Running a Pressure Washer.

[ditchcrawler]

Boat hire fleets don't expect their hirers to obsess about battery charging. The most common call-out for Valley Cruisers used to be 'The telly has stopped working and all the lights have gone dim'. Service engineer would drive out with a new battery and give a gentle lecture on cruising hours versus tv watching. Two days later they'd be back on the phone.

Which is why some hire boats are moored up with the engine running all through lunch. They were told to run the engine for 5 hrs each day. I would suggest there is no way you can tell a battery is fully charged with a standard volt meter.

[Horace42]

Thankyou for writing all that Horace i appreciate it.

 

Yer stuff buying a pressure washer now, i think something that pumps like a hose pipe and is low wattage will do me ok.

 

Can i ask what engine rev's you charge your batterys at ?

 

I am running it at 1300 - 1400 revs on a beta 38 100amp alternator apparently. :-/

I rely on my batteries being charged whilst cruising - usually about 1500 rpm 5 to 7 hours a day - and that is enough to run the lights (that have been hanged to warm white LEDS)(the old halogen lights were far too bright for us and thirsty on power) and run the TV/ freesat/DVD player in the evening - I very seldom run the engine whilst moored except when using the microwave. I don't have to - but I do - just out of habit developed with the old batteries before installing 4 x 110 ah domestic batteries.

 

Just a little comment if going for an ordinary DIY water pump set up. I had one and had to make sure the inlet pipe pipe with a filter was in clear water, below the surface (to avoid floating debris) but not down so low to pick up the mud - and because I didn't pay attention I was frequently unblocking the filter - not a problem - just a nuisance. And when I removed the filter to save time, the dirty water left the boat with a streaky muddy sheen - that had to be wiped off by hand using clean water.

 

All the fun of boating.

[WotEver]

I would suggest there is no way you can tell a battery is fully charged with a standard volt meter.

I would agree with that suggestion. For 5 hours you'll be saying "Oh look, 14.4V"

[Jak]

Boat hire fleets don't expect their hirers to obsess about battery charging. The most common call-out for Valley Cruisers used to be 'The telly has stopped working and all the lights have gone dim'. Service engineer would drive out with a new battery and give a gentle lecture on cruising hours versus tv watching. Two days later they'd be back on the phone.

I have never had that problem with any hire boat (Thames, Broads or canals). But my idea idea of a boating holiday is to cruise for more than 5 hours a day. Only a problem now we have our own boat. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to do same on our boat but unfortunately need to hold down a full time job to pay for it

I would agree with that suggestion. For 5 hours you'll be saying "Oh look, 14.4V"

[mango]

Boat hire fleets don't expect their hirers to obsess about battery charging. The most common call-out for Valley Cruisers used to be 'The telly has stopped working and all the lights have gone dim'. Service engineer would drive out with a new battery and give a gentle lecture on cruising hours versus tv watching. Two days later they'd be back on the phone.

Inexpensive voltmeters that plug into standard cigarette lighter sockets are handy to take on hire boats, so that you can keep an eye on the state of the domestic battery bank, especially if there is no voltmeter inside the boat.

[Alan de Enfield]

Inexpensive voltmeters that plug into standard cigarette lighter sockets are handy to take on hire boats, so that you can keep an eye on the state of the domestic battery bank, especially if there is no voltmeter inside the boat.

 

The problem with that is 'false alarms' (which are probably on the 'side of safety') as the voltmeter will only read the voltage at the cigarette lighter socket. If it has been wired with 'thin cable' and is a fair distance from the batteries / fuses then it will suffer volt drop and show a low voltage - it will not show the voltage at the batteries.

[Geo]

The problem with that is 'false alarms' (which are probably on the 'side of safety') as the voltmeter will only read the voltage at the cigarette lighter socket. If it has been wired with 'thin cable' and is a fair distance from the batteries / fuses then it will suffer volt drop and show a low voltage - it will not show the voltage at the batteries.

The volt drop should be discernible by checking the voltage just before mooring to someone who has a little bit of experience and enough thought to take a plugin VM aboard. I suspect for a VM the current drawn would be unlikely to be enough to cause a volt drop on a cigar lighter reasonably wired. Most hire boat wiring is not too bad.

 

ED to correct incorrect quote

Edited November 29, 2016 by Geo

[mango]

I use my plug-in voltmeter to provide reassurance that the batteries are holding up, though I carry a clamp ammeter/voltmeter to diagnose faults when I'm on a boat.

 

When picking up a hire boat the domestic batteries are often fairly low because it has not done much running and it is likely to be a short day for the new hirer. If the batteries are OK the next morning, the rest of the week or fortnight is likely to be OK if you do a reasonable amount of running each day.

 

Pointing out what happens to the battery voltage when the microwave/hair dryer/vacuum cleaner is on is a good way of demonstrating to other crew that the engine should be running when using these things. Hopefully, no hire boats are provided with pressure washers.

[Alan de Enfield]

 

The volt drop should be discernible by checking the voltage just before mooring to someone who has a little bit of experience and enough thought to take a plugin VM aboard. I suspect for a VM the current drawn would be unlikely to be enough to cause a volt drop on a cigar lighter reasonably wired. Most hire boat wiring is not too bad.

 

ED to correct incorrect quote

 

 

Just prior to mooring - wouldn't the engine be running ?

Just after mooring - wouldn't there be surface charge on the plates ?

[mango]

 

Just prior to mooring - wouldn't the engine be running ?

Just after mooring - wouldn't there be surface charge on the plates ?

There's not much point in looking at the voltage just after the engine has stopped, for the reason you give. I pay most attention to the voltage when going to bed and when I get up. If the domestic batteries were not well charged or have lost significant capacity, the fridge can bring the voltage down overnight.

[Horace42]

 

No - one is enough (at my age)

if more than one then hopefully waiting patiently in an orderly queue

Edited November 29, 2016 by Horace42

[Geo]

 

Just prior to mooring - wouldn't the engine be running ?

Just after mooring - wouldn't there be surface charge on the plates ?

 

Just before mooring engine running, even better after about a 3/4 hour cruise before mooring. I would hope the battery and alternator voltage should be of the order of 14.4/14.2V the only possible known. Anything else is even a bigger guess.

[ditchcrawler]

I wouldn't even consider taking a volt meter let alone a clamp ammeter on holiday with me.

[Geo]

I wouldn't even consider taking a volt meter let alone a clamp ammeter on holiday with me.

 

lol One lives in the car and I don't know why but when we hire as we load the stuff seems to gravitate onto the boat. Could be its a boat never go without tool type of thing. Only used it once when the boat lost electrical power.

[Horace42]

I wouldn't even consider taking a volt meter let alone a clamp ammeter on holiday with me.

You are brave I take a full tool kit and spares - belts and things with me.

[Horace42]

 

lol One lives in the car and I don't know why but when we hire as we load the stuff seems to gravitate onto the boat. Could be its a boat never go without tool type of thing. Only used it once when the boat lost electrical power.

Same with me. I have got the tools, so why not take them. Luckily hardly ever used - but you never know.

[ditchcrawler]

I wouldn't even consider taking a volt meter let alone a clamp ammeter on holiday with me.

This reply was initially for for mango who takes it on a hire boat, but then someone added the clamp ammeter. Yes on our boat I have all the tools I think I might need while away on the boat. Not exactly a holiday more a parallel way or life.

[mango]

This reply was initially for for mango who takes it on a hire boat, but then someone added the clamp ammeter. Yes on our boat I have all the tools I think I might need while away on the boat. Not exactly a holiday more a parallel way or life.

I take various other things on hire boats including a length of rope that can be used as a spring line or to attach to a lifebelt, cable ties, a couple of D-shackles and a sea searcher magnet. These things might not be used but if I can diagnose simple electrical faults and sort out minor problems it means fewer irritations and call-outs that can eat into time spent cruising.

[Geo]

This reply was initially for for mango who takes it on a hire boat, but then someone added the clamp ammeter. Yes on our boat I have all the tools I think I might need while away on the boat. Not exactly a holiday more a parallel way or life.

 

lol Brian I was talking about when I hire. Each of my two boats has a full set of tools. There was a time when my estate car boot was full of boxes of tools that were moved from one boat to the other depending on which I was going to use. Go fed up with that and bought them both a set and a set for home. Now the only thing in the car now is a clamp meter and that I think is because I am too mean to pay for several meters to be calibrated every year, scrooge I am. lol

[Horace42]

 

lol Brian I was talking about when I hire. Each of my two boats has a full set of tools. There was a time when my estate car boot was full of boxes of tools that were moved from one boat to the other depending on which I was going to use. Go fed up with that and bought them both a set and a set for home. Now the only thing in the car now is a clamp meter and that I think is because I am too mean to pay for several meters to be calibrated every year, scrooge I am. lol

You hire when you have two boats - and you economise by not having your clamp meter calibrated.

[Geo]

You hire when you have two boats - and you economise by not having your clamp meter calibrated.

 

Different types of boats, neither would get in a narrow lock and I am not sure what the maximum draft is on the GU for example, a metre max maybe, that would be a push and I hate to think what it would do to my screws. Think you have misread, try reading again, my meter is calibrated annually, its not cheap either.

Edited November 29, 2016 by Geo

[Horace42]

 

Different types of boats, neither would get in a narrow lock and I am not sure what the maximum draft is on the GU for example, a metre max maybe, that would be a push and I hate to think what it would do to my screws. Think you have misread, try reading again, my meter is calibrated annually, its not cheap either.

My DC clamp meter is not calibrated ever. I take the readings at face value, and good enough for my purposes -

[WotEver]

My DC clamp meter is not calibrated ever. I take the readings at face value, and good enough for my purposes -

If you're using it to prove everything is charging as it should then an error of a few percent won't be important. You'll see if the charging source is working or not plus have a pretty close measurement to boot.

 

If you're using it to check tail current then an error of a few percent won't be important. If it's stopped dropping then it's stopped dropping.

 

So for the majority of boaters there is absolutely no need to have it calibrated. A cheap meter would probably drift about with temperature anyway.

[mango]

My DC clamp meter is not calibrated ever. I take the readings at face value, and good enough for my purposes -

Absolutely.

[Geo]

My DC clamp meter is not calibrated ever. I take the readings at face value, and good enough for my purposes -

 

That is absolutely fine, I need to be able to take accurate readings hence I use a Fluke 87V with an accuracy of ± 0.05 % + 1 digit on the range I most use, so it needs to be kept in calibration. I get asked to check battery monitors and the like they tend to have a voltage accuracy of ± 0.5%.