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Meantime

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Posts posted by Meantime

    Car Talk

    in The Broadscot Lounge

    Posted

    56 minutes ago, floydraser said:

    I remember those days too but I think we would all be amazed at how efficient modern computerised logistics are. No need to hold stock locally as you can get it from anywhere in a very short time.

    I think that Covid has taught us all a lot about just in time distribution and long supply lines relying on manufacture in the far East. However when it comes to bespoke car parts they are very expensive to tool up for and manufacture in small quantities. Therefore they will be produced in a production run of thousands and then may end up being stored on a shelf for years. Even if centrally stored they need to ensure they have enough supply to meet demand for many years. I believe it is Honda policy that they will support their vehicles with spares for 15 years after they stop production for a model. Usually around the 10 year mark they do a very big final production run of parts and then sell them off to various auto parts companies and main dealers. I wouldn't begin to imagine how they reach a figure for how many of each part they may need for the final five years. One thing for sure there will still be a huge pile of new leftover spares after 15 years that may well end up in land fill eventually.

    • Like 1

    Car Talk

    in The Broadscot Lounge

    Posted

    10 hours ago, Bikertov said:

    We do really get fleeced for spare parts where we are charged up to 100 times the true cost of an item

    The true cost of a spare part is it being easily and conveniently available when or if you should need it. The cost is in keeping inventory for maybe years on end, the cost of the shelf space and warehousing, the stock control system, the person who stock takes it once or twice per year, etc, etc.

    Can you imagine going into your local main dealer and asking for a rear light cluster for your five year old car and being told sorry we're out of stock. The next production run will be in 7 weeks, plus shipping, come back in 9 weeks!!!

    One of my first cars was a Capri mk2, which usually got driven quite hard. :default_icon_redface: Each year it would go in for it's MOT and would normally fail on a bent or worn track control arm, or front anti roll bar bushes or rear suspension spring bushes etc. Every year I would make a list of 4 or 5 items I needed and go down to the Ford main dealer Perrys at Rayleigh Weir and head up to the parts counter and hand over my list. The guy would disappear out the back and then return with all the items. I would part with some cash, go and fit the parts and then it would pass the MOT. That parts department probably had a couple of million pounds worth of stock waiting for me to turn up with my list of a few items and spend £30 or £40 and they always had the parts I needed in stock. Then there was the parts microfiche machines and the expertise behind the counter where I could turn up and describe a part I needed and they would sort through the right manual and pull it up on the microfiche machine and I would point to the part I wanted and armed with the correct part number off they would trot and return with the part. These days it's a lot more computerised but there is still a huge behind the scenes cost in making sure that spare part is there if you should need it. As you rightly point out the cost of the part itself is peanuts compared to the logistics of making sure it is available.

    • Like 5

    River Ice - Dec 2022 Into Early 2023

    in Broads Chat

    Posted

    I checked mine over on Friday and I'm glad to say no problems up to that point. The tube heaters were doing the job of keeping the engine compartment at a toasty 5 degrees!!. I always leave the taps open during the Winter but tried the water system out of interest and the pump was fine, with just a little ice coming out the galley cold tap, before normal water appeared.

    I think the big problem this year could be mould. I fired up the warm air heating to give it a run and warm the boat through a little bit. Before long it started raining on me. The condensation on the head lining had in fact iced up and running the heater caused it to melt and start dripping. I got a cloth and dried it all off, which I know is a thankless task because it no doubt returned as soon as I left the boat and froze again, but it did make me think that when the thaw comes that water will drip of the ceiling and onto the carpet, cushions, bedding etc and with low enough temperatures and damp conditions will turn to mould in no time. Fortunately I'm due to be in the area next week for a few days so will pop across to the boat and turn the heating back on for a few hours to give the boat a good dry out.

    Could be worth a trip for those of you that are close enough to go and give those head linings a dry off and air the boat through for a few hours if possible.

     

     

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    Norfolk Broads Petrol And Diesel Boats To Be Phased Out.

    in Broads Chat

    Posted

    3 hours ago, grendel said:

    I am also using the carbon footprint as one argument for not driving to the office every day (saving over 350kg co2 per week)

    However the office will be heated regardless of whether you are working from home or not. How many other people working from home would have the heating on all day when normally it would go of during the day? So many factors to consider when trying to balance the books on carbon.

    Norfolk Broads Petrol And Diesel Boats To Be Phased Out.

    in Broads Chat

    Posted

    38 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

    Yet another article in the EDP yesterday,  which announces that the BA has engaged a firm called Small World Consulting, who have found that nearly 800,000 tonnes of "CO2 equivalent" emissions are produced each year due to industry, residents and visitors. They don't say whether this is just in our area but in any case, such a wild and unsubstantiated statistic means bugger-all to me.  And I wonder how much of our money these consultants have cost?

    Dr Packman goes on to say that The authority, which has cut its own carbon footprint by 21% since 2019 has already outlined how it intends to encourage boaters to switch from petrol and diesel vessels to electric craft so the more polluting boats can be phased out. (his bold type, not mine).

    Interesting that the article includes a nice aerial view of the moorings at Acle Bridge.  How many boats moor there overnight, every night, in the summer season?  50 at least, or maybe more?  So how is he going to provide enough charging points and enough power, for all those boats to charge propulsion batteries overnight?

    The BA have not "outlined any intentions!  They are just relying on businesses and private owners to come up with some kind of solution, while they use this sort of publicity to seek £8m from the government's "Pioneer Places" scheme - whatever that is.

    Meanwhile, One of the findings of the report was that transport to and from the Broads is the largest single source of CO2 in the tourism economy.  Leaving aside how the hell they have managed to work that out, it seems that we will be OK to carry on cruising the rivers in our gas guzzlers, so long as we travel to the Broads by bus.

    Personally I think this sort of article is irresponsible as it bears no relation to what we all know by now, to be the true facts of the matter.

    The easiest way to reduce the carbon footprint of the boating industry would be to introduce emission tests as part of the BSS, and then they could introduce a low emission zone above Wroxham and Potter Heigham bridges with a congestion charge zone from Wroxham to Acle. 

    • Haha 4

    Peace

    in Broads Chat

    Posted

    55 minutes ago, OldBerkshireBoy said:

    My only gripe is the loud music coming from muliple speakers making life difficult to hear those with a soft voice. 

    Did you ask if they would turn it down a bit? Was in a pub over in Kent recently catching up with some friends. I say a pub, the Kitchen is run by a Thai couple and it is renowned for its Thai food, so whilst still a pub, people mainly go there to eat, so more a restaurant really. One of our group who has a hearing aid was struggling with how load the music was, so he asked them if they would turn it down a bit, which they said was no problem. Within minutes all the tables around us were thanking him for asking as they had been struggling to talk over the music as well. So always worth asking.

    • Like 6

    And So It Starts,i Get Intimate With The Boat.

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    4 hours ago, Vaughan said:

    I have been thinking carefully and I don't think I have ever seen a hire boat with a fuse on the main cable to the starter solenoid.  I have seen a few (very few) with a fast fuse on the positive feed from the alternator.

    Also, I have always been used to soldered terminations on battery cables, with no problem.  I would suppose that if the solder melted in a fire this would break the connection and shut off the circuit, therefore "fail safe".  After all the reason for having a battery master switch (according to BSS) is to cut the circuit when fighting a fire.

    There's a number of things to consider here. The BSS allows for either crimped or soldered connections. I don't think you could rely on a soldered connection melting and breaking free unless it was hanging under its own weight, (which would be a BSS fail anyway as cables should be properly supported) and then if it was the live end it might drop onto an earth and provide another short. Screw terminals are also allowed providing there is the use of spreader plates between the screw and cable or the cable end is tinned, quite hard to do with a normal domestic soldering iron.

    Although there are some enhancements to the BSS for hire boats, in relation to fuses it is the same. The lack of a fuse or circuit breaker on DC systems is NOT in itself a fail point for the BSS, except for charging wires, these are battery charger, invertor charger, solar or wind charge cables and anything that requires a continuous supply such as a bilge pump, memory for a radio etc.

    The main emphasis for the BSS is placed upon having proper isolators, as close to the battery as possible, properly labelled and easily accessible. The ability to isolate the battery from any short quickly is seen as the most important thing.

    I believe there is a move in the boat building industry for the leisure market to move towards adding battery fuses for starter motors more as a nod towards the insurance industry, rather than because they are an essential safety item.

    Modern cars tend to have a built in fuse as a part of the positive terminal, but again it is only designed to blow in the event of a short circuit, not an overload situation. The fuse is not replaceable and the whole terminal has to be replaced. Off course the big difference between cars and boats is that generally speaking you can just open the door and walk a safe distance away from a car. Not so easy on a boat when it's underway.

    Another big difference between cars and boats is the size of the battery, which in a car is generally sized as small as possible. A car battery with a shorted starter motor is more likely to go flat before the cables can catch fire. Most people tend to fit another leisure battery on the boat engine start rather than a smaller more suitably sized battery. Therefore there is much more power available in the event of a short circuit.

    The strange thing about the BSS is that whilst the lack of a fuse or breaker on a DC system is not in itself a fail, if you do fit one and then replace the fuse with a nail, it will fail. I can understand the logic in failing it if a nail is fitted, but by the letter of the BSS you could remove the nail and fuse holder and join the cable and it would pass. :facepalm:(Unless off course it was a charge cable, or directly connected to the battery.

    My final thought, is that the isolator being easy to get to and close to the battery is more important than fitting a fuse in the feed to the started motor. However the fitting of a fuse will protect in the rare event of a short circuit, but is unlikely to be of any use in an overload situation. I won't rush to rewire my boat, but if I was going through that exercise then I might as a belt and braces approach consider doing so. 

    • Like 1

    And So It Starts,i Get Intimate With The Boat.

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    5 minutes ago, mikeyboy1966 said:

    Got it!

    all starter and batt cables will be 50 mm sq tinned.

    rated at @350 amp

    im only concerned with short circuit protection,

    id never just keep cranking an engine,if it doesn’t start as normal there is obviously a problem.

    thanks for the advice,very helpful :default_biggrin:

    Forgot to add, don't forget your battery isolator switch will generally be rated for 5 seconds at maximum rating before it will burn out as well.

    • Like 1

    And So It Starts,i Get Intimate With The Boat.

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    7 minutes ago, mikeyboy1966 said:

    I was pondering a 500 amp maxi fuse.

    Starter cables are not generally fused, however if you do then you need to realise you will be fusing for a short circuit situation, not an overload situation, unless you seriously upgrade your battery wiring. 

    A starter motor could easily draw 200 amps and will cause the voltage to drop closer to 9 to 10 volts, which in turn will raise the current to closer to 250 to 300 amps. Power = volts x amps so as the voltage gets dragged lower, the current has to rise to provide the required power. 

    Your starter cable if using 25mm2 will be rated at 170 amps. This is fine because although it will get slightly warm it will not be enclosed and normally an engine will start within a few seconds. Continued attempts to start the engine are likely to flatten the battery before you can burn the cable out. However if you were fusing this cable to protect against overload you would probably use a fuse of 150 amps, which would instantly blow the moment you tried to start the engine. The fuse should be less than the power rating of the cable it is protecting.

    If you wanted to use a 500 amp fuse to protect against short and overload protection you would need to upgrade your starter wiring to something greater than 150mm2 which is not practical.

    So by all means add a fuse, but just be aware it will only protect against short circuit, not overload.

    • Like 2

    Will We Have Power Cuts?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    54 minutes ago, ChrisB said:

    But if you burn wood you release carbon! Or am I missing a trick.

    Absurd isn't! It is renewable because you can grow more trees, sustainable no! But they do get huge subsidies because it is "renewable" energy. I guess taking the argument further you release carbon producing the solar panels, or wind turbines, including the transport and assembly so no renewable is carbon free.

    I still reckon they are burning trees faster than they can regrow them though!

    • Confused 1

    Will We Have Power Cuts?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    8 hours ago, BroadAmbition said:

    He also predicted that UK governments have been totally short sighted and he too considered that unless some sort of large scaling up is achieved right now, then we are indeed facing selective nationwide power cuts in the not too distant future :default_sad: especially if france has any sort of generating issues

    Now factor in that by 2030 we will not be selling any new diesel or petrol powered cars!!!! Where is the generating capacity to supply the replacement electric vehicles going to come from.

    Drax gets a huge subsidy because it is considered renewable energy. Yes apparently trees can be regrown so its green!!!!

    • Like 1
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