Do I need power?

[Sea Dog]

13 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

It's only below the water level it gets really cold for any length of time.

The reverse in fact. In a moored and shut down boat, a max min thermometer will reveal that area being a more stable temperature that's cooler in summer and warmer in winter.

[Richard T]

If you are going to leave the boat on hardstanding over the winter you will need to fully drain down the water system to prevent freezing or you will need to have some form of background heating permanently connected such as oil filled radiators. If draining down remember to do the shower mixer unit. Frezing is less likely if left in the water.

We have a 68watt solar panel which keeps our batteries topped up during the winter but we do go and run the engine for an hour or so every two or three weeks.

[OldGoat]

13 hours ago, PeterCr said:

The idea at the moment is in, (or at) a marina, I'm currently at Debdale and considering hardstanding for the winter. I've had this recommended to me by some other Australians who did the same thing for many years and were very happy with it. It also avoids problems with bilge pumps and pitting.

The only time I had a problem with frost was when I had the boat in the garden while fitting out.

One of my boating friends put a data logger in his cruiser and found that the temperature on the Thames never fell below 4 degrees C.

 

Methinks it will all come down to cost as all methods will work with the appropriate amount of preparation.

Leaving the boat unattended on the cut is NOT a good option for all sorts of reasons.

[rusty69]

1 minute ago, OldGoat said:

The only time I had a problem with frost was when I had the boat in the garden while fitting out.

One of my boating friends put a data logger in his cruiser and found that the temperature on the Thames never fell below 4 degrees C.

The gadget I mentioned yesterday monitors temperature as well as power loss,could be useful if mains voltage is available. I have been testing it for some weeks and seems pretty good so far, although not particularily cheap.

[Arthur Marshall]

2 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

The reverse in fact. In a moored and shut down boat, a max min thermometer will reveal that area being a more stable temperature that's cooler in summer and warmer in winter.

Ah. Sorry for giving duff info.

 

[Horace42]

I fitted a timer on my boat in the shore power supply so that the charger is only on for an hour per day to top up the batteries.

Another timer feeds the bilge pump to spin it for a few seconds when 'dry',  but on auto-float as well, in case water ever gets in the bilge (normally never).

And another timer for the dehumidifier to run for a couple of hours per night to keep the damp at bay.

And a couple of lights on all the time to make the boat look 'lived in' when we are away.

And then I visit the boat occasionally to check it out and run the engine - which bursts into life after10 seconds of pre-heat and the first click of the starter.

 

 

[PeterCr]

3 hours ago, rusty69 said:

I did post a battery self discharge link further up the thread which could prove useful to the OP if they can be kept cold (not much of a problem in Winter eh!).

Yes I did read that and found it encouraging, lead acid batteries had relatively low self discharge rates when cold. As you say, not a problem in winter. Thanks for that.

 

And yes 7 batteries.

[Sea Dog]

3 minutes ago, PeterCr said:

Yes I did read that and found it encouraging, lead acid batteries had relatively low self discharge rates when cold. As you say, not a problem in winter. Thanks for that.

 

And yes 7 batteries.

Combine this info with Roland's 7 years of experience in a similar situation but with a solar powered safety net and you're on a winner.

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, Arthur Marshall said:

Ah. Sorry for giving duff info.

 

Not at all, Arthur! It's a bit counter intuitive, isn't it, especially when the canal is frozen over.  My engine space is under a trad stern with no hatch to the fresh air.  I monitor temps both on top of the batteries "down the hole" and in the control room above.  It can often be below freezing in the control room but reliably above zero down below where the canal water temperature has most effect.

[rusty69]

Also came across this when searching for something else

https://marinehowto.com/winter-battery-storage-self-discharge-characteristics/

 

[roland elsdon]

Disinfect everything

polish all the woodwork

check the sink traps ( freeze and crack)

tighten stuffing box

change oil

cover the air filter

hide  starting handle

leave ventilation open

cap the chimneys

put spare key in a keyssafe somewhere

put the cat out

 

sod it ill pm you our checklist

 

[rusty69]

Empty toilet 

[blackrose]

On 06/10/2018 at 18:43, Alan de Enfield said:

 

My engine room heaters use about £30 per month of electric.

 

That's a bit pricey. Fortunately I don't have anything in my uninsulated engine hole that needs to be kept above zero. I keep an electric oil-filled rad in the cabin set at 5C if I'm away but it costs next to nothing.

Edited October 7, 2018 by blackrose

[DandV]

1 hour ago, roland elsdon said:

Disinfect everything

polish all the woodwork

check the sink traps ( freeze and crack)

tighten stuffing box

change oil

cover the air filter

hide  starting handle

leave ventilation open

cap the chimneys

put spare key in a keyssafe somewhere

put the cat out

 

sod it ill pm you our checklist

 

Must be a bit warmer down south. In the 11 winters totally depowered and unoccupied the only frost damage that I know about was a burst water filter element. Otherwise our check list was similar to above. On our first return we did find our easy to remember lock combination number was also easy to forget leaving us outside the boat in the rain at 7am trying permutations but without the required sharp tug 

[blackrose]

If you don't have raw water cooling and don't have a calorifier in there then there's no reason to heat the engine space.

 

The only fluids in my engine space are engine oil, antifreeze and battery acid. Edit: And deisel in the tank/fuel system of course!

Edited October 7, 2018 by blackrose

[Alan de Enfield]

1 hour ago, blackrose said:

If you don't have raw water cooling and don't have a calorifier in there then there's no reason to heat the engine space.

 

The only fluids in my engine space are engine oil, antifreeze and battery acid. Edit: And deisel in the tank/fuel system of course!

I have raw-water cooling on both engines and a 70 litre calorifier

[MtB]

1 hour ago, blackrose said:

If you don't have raw water cooling and don't have a calorifier in there then there's no reason to heat the engine space.

 

The only fluids in my engine space are engine oil, antifreeze and battery acid. Edit: And deisel in the tank/fuel system of course!

 

I wonder what the freezing point of battery acid is.....

 

 

[alias]

12 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I wonder what the freezing point of battery acid is.....

 

 

Minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit if fully charged according to the info on Rusty's link above. Also corroborated by this chart from elsewhere:

 ...except the chart I now notice says minus 70 centigrade which is lower.

Edited October 8, 2018 by peter n

[Alan de Enfield]

24 minutes ago, peter n said:

Minus 70 degrees Fahrenheit if fully charged according to the info on Rusty's link above. Also corroborated by this chart from elsewhere:

 ...except the chart I now notice says minus 70 centigrade which is lower.

Minus 70 C = Minus 94 F

 

But I don't think we need to be concerned - at those temperatures I'd have other more important things to worry about rather then freezing battery acid.

Edited October 8, 2018 by Alan de Enfield