(Boat Flamingo - posted by Alan)
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| Batchworth lock - the first on the return trip. |
Well we knew we had to go gently on the return trip because the engine was clearly not in the best possible health - not too much of an issue if it didn't get worse.
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| Lot Mead Lock |
However once we had been travelling some time, David, who was inside trying to use computers, came and asked if there was a problem with the 240 volt power , which seemed to be dropping out. The power is created from the 12 volt battery bank by a unit called an inverter, and investigation revealed it was indeed shutting down. Further investigation revealed the cause - the voltage that should have been going into the inverter from the battery bank was far too high, and as a protection it then shuts itself down.
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| Waiting for two other festival visitors to lock through ahead of us. |
Unfortunately the alternator on the engine that charges the atteries was not being regulated correctly, and much too high a voltage was being fed to the batteries. I was unable to find a reason, but it couldn't be left like this without risking damaging the batteries and on board equipment. Reluctantly I disabled the charging circuit, meaning we were now running out batteries down, and unable to keep them topped up. I reasoned howler we should be able to get much nearer to our home, giving us a better chance of diagnosing and fixing the problem.
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| Towy - You don't see many wooden working boats any more. |
We carried on slowly to Apsley with no further issues, trying hard to use as little electrical power as possible.
Rickmansworth to Apsley
Miles: 8.3, Locks: 15
Total Trip Miles: 73.9, Locks:84
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