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dom
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Posts posted by dom
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9 minutes ago, Bikertov said:
The EPS100 unit I have gives a 24V output to the fridge derived from the 240V mains, or whatever the boat battery output is when the mains is off
Do you know if the fridge has a Secop BD35F compressor? If so, I think it has two input voltage bands within which it operates. It cuts off if voltage exceeds the overvoltage threshold, or if the battery hits the low voltage cutoff. Within the bands, the output voltage to the compressor should remain pretty constant. I think you can adjust the various voltages with a hard-wired resistor, but I last dealt with Waeco getting on for 10 years ago and mostly in caravans, so may have that wrong.
I think the EPS100 was probably made the way it is so it can serve both fixed 24v and dual 12/24v units. We used to sell a very similar unit with a cigar socket for running coolboxes.
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37 minutes ago, Brundall1037 said:
I've always wondered why these units are needed. If connected to shore and the battery charger is on is that not doing the same job?
A traditional battery charger is basically just a PSU and would work in the way you describe.
Modern multi-stage smart chargers work completely differently though and it's undesirable for them to "see" a fluctuating load. If they do, they'll keep running through a bulk charge cycle, which can damage the battery in the medium to long term. Isolating the fridge and running it directly from its own transformer avoids the issue.
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8 minutes ago, Bikertov said:
Of course, this was all tested with no load, so I have no idea why the fuse would have blown, as it is the correct rating for the unit and the fridge.
Could be as simple as a reverse polarity AC supply having been connnected. It's not unheard of for mains supply posts to be wired up reversed, which often goes unnoticed, but can cause an issue with some electronic devices. Equally, it's on a boat, so also possible it was just moisture in the wrong place.
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Pretty sure it's a bubble sextant or octant for navigation in aviation. I only know that from visiting endless WW2 museums.
Quite how you use it is another matter altogether. I have a vague recollection that a tutor on a Day Skipper course I did years ago briefly discussed celestial navigation, but not much of it sunk in at the time, and what little did has long gone.
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Haines had an open day over the weekend and I noticed in the pictures posted on Facebook that Enya appeared to be complete. NYA have just posted a video of her arriving at Brundall in preparation for first hires in April.
https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=925267475861474
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I was thinking earlier about what are the "best" UK aviation destinations I've seen so far.
Duxford is definitely the shiniest and best presented by a mile - but also a pretty expensive day out, and especially for shows.
Shuttleworth (Old Warden) is I think probably the classiest. If you go to the Summer Evening Air Show and happen to strike it lucky and get a proper summer evening, it's magical - especially if winds are low and they manage to get the Edwardian stuff up in the air. It also has a nice flight line in relation to the crowd position. The only thing I've not done is visit the Flying Proms they have there. I suspect the Dambuster's March played live to the accompaniment of a Lancaster flypast might well result in a few tears.
The De Havilland museum was another favourite of mine - partly because I come from generations of woodworkers and they have several Mosquitos and partly because my grandfather flew a Vampire just a few years after the RAF got their first jets. One of the last conversations I had with him was about how amazing it felt to fly. If you go on a nice day in summer and they have enough volunteers, you can also sit in the cockpits of some of the planes which other museums wouldn't even let you touch. It's all very shabby and chaotic, but set in the original design and development location for the Mosquito, so fascinating nonetheless.
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I've surprised myself with my latest couple of subscriptions. I'm much more into modest traditional boating rather than extravagent excess, but I guess coming from a boating family, the nautical side was enough to draw me in. The fact they focus content on the boat and crew, completely avoiding the people doing the chartering probably also helps.
There's loads more content on their channel - https://www.youtube.com/@motoryachtloon
One of the other interesting things is that a couple of the crew also put content out independently of the yacht, including the head chef.
Some of the end of charter sections are pretty staggering. They usually get a tip which is shared out equally and tends to work out at something like $4k or so per crew member.
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I've always been more into the bomber side of things due to my grandfather. Because of that, I've tended not to go to Duxford airshows, despite the fact it's just down the road from here (and also ridiculously expensive). Every year, they'd do a Balbo formation with Spitfires and Hurricances. I think the last one got up to 20 aircraft. Just as I decided that I needed to go see the next one, the show where it happened moved away from Duxford. I'm a bit gutted I missed it, as I think the likelihood of seeing another formation of that size is now fairly slim.
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I'm a Battle of Britain Memorial Flight member. Every year, there's a member's day and a big scrum for tickets. Just before Covid, I managed to get a ticket. The main point of the day is to see a special flying display. Typically, I managed to pick a year when it chucked it down with rain, so the entire flight of planes was grounded. To make up for some of the disappointment, they positioned the Lanc in front of the hanger and did a full power engine run with all 4 Merlins. The sound of a Lanc always makes every hair stand on end for me, but close up at ground level, it's incredible and not something I'll forget in a hurry. I did also manage to see the two Lancasters flying together a couple of times when the Canadians brought theirs over, which was pretty special too.
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My grandfather was a Lancaster pilot in WW2. He survived his full tour and lived well into his 90s, but died in 2013. After he died, I was inspired to visit a couple of related museums and it turned into a bit of an obsession. I set about trying to visit every aviation museum in the UK - something which got cut short by Covid and I need to get back to.
Cosford was a definite favourite. I suspect I probably spent more than 4 hours looking around. If you're a southerner and drive up, stay overnight and take a trip to Ironbridge at the same time as it's stunning.
I did Hendon too, but thought it was a bit dirty and run down when I visited. It's great that it's free to enter, but I think I'd rather have paid a nominal charge to help improve the place.
If you love the WW2 era stuff, I'd thoroughly recommend a trip to Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre at East Kirkby. Not the biggest of museums, but all set in the original WW2 buildings which is very atmospheric. They also have "Just Jane", the UK's second Lancaster being restored to flying condition and a taxying Mosquito. Their air show is also well worth a visit, as they usually have a mixed aircraft/pyrotechnic display.
If you're into newer stuff, stick a visit to RIAT on your bucket list. It's promoted as the world's largest military airshow. I suspect the Yanks probably beat it these days, but it's massive nonetheless with some phenomenal jet displays. Just one word of advice though - take a hat and a ton of sunscreen. It's all on tarmac runways and I got the worst sunburn of my life there!
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12 minutes ago, batrabill said:
Not sure why you need to be so aggressive. There are silver linings in most things.
What exactly did I say which is supposed to be aggressive?
I doubt the owners of Horning Ferry, The New Inn, Martham Boats, Ferry Marina, Richardsons, etc think there are silver linings in much right now. A poor season this year could prove to be a death knell for their businesses - particularly if an incoming Labour government chooses to rob funding or increase corporate taxes to address social issues.
14 minutes ago, batrabill said:We “Norfolk natives” are perhaps able to have a more nuanced view than you suggest.
Which part of Norfolk was it that you were born in?
22 minutes ago, batrabill said:For donkeys years it has been all John Packmans fault.
Most things have been. Go take a look at the state of Hoveton around the Three Horseshoes moorings, then tell me why you think coming on here singing Packman's praises is justified from the standpoint of anyone who cares about Broadland.
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I guess it will depend on where the water goes. There was mention at one point (possibly the Hickling meeting?) of relieving flooding by pumping water to the treatment plant at Belaugh. Unless anything has changed, I'm sure water from there just discharges into the Bure after treatment, so presumably flooding in Hoveton would actually increase. On the plus side, it'd probably flood the BA tourist office if so, which might make them put more pressure on EA
A lot of the Cambridgeshire Fens is below sea level and only kept dry by continual pumping, so it's a viable option, but I suspect they'd need to tackle more than just the upper reaches of the Thurne.
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I visited an EA office recently and have had a couple of subsequent interactions with them. On doing so, you inevitably find yourself comparing them to BA.
I think EA's one big advantage is they're very compartmentalised, so if a department starts to underperform, it's less likely to have wide reaching effects. It also means people are very focussed on their jobs. The down side is, it's evident that people are reluctant to do anything beyond their job description. Asking a couple of river inspection and licensing people about the impact of the preceding weekend, when there'd been record water levels, their response was "it's the flood response team's responsibility". When I asked them if a river inspector would loosen mooring lines, or contact an owner to prevent a sinking, the response was just blank faces. I suspect BA rangers would be far more proactive in similar circumstances.
Back around Christmas time, a boat went adrift and ended up in the middle of nowhere on the Old West River. EA put out a safety notice, but it's still there now, despite prolonged periods of lower water when it could have been moved. It's evident they're very risk averse, so would no doubt claim it was too dangerous to move, despite the water being like a mirror when I last stopped off for a look. My biggest fear is that when someone does eventually move it, they find the owner has come to some harm.
I do often wonder whether the Broads would work better if they were handed over to EA, then BA retained solely for a conservation role. I suspect it'd work better from a funding perspective and would at least prevent the current buck passing on dredging.
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1 hour ago, batrabill said:
Perhaps there’s a silver lining in the current flooding.
I'd strongly recommend that you don't express that sentiment amongst your wife's parishioners. Or in neighbouring Potter or Horning for that matter. With raw sewage polluting streets and river levels threatening the beleaguered pub and boat hire industries, it's a fairly crass and insensitive statement to make and Norfolk natives can be fairly unforgiving.
The BA are also responsible for plenty of other failings, irrespective of their culpability in flooding. Personally, I question whether their reticence to provide clear financial figures is because they're failing to make ends meet and are spending excessively on staffing and legal fees at the expense of things like maintaining Hoveton riverside, or dredging Bure mouth. I notice the latter has been moved forward again. Conveniently, that probably means a lot of costs will fall into next financial year. Moving your expenses forward is a classic symptom of a business out of control of its finances.
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8 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:
The aft bilge had some water in but not too much, the main source of river water ingress is the shaft gland which is dripping too fast, we cannot nip this up any further as the packing needs replacing (Out of water job).
Can you fit a Tides dripless seal? Will last a good few years in its own right, but also comes with a spare seal holder on the shaft so when it needs renewing, you can do it in the water.
Automotive "Bug and Tar Remover" might be worth trying on the bird crap? It breaks it down, but is paintwork safe, so probably OK on varnish. I'm more of a fan of .177 PCP for a more permanent solution!
I nearly commented the other day when you said you'd stay in the wetshed. Too nice a weekend for that, so good to see you got a bit of a run out, however brief.
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1 hour ago, NeilB said:
What's not shown in the minutes but can be heard in the recording, is the chap from the EA saying "Had this occurred on a high tide we'd be looking at a 1953 situation".........
That probably ought to be flagged with Duncan Baker's team. I watched live and it was fairly clear in the bloke's demeanour that he meant it. It was particularly notable, as I think the rest of the time he came across as particularly smug, almost laughing patronisingly at times when pressure was put on him. He seemed incapable of any sort of objectivity.
I'm quite surprised there's not been more comment after the meeting about the standpoint of the various organisations amongst the boating fraternity. I suspect it's because inconveniently it doesn't fit the narrative of putting the blame on Packman. Unfortunately, I think this is possibly a key issue. Too many people are trying to make flooding a BA issue. I'm absolutely in favour of major reform of the BA but, having sat through how ever many hours of discussion it was at the meeting, I'm firmly of the opinion that EA are the ones who need to step up. Ironically, elsewhere, they're currently recruiting staff to decide where to spend £200m they've been given for flood risk mitigation.
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45 minutes ago, LizG said:
Not just the Broads - this was the River Colne near Watford today.
I thought that first picture was Hoveton Hall until I read what you'd said.
It's very definitely not just the Broads. Here in Cambridgeshire, the Ouse washes spill over onto the road at Earith when things are really bad. It normally happens for a week or so around Christmas to New Year. This year, things are far worse and we've had repeated closures, including for the last week. This is actually a fairly major route between St.Ives and Ely which is still closed now, with no clear singn when things will improve.
Fortunately, I no longer have to drive the route daily like I used to, but thousands of people are having to take extensive diversions via other routes which, inevitably, all have roadworks or similar issues. The way this has been handled by local authorities and the EA makes the BA look efficient and dynamic in comparison.
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9 minutes ago, Happy said:
I suspect he would'nt have wanted you as his defense lawyer then
Not if he's got any sense. I'd be asking the judge to increase his sentence just for naming the boat after himself.
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2 hours ago, floydraser said:
Back to the main topic: it says there were 8 on board and some said they wouldn't have got in a car with him. So he must have been the dominant force and probably none of them were sober or strong enough to stand up to him.
I'd assume he must be a man of substantial personal means as presumably he must have just walked away from an avoidable 1/4 million or so loss by selling the boat on to someone else - assuming it was insured in the first place. His architecture business has £2m in assets. I notice he's also named the boat after himself. To my mind, that all adds up to someone who's probably far from timid. You can just imagine how ebullient he'd be after a skinful, so no great surprise if others didn't question him. It's got all the classic traits you tend to see in marine incidents and the only positive is that it could very easily have turned out much worse.
On an unrelated note, I'm not sure I'd want to be at sea in that Sealine S330 in anything other than calm conditions. The transom freeboard looks like it'd be lethal in a decent following sea of any size. I'm amazed it achieved RCD B rating.
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15 minutes ago, marshman said:
How on earth could you even begin to enforce it at sea.
The same way fishery, import regulation, immigration and current commercial alcohol limits are enforced now - random stop and inspection. Obviously, the main point is the deterrent effect though. If it was specifically illegal, it may have caused the helmsman in this case to reconsider his actions, before he caused someone life changing injuries.
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26 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:
Sure, the idiot cruising from the Isle of Wight deserves all he gets, but it's no reason to start over reacting, and looking at the Broads safety rules.
I think navigating the Broads under any significant amount of alcohol is ill-advised. I suspect alcohol played a role in the last drowning, but I doubt a specific alcohol limit would have had any influence on the victim. That case aside, there's nothing to really suggest a significant need for further legislation - the existing bylaws already have sensible clauses.
The IOW case does however show a clear need for a specific alcohol limit for private individuals helming offshore. I can't help but wonder whether there ought to be a training requirement for offshore night navigation too. It'd be interesting to know if he had Day Skipper, Yachtmaster, etc. I suspect from the behaviour probably not.
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The trouble with automatic extinguishers is that by the time they get hot enough to trigger, the fire will be well established, unless it happens to start right under the extinguisher. More often than not, electrical fires will happen in running systems, which means you're probably on board and will smell or see the issue before the extinguisher triggers.
The other problem is that electrical fires occur due to high current. In theory, fuses or circuit breakers should prevent it. If however you have a seized breaker, incorrectly rated fuse, etc, the current tends to set fire to the supply cable, but across a long length of cable, rather than in a single spot. If, for example the cable is feeding an anchor windlass, you could end up with a red hot cable down the entire length of the boat.
If you've got money to spare, there's no harm having them, but in the first instance, I'd always focus on bringing electical systems up to a higher standard, as an awful lot leave a lot to be desired. Unfortunately, being low voltage, people who shouldn't be touching things tend to modify and add things on with little understanding of what they're doing.
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5 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:
I do not for one second dispute that, but I wonder how many of the 20 to 40 of those over a period of 20 years, were drunk WHILST helming.
It's a long time ago now, but from what I remember of things, I think most involved a completely drunk crew, someone entering the water (either deliberately or by accident) and either coming into contact with props, or drowning unnoticed by the rest of the crew - so not necessarily a drunk helm, but invariably the lack of a sober and alert crew member. It was around the same time that all male crews started to become really frowned upon and I suspect this played a part in their being forbidden by most yards, as the worst offenders tended to be all male crews.
There was no MAIB report for the last drowning on the Broads (apparently they "carried out office-based enquiries"), but I suspect the helm was under the influence of drink or drugs.
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33 minutes ago, Vaughan said:
I think you will find (where's Paladin when we need him?) that you can't be "done" for drinking and driving on the Broads. You can, however, be done for "dangerous navigation" and it has happened in the past.
S.83 of the Navigation Bylaws 1995 states:
"A person shall not navigate a vessel whilst under the influence of drink or drugs to such an extent as to be incapable of taking proper control of the vessel."
The maximum penalty would be £1000. The only question mark is around the definition of "incapable of taking proper control". I suspect, if you caused death or major injury, a court would use either the prescribed limit for driving (35mcg) or commercial boating (25mcg) as the measure.
The law also has the means to deal with most things. If you caused a death whilst drunk, you could well get charged with gross negligence manslaughter, which has a maximum sentence up to life imprisonment.
Back when I worked in a yard, we used to see 1-2 deaths most years on the Broads and invariably alcohol played a part in most. For that reason, I'm strongly of the opinion that having a few drinks is fine, but the person doing the helming ought to stop at one, and needs to take responsibility for making sure everyone else stays safe. If you want to get drunk, go do it somewhere safer on shore.
Is This My Boat ? I'm A Frayed Knot !
in Restoration Projects
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I suspect the info about running better on 24v probably comes from more basic chilled coolboxes. You can probably tell - if the compressor's running harder on 24v, I should think you could probably hear a pitch change when you connect 240v.
The BD35F compressor speed can be changed, but it's controlled by a fixed or variable resistor between the thermostat and control unit.