promote their use (before the H+S police get their truncheons out). But it is interesting to see their approaches to handling the exhaust, inlet and cooling challenges.

This one is not feasible for a boat as its frankly huge, but interesting nonetheless: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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13 minutes ago, booke23 said:


I believe Jennifers is the correct term! 😄

 

Thanks very much, good to know we have a scholar aboard. 

 

If I'd had to guess the collective noun for several gennies together, I might've gone with an 'asbo'. 

 

 

  • Haha 3
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On 02/02/2022 at 23:22, Jak said:

I’ve been wondering about this. With little experience we have probably missed a trick or two.   I have 300w solar which is great in the summer and is still bringing in some power now in deepest winter. I fitted  an uprated alternator with my new batteries (Only 55amp as it’s an easy replacement on the 1500bmc diesel) to replace the original. Running the engine for a couple of hours a day when needed uses little diesel and provides our hot water. Boat is off grid. I fitted 3 new cheapo leisure batteries 5 years ago and they are still performing well so not managed to knacker them yet.  Why would someone need a genny?  The noise, security and petrol issues seem to rule them out. 
 

thanks. Jak. 

I have 500w solar but my generator was the first thing I loaded when I picked up my boat. Needed it too, to charge the batteries as the boat hadn't moved for months before I bought it. It's mostly for piece of mind but I'm doing a lot of work on my boat which so far has been undertaken with hand tools but I plan to use a drill based wire brush to strip off rust before painting, so I will have to move to somewhere non-residential for that. I don't wanna bug my new neighbours because they've been pretty good to me with advice & security & I plan to keep returning to that spot as it has good transport links & free parking.

 

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7 minutes ago, Janz said:

.............. & I plan to keep returning to that spot as it has good transport links & free parking.

 

 

 

Just don't let C&RT 'catch' you returning to the 'same spot' regularly or you will be in breach of your licence and could / will fall into the enforcement system

 

 

· Movement: Continuous Cruiser Licences are intended for bona fide (genuine) navigation around the network, rather than for a boat to remain in one mooring spot, place neighbourhood or area.


We would expect boats on these licences to move around the network such that they don’t gravitate back to favoured areas too often i.e. in a way that it’s clear to us that they’re living in a small area of the waterway.


The basic principle of this is that these licences are not intended for living in an area and if it looks like a boat is habitually returning to a particular part of the waterway then this would not generally satisfy the Trust.


Within an acceptable range we’d expect a genuine movement, so for example it would not satisfy the Trust if a boat went on a 60 mile trip during the course of say two weeks, then returned to cruise in an area of say 5 miles the remainder of the time (figures are examples only).


Generally speaking, the smaller the range the less we’d expect to see boats back at the same locations. Of course people need to turn around and they’re perfectly free to re-visit places they have been to before, it’s living in a small area on this kind of licence that would cause a problem.

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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12 minutes ago, Janz said:

I have 500w solar but my generator was the first thing I loaded when I picked up my boat. Needed it too, to charge the batteries as the boat hadn't moved for months before I bought it. It's mostly for piece of mind but I'm doing a lot of work on my boat which so far has been undertaken with hand tools but I plan to use a drill based wire brush to strip off rust before painting, so I will have to move to somewhere non-residential for that. I don't wanna bug my new neighbours because they've been pretty good to me with advice & security & I plan to keep returning to that spot as it has good transport links & free parking.

 

For the small jobs I find a cordless drill with wire brush attachments works ok

and I keep the batteries for the drill charged using a 12V charger that’s wired to the load terminals on the solar controller. 
 

Bigger jobs I save til I can use mains electric in a dock or yard when I’m out for blacking, and then the angle grinders come out.

 

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6 hours ago, Goliath said:

For the small jobs I find a cordless drill with wire brush attachments works ok

and I keep the batteries for the drill charged using a 12V charger that’s wired to the load terminals on the solar controller. 
 

Bigger jobs I save til I can use mains electric in a dock or yard when I’m out for blacking, and then the angle grinders come out.

 

I'm waiting on a bunch of parts. Nothing exciting - refurbished second hand pump, gaskets, filters & some engine hoses & plumbing fittings etc. Might as well get rid of some dirty rust whilst I'm waiting. Prep it for paint... do it in instalments whilst I have the floor up...👍

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6 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

 

Just don't let C&RT 'catch' you returning to the 'same spot' regularly or you will be in breach of your licence and could / will fall into the enforcement system

 

 

· Movement: Continuous Cruiser Licences are intended for bona fide (genuine) navigation around the network, rather than for a boat to remain in one mooring spot, place neighbourhood or area.


We would expect boats on these licences to move around the network such that they don’t gravitate back to favoured areas too often i.e. in a way that it’s clear to us that they’re living in a small area of the waterway.


The basic principle of this is that these licences are not intended for living in an area and if it looks like a boat is habitually returning to a particular part of the waterway then this would not generally satisfy the Trust.


Within an acceptable range we’d expect a genuine movement, so for example it would not satisfy the Trust if a boat went on a 60 mile trip during the course of say two weeks, then returned to cruise in an area of say 5 miles the remainder of the time (figures are examples only).


Generally speaking, the smaller the range the less we’d expect to see boats back at the same locations. Of course people need to turn around and they’re perfectly free to re-visit places they have been to before, it’s living in a small area on this kind of licence that would cause a problem.

Well I just got to where I am last week & I've already ingratiated myself to my local CRT Officer en-route, twice! I've done a fair few miles to get here & I'm brand spanking new on their system, so I don't anticipate any problem with them. I can easily fulfill my obligations but I'm waiting on some parts & I'd prefer to have them installed before I set off. I think I'm good for two weeks where I am, so I have another week there... cool! As long as I'm near Ealing, I can work on my boat, so it's not that important whereabouts as I can park it up anywhere from Brentford to Greenford & still be 15 mins away by pushbike.

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Thanks for posting that up though. I must admit I haven't really waded in to the legal aspects shopping mall of boating yet but I get roughly how it is. My pal is coming over to see my tub & help me out next week & he's a boat guy. He knows the laws & the etiquette & he has all the keys to the water points, amenities & bridges etc...👍

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3 minutes ago, Janz said:

Thanks for posting that up though. I must admit I haven't really waded in to the legal aspects shopping mall of boating yet but I get roughly how it is. My pal is coming over to see my tub & help me out next week & he's a boat guy. He knows the laws & the etiquette & he has all the keys to the water points, amenities & bridges etc...👍

 

I'll let you into a secret... The keys are all the same. There is only one.

 

Don't tell anyone, ok?

 

 

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