Mowjo

Pete! I believe the reason for not using solid core is because!! it is solid core and prone to fracture when used in any situation where there might be movement, hence the use of flexible cable in boats, cars and anything else that moves, your point about the BSS is good, my Freeman had passed the BSS just weeks before I bought her, when I checked the wiring (I love knowing what cable does what) I found bits of bellwire, orange lawn mower cable, and two cockpit lights wired with what I can only desribe as telephone wire, I also found live cables just cut off at the end and left hanging, not even a bit of tape around the ends, how it passed the BSS heaven only knows, unless the guy that did it knows even less than I do about electrics, I no great fan of the BSS, but hey! if it's suppossed to be about safety then electrics should be at the top of the list along with petrol and LPG, I don't think many people realise just how potentialy dangerouse even 12v electrics can be if it's done wrong,, and as for Barry! I think we may be under estimating what he actualy knows about boat electrics, I think he's just being kind to us all, he knows more than he's letting on,,,

Barry! I'm a bit lost, do you have existing Nav lights? or are you fitting new ones from scratch, either way it's not that a hard job, This diagram shows you how it's done but disregard the cable gauge and the fuses it says use, and put them on a seperate fuse (not sure what amp fuse it is offhand), you'll need to get the correct gauge wire to suit your new lights, I think if it's single cables it's 24/0.30 and if it's twin cable it's 2x 24/0.30, personaly I prefere single cables, I think Antares and a couple of others recommend the marine tinned cable,, the actual switch will need to be on your dash somewhere, you may even have a spare on there you can use, as you can see barry it's not rocket science, just work out your cable routes first, cos hiding cable is the hardest part on a boat,,, Frank,,,

Paul! as usual your right! , it should have been 1.5 Watts, the specs says: output power: 1.5w @ 17.5v and testing condition: am 1.5 100mW/cm2, which is total gobbledeegook to me anyway, but as I was in London at the time of posting and being harrassed by four grandchildren I could be forgiven for getting it wrong, still next job is bring the battery's home to charge them up fully, then connect the trickle chargers once they are back on the boat to keep them topped up,

:-D If anyone is after a solar trickle charger to keep thier battery's topped up during the Winter, Maplins are doing 1.5 amp ones for £9.99 at the moment, they are ormaly £19.99 I just bought two one for each of my battery's ,,,

:-D Sandvik used to do a similar thing years ago, they were great for rough work, like removing blistered paint or varnish and shaping but I never found them any good for finishing work like varnish, they left far to many scratches, I only ever use Aluminium Oxide sandpaper now starting with 120 then 180 and then 240 grade, then using green sanding pads in between coats, I get mine from Screwfix and it's around £8.00 for a 25 mtr roll of each and the same for the sanding pads which come in packs of ten, which I cut into four pads, they can be washed out and used wet or dry, I' ve tried all sorts over the years but have never found anything as good as sandpaper and elbow grease, but the sanding pads are great, havn't tried the courser grades yet but the green ones are perfect for in between coats, I just have to watch my Mrs dosn't get them mixed up with her washing up ones because they look the same as her scouring pads,, :-D

:-D I'm lucky I live near enough to my boat, well 35 mins travel away, to pop down to it most weekends, so any lay up for me is just a fleece blanket below the engine and one draped over the top of it, and a bit of antifreeze in the seacock, in thirty years of owning boats it's always worked for me, and the fact all my boats have been petrol means I wouldn't risk having any form of electric heater in my boat or anywhere near the engine, even with all these circuit breakers and stuff I still don't trust anything mains powered on my boat, I just don't think 240v and water are a safe combination anyway, I even disconnect my batteries after each use of the boat, but thats all just a me thing, because sods law says if something goes wrong it will happen when I'm not on the boat to do something about it, at least I can use my boat any nice weekend if I choose to, and to be honest with the winters we have had in the last ten years or so, I think fully laying a boat up is a bit over the top anyway, now I said that sods law says I'll pop a core plug or something this year,,,,

:-D Rod! no doubt your right about GPS and Sat Nav, but I think all anyone wants is an indication of speed, I don't think there is such a thing as accurate speed reading on any boat, if there is I've never found one, you know yourself that the difference between 4mph and 5mph is barely noticable, but get the wrong ranger and you could be done for speeding, I was going to fit a rev counter, but after reading how tide and wind can affect your speed at the same revs I gave it a miss, even my through hull speedo thingy is way out and it was a very expensive one when it was fitted, at least with GPS your speed is measured over the water or land so tide and other factors don't really affect it, even though I know my GPS is pretty accurate on speed, I still keep an eye on my wash, because on the main rivers I can throw up as much wash at 4mph going against wind and tide than I do flat out across Breydon, So I'd still recommend a handheld GPS, but like you use your eyes as well, it's not about speed it's about the wash you create in my book,,,

:-D I use the Garmin E/Trex H and can't fault it, tried my prat nav and is wasn't up to much and gave wrong speed readings, the Garmin is accurate to tenths of a mph, and has lots of other usefull features most of which I havn't worked out yet, like plotting your course, moon phases and a best time for fishing thingy wherever you are, I use the Energizer Ultimate battery's in mine and get about a weeks usage from them, like Perry I'd recommend it, for such a small thing it does one hell of a lot,,

Bruce! if your anywhere near Broadsedge this Saturday, I have some of the white perspex that they use for the number plates, you'll have to cut it to size though,, I'll be at Broadsedge most Saturdays for the next month or so privided it's dry so you can pick it up anytime,,, if anyone else wants any lets me know because I've got a good supply of it,,, Regards Frank

Steve! if both your batteries are in good condition you can use one for each circuit, because if your boat is diesel you new a few more amps and a 85amp one might not be enough, if you have the room you can fit as many batteries as you want for domestic use and just have one 110amp as you starting battery, as you can see from the other postings there are several ways to split them, I went the simple route as there's less bits to go wrong,,, have a look at this site and decide what way you want to go, it covers just about everything on a boat, but has a good electrics section, http://www.tb-training.co.uk/index.htm Frank,,,

Nigel! all you need do is find out what position on the switch runs what battery/s if you have two 110amp batteries in parallel that effectivly gives you 220amps for each circuit, on mine No1 is the starter and No2 is the domestic, when i'm running I switch it to both so that both batteries get charged, then when I'm stopped I switch it to No2, that way No1 is always fully charged for starting, I have a normal 85amp car battery for starting and a 110amp for domestic and that 110amp will last me all weekend, but it will depend on what your actually running off your domestic ones, one tip never ever switch it to off when your engine is running you'll blow you alternator, my Perko switch has Alternator Field Disconnect, to help prevent damage to the alternator if accidentally switched to the off position while the engine is running, Steve! they are easy to fit, I changed mine from the relay system to the change over switch in less than an hour, I measured the cables I needed and had then made up at out local auto electricians, because they were longer than the standard cables, but that was only because the BSS won't allow the cables and clamps that are held in position by a big screw in the clamp, they have to have an eye in the ends and be bolted to the clamp, in total it cost around £70 for the switch, cables and the clamps, but worth every penny because even if I run the domestic battery flat I still have a full battery to start the boat, :-D try and get a switch with the field disconnect built in, Frank,,,

:-D Sorren! this sites worth a look plenty of info on wiring and just about everything else on it,,, http://www.tb-training.co.uk/index.htm Frank,,,

Jonny! Antares is right, but you will find the more bends you have in the cable the stiffer it will be, and an extra ten feet is a lot to loose, I don't know about the marine version, but I used to fit the Domestic version of it and they had a recommened maximum of four radiused bends, also the longer the cable the stiffer it will be, as Antares says try disconnecting them and try it, I'm pretty certain that you can't get them shortened though, I found this though, you could try this place prices arn't bad for new cables and if you ring them they could advise you as well... http://automarine.biz/morse/ Jonny just had another thought!! if you still have the old cable, about two feet from the helm end it should be marked with the length, or you could just measure it, but I bet you've chucked it away,, :-D When routing the steering cable, select a path with as few bends as possible and as gradual as possible. A MINIMUM BEND RADIUS OF 8" MUST BE MAINTAINED. WHERE CONDITIONS DICTATE, ONE BEND IN THE CABLES IMMEDIATELY AT THE HELM CAN BE A 6' RADIUS, BUT SHOULD BE AVOIDED, IF POSSIBLE. Sharp or frequent bends will result in hard steering and premature cable wear.

:-D If that was right I think 70% of the boats on the Broads would have failed the BSS, I found a bit that says you can't use copper for fuel tanks but BSS 2.13 says this about fuel lines, 2.13 All fixed fuel feeds and pipes permanently charged with fuel shall be made of softened copper, stainless steel, aluminium alloy, or (for diesel installations only) mild steel of suitable size, fixed clear of exhaust systems and heating apparatus and adequately supported to minimise vibration and strain. Balance pipes are only permitted in diesel fuelled installations. Any balance pipe between fuel tanks must comply with the requirements of this standard and must in addition be fitted with valves directly attached to the tank and so constructed that the valves will not become slack when operated.

Nigel! the hose I carry is 10 mtrs of 1/2" blue water hose, ( because it takes up less room than the 3/4") and a normal tap connector, I also carry a 1" bsp brass tap connector, if theres no hose I put my 1" thingy on the yards tap, then the normal tap connector fits on the end of that, I only really use it in B/Edge, as on our side in the new bit theres no hose, or if a yards hose looks a bit iffy I'll take theres off and use mine, Hoselock do a Threaded Tap Connector 1in BSP Part No 2158 then all you'll need is one of those quick fit hose fittings, I only use my way because it gives me a choice if a yards taps are a different size,, Most of the Marina taps I find are pretty safe as long as you run some water off first, It's places like Ludham and other public places I worry about, specialy when you see dogs peeing on the grass where there dragging the hose about,

Nigel! on my Freeman I have a normal car cd/radio, and just a normal car type aerial, never had any problem getting any stations, on my Seamaster I had one of those stubby car aerials, about a foot long never had any trouble with that either, are you sure your radios not duff?? come to that are your sure it even has an aerial fitted ,,, :-D

Nigel! don't you get me started on that bleeping Bridge, everyday it gets us around 7am, and yup it's usualy a little yacht, that you could carry across the bridge, and wonderful repairs it's slower than ever now,,,,, :-D

After seeing the way the water hoses are treated by some people I now carry my own blue hose, it's only a 10mtr one but it does the job, cost me 50p a mtr from the caravan shop, it broke my heart when I had to pay nearly £10 for the fittings though from B&Q still it will fit any tap now, so I spose £15 isn't that bad, on emptying tanks, I've never emptied any of mine and I don't use steralising tablets either and I'm still here, I left it all winter this year and it was fine, but then I only use it for making tea, washing and washing up, I carry a 5ltr bottle for drinking and I always fill that up at home,,,,

Thanks Both! must admit Paul the extra bit of power has got me out of trouble a couple of times, think I'll take your advice and leave it alone, at least I know it's not just my Freeman over propped, trouble is my engine dosn't seem to like running on low revs, coughs and sputters, guess that could just mean it needs a proper tune up, just need to find someone good to do it,,,

Anyone know how to work out propellor sizes, My Freeman was built for the Thames so it's a bit over propped for the Broads even though it's spent the last twenty years on them, my problem is that even on tickover the slowest I can get it to go is around 3mph, so when I get to places like Ludham I end up having to go round in circles, or take it out of gear then I have no control over where it goes, got minds of their own Freemans, I presume a smaller prop would solve it even though I'd use a bit more fuel, but I can't work out should I get a smaller prop or would it cure it if it was the same size with a different pitch,,unfortunatly I have no idea what size prop is on her as I havn't had her out of the water yet,,,

Thanks Jonny and thank your dad as well, I can get hold of one ok as my friend runs a bodyshop and said I could use his, my problem is having no electric at the Marina, as I said I've bought a re-chargable one that works fine on the car, only problem there is if I run the battery out it takes five hours to recharge, and I need 240v to recharge it, i'm only doing the topside for now, theres about the same amount of polishing on the boat as there was on my car, and there was still plenty of charge left in it, so it should be Ok! But thanks anyway,,,

Hi Jonny! I nearly went for one of those, but no leccie at the marina ruled it out, I have a small Gennie but thats only 850 watts, just enough to run my drill, sander and other power tools, I've got far too many things to pay out for on the boat so a bigger Gennie to run that polisher is out of the question at the moment, but thanks for the info,,,, :-D

Thanks guys! so many products and everyone is the best, guess it's one of those try it and see areas, at least I know you have used those products, half the people I've spoken to claim theres is the best but have never used it, to make it easier I bought a battery polisher from Max TV http://www.max.tv/product-detail.asp?number=650GB works great on my little car but not tried it on the boat yet, they reckon it can polish a whole Transit van in one go, We'll see,,

Well! my poor old Freeman is in need of a good clean and polish, it's original Gel coat so can anyone recommend something for removing oxidation and giving it a good polish, I've found one product by Meguiars but at £25 for just under a litre it sounds quite expensive, Frank,,,

Hi Barry! I've sent you an E/Mail but I'll put it here as well, can you ring Ken Nevard who I believe is making your gas tanks, it seems when you phoned him you forgot to leave him your phone number,,, Regards Frank,,