Karizma

Wonder when they changed that - I moored up there late last season for a couple of hours and they only charged me abt £3, which I thought was very reasonable. Its obviously getting really difficult to moor up at PH now a days since we lost the quiet moorings - which is a real shame.

Thanks John. I did buy some dialectric silicone grease ages ago but haven't used it yet as I was concerned it might get a bit 'messy' over time with dirt sticking to it? - Though the battery boxes do have lids on them to protect the batteries / terminals. I've already started making up the new battery cables (70mm² cables with new 8mm hoe dia terminals) all of equal length as per your 'suitable for most applications' diagram, for the 4x110Ah Victron Energy AGM Dual Purpose batteries that are going in - should be enough domestic power going forward (hopefully!) Steve

Next task is to disconnect all the batteries and remove the 2 house banks (1 bank of 2 batteries supplying the inverter & 1 bank of 2 supplying all the domestic circuits) - it does look a mess down there! This would then allow me to start removing 2 old 'diode type' Battery Isolators which are apparently very inefficient compared to the new Argofet ones (though I won't be replacing them going forward in the new wiring design) And 3 Battery Combiners (2 Victron Energy Cyrix 12/24v 100 amp & 1 Nagares 12v 100 amp), which again won't be needed in the new design. I get the feeling this is the point of 'No Return' !!!!!

wow - that's good going

Yes, road works at night are a right pain. When travelling at night, I've started going down the A1 to Cambridge (rather than A17/A47) and then cross on the A14 - longer route but faster roads so not much in it in the end (though I'm heading for Beccles rather than Stalham).

Thanks Griff. Good to know I've at least started well, with a 'current' wiring diagram (after many months of tracing wires) and now have started creating an 'upgraded' version that I'm sure will get modified as we progress!

Following our winter maintenance upgrades (posted elsewhere on here), I’ve been researching options to improve / upgrade the wiring systems on Karizma. After spending many hours watching youtube videos, mainly from Pacific Yacht Systems (check them out for all things electrical) I realised that Karizma’s wiring was less than perfect after having 4 previous owners, all doing their own ‘upgrades’. So, over the past year or so me and Mrs Karizma have spent many an hour in the bottom of the boat, drawing out the current wiring setup; trying to understand how things currently work and what’s where. Let me tell you, this has been very educational and everyone should have a go if you like 'tech stuff'. As always, I can’t do these things in halves, and therefore when I decide to do something I’m ‘all in’, so this is either going to be a great success, or …….. I’ll be paying for a marine sparky to work out what I’ve done wrong!!! The key improvements I’m wanting are: - all the wiring circuits to be protected by appropriate fuses (remembering the fuses are there to protect the wire not the device it's feeding) - replace all the Garland fuses with 'blade type' fuses on all the DC distribution circuits (they are easier to purchase and cheaper!) - remove most of the connections going directly to the batteries (there’s lots!) and move them to fused distribution boards (both switched and un-switched, as applicable) - a better understanding of the ‘state of the batteries’ by introducing a smart shunt, and ‘smart charging’ to the house bank through DC-DC chargers and an MPPT solar controller I'll use this post to document progress and ask any questions I might have along the way. So here goes ........ First the simply 'jobs', installing a DC disconnect switch on the feed from the solar panel so I can have the ability to isolate it when needed and replace the old PWM controller with a new bluetooth enabled MPPT controller. Then replace the old Guest galvanic isolator (which must be as old as the boat and I'm unsure if it still works or not), for an up-to-date Victron GI, making sure its wired up correctly with it sat in-between the earth from shore power and the rest of the boats earth connections.

Same here! Got back late last night and now have 12 more sleeps before we are down again. Strange how the moment i head back home I'm always counting the days (and nights) before the next trip! Still, give me time to update the 'to-do' list and work out 'what's next'.

We replaced ours a couple of years ago - got it from Seals+Direct Ltd. We got the 'Houdini A/B bulb seal' - pretty simply to install (self adhesive strip on one side) and worked a treat.

we've got a 1500 watt Schallen Oil Filled Radiator Heater from Amazon that we use when connected to shore power. in hindsight, it certainly doesn't need to be this powerful for the boat, but works great.

Hi mikeyboy1966, did you order a 'like for like' replacement or upgraded to a larger output alternator?

have a great time cruising ...........looks as though you've got some great weather ahead of you.

Just returned from a very relaxing 18 days cruising on the southern and northern rivers - wow haven't we been lucky with the weather; it was fantastic compared with what we'd had earlier in the month. It was great to meet up with 'Parge' (Dave) at Sutton Staithe and talk all things 'boating' before we left to fill up the diesel tank and empty the black 'water' tanks, before making our way south. In-between cruising, (drinking and eating) we managed to remove the two shaver points on the boat and prevent anybody using them in the future - mine were similar to what others have posted on here, and I'm glad they are now out!

About this time last year we went under Bishops Bridge for the first time ever and made it as far as going under Jarrod's Bridge before I 'bottled it' and turned round. I wasn't sure if cruisers went this far down the river (as I never saw anybody else down there!) and I only had 1 foot of water left under the keel so was worried about bumping into a Supermarket Trolly !!!!! Maybe I should have carried on ...................?

Ouch ..... that was an expensive 'breakfast'

Thanks for sharing Vaughan. As posted elsewhere, I've just started an upgrade on my boats wiring and as part of this I've replaced all the old Legrand fuses / holders with ST Blade Fuse Blocks / ST blade fuses, which had two old shaver sockets wired on the boat (though we've never used them). These weren't rewired into the new fuse banks as part of the upgrade, but have been left on the boat - I'll now be removing them altogether so they can never be connected back up in the future!

Loving this thread as I'm just about to invest my 'hard earned' into some 'Victron goodies' as I love data and knowing what's happening to my batteries (especially the house bank). So I'm: replacing the PWM solar controller to an MPPT so I can get more out of my panel, and check the data on my phone via bluetooth. installing 2 x 30 amp DC to DC chargers to control the charging profile on a bank of new AGM house batteries from my 2 x standard alternators. installing a battery monitor so I can see the 'state' of my batteries, how much I'm consuming on a daily basis and ensuring I dont drain them too far prior to recharging. introducing a bank of Mega and Midi fuses to make sure all wires are protected (which they aren't at the moment !!!). The only thing left to do is pluck up enough courage to rip everything out and install all the new stuff !!!!!

have a great time on the river ..............

@Meantime - Thanks for sharing. I can only assume that that they are currently failing against the target to "maintain as a minimum the present number of moorings available for visitor use" with what's happened in the last 2 seasons? Thought this was also interesting and wonder what changed the minds of the panel to introduce charging at Ranworth (and potentially Reedham in the future) as I cant see that much has change for points (i) to (iv) below?............ Section 5.2 This issue has been debated at length by the Navigation Committee in recent years: in 2006 when the Mooring Strategy was first adopted, in 2009 when the Strategy was reviewed, in 2013 when the Integrated Access Strategy was adopted and at the moorings workshop in November 2014. It has also been debated in relation to two specific sites, Ranworth and Reedham. On every occasion the Committee and the Authority has supported the current policy. Section 5.3 The officer view is that the current policy is the right one for the following reasons: (i) For most sites the cost of collecting mooring fees is likely to be outweighed by the costs of collection; (ii) It could be seen as a deterrent to visitors to the Broads who have already paid significant amounts for the hire of a boat; (iii) Private boat owners will quite correctly think that their toll should cover the cost of the provision and maintenance of moorings; (iv) Landowners are likely to demand higher rents for the leasing of mooring sites if the Authority is levying a charge.

Hi Mouldy, I'll be going in the opposite direction Saturday morning (picking Karizma up from my lad who's been 'up north' all this week) and bringing her back 'down south'. What time did the YS recommend for low water? Steve

good to know - thanks for sharing

We can't remember what day it was either ....... or what day it is now ! They all merge into one when you are in the 'Norfolk Time Zone' and you don't have to rush home

thanks John, just what I was looking for guidance on. cheers. tbh the way they are all wired up at the moment, once on shore power the inverter charger (and old sterling 'modified' sine wave inverter) charger all 3 batteries (through 3 battery combiners wired together) and the inverter is currently set to charge AGM batteries (set up before I bought her), so I think some batteries are already loosing out on their most optimised charging profiles. saying all that, the sealed lead acid batteries have a sticker on them saying installed in early 2019 and they are still doing ok.

Hi Vaughan, thanks as always for replying to questions posted on here ..... much appreciated. Ref: Shore power multi battery isolators - yes these are the 'old' diode type battery isolators, with the Argofet 100-2 battery isolators being the modern, more efficient battery isolators, and your summary of how they work is how I understand it as well. Shore power inverter - At the moment, when the inverter is connected to shore power it has a single charge output, that chargers all 3 battery banks through 3 battery combiners (trust my boat to have these as well !!)

Can I hijack this thread to ask a similar question regarding house battery banks (hope you dont mind AdamB). I currently have 3 battery banks (2x sealed lead acid for house, 2x AGM for inverter and 1x sealed lead acid for engine). All these battery banks are charged by 2 x alternators, going through 2x 70 amp shore power multi battery isolators (these have 3 output terminals). I've decided to upgrade the above to 2 battery banks; combining the house and inverter banks into 1 bank of 4 batteries and the one engine battery, charging all via 2 x Argofet 100-2 battery isolators. Now I know you're not suppose to mix battery types (Sealed lead acid and AGM), or old and new batteries in the same battery banks - so before I go and buy 4 x new batteries (lead acid or AGM); what, if anything, would happen if I combined my AGM and sealed lead acid batteries (in the sort term) so I can wire up the 2 new Argofet 100-2 battery isolators (which only have 2 outputs)? Is it just a case of the bank will not be 'balanced' and the charging profiles won't be 'optimised' for the different battery types connected together? or is there more of a safety risk by connecting these together? I'm trying to decide if I can go ahead with the installation of the Argofets, prior to laying out more money on batteries, or if the advice is don't do one without the other? Any boating electricians that can advise would be appreciated. Steve