Another one bites the dust

[PaulRainbow]

As i entered the main saloon this hideous creature was skulking in the corner :





Looks like it may have been chewing the wiring to the left of the battery box :ambivalence:

I need to get dressed appropriately for the job.

It had made a large hole in the front of the battery box and was firmly affixed, like a giant barnacle, but a determined attack with a large screwdriver soon had the beast out. Some nice switches in a custom panel finished the job off, the panel is designed to cover the hole left by the creature, after filling it with a circular piece of ply, epoxied in place. In this case the front of the battery box needed renewing, so a repair was pointless. Looking something like a scene from Edward Scissorhands, the spaghetti like nest of wiring was given a severe trim and tidy up.

 

[PetiteFleur]

Why didn't you put your new panel over the hole? You wouldn't then need to fill the hole...
ps I quite like my 'hideous creature' ... never given me a problem, nice and simple...

 

[PaulRainbow]

Why didn't you put your new panel over the hole? You wouldn't then need to fill the hole....

You need to repair the hole, or there is nothing to screw the new switches to, they screw in from the back. Normal procedure is to cut a circular piece of ply and epoxy it in, using 20min epoxy. Then cut three new holes for the new switches and screw them in from the inside of the battery box. The panel fixes over the outside to identify the switches and to cover the repair.

 

[solent clown]

do you mount them on the walls of your great hall along with the moose heads?

 

[Bru]

The evil little blighters must be breeding 'cos one of them is in residence on Pagan too

It's being lulled into a false sense of security until I'm ready to move in for the kill

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

do you mount them on the walls of your great hall along with the moose heads?

Good one!

 

[PaulRainbow]

do you mount them on the walls of your great hall along with the moose heads?

hehe

i was thinking of hanging them in the rigging, they'll surely keep the Seagulls at bay.

 

[fredrussell]

For those of us not in on the joke - what is the problem with 1,2, Off switches? I've never owned a boat with such a switch, or indeed an alternator, but am interested to know why these are so unpopular with many on here?

 

[superheat6k]

For those of us not in on the joke - what is the problem with 1,2, Off switches? I've never owned a boat with such a switch, or indeed an alternator, but am interested to know why these are so unpopular with many on here?

Unpopular with many, but not all ! They are simple and do not require complex devices and circuits just to turn the batteries on, but they do require a level of self discipline to turn off the starter battery (Both to 1), when the engine is stopped.

 

[jwilson]

Very nice, but I prefer to have the "emergency" bridging switch a removable-key type: key kept away from the switch, especially for engines with no hand starting.

 

[[70521]]

For those of us not in on the joke - what is the problem with 1,2, Off switches? I've never owned a boat with such a switch, or indeed an alternator, but am interested to know why these are so unpopular with many on here?

Personally, I like them, but I use them in a totally different way to most: as an on/off switch and a switch to the other battery. My set up is 2*110Ah batteries that have a good cold cranking rating that will start my tiny 18hp engine and switch between the batteries on alternate days. Its not as if I am in the Southern Ocean.

Paul has clearly made a good business out of removing them and good for him I say.

Edit: oh there is always the windlass battery that is rarely used and acts as my emergency backup. Part of the daily checks onboard are all voltages are checked with a multimeter at the noon change of watch on a long passage.

 

[Plum]

Personally, I like them, but I use them in a totally different way to most: as an on/off switch and a switch to the other battery. My set up is 2*110Ah batteries that have a good cold cranking rating that will start my tiny 18hp engine and switch between the batteries on alternate days. Its not as if I am in the Southern Ocean.

Paul has clearly made a good business out of removing them and good for him I say.

Edit: oh there is always the windlass battery that is rarely used and acts as my emergency backup. Part of the daily checks onboard are all voltages are checked with a multimeter at the noon change of watch on a long passage.

+1. Another supporter of 12both switches, thinking of starting a sanctuary for those made homeless.

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

 

[solent clown]

+1. Another supporter of 12both switches, thinking of starting a sanctuary for those made homeless.

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

that is a great idea! I can see the little blighters bounding about now in their special reserve, cables trailing jauntily as they move in packs across the landscape in search of volts.

 

[knuterikt]

For those of us not in on the joke - what is the problem with 1,2, Off switches? I've never owned a boat with such a switch, or indeed an alternator, but am interested to know why these are so unpopular with many on here?

When installed the in the most common way, to charge two batteries from one generator it works like this.
1) engine off boat is in use (sailing or sitting still) switch in pos 2, drawing electricity from house batteries.
2) start engine, remember to set switch in both to charge both batteries
3) set sail, turn engine off, remember to go down to switch back to pos 2
if you forget one of the battery banks will suffer.

Can work if you never forget, always have crew or have sea room so it’s safe to go bellow decks and switch.
I singlehand in waters with little sea room, so I prefer an automated solution.

 

[pmagowan]

A system designed to rely on humans is a bad system prone to failure

 

[Quandary]

A system designed to rely on humans is a bad system prone to failure

Amazing, how on earth did the human race make it to the 19th century, must have been divine intervention after all, you have restored my faith in a deity.

 

[JumbleDuck]

For those of us not in on the joke - what is the problem with 1,2, Off switches? I've never owned a boat with such a switch, or indeed an alternator, but am interested to know why these are so unpopular with many on here?

It's pretentious nonsense. If you have a single circuit for engine and domestics, a 1-2-Both switch is a perfectly good solution. If you have two separate circuits you need something different.

 

[Spyro]

It's pretentious nonsense. If you have a single circuit for engine and domestics, a 1-2-Both switch is a perfectly good solution. If you have two separate circuits you need something different.

Agree and what Paul has fitted is basically the same electrical circuit but just needs more manual intervention.

 

[Bru]

For those of us not in on the joke - what is the problem with 1,2, Off switches? I've never owned a boat with such a switch, or indeed an alternator, but am interested to know why these are so unpopular with many on here?

As any marine sparky will tell you (including me and Paul), they are nasty unreliable devices prone to failure

And the setup with a 1-2-both switch is not the same as the seperate isolator and bridging switch system that Paul, I and many others favour.

With a 1-2-both switch, you cannot isolate a faulty battery and run all the systems off either of the banks so if you're starter battery (for example) goes duff (and they do), if you switch to "Both" the domestic bank will start to discharge attempting to bring the voltage up on the engine battery.

The same applies if a battery starts to cook off - you want that battery isolated pronto and you can't do it with a 1-2-both switch and keep the boat electrics running. You end up having to switch off ALL the electrics then mess about disconnecting the boiling battery before you can turn everything back on

It's a bad system

 

[JumbleDuck]

As any marine sparky will tell you (including me and Paul), they are nasty unreliable devices prone to failure

The one I removed from my boat - when I went dual circuit - was still working perfectly, thirty years after Northshore fitted it.

Sure, it's a wee bit more restricted, but how many people fit a separate isolator to each domestic battery in a bank?

Tens of thousands of 12Bs are in use around the UK, and the only people who really seem to dislike them are those who earn money by panicking owners into changing them.