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3 minutes ago, Sharon Fullwood said:

Hi all

 

Can anyone recommend an engineer local to the Leicestershire area that can come along and diagnose some electrical issues we are experiencing on our boat.  Issues are with a victron easy solar 24v/3000/70 and a webasto heater 

 

Any suggestions greatly appreciated 

 

Regards

Sharon

 

Re the engineer, I am afraid, no. However, the Victron and Webasto will cut out on low battery voltage, so what is the battery voltage.

1 minute ago, dave moore said:

Look up Keith Meadowcroft who trades as VoltMaster, he may be able to help. He’s on this forum as Keith M

second that.

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47 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

Re the engineer, I am afraid, no. However, the Victron and Webasto will cut out on low battery voltage, so what is the battery voltage.

 

I'd tend to agree, with both those unconnected items not working and, both being reliant on properly charged batteries, it looks like the OP has not been charging the batteries on a daily basis.

 

 

54 minutes ago, Sharon Fullwood said:

Hi all

 

Can anyone recommend an engineer local to the Leicestershire area that can come along and diagnose some electrical issues we are experiencing on our boat.  Issues are with a victron easy solar 24v/3000/70 and a webasto heater 

 

Any suggestions greatly appreciated 

 

Regards

Sharon

 

Sharon - how do you charge your batteries, and how do you know when to stop charging ?

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3 minutes ago, Sharon Fullwood said:

Hi

 

This is why I need an engineer to look at whats wrong.  I don't believe anything is set up correctly. 

New batteries just been fitted.

Sorry for lack of info ....

 

Regards 

 

The Victron seems to contain a solar controller so with typical, if there is such a thing, electricity use and solely relying on solar charging even at this time of year is unlikely to recharge the batteries unless the whole narrowboat roof is covered in solar.  We know from so very many examples that new boaters are very good at underestimating their electricity use and over estimating how well they charge their batteries. Sometimes they wreck a new battery bank within a week or two.

 

We don't know how experienced you are with boats and charging, and two of us have indicated that we feel, on the basis of what you have told us, that flat batteries might be the issue. That is fairly easy to fix by running the engine well above tickover for maybe 10 to 12 hours, and all it costs is the diesel. This assumes the alternator charging the domestic bank is a 24 volt one.

 

At present, we have no idea about how you are monitoring your batteries and charging and even if you are using some form of battery monitor you may not know the problems with such equipment.

 

If you are new to boating then if you turn to professionals every time you have a problem you need to be very rich, so it pays to learn as much as you can. The forum can help you with that, but we need to know a lot more about your boat, its equipment, and why you think it is not properly set up. How much solar do you have? What is the domestic battery voltage right now? That will give us a clue to how well charged the batteries are. Be aware that a simple voltmeter might be measuring the engine battery voltage rather than that of the domestic bank.

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39 minutes ago, Sharon Fullwood said:

Hi

 

This is why I need an engineer to look at whats wrong.  I don't believe anything is set up correctly. 

New batteries just been fitted.

Sorry for lack of info ....

 

Regards 

 

Its quite possible that nothing is wrong - apart from you not knowing how to look after batteries.

 

Sharon - how do you charge your batteries, and how do you know when to stop charging ?

Do you have solar ?

Are you on a mains hook-up ?

Do you run the engine every day ?

 

 

Is this a new boat to you ?

Have you had boats before or is this your 1st ?

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On 22/03/2023 at 16:48, Sharon Fullwood said:

Hi

 

This is why I need an engineer to look at whats wrong.  I don't believe anything is set up correctly. 

New batteries just been fitted.

Sorry for lack of info ....

 

Regards 

 

Did the Webasto work correctly (even if briefly) after fitting the new batteries?

 

Is this a new boat to you? And are you a first time liveaboard? If yes then you are probably at the base of the very steep learning curve of how to charge and generally look after your batteries. There is no alternative to learning. You cannot throw money at it and employ engineers expecting them to make it all work for you instead of learning for yourself. Failing to learn to manage the batteries is probably what defeats the majority of liveaboards who give up boat life and move back onto the bank so treat it with the utmost importance.

 

A really good place to start is the forum "Battery Primer". It starts off simply but dumbs nothing down, and explains everything properly. Have a read and you might decide you don't actually need an engineer. Find it here:

https://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?/topic/95003-battery-charging-primer/#comment-2100390

 

 

 

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