Is This My Boat ? I'm A Frayed Knot !

[Bikertov]

Brian Ward does an identical "horn" button to my Engine Stop button, and it would not look out of place the other side of the ignition key

https://www.brianwards.co.uk/product/water-proof-horn-button/

I would just have to make sure I press the right button to sound the horn - I can just picture it: a massive narrow boat approaching that hasn't seen me. I urgently go to sound the horn to attract their attention, whilst taking emergency evasive manoeuvres, when all of a sudden my engine cuts out 

So that would be one switch position straight away for the Nav lights

Another position would be freed up by moving the water pump switch. Personally, I think it makes logical sense anyway, for it to be next to the water tank gauge in the galley and not be on the dash. This give a spare position for a spotlight as Dom has suggested

 

 

[Bikertov]

2 hours ago, Mouldy said:

If they’re anything like mine, they’re a tad noisy, so having them on separate switches means that you can operate them individually as and when needed.

Yes they are a bit noisy, so maybe best to keep them on separate switches for now

[Smoggy]

What type of wiper motors are they?

[Bikertov]

20 minutes ago, Smoggy said:

What type of wiper motors are they?

I believe they are Vetus, as that what the installed blades are, but I will check what is says on the motor housing when I'm there on Sunday.

[Smoggy]

Mine are vetus and not that noisy, mind you mine are usually only on low intermittent, I suppose when it's worth using full on the rain likely drowns them out anyway.

[Bikertov]

My wipers are just on or off from the switches on the dash - there is no speed or intermittent settings at all

[Smoggy]

Mine have 2 speeds options on the motor the rest is down to a home made controller,  they need to be self parking motors to do that though.

I also have a washer switch that does one side at a time and gives a single wipe when the switch is released,  it's a mom-off-mom switch, great for salt spray that always seems to get one side or the other.

The controller. 

 

[Bikertov]

14 minutes ago, Smoggy said:

Mine have 2 speeds options on the motor the rest is down to a home made controller,  they need to be self parking motors to do that though.

 

Not even sure of mine are self parking or not ? A bit of checking needed this weekend !

Nice controller by the way - is that a PIC controller I spot on the perf board ?

[Smoggy]

It's the idiots version of a pic, picaxe is an educational setup that uses a language similar to basic for small children and idiots like me.

[Regulo]

I built a similar thing for Sunbird's wipers, using a 555 timer IC. And had to do the diode trick! That stumped me for a while. If you don't know - if you have self parking wipers wired in parallel, as long as any one is still self parking, they all carry on going. In my case all 3 would happily chunder away until they all reached self park at the same time. Could be 30 seconds or more!

 

[MargeandParge]

Going to say something now not sure I should with another thread going on and a very good one that helps all reflect on circumstances. 

"Don't touch it till you've lived with it for at least a year and enjoy all situations ,then you will only alter what needs altering. "

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

[Bikertov]

2 hours ago, MargeandParge said:

Going to say something now not sure I should with another thread going on and a very good one that helps all reflect on circumstances. 

"Don't touch it till you've lived with it for at least a year and enjoy all situations ,then you will only alter what needs altering. "

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

Its absolutely fine to say that to me !

As you can see from my recent posts, I'm trying to work out what I can wait to do, but what really needs doing now

In the meantime, I spent a couple of hours exercising my credit card in Dunelm yesterday. In return, the store let me walk out with a whole load of bedding and towels ...

Now I just need to find a load of unnecessary crockery and kitchen stuff to relieve a store of.

In my defence, I think it reasonable to be able to sleep and eat on the boat with some semblance of normality 

[Bikertov]

2 hours ago, Regulo said:

I built a similar thing for Sunbird's wipers, using a 555 timer IC.

Oh did I enjoy learning about and playing with 555's and logic gates as a young schoolboy

One even got me an A in my electronics A/O level (sort of equivalent to an AS level?) when I made an electronic dice in a matchbox, complete with home designed and etched PCBs. I still have it somewhere, but not sure if it works anymore.

[MargeandParge]

Sorry its just a builder said the same thing about a house we bought live in it for a while then it will tell you what to do to it.

I really do apologise as the intension was not to upset you or anyone else. 

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

[Smoggy]

6 hours ago, MargeandParge said:

Sorry its just a builder said the same thing about a house we bought live in it for a while then it will tell you what to do to it.

I really do apologise as the intension was not to upset you or anyone else. 

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

I doubt you've upset anyone,  you said the same as I did earlier in the thread (or was it a different one?) But making fitted things work is not the same as major changes, major changes are very much worth waiting a season for.

[Mouldy]

9 hours ago, Bikertov said:

In the meantime, I spent a couple of hours exercising my credit card in Dunelm yesterday. In return, the store let me walk out with a whole load of bedding and towels ..

Been there, done that!  Plus crockery and a few kitchen utensils - not every bottle of wine has a screw top!  Arrived at the checkout and the assistant asked ‘New house?’  to which the wife replied ‘No, new boat.’  Talk about feeling smug!

Cutlery from Costco, pots and pans from Argos, and some other bits and pieces from IKEA.  It’s surprising how much ‘stuff’ one accumulates on board to make it your floating home from home.

[bucket]

10 minutes ago, Mouldy said:

Been there, done that!  Plus crockery and a few kitchen utensils - not every bottle of wine has a screw top!  Arrived at the checkout and the assistant asked ‘New house?’  to which the wife replied ‘No, new boat.’  Talk about feeling smug!

Cutlery from Costco, pots and pans from Argos, and some other bits and pieces from IKEA.  It’s surprising how much ‘stuff’ one accumulates on board to make it your floating home from home.

........plus......really important to remember that the more pots, pans and metalwork you get in your cupboards and drawers, the lower your air draft.......

[grendel]

dont forget the essential cooking implement- a good non stick frying pan for cooking the bacon.

[Smoggy]

And of course the sheets of mat to put in between the crockery to stop it all rattling in tune with the grill pan when idling....

When we did the deal with snowbird the previous owner was going to clear the boat into a skip, we said leave it and we'll see what's not useful, glad we did as it would probably be a right PITA trying to find crockery that fitted the built in stowage spots, luckily he did take the ginger wig (although if he hadn't I would have worn it into a couple of pubs by now ).

 

[Gracie]

10 hours ago, Bikertov said:

Its absolutely fine to say that to me !

As you can see from my recent posts, I'm trying to work out what I can wait to do, but what really needs doing now

In the meantime, I spent a couple of hours exercising my credit card in Dunelm yesterday. In return, the store let me walk out with a whole load of bedding and towels ...

Now I just need to find a load of unnecessary crockery and kitchen stuff to relieve a store of.

In my defence, I think it reasonable to be able to sleep and eat on the boat with some semblance of normality 

I have banned myself from shopping in Dunelm, I could spend all day in there and could easily bankrupt meself 

Loving this thread Biker. Your excitement for your boat shines through. Can't wait to read of your adventures 

[grendel]

1 hour ago, Gracie said:

I have banned myself from shopping in Dunelm, I could spend all day in there and could easily bankrupt meself 

I didnt know they sold wine or shoes?

[Bikertov]

18 minutes ago, grendel said:

I didnt know they sold wine or shoes?

Not sure, but they do sell wine glasses and shoe racks 

[Bikertov]

On 17/02/2024 at 23:51, Bikertov said:

... but I suspect a problem with the fridge. So I have a Waeco fridge, that I happened to pull out as I wanted to look under the sink at the plumbing. When I took it out, I saw this black unit that it was wired into:

 

I'm sure someone will confirm it, but it is a Waeco EPS-100B 240V to 24V converter/switch. As I understand, the unit should give a 24V output to the fridge when the mains is live, and switch to 12V from the batteries when the mains is off

Great you will say, as I thought when I saw it - except it doesn't seem to work ??

Whilst the fridge works off the 12V house battery when the fridge 12V breaker is on and the "fridge" switch is on, it doesn't seem to work when 240V is live (shore power or the inverter). The voltage stays at 12V, and if you drop the breaker on the 12V panel the fridge goes off

There does seem to be a live 240V going to the unit (only checked with a non-contact mains tester so far), but no 24V out.

When I am next on the boat, I will remove the unit completely, temporarily hardwire the fridge direct to its 12V battery feed, and take the unit home for a proper test.

 

So to answer my own question:

I took out the Mobitronic Mains/12V switch at the weekend, and took it home to bench test.

As suspected, when connected to 240V mains, there was no output, only from the pass-through 12V battery connection.

I spotted an external fuse (bottom right of the picture, below the square "Waeco" sticker but obscured by the red wire). This is a 25mm glass 4A slow blow fuse, and I could see it had blown.

Having taken the cover off the unit (4 visible Philips screws, one in each corner, and one tri-wing security screw under a warning label) I couldn't see any sign of burnt out components etc. There was also another soldered-in mains fuse on the circuit board, but it was intact.

So I replaced the fuse and powered it on. Bingo - it works !

When there is a 240V connection, you get a 24V output, and when the 240v is turned off, you get the 12V battery pass-through. With no battery connected, you just get 24V out but nothing when the 240V is dropped.

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.

I will re-install the unit this weekend if I have time (need to anti-fowl the hull this week) and test it with the fridge load connected.

What I will do though is to remove the hard-wired (and unfused !) 240V connection and replace it with a socket and 5A fused plug to make future isolation easier.

[Smoggy]

23 minutes ago, Bikertov said:

(need to anti-fowl the hull this week)

Unless you have a fear of water bourne chickens I would use ant foul instead...

Assuming your fridge has a danfoss compressor you can get an add on controller with an extra temp sender that runs the fridge harder when the volts are up (charging or shore power) and lets it run a bit warmer when the volts are down and runs the compressor slower to reduce power usage, good for if you're sitting at a mooring for a couple of days after a run, I have one on my fridge and it works well.

https://www.indelwebastomarine.com/int/technology/isotherm-smart-energy-control/

[dom]

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.