A lot to learn

[Trix]

First time on our own and we have a lot to learn

We set off yesterday from Devizes after looking at the stoppages thinking we could get through, first lesson learnt ,that has changed and we can not get through until the 12th . next lesson was when passing fisherman with long poles they prefer you to go nearest to them rather than on the bank farthest from them. Next my invertor struggles on my batteries if I try to charge lap top even after a days cruising ( more batteries ) .

 

Because of the stoppage we have passed the last water point and may have to go back to refill , doh. I also have a long cycle ride in the morning to collect my van . Not sure I should admit this but maybe someone can tell me what i should have done , as darkness fell I knew we would have to stop but there are a lot of boats on the visitor moorings already doubled and in some places 3 abreast , I spotted a gap further up and managed some how to get into it , tied the boat up and headed to the shop quickly to get some milk ( it was shut ) when i came back I noticed a sign saying permit holders only but it is now dark so I have decided to stay put and move early in the morning , not sure what else I could have done other than maybe look before struggling to get in the tight gap . there really are few spaces here.

 

we did 14 locks today and we found it hard work but it was nice to finally get out in the boat , a lot of plus points including very hot water when we stopped so a nice shower and a few down points the fridge appears not to run on batteries hopefully the genny is still in the van when I get to it .

like I said a lot to learn..............

[matty40s]

don't worry about the permit holders sign if you are moving on early, I have stopped on a water point tonight, arrived at 7pm and will leave at 7am.

Sounds like your batteries are on their final legs, maybe charge things whilst you are cruising and replace laptop batteries (£25 rather than a set of batteries) to give you longer pc-time.

Fridge may be a 240V fridge, and if batteries are stiffed, the inverter may struggle.

[mrsmelly]

don't worry about the permit holders sign if you are moving on early, I have stopped on a water point tonight, arrived at 7pm and will leave at 7am.

Sounds like your batteries are on their final legs, maybe charge things whilst you are cruising and replace laptop batteries (£25 rather than a set of batteries) to give you longer pc-time.

Fridge may be a 240V fridge, and if batteries are stiffed, the inverter may struggle.

 

Ye Gods....In 23 years I have never stopped on and never will stop on a water point. I have gone to a water point late evening and early morning in the rain and cold and had to breast up to some other inconsiderate boater and risk slipping crossing their boat to get water. Boating doesnt have a 7pm 7am curfew but then again I know your post is a wind up and your boating manners are far better than that

 

Tim

[Trix]

The boats were three abreast at the water point

[matty40s]

The boats were three abreast at the water point

I am the 4th one out from the bank Tim...

[Dave_P]

Come on people! How hard is it to move on a couple of hundred yards after your water fill? I'm with Mr Smelly here. Never have never will! I get right fed up trying to get water with people blocking the water point and saying they didn't think anyone else would come to use it! Are they psychic? Apparently not since I seem to come upon them fairly regularly.

[Tuscan]

What happened to all these empty visitor moorings in the winter, I assume this is a backlog of boats from the flooding trying to beat the stoppages.

[ditchcrawler]

Come on people! How hard is it to move on a couple of hundred yards after your water fill? I'm with Mr Smelly here. Never have never will! I get right fed up trying to get water with people blocking the water point and saying they didn't think anyone else would come to use it! Are they psychic? Apparently not since I seem to come upon them fairly regularly.

I have only done that once and yes more than one person turned up for water before I left, lesson learnt

[Paul C]

Ye Gods....In 23 years I have never stopped on and never will stop on a water point.

 

 

You must be really thirsty now?

[sueb]

Your laptop can be charged on 12v you don't need 240v for this. Get a gizmo fyom Maplins.

Who said there were no mooring problems on the k&a ?

[ditchcrawler]

Your laptop can be charged on 12v you don't need 240v for this. Get a gizmo fyom Maplins.

Who said there were no mooring problems on the k&a ?

Check if it's a Dell first.

[PiRSqwared]

Your laptop can be charged on 12v you don't need 240v for this. Get a gizmo fyom Maplins.

Who said there were no mooring problems on the k&a ?

 

Maybe the "problem" in this case is the extended stoppage.

I wouldn't worry about the permit holders only sign too much...unlikely anyone is going to return to a mooring over 2 hours after darkness falls.

[Chris Pink]

Come on people! How hard is it to move on a couple of hundred yards after your water fill? I'm with Mr Smelly here. Never have never will! I get right fed up trying to get water with people blocking the water point and saying they didn't think anyone else would come to use it! Are they psychic? Apparently not since I seem to come upon them fairly regularly.

 

Get yourself a longer hose and stop moaning.

 

Sorry, I forgot, you enjoy moaning. Carry on. Have fun.

[dmr]

First time on our own and we have a lot to learn

We set off yesterday from Devizes after looking at the stoppages thinking we could get through, first lesson learnt ,that has changed and we can not get through until the 12th . next lesson was when passing fisherman with long poles they prefer you to go nearest to them rather than on the bank farthest from them. Next my invertor struggles on my batteries if I try to charge lap top even after a days cruising ( more batteries ) .

 

Because of the stoppage we have passed the last water point and may have to go back to refill , doh. I also have a long cycle ride in the morning to collect my van . Not sure I should admit this but maybe someone can tell me what i should have done , as darkness fell I knew we would have to stop but there are a lot of boats on the visitor moorings already doubled and in some places 3 abreast , I spotted a gap further up and managed some how to get into it , tied the boat up and headed to the shop quickly to get some milk ( it was shut ) when i came back I noticed a sign saying permit holders only but it is now dark so I have decided to stay put and move early in the morning , not sure what else I could have done other than maybe look before struggling to get in the tight gap . there really are few spaces here.

 

we did 14 locks today and we found it hard work but it was nice to finally get out in the boat , a lot of plus points including very hot water when we stopped so a nice shower and a few down points the fridge appears not to run on batteries hopefully the genny is still in the van when I get to it .

like I said a lot to learn..............

 

Which boat are you? We are in Devizes so you must have gone past us.

14 locks in one day is quite impressive on the K&A in the winter.

I assume you have gone East and got stuck at Froxfield?

Go back to Bedwyn to get water and get some good beer (and food) at the Cross Keys...the landlord is a boater.

Sign up to the Waterscape stoppages thing..they will send you emails to update you on all stoppages and stoppage over-runs.

I will get shot down for this but...

Don't worry too much about "bending" the rules a bit, especially in Winter, just don't take the p-ss, and be prepared to move if someone asks you to (the K&A is more laid back and Much friendlier than most canals)

With fishermen: slow down and go right down the middle of the cut, don't expect any response or thanks...if you do its a bonus.

Sometimes they will ask you to go right over to one side.... they may or may not know how deep the canal is but probably have no clue how deep your boat is....Try to co-operate but YOU make the decision where to go!!!!!

 

Somethings not right with either your batteries or wiring...or are you just expecting too much????

 

..........Dave

[Trix]

As far as the batteries are concerned I think I just need more there is only two and the alternator is not that big , the plan is to head up to little bedwyn and then cycle off to the van , return to devizes to get my motorcycle which I need for work this week then hopefully find somewhere to stop for 7 days until we can move again , could be interesting

[alan_fincher]

As far as the batteries are concerned I think I just need more there is only two and the alternator is not that big

I'm sure you probably know this, but if you increase the size of your battery bank, but not your alternator, it means that a proportionally longer running time will be required to put the charge back, for any voltage you actually let them run down to.

 

So whilst you will increase the length of time you can survive for, assuming starting with a fully charged set of batteries, the actual amount of engine running needed to put it all back will be a lot longer.

[Trix]

For the short term I intend to run a generator and battery charger until I can look into the system a little better , two days in and I'm learning thanks all

[Matthew Dowson]

Adding a second alternator for your leisure batteries would be worthwhile, ours had just a small one and we struggled until we put on a second alternator. Don't add a third battery to the series unless the existing ones are new, as they can 'pull down' the new battery to their lower level of charge holding/efficiency. I understand its best to replace all at the same time, but I'm sure someone more knowledgeable on electrics will have some further comments to make on this.

[AshleyT]

I've got the same battery setup as you I don't find it any trouble I run my pc 580 watts at 20amp I think sure someone will put be right I've had the PCM running for about 5 hours so maybe like other people are saying ether laptop bat or the boat battery's all the best in your boat enjoy I know I'm enjoying it so far

[Paul C]

As far as the batteries are concerned I think I just need more there is only two and the alternator is not that big , the plan is to head up to little bedwyn and then cycle off to the van , return to devizes to get my motorcycle which I need for work this week then hopefully find somewhere to stop for 7 days until we can move again , could be interesting

 

What is the rating of the alternator?

 

Have you considered solar panel(s)?

[DeanS]

I'm no battery pro (I hear Gibbo inhale deeply as he reads this) but I'll share what others have shared with me

 

1. You need to put back 150% of what you take from batteries.

2. Charge up your laptops while you're cruising, and you wont need to use the invertor to run them when you arent.

3. Use the maplin 12V-18V convertor and you can power the laptop from the batteries, not the invertor.

4. What other appliances are you using which might be killing the batteries...(fridge, hairdrier, kettle, microwave)

5. Solar will help in summer to keep batteries charged...because you have sun till 10pm at night. The opposite in winter.

6. The batteries could be old, and new ones will definately help.

7. If you are only powering a laptop, and a few other small items, there's no reason your existing alternator shouldnt cope.

8. Generators are best used when needing to run big stuff like a washing machine.

9. Dont get into the bad habit like I did, of running the gennie, just to keep tvs on till late. Get a book or an Ipad with BBC Iplayer.

Edited January 7, 2013 by DeanS

[Paul C]

I'm no battery pro (I hear Gibbo inhale deeply as he reads this) but I'll share what others have shared with me

 

1. You need to put back 150% of what you take from batteries.

2. Charge up your laptops while you're cruising, and you wont need to use the invertor to run them when you arent.

3. Use the maplin 12V-18V convertor and you can power the laptop from the batteries, not the invertor.

4. What other appliances are you using which might be killing the batteries...(fridge, hairdrier, kettle, microwave)

5. Solar will help in summer to keep batteries charged...because you have sun till 10pm at night. The opposite in winter.

6. The batteries could be old, and new ones will definately help.

7. If you are only powering a laptop, and a few other small items, there's no reason your existing alternator shouldnt cope.

8. Generators are best used when needing to run big stuff like a washing machine.

9. Dont get into the bad habit like I did, of running the gennie, just to keep tvs on till late. Get a book or an Ipad with BBC Iplayer.

 

Good list, the only addition I'd make is that (5), solar power isn't just for summer, it can really help in the autumn/spring depending on how well specified (ie oversized...) it is. Have a good search around the forum, there are some very useful posts showing the % of maximum charge available through the winter months (the data is for the whole year). Ours is 200W and the power it generates even now (January) is enough to keep the batteries topped up, with the radio on, occasional use of power tools and 2½ minutes of microwave oven cooking.

[Ange]

Your laptop can be charged on 12v you don't need 240v for this. Get a gizmo fyom Maplins.

 

 

Seconded (provided it's not a Dell as has been stated cos they're fussy)

 

We went through a massive learning curve when we moved aboard and managed with ailing batteries for a couple of years. Using the inverter to power the laptop is a massive waste of power - you're taking it from 12v to 240v then back down to 19v with a lot of loss in between. The gizmo from Maplins meant that I could charge my lappy without the engine running - our batteries were that dire that before the inverter would shriek as soon as we turned the engine off just through charging the lappy!

 

Invest in solar panels as soon as you can - they made a huge difference to us.

 

Best of luck and enjoy!

[LoneWolf]

...

Invest in solar panels as soon as you can - they made a huge difference to us.

 

 

me too

 

other energy saving tips for winter are, switch to LED lights and turn the fridge off - use a coolbox in the outside space or similar

 

I only have 2 batteries & a puny alternator & manage fine

[Ange]

me too

 

other energy saving tips for winter are, switch to LED lights and turn the fridge off - use a coolbox in the outside space or similar

 

I only have 2 batteries & a puny alternator & manage fine

Ah yes LED lights. Transformed our boat from a dim cave into a brightly lit space in the evenings and use less power.