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Cheesey69

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Posts posted by Cheesey69

  1. so we turned off the battery isolators, disconnected any power drains before the switch and measured any current flow across the terminals. 

    its going to be measured in the milliamp range and mine was high. Disconnecting the alternator stopped it, a leaking diode.

    This is stray current corrosion and in pure salt water can do real damage but less so here.

    so make sure your 240 is isolated from the rest of your boat and keep your plug clean. an isolator can be a belt and braces approach. 

    • Thanks 1
  2. well, I had a boat moored in the Medway. Lost the anodes, The prop shaft pitted like mad, and the bronze prop de zinced.

    Your trusting the marinas and your neighbours have not got any leakage from their 240 or 12 volt.

    Are the wire connections in the power post clean? if not stray milliamp voltage needs to find its way back.

    And the more salty the water, the conductive it is.

    Anti foul has nothing to do with it. you have metal swimming in a low grade battery. It forms a conductive bond with your engine and back to neutral.

    • Like 3
    • Thanks 1
  3. All hired boats have carbon monoxide alarms, so rest easy.

    Unless something is severely wrong its safe. But tip a nod to the noise and hot gas exhaust.

    The more modern ones have a thermostat so you wont boil alive unlike mine which is on full power all of the time.

    I consider the greater danger of other craft pumping carbon monoxide into my boat more to worry about as happened to me at Beccles when the boat next door ran its heating. The alarm went off. 

  4. what I love on so many levels is the slow maneuvering for the water tap spaces. 

    How much fun that is when emerging from the tunnel to see a side of a craft bang in front.

    Or that little peek around the corner on the boatyard side to see if it is clear. 

    Or me forgetting that the hooter on my boat is under the dash. Just watch the dog and mrs Cheese hit the roof when pressed.

  5. The only inverter I’ve got is to run the telly, and that don’t use much power around 2.5amps

    the rest runs on the 12volt. 
    I have shore power that runs a charger and a range of sockets. 
    I find I don’t really need any more inverters because there is nothing else that needs 240. 
    I can only think you must want a microwave but the mrs just waits until we have shore power 
    I am going to put in solar just to give my battery bank more legs. 

  6. ...And that's what I thought. But no.

    Here's why.

    Your stuff is simply not on all the time, if your fridge is on for more than 10 minutes an hour then I'll be surprised or its over loaded.

    My TV draws from the inverter 35 watts which is in practice 2.5 amps and the same again after start up for the heating. The biggest user of power was the 12volt phone chargers at a solid 2 amps a used hour.

    water pumps per hour? minute pushing it.

    led all lights barely registers usage,

    And here's the living proof. We was stranded at wroxham island for 24 hours. we watched tv as normal, showered (cold, bloody cold. lost little cheese for a long time) the fridge was fully stocked for a weeks holiday.

    Plus the starter battery was drained because that moment you cant believe it wont start.

    got back after being towed, plugged in.

    36 amps put back into main bank and it did it easy overnight.

    This is why I say people really don't need to run their engines to charge batteries while moored. You have more amps than you think. Looking deeper, the power used figure on the back of things is a solid hour. only my phone chargers worked full power all the time and even then they ramp down as the phone charges.

    as to the venting of the charger, you are right. But what i meant was, you can tuck it away, mines under the well ventilated bed space but due to bluetooth, you don't need to see it. 

    • Like 1
  7. I use victron, its bluetooth so you can control it from your phone, see its progress and its a smart charger.

    The upside of this is you can hide it away, mines under the bed.

    It can also provide 12volts so you can completely disconnect the battery bank and still have power.

    It charges 2 x 110amp and the starter battery.

  8. 1 hour ago, floydraser said:

    Where ever people shop, they will have already paid rates/rent into the local economy. The people who make the decisions will balance up the potential between industry and residential. An old, dying boat yard has little chance in an economy where people want luxury apartments overlooking water. However, if they changed business to manufacturing batteries for electric cars, with all the subsidies that would bring, things could go the other way.

    Good point well made. 
    I just don’t want the river and it’s trade to become like a decorative ornament to whatever town. 
    I know it’s different on many levels but I was on the redevelopment of st Katherines dock and Surrey dock and the success they made of it compared to the mess some of the old London basins became. Houses with a view of an empty stretch of water that no one visits.

    The marina at Surrey docks is council owned, makes money and is over subscribed. St kats is a rich play ground but it wasn’t at the beginning. 
    just floating ideas. 
    I’d love to see a public owned marina

    • Like 1
  9. 10 hours ago, floydraser said:

    Houses contain people who pay rates, eat and shop in the area. Cram in more people and more goes into the local economy. 

    True, to an extent. But a lot of that extra disappears into increased infrastructure, parking problems and things like doctors and schools. 
    That was the thinking behind a lot of huge estates and now known as dormitory towns.
    Do people really use the local shops?to a degree but ask Tescos in Stalham or Lathams. 
    People usually travel for the big shop. 
    But I was talking from the boater point of view. 

    My old bug bear Horning, just look how many boats just go by compared to those that stop. I bet if you had a hundred free moorings they would be filled. And it maybe summer trade but It’s a captive trade. 
    Instead, I know I can’t really stop at Horning or Wroxham on a guaranteed basis so I just restock in Stalham and at Tescos. 
    I use Beccles local shops because I know I can stop. 
    And I know I’m not the only one. 
    New model towns separated pedestrians from the traffic, sacrificing passing trade who where willing to pass onto the next stop and although the towns never died they suffered in the long run from lack of investment and people just going to work and back again.   

    • Like 3
  10. Buildings dedicated to support industries. May not look nice but provide services either to boaters or locals. Brings in business. 
    Houses and such looks nice but provide nothing for the reason the towns on the map in the first place. 
    no moorings, or mooring for visiting. 
    like say Horning. Very few spaces so it’s not a destination and we just motor by but it looks nice. 
    nice is a great word but I’d rather use practical. Norwich redevelopment for example. Don’t want you mooring there so it’s useless for us, a wasteland in effect. 
    slowly, very slowly we are losing facilities be it water points or moorings

    • Like 2
  11. So is foot in door development. 
    Get permission for a few dwellings then next time you apply for more new builds. The thinking is that it’s hard to say no once you said yes.  
    The point is you can’t roll back. Once the land is lost to development then it’s lost to the boating community. 
    Then another stretch of river has lost its character as well as refuelling, water etc.  
    someone gets a nice view and we lose moorings.  To my mind a bit like Wroxham before the bridge. Looks nice but you really can’t moor if your private. 
    To me, vast stretches of town scape are not welcoming to the visiting boat person as there is little or no free mooring. See Barton turf. 

    • Like 2
  12. Other problems are growing, lack of staff amongst them. 
    Foreign nationals returning home, covid furlough staff who have found better paying jobs has had an effect in certain places.  
    But on the whole it feels back to normal including the dodgy summer sun. 
    Oh yes, more first timers out which is good to see  

  13. On 01/07/2021 at 16:47, vanessan said:

    How does that actually work?

    It’s used for mooring on a bouy where rubbing is a problem. 
    It’s basically a rope spliced into a 20 mm chain. 
    chain through loop and padlocked onto its self, rope end tight onto cleet. 
    sometimes used on canals as well when it loops through metal pile heads where there are holes. 
     

    • Thanks 1
  14. Not that I’m superstitious but on my last boat I removed everything with the boats name on, tipped a stiff drink over the side so the god of the seas liked his new vessel and still kept her original name. 
    must have worked because I didn’t sink. 
    not that I’m superstitious or anything 

    • Haha 3
  15. Hi all,

    I've got the basics together to make a portable fuel polisher,

    1  racor fuel filter

    2 CAV type twin filter

    3 Hand prime pump

    4 12volt pump

    I've gone with the racor first because the filters easy to change.

    The problem is, there is no drain tap at the bottom of my tank (at least what I can see) and I was hoping to use this. I don't really want to put a take off point in what is now an air tight line so do you think I could get away with a long copper pipe into the bottom of the tank?

    And some say chanel the cleaned fuel into jerry cans but 45 gallons is a lot of cans so is there anything wrong in recycling the flow? I know it might take longer but no damage?

    silly questions I know but I'm determined to keep those break downs to a minimum. 

    thanks  

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