Lucky you visiting and living! in Venecia in the middle of the pandemic situation....Very authentic ambience and not disneyland-touristic like. It looks wonderfull. thanks for sharing...
I've just had the pleasure of watching your "Why we decided to sell up" video from March 2019; well done guys, and thank you for the great quality you publish.
The joys of maintenance ,as you say if another lock down a far better place than earlier ,lets hope not it comes to that ,nice marina for the winter and hopefully plenty of time to sort out a generator !!!!
My wife and I ran cable for TV and Ethernet through our old house. We used fish tape to find the path and then pull the cables through the walls. This winter, I am upgrading the Wi-Fi and the router we have connected to the cable modem we use to connect to the Internet.
Sailing Fair Isle she’s a Spirit Yachts possibly a 46ft. They are traditional but with a modern underwater shape. Similar to the one used in the Bond film in Venice!
Well done Steve to overcome the wifi installation issues, but the generator sounds like a issue that can be resolved but it will need 'dosh'!! Great to see Judy again xx
Now and again you have to take a deep breath and think about next season. I faffed around with, worried about and tried to repair my old generator for 3 years then I just decided enough is enough and purchased a new unit. The skin on my knuckles is healing, I am sleeping through the night, the galley is free from machine parts and I have time to spare!! Do it!!
As a delivery skipper the pain in the ars is Gen sets & older watermakers . Iv found a lot of cruisers are going to the Honda portable generators , I know that means carrying petrol but with 90% still with outboards it's a win win situation & the newer models are very economical for the amount of time they are needed & Quiet . Last yacht up to Tonga we had a film crew on ALL with computers for making a doco , When some called me up saying the A/P wasnt working the reason was they had all been working on there laptops & flattened the batteries , The owner had set up the Honda in a locker in the cockpit & it was only a matter of pulling the cord with the Honda wired in to the shore power inlet & bingo - Fairwinds .
Glad you are there in winter. Summers are bad. Maybe go to abano terma, not far and do mud bath. Not sure if there is transportation without having to rent a car. Oh maybe when you come from skiing on the way back take hot bath and mudbath at abano terme. I always loved Venice in the spring.
Just had a thought. The cylinder wall may have a thin layer of rust on it after seawater/moisture got in, so the soak over night may be the go. Try rotating the crank clockwise and anti clockwise and you may slowly free it if this is the problem.
Wonderful to watch you begin to explore Venice and am looking forward to your winter installments. As a part-time resident there for several years now, I was struck at how quiet the city appears in these scenes, and things will get still quieter now with the new lockdown orders in effect throughout the country. One point you might want to check up on is the pronunciation of Chitosa, which to my understanding calls for treating the "Ch" as a hard "k." I don't pretend to be an expert.
It is a lovely place to be & we have lots to explore. Re. Certosa it isn't spelled Ch just pronounced that way. Of course the English pronunciation would be 'Sir' as in 'Sir'tosa but the Italian pronunciation is 'Ch'
Kenny your a star !! just been trying to get an ethernet cable through a hole i drilled. Have used my metal retractable measure pushed through instead of a fiddly wire - got the string pushed through to tie onto the cable now (original idea) but dont really need it now because i was able to tape up to the measuring tape, success :-) ! Im giving you a Sub & Like for that one. Thanks so much.
Yes very true, sadly the insides haven't faired so well. I think the installation is such that there's too much back pressure & it occasionally gets sea water in the inlet. I replaced the head and all the valves when we bought fair Isle, l also rebuilt the front end as the oil pressure relief value failed and it would immediately blow the oil filter seal the pressure was so high. So there's internal corrosion going on. Strange though because since we've had her I don't think we've had water come back, the oil look clean every time I change it etc. mystery!
Eric Mason - I was thinking that, too! Especially grim are the ones supposedly reconditioned and someone has sat there and sprayed green paint over everything in sight - rubber hoses, belts, electric cables, pulleys, oil filler caps, generator/alternator......... And the rear end is still just neglected lumps of oil and grease. So sad.
For the first time in my not that short life have I actually got what Venice is all about, so high credit for your filming. The "cheap" alternative to LiFe??? seems to be lead-carbon. No experience my self, but Victron sells them so they should be available in Europe (and presumable not a dodgy alternative). The layman's explanation is that they combine a capacitor and a lead battery, but with the same weight penalty.
Talk to a local electrical contractor about borrowing his set of fish sticks. A set of 4 ft. Fibreglass rods that screw together, with a flexible tip to flip around obstacles.
Oh dont worry if it had been possible to get it through I would have done it! There just wasn't physically enough space to get the actual cable through so it was a non starter. Happy with the rear deck gland option though. I actually got it further forward than I though I would.
Hi Steve! May I suggest taking out the injectors (or glow plugs) and pour some oil diluted with diesel into the cylinders. Let it sit over night and then have another try the following day with your long extension socket wrench. Good luck. Cheers, Rob.
Try getting an even longer bar on that motor - Twice the length at least. Try turning it backwards and then alternating with a change of direction. You have nothing to lose if the whole thing is toast. Otherwise take off the head beause it might just be a valve that is stuck .
I would first soak the pistons and bores with either old engine oil, or better still new oil with a touch of hydrochloric acid in it, to dissolve the rust (old oil will have a bit of sulphuric acid in it unless the engine had been running sulphur-free diesel, but HCl actually works a lot better)
Steve, you've likely heard from someone by now about a 'fish tape' that's used to pull wires! My father was a master electrician. Nice job on Plan C for the wifi and cellular extenders. You'll get a lot of use out of them and it sounds like you have a centralized hub/router set up to distribute the signal. I don't live aboard my sailboat but do use it for inter coastal trips here in southeast Alaska and I put a cell phone range extender on it from SureCall because I travel between small towns on the ocean and while there's spotty cell phone coverage (better as you get closer to these towns of 5k people) there's no wifi for 100 miles at times! The SureCall does give me 2-3 bars when I only have 1 bar but I see that extra range as adding safety to my boat because I can communicate for a longer distance on my cellphone than just using the cellphone's internal antenna. Outside of cellphone range, for long distance communications I use a DeLorme InReach (besides the VHF). You two certainly captured the spirit of Venice very well in this video. I felt like I was nearly there! Cheers to you both from Juneau, Alaska!
Love your technical videos, thank you and keep up the great work. We are refitting an older but new to us cruising boat and ditching the generator and AGM batteries. In their place we will install a good sized lithium bank and two high-output alternators on the main engine. This will give us 600 Ah of usable capacity that can be recharged in a couple of hours from 0 to 100 percent. Combined with a decent amount of solar, this setup should take care of our needs quite nicely. If you have your heart set on Fireflies you must come pick them up yourselves once this Corona madness is over. We just elected a new president so maybe there is hope on that front after all....
In a previous video (boat tour) you mentioned making a separate video about the led lights in your boat! To jump the gun a bit, what system (make/model) did you go for?
Venice looks a great place to overwinter and recent videos have persuaded us to head there next year to use as our winter bolt hole. One of the previous episodes detailed the merits of an upgraded external alternator and controller which i understood to be sufficient along with your solar to eliminate the need for your generator Now you've had chance to evaluate this system do you think its worthwhile as I've been seriously considering the option as an alternative to adding further solar due to mounting restrictions whilst cutting down on our reliance of our generator at anchor.
It was my plan to ditch the genny, but I hoped that would be in a couple of years when I've got all my other ducks lined up. I will do a video on what i think is necessary to be able to cruise without a generator, but you always have to remenber if the sun doesn't shine for a few days and youre not moving you have next to nothing going in. My 540Ah AGM house bank isn't big enough, I can tell you that. My 675Watt solar array isn't enough either, the 150A balmar is good, but I don't want to be running the engine just to charge.
How to get soft wiring through headlings and enclosed areas? Get some relatively stiff thin pvc piping and insert your cables through it to the the end then push the whole of it though the headliner then withdraw the outer pvc leaving the wiring behind it after taking hold of the end.
What can i tell you, I'm as surprise as you are. The glow plugs are out and the starter motor is off and it doesn't turn. since it ran (and stopped) fine the last time I used it it's unlikely it's dropped and end or had some catastrophic mechanical problem, so somethings seized while it sat. I've injected a load of diesel through the glow plug holes & it's sitting there at the moment waiting for me to go at it with the longest bar i can muster!
Browsing your website your gear page mentions the chairs you use (thanks to Lyndsay). Could you put a link or more details of where to get them in the uk (as you don’t even mention a make). I have been looking everywhere for them! Great website and channel!
Oh good grief thanks for the heads up, I'll have to look at that, cant remember which ones we talked about, but the ones we bought (not the ones Lindsay recommended, because we couldn't find them) were rubbish, those were the black ones we had in series 1. The ones we have now are called 'comfort seat' they look more like the ones that Lindsay had. They're from Holland but cant tell you where exactly because we got them from friends in Cartagena who had bought too many.
Yes I will get to see what's gone on when I pull it out. But I know it's going to be expensive to fix, it's going to remain unreliable and in the long term I don't want to be relying on a generator so I'm going to concentrate my efforts on alternative forms of power generation. You only really HAVE to have a genny if you want air con or full induction hobs etc & we don't.
Sounds like you've lavished a lot of time and expense on that generator. For heavy work - 240v mains powered equipment - they are invaluable. Even with a large secondary alternator on the engine you won't be able to supply power hungry kit such as domestic appliances. Variable speed generators are the flavour of the month, although not cheap, they may work out better than simply investing in a lithium bank. You'll succumb to lithium eventually though! Great video.
Hi, good video. Oh this cables! By the way: do you have any idea where these black double lights, e.g above your nav station come from? We have the same and I am looking for a replacement for one of them. Thanks. Michael
That engine died with a mysterious death! It needs an autopsy! I've never seen a dead engine so clean. I doubt it was a victim of mistreatment (poor maintenance) of its previous owner.
For capturing an internet connection on anchor, we had an RV type receiver with a long lead and just pulled it up the mast on a spare halliard. The Arial has to be as high as possible for maximum gain. no faffing about drilling holes that might leak.
That might work to an extent, but I can tell you from years of dealing with RF frequencies in bits of coax the loss is huge. Long bits of skinny coax you'll loose as much as you gain by having it high. Even good chunky coax will cause loss. i'll let you know when we've tested it but having the two high gain Mimo antennas should give excellent 4g well off shore. Oh, and I can assure you my holes wont leak;)
If you just occasionally need ower why not consider a dedicatd small porablee or fixed genset which can be picked up fairly chaply and used as a boost. Running diesel motors as generators is surely not food for them as diesels really need to run under load.
Yes it's a possibility but there are so many circumstances where you cant use it. I'm not going to be one of those people that start up a bloody noisy genny o deck in a lovely quiet anchorage just as you're enjoying the sunset. Or worse, sunrise!
Where there any 'aimable' yagi type antennas you could have fitted instead of the omni directional? A yagi will pick up weak signals that a omni wouldn't even 'see'
Hi Guys, great video as always, thank you . Steve, as a matter of interest, how many amp hours is your house bank and also home much solar do you have. Thanks
Hi Richard, our house bank is 560Ah ( not enough!) and our solar is 670W but the 150W panel get the boom shadow so is only about half efficiency. That set up is okay with the Genny, would be ideal with a 800-900ah house bank I think, but without it I need more solar and twice the house bank & ideally something like a hydro generator. I will do a whole video on power as it’s such an important issue.
I know you’re nervous about Lithium so if you went for AGM which is only slightly more costly than lead you’d increase your useable power by at least 20%. I think the solar piece is more important though. I have 8KW on my roof and a 13.5 KW Tesla battery but at this time of year we still need every bit of power the light can give us and we rarely fill the battery so more panels and AGM if you don’t want to take that expensive plunge for the additional 20% reserve. Regards Richard
Steve, I would like to thank you for sharing the bar keepers friend and 3m metal restorer “tip”. That stuff worked like a charm! I’ve been looking for products too, these products are the best i’ve seen so far. I’ve cleaned a lot of important parts with it, from the steering to the ruddershaft. Thanks! Go for intgrel alternators. Distant Shores has one. Look at there channel. Loose the genny; make place for better tech. :)
Arh interesting I didn't know distant shores had one, is that on the Southerly they're now selling? We're involved with a video collaboration with them and a couple of other channels so I will have to ask them about it. I'm not a great fan of strapping extra bits to the engine, but Nigel Calder knows his stuff so it definitely worth considering.
@@svfairisle Nigel Calder is amazing. Yes they have one on board the Southerly that they are selling. They show it in one of their videos. I would definitely contact them for more information. I don’t know what your budget is or what that alternator cost but i would definitely look in to it. Stay safe guys.
Finally caught up, watched all through your videos. You start with a leg up on most channels I have watched just from clearly having a lot of experience filming and editing. However, sometimes it feels like there is a little bit of a personal touch missing sometimes. Your tech videos are great, we get to hear about your opinions on things good and bad and get to see what you see through a new perspective. The filming of locations you visit feel like a post card from national geographic, they are very nice, but it is not important that it was you taking the shot.
@@svfairisle I would like to hear more about what makes the experience of visiting a place unique to you or unique to the particular events that surround your travels. A cathedral is always going to be wonderful and nice to see in a photo, but there are plenty of places to find each one in the perfect lighting from the perfect angle. What did you see that may be a little below the surface, or something that surprised you, or something you started thinking about in relation to other things you have seen or learned in your life that offers your unique perspective? I follow the channels of a stone mason, Mike Haduck. He isn't nearly as good at making a good video, but I like when he does videos on places he visits because he talks about what he sees from the perspective of a mason thinking about how they actually did the work of building a place. You are both interesting people, with a great deal of experience and perspective from your life and travels, so I bet the conversations that you have among yourselves are very interesting. I would like to hear more about what you personally find remarkable or interesting as you travel.
No, that's why I was so sure it would be something simple. It ran fine, we stopped it as usual then next time a week or so later it wouldnt turn over. Really strange as that rules out any big mechanical, piston /crank type problem, but can't think of what would have it completely seized solid like that. Bloody boats!
It looks like the TV is connecting into the WiFi network already, so the Ethernet cable probably isn't necessary (unless you'd prefer it to be a wired connection than wireless). If you're worried about lithium (aside from it burning a hole in the wallet) it might help your concerns to read on the different chemistry types, lithium ion is more volatile, but lithium iron phosphate is pretty safe. Like any battery they have to be treated nicely, but the batteries in 787's and hoverboard's were lithium ion (that said, li-ion is safe enough for road cars). Happy sailing! :)
@@michaelbundy3867 yeah, what I'm saying is that AFAIK those were lithium _ion_, not lithium _iron phosphate_. They're different chemistries. The LiFePO4 is safer/easier to deal with and batteries like Battle Born, Renogy, etc all come with the charge control gear inside to just treat them more like normal batteries - just lighter and with more stored power.
Ha! I've been caught out!! You win the eagle eye prize this week. It's true I had the Amazon firestick plugged in and the TV grabbed on to that before ethernet connected page flashed up on the screen, I just didn't wait for it in the edit, didn't think anyone would notice!
Steve, Judy - have you looked at the Integrel On-Engine Generator as a power solution? I passed over it due to cost and my preference for big solar with lithium, but I'm in touch with a new Integrel adopter who is delighted with it. And, the Integrel people have recently released a 'Lite' version, that still produces tons of amps from a DIY installation. I think it's still kind of expensive, but performance wise, very good. p.s. Is that a Metabo drill? You know you're watching a quality channel when there's quality tools being put to good use! :-)
That's interesting, thanks I will take a look. Not sure what drill I had out there I have many, but I have to say I have my selection of quality tools but tend to buy a lot of cheap stuff as well knowing it's going to get trashed quick on a boat!
I do have the Integral system fitted two years ago and we also cook with it as there was no room for a gas locker that didn't get in the way on deck. As live aboards for 15 years we now find this works extremely well and the system has been reliable but was expensive initially. The sealed batteries they use are North Star Thin Plate Pure Lead (TPPL) that were developed for the telecoms industry and seem to be a happy alternative that fit between the performance of conventional lead acid and lithium. From the size of your generator you could fit 4off 190Ah batteries there to increase your exiting capacity if that worked for you.
Hi Steve. The Digital Yachts 4G solution is what I am about to put on my boat as well. Are you using the Vodafone sim card that comes with it and if so how to you cope with the roaming in Italy - I understand that you can get quite high GB plans but they are downgraded when overseas, like a 50 GB ends up only being 15 or 20 GB when not in the country where you subscribe...
We already have a 3 contract so havent got the Vodafone one. Yes under fair dealing all the phone companies give between 15 and 20 GB max. So no point getting an unlimited plan because it will only be unlimited in the UK.
Since your generator is seized, you have nothing to loose to have it removed over winter , and have it stripped down by a competent engine reconditioning company ( automotive ), not some yachties pretending. If the engine is beyond repair, you then have the option of purchasing a similar inboard setup or maybe a smaller inverter system.But perhaps you have already considered this. At least if you can resurrect the existing system you will get to know the system inside out.
I already know it inside out unfortunately having stripped it down twice already in the last 4 years! It's initial installation was not good & there's too much back pressure on the exhaust. It had suffered water getting back to the top end before we bought Fair Isle and there is internal corrosion.
Hi The chanel settings you were looking at on the WiFi (Ubiquity Bullet) radio you can't change. As you are connected to other WiFi access points you are the station. The chanel is set by the transmission access point not the station. We are live abroad on our boat Amel Super Maramu in Greece at the moment. We are in Ireland over winter and own a wireless Internet company, Celtic Broadband. So I know wireless equipment well.
Hi Jay, yes I know I cant change the channel the wifi is coming in on from the Marina, in this case channel 6. But what i was saying is that there should be a way of changing the local wifi channel from my own unit, which at the moment is channel 11 when necessary. All systems I've ever come across have this. With the Wirie for instance we had great trouble when we stayed in Eastbourne as there was so much wifi around. Of the 11 channels all were used multiple times and as you know they overlap as well so I had to really play with the Wirie to find a less used channel so my own wifi wasn't obliterated by all the others. The Digital Yachts system must have a way to change the channel, I just haven't found it yet!
Yes there is but that is in the internal router settings. If you know what make it is, that is the box that looked to be behind your switch panel, that the Ethernet cables plug into, I can probably tell you how to do this. It may be Mikrotik. Also best to set this to just 20mHz channel space as you probably won’t be connected to very high speeds that requires 40 to 80 MHz of bandwidth. Also the lower the bandwidth the better b more penetration the signal will have.
Thanks, been binge watching your vids , so refreshing to see people to whom the journey is more important than the arrival. Enjoyed your techi bits that aren’t too nerdy and the quality filming . But most of all people who are not obsessed with how fast their boats can go ! Enjoy the journey , I’m sure there are many like me , landlocked but enjoying it with you .
You set the channel on the router you're connecting to, you as a user, can't change it. (Just leave it on Auto anyway). Next time try a strong magnet with a washer on a string to pull cables through weird gaps like that. Go electric! Plenty of people are building their own lithium batteries on UA-cam and you can save a fortune! Get a small genset for emergencies and a hydrogenerator :)
Bit off topic I'm afraid but I was wondering how you are planning (if you have been able to) to deal with the consequences of brexit in terms of the restriction on visting europe for only 90days in 180days, and any potential VAT issues as far as the boat is concerned.
I've had a bad day trying to fix things that dont want to get fixed and you have to go and bring that up! Answer is we have no idea. We're okay next year with Croatia and Turkey in the mix, but then we might just have to high tail it out of the Med. Who knows!
@@svfairisle Sorry to bring it up. Just think that maybe some people who follow your channel don't realise it could be a big issue. Not that brexiteers care. Hope at least you are having the warm weather we have here in south of France. Makes maintainance a little more enjoyable.
yes we have a mixture of warm sun and fog! Which means there's days for all boat jobs:) We will talk about the rules I'd just like to actually know something first though!
Steve generator problems.? Exhaust valve seized-alternator bearings -colour of oil in sump .. to free seized objects i.e. pistons toque may apply, in my opinion ‘shock ‘ is what more likely to separate items to move... lithium batteries manufactured in South Korea or Japan, they may be assembled and sold in other countries .. they will be more expensive but they will be more reliable.. I have noted in your adventures reliability is very important to you. Jacktar
Thank Colin, I will check out the South Korean / Japanese batteries. Generator is a mystery, oil good, top end looks good with rocker cover off, alternator & starter motor disconnected. Glow plugs are out but I don’t think the engine is hydro locked anyway as it’s not at TDC. I strip it to get it out so I might at least work out what happened
It’s important for line of sight transmission antennas like the VHF to be as high as possible. Won’t make much difference for. 2.4 GHz receive antenna & what you gain in reception you’ll loose in the longer coax run, even with really thick coax.So no, wouldn’t go to the trouble of mounting it up there
@@svfairisle Oh yes you would loose a little with a much longer run, Wonder about a passive booster somewhere to help that? might get you a little bit extra signal when your not too close to the source.
Can you get a refund on your new anchor and just use the generator as an anchor? Seriously though, I know that you distrust lithium but that area where the generator is you could get a lot of lithium batteries in there. Loving the maintenance walkthrus. Cheers Baz & Aannsha.
Ha! yes I'll see if it fits on the bow rollers! My plan was always to use that area for batteries, as you say it's a good size and it's also in a good position for the cable run. At the moment there are two batteries in the aft cabin which have a 4 meter cable run which isn't great. Still not convinced about lithium, although I could build a fire proof box for them in there. Not sure the bank balance will stretch to all that this winter though sadly.
The LiFiPo4 comment is right on! Zero fire hazard especially with a modern BMS. Best investment I ever made! Get rid of the genset and add more solar or higher output alternators. Check out the Nigel Calder solution.
@@MrSeamaster1998 Arh okay, here it is digitalyacht.co.uk/ I will do an update at some point. But I can tell you after a year of use it's sometimes frustrating as the software is over complicated and flaky. Having said that though the unit means we have stable fast wifi from the marina here in Cesme so can watch Netflix etc, without it the wifi would only be good enough for emails so it's a godsend here.
Not that much learning to lithium and go prismatic cells, High and low voltage cut off and a buck boost DDC to DC charger and sized to your alternator (this is important to not burn out the alternator) to run off the starter Battery of the original house bank as that genny box will fit in 700 amp lithium giving you 8 kilowatts.Easy than playing with that wifi tv ect maze, but read up.
Taking out the glow plugs will not tell you in that motor is hydro locked, they are in the inlet tract not the cylinder, you need to take out the injectors.
@@svfairisle Hmm ok, just looked a little short to be in cylinder glow plugs that's all, that and the fact that its mechanical injection and not common rail. (definitely look further into it though, might not be as bad as it looks)
I'm no expert in battery technology but I think 'absolutely safe' might be an over exaggeration? medium.com/@mikelam9676/causes-and-consequences-of-explosion-of-lifepo4-battery-547e58e8cc69 There's no question that LiFePo4 is a good option for lithium and from what I read the real risks of fire are tiny, but I do worry that you are relying completely on the battery management system to get things right and there's a whole shit storm of things being thrown at it with solar, alternator, shore power, generator sometimes in conjunction. It's difficult enough to get all these systems playing nicely with Lead acid batteries which in comparison will take loads of abuse. I don't want to be a Ludite and the advantages are not to be sniffed at ( although you're right the price is!) but I think it will either need a LOT of research on my part or handing over the task to a completely trustworthy installer, and how do you find one of them?!
@@svfairisle If you look at the specs of LiFePo, you will find, that there is no way they can start "burning" by themselves. A thermal runthrough, as it is called and what I think you refer to and is possible with other LiOn chemistry, is physically impossible. Not sure what Mike is refering to, but the things he is talking about most likely happen when the battery is used at it's limits. Like in a car, a forklift or something like this. You are using the battery as you house bank. If you put, let's say 700Ah in, it will be bored. The loads you put on it will be 20 amps? 80 when everything is running simultaniously? Most systems can be loaded with up to 1C, so this would mean you could pull 700 amps! This will most likely never happen. And compared to lead, even as AGM, LiFePo is all better, lighter, easier to handle, you can discharge it almost to zero without worriing too much. Do that with a lead battery, even the good ones, it's dead within weeks. If you want to know more about the technology perhaps contact Ryan of Ryan and Sofie Sailing here on YT. Yes, he has a side business called Dakota Lithium, that sells LiFePo batteries, but he has the knowledge about it and can explain it to noobs like us...;)
I'm going to get a fair bit of flak for this I think... but, for anyone considering the Digital Yacht 4G solution, you can save a bundle by purchasing the components individually. The shiny 4G box actually holds a small plastic box, which is a re-stickered Teltonika RUT-240 which goes (on average) for about 140 euros. Add the cabling and the antenna's and you're looking at about 400 to 500 euros, which is a pretty good savings. Nothing against DY, props to them for marketing products like this, but I hate how they also fell into the trap of charging a bundle on top purely because it's "marine" or "yacht".
It's certainly true that if you know your way around this sort of IT you could save money by buying the bits and working out a system for yourself. I don't think the Digital Yachts gear is a big offender in the mark up for a ready to go system though. The Wirie we had before definitely was. It was more expensive than the Digital yachts system to do exactly the same job but as you could see the hardware was really inferior and as you say the electrics are just a bunch of components from China because they all are. Anyway I'm afraid my lack of knowledge in this field means even getting THIS system working was a struggle, with a home built system and no support I'ld just have a bunch of wires at the end of the day!
@@svfairisle I was actually speaking literally - that Teltonika box is exactly, literally, what's inside the digital yacht box :) Only thing they did was add some custom firmware that says (c) Digital Yacht everywhere. However, it does indeed require some IT knowledge to get going. I've actually got the Digital Yacht edition of the 4G box on the boat (except I took it to pieces out of curiosity). It works quite well, but as you said, the interface is absolutely clunky if you're not in IT. Not a problem for me since that's how I make my living, but it could be much better. From a "reality check" standpoint; it will not give you the range it claims it can when coastal sailing, you have to get lucky with the placement of cell towers, but too much movement (read: traveling) and it will get quite... iffy. In most anchorages on the south of France though, it does work very well and often gives you more speed (due to better signal) than your phone can.
Yes don't worry i wasn't banking on the 20nm from shore claim, but with Fair Isle we sit in the water not on it. A phone below is often below water level so we don't get great reception!
@@svfairisle oh it works very well in that case :) It's just that I've had people (who I advised purchasing this or alternative systems to) complain that they're not getting "teh interwebz" 20nm offshore when they're in absolute bumfuck nowhere, so since then I'm kind of in the "manage expectations" side of it all :D
Come on Steve, how are you coming through the winter month? Fix that generator! Some WD40, a little oil. Patients. Don’t let that generator be the boss. Serious: Because if it’s true what you say about seawater that came into the cylinder via the exhaust it will happen again on you new one to and you have to change something in the exchaust design.
Yes you're right Hans the generator wasn't installed well from new, I know the previous owner had problems and actually goy a new generator from Mastervolt because of all the problems. But they didnt address the real problem, the exhaust run. It would need a major (and expensive) change to get right, which is why it hasn't been done. But actually the main reason it hasn't been done is I do think a modern yacht with enough solar, good alternator & maybe a hydro generator could do without one, which has always been my plan. Rest assured if this genny is dead it will not be replaced.
@@svfairisle Steve, it’s a diesel. I’ve seen worst ones start after 30 years in a field. And it would bring us a nice technical video too! And somewere in that beautifull Venice there must be good mechanic willing to help. And maybe it’s not even the engine, it could be the generator which is stuck. Sailing the world means being a sailor, mechanic, cook etc. If you were here in Holland I would come to assist!
Thanks Hans, i'm going to go and beat some sense into it with a stick right now! (sorry that's a Faulty Towers reference that may make no sense to a Dutchman?!)
@@haywood12 I have not heard it before i've just uses penatrating oil and stp gas treatment .. I will try ATF and diesel in the future . This is a great palce to learn all the great tricks -thanks
What’s all this superstition about lithium? ;) Seriously though, the technology’s there already, and it’s got to prove cheaper than a new genetic, right?
Well from the research I've done so far I'm happy that the LiFePo4 batteries don't pose the fire risk that earlier Lithium tech suffered from, for me any risk of fire however small on a boat means a no. What I want to get clear is that the BMS systems are robust enough not to trip and leave you with a black boat the first time the alternator spikes or we overload the inverter or something. Sometimes systems can be too cleaver for their own good. If I can find something 100% reliable I agree the tech is too good to miss.Had enough of rebuilding generators!
Hi folks, Love the videos thanks. Firefly now have a UK dealer. See www.macbethenergy.co.uk/ for more details. Think he is selling them on Amazon. Fair sailing.
Cos i'm a pussy! I will look at it again, but on the whole being an early adopter of this sort of tec isn't the best plan where something going wrong can either leave you with no power of a fire that you cant put out! In my previous life I covered several stories on problems with electric cars. These are designed and fitted specifically for their batteries and still had major problems resulting in disastrous situations. Retro fitting random batteries in a marine environment to a system that has, in our case, 4 different charging sources (well 3 now the gennys dead!) is not just a slot in solution no matter what anyone tells you!
You said that other countries should learn from Italy only because they let you enter the country without any problems. Look at the Situation now. Other countries should learn not to learn from Italy.
Lucky you visiting and living! in Venecia in the middle of the pandemic situation....Very authentic ambience and not disneyland-touristic like. It looks wonderfull. thanks for sharing...
Humility is such an attractive quality. I appreciate your steady demonstration of it.
Admire your patience Steve. One look at all that wiring made me cry. 👍
I've just had the pleasure of watching your "Why we decided to sell up" video from March 2019; well done guys, and thank you for the great quality you publish.
Steve, Judy...another classy video...evenings entertainment sorted, thank you!
Good to see the WiFi working, probably going to do the same thing. Ben is a legend
The joys of maintenance ,as you say if another lock down a far better place than earlier ,lets hope not it comes to that ,nice marina for the winter and hopefully plenty of time to sort out a generator !!!!
My wife and I ran cable for TV and Ethernet through our old house. We used fish tape to find the path and then pull the cables through the walls.
This winter, I am upgrading the Wi-Fi and the router we have connected to the cable modem we use to connect to the Internet.
What an incredible location to sit out the winter....
That ‘beautiful Italian wooden boat’ at the beginning is actually built on the East Coast of the UK! Great video.
Interesting, do you know what is was?
Sailing Fair Isle she’s a Spirit Yachts possibly a 46ft. They are traditional but with a modern underwater shape. Similar to the one used in the Bond film in Venice!
Well done Steve to overcome the wifi installation issues, but the generator sounds like a issue that can be resolved but it will need 'dosh'!! Great to see Judy again xx
Now and again you have to take a deep breath and think about next season. I faffed around with, worried about and tried to repair my old generator for 3 years then I just decided enough is enough and purchased a new unit. The skin on my knuckles is healing, I am sleeping through the night, the galley is free from machine parts and I have time to spare!! Do it!!
Yes don't worry I've rebuilt that generator twice already, it's had it's final warning!
@@svfairisle I felt your pain - good luck whatever strategy you choose.
As a delivery skipper the pain in the ars is Gen sets & older watermakers . Iv found a lot of cruisers are going to the Honda portable generators , I know that means carrying petrol but with 90% still with outboards it's a win win situation & the newer models are very economical for the amount of time they are needed & Quiet . Last yacht up to Tonga we had a film crew on ALL with computers for making a doco , When some called me up saying the A/P wasnt working the reason was they had all been working on there laptops & flattened the batteries , The owner had set up the Honda in a locker in the cockpit & it was only a matter of pulling the cord with the Honda wired in to the shore power inlet & bingo - Fairwinds .
What about exhaust in the locker.?
@@Prayforwindandsurf It was left ajar about an inch .
Glad you are there in winter. Summers are bad. Maybe go to abano terma, not far and do mud bath. Not sure if there is transportation without having to rent a car. Oh maybe when you come from skiing on the way back take hot bath and mudbath at abano terme.
I always loved Venice in the spring.
Just had a thought. The cylinder wall may have a thin layer of rust on it after seawater/moisture got in, so the soak over night may be the go. Try rotating the crank clockwise and anti clockwise and you may slowly free it if this is the problem.
Wonderful to watch you begin to explore Venice and am looking forward to your winter installments. As a part-time resident there for several years now, I was struck at how quiet the city appears in these scenes, and things will get still quieter now with the new lockdown orders in effect throughout the country. One point you might want to check up on is the pronunciation of Chitosa, which to my understanding calls for treating the "Ch" as a hard "k." I don't pretend to be an expert.
It is a lovely place to be & we have lots to explore. Re. Certosa it isn't spelled Ch just pronounced that way. Of course the English pronunciation would be 'Sir' as in 'Sir'tosa but the Italian pronunciation is 'Ch'
I can see the rigging taking all the antenna's off of the coach roof!!!
Very nice!
Yet again, another fascinating and hugely enjoyable video. Thanks so much!
Northern Lights Generator. You will love it.
✨💯✨👍 Again, top shelf.
I use a retractable measuring tape to pull cables trough small spaces
Kenny your a star !! just been trying to get an ethernet cable through a hole i drilled. Have used my metal retractable measure pushed through instead of a fiddly wire - got the string pushed through to tie onto the cable now (original idea) but dont really need it now because i was able to tape up to the measuring tape, success :-) ! Im giving you a Sub & Like for that one. Thanks so much.
Thanks guys!
I have never seen such a beautiful, clean, engine as this one that is 'toast'. Usually they are neglected lumps of oil and grease.
Yes very true, sadly the insides haven't faired so well. I think the installation is such that there's too much back pressure & it occasionally gets sea water in the inlet. I replaced the head and all the valves when we bought fair Isle, l also rebuilt the front end as the oil pressure relief value failed and it would immediately blow the oil filter seal the pressure was so high. So there's internal corrosion going on. Strange though because since we've had her I don't think we've had water come back, the oil look clean every time I change it etc. mystery!
Did the generator’s cooling water line have a siphon break? I installed one on our engine per Nigel Calder’s recommendation.
Eric Mason - I was thinking that, too! Especially grim are the ones supposedly reconditioned and someone has sat there and sprayed green paint over everything in sight - rubber hoses, belts, electric cables, pulleys, oil filler caps, generator/alternator......... And the rear end is still just neglected lumps of oil and grease. So sad.
Nice video thanks
Nice place to hang out in
For the first time in my not that short life have I actually got what Venice is all about, so high credit for your filming.
The "cheap" alternative to LiFe??? seems to be lead-carbon. No experience my self, but Victron sells them so they should be available in Europe (and presumable not a dodgy alternative). The layman's explanation is that they combine a capacitor and a lead battery, but with the same weight penalty.
Talk to a local electrical contractor about borrowing his set of fish sticks. A set of 4 ft. Fibreglass rods that screw together, with a flexible tip to flip around obstacles.
Oh dont worry if it had been possible to get it through I would have done it! There just wasn't physically enough space to get the actual cable through so it was a non starter. Happy with the rear deck gland option though. I actually got it further forward than I though I would.
Hi Steve! May I suggest taking out the injectors (or glow plugs) and pour some oil diluted with diesel into the cylinders. Let it sit over night and then have another try the following day with your long extension socket wrench. Good luck. Cheers, Rob.
I second that recommendation.
It's soaking now!
Try getting an even longer bar on that motor - Twice the length at least. Try turning it backwards and then alternating with a change of direction. You have nothing to lose if the whole thing is toast. Otherwise take off the head beause it might just be a valve that is stuck .
I would first soak the pistons and bores with either old engine oil, or better still new oil with a touch of hydrochloric acid in it, to dissolve the rust (old oil will have a bit of sulphuric acid in it unless the engine had been running sulphur-free diesel, but HCl actually works a lot better)
Steve, you've likely heard from someone by now about a 'fish tape' that's used to pull wires! My father was a master electrician. Nice job on Plan C for the wifi and cellular extenders. You'll get a lot of use out of them and it sounds like you have a centralized hub/router set up to distribute the signal. I don't live aboard my sailboat but do use it for inter coastal trips here in southeast Alaska and I put a cell phone range extender on it from SureCall because I travel between small towns on the ocean and while there's spotty cell phone coverage (better as you get closer to these towns of 5k people) there's no wifi for 100 miles at times! The SureCall does give me 2-3 bars when I only have 1 bar but I see that extra range as adding safety to my boat because I can communicate for a longer distance on my cellphone than just using the cellphone's internal antenna. Outside of cellphone range, for long distance communications I use a DeLorme InReach (besides the VHF). You two certainly captured the spirit of Venice very well in this video. I felt like I was nearly there! Cheers to you both from Juneau, Alaska!
Love your technical videos, thank you and keep up the great work.
We are refitting an older but new to us cruising boat and ditching the generator and AGM batteries. In their place we will install a good sized lithium bank and two high-output alternators on the main engine. This will give us 600 Ah of usable capacity that can be recharged in a couple of hours from 0 to 100 percent. Combined with a decent amount of solar, this setup should take care of our needs quite nicely.
If you have your heart set on Fireflies you must come pick them up yourselves once this Corona madness is over. We just elected a new president so maybe there is hope on that front after all....
In a previous video (boat tour) you mentioned making a separate video about the led lights in your boat! To jump the gun a bit, what system (make/model) did you go for?
Arh yes, sorry I will get around to it, I have many different types of led lights aboard now, I will go through them all.
Venice looks a great place to overwinter and recent videos have persuaded us to head there next year to use as our winter bolt hole.
One of the previous episodes detailed the merits of an upgraded external alternator and controller which i understood to be sufficient along with your solar to eliminate the need for your generator
Now you've had chance to evaluate this system do you think its worthwhile as I've been seriously considering the option as an alternative to adding further solar due to mounting restrictions whilst cutting down on our reliance of our generator at anchor.
It was my plan to ditch the genny, but I hoped that would be in a couple of years when I've got all my other ducks lined up. I will do a video on what i think is necessary to be able to cruise without a generator, but you always have to remenber if the sun doesn't shine for a few days and youre not moving you have next to nothing going in. My 540Ah AGM house bank isn't big enough, I can tell you that. My 675Watt solar array isn't enough either, the 150A balmar is good, but I don't want to be running the engine just to charge.
As a retired yacht fitter, I always made sure that head linings were removable along with a lot of the cupboard backs as well, I feel your pain !!
How to get soft wiring through headlings and enclosed areas? Get some relatively stiff thin pvc piping and insert your cables through it to the the end then push the whole of it though the headliner then withdraw the outer pvc leaving the wiring behind it after taking hold of the end.
Are you sure the engine isn’t water locked? I can’t see a well maintained engine in such clean condition being knackered?
What can i tell you, I'm as surprise as you are. The glow plugs are out and the starter motor is off and it doesn't turn. since it ran (and stopped) fine the last time I used it it's unlikely it's dropped and end or had some catastrophic mechanical problem, so somethings seized while it sat. I've injected a load of diesel through the glow plug holes & it's sitting there at the moment waiting for me to go at it with the longest bar i can muster!
@@svfairisle A bit of HCl in the diesel helps dissolve the rust, if rust is likely to be the problem.
Browsing your website your gear page mentions the chairs you use (thanks to Lyndsay). Could you put a link or more details of where to get them in the uk (as you don’t even mention a make). I have been looking everywhere for them! Great website and channel!
Oh good grief thanks for the heads up, I'll have to look at that, cant remember which ones we talked about, but the ones we bought (not the ones Lindsay recommended, because we couldn't find them) were rubbish, those were the black ones we had in series 1. The ones we have now are called 'comfort seat' they look more like the ones that Lindsay had. They're from Holland but cant tell you where exactly because we got them from friends in Cartagena who had bought too many.
comfortseat.nl
They’re sold everywhere in the Netherlands. Good product. We’re using them for years now.
MasarapSailing
Would like to know how it happened. You maintained it well....
Yes I will get to see what's gone on when I pull it out. But I know it's going to be expensive to fix, it's going to remain unreliable and in the long term I don't want to be relying on a generator so I'm going to concentrate my efforts on alternative forms of power generation. You only really HAVE to have a genny if you want air con or full induction hobs etc & we don't.
I’m sorry to hear that. Hopefully there is a solution or you can find a good deal.
If you still at Certosa and you need any help let me know, for free of course......
love your channel. good luck guys.
Thanks Andre, we're here all winter, drop by for a drink anytime.
Sounds like you've lavished a lot of time and expense on that generator. For heavy work - 240v mains powered equipment - they are invaluable. Even with a large secondary alternator on the engine you won't be able to supply power hungry kit such as domestic appliances. Variable speed generators are the flavour of the month, although not cheap, they may work out better than simply investing in a lithium bank. You'll succumb to lithium eventually though! Great video.
Yes I'm sure you're right!
Hi, good video. Oh this cables! By the way: do you have any idea where these black double lights, e.g above your nav station come from? We have the same and I am looking for a replacement for one of them. Thanks. Michael
No sorry Michael, came with the boat and never had to replace one.
@@svfairisle thanks anyway.
that looks awful new to me , but the new motors dont seem to last long , coul it be waterlogged or flooded with diesel ? due to other problems
That engine died with a mysterious death! It needs an autopsy! I've never seen a dead engine so clean. I doubt it was a victim of mistreatment (poor maintenance) of its previous owner.
For capturing an internet connection on anchor, we had an RV type receiver with a long lead and just pulled it up the mast on a spare halliard. The Arial has to be as high as possible for maximum gain. no faffing about drilling holes that might leak.
That might work to an extent, but I can tell you from years of dealing with RF frequencies in bits of coax the loss is huge. Long bits of skinny coax you'll loose as much as you gain by having it high. Even good chunky coax will cause loss. i'll let you know when we've tested it but having the two high gain Mimo antennas should give excellent 4g well off shore. Oh, and I can assure you my holes wont leak;)
If you just occasionally need ower why not consider a dedicatd small porablee or fixed genset which can be picked up fairly chaply and used as a boost. Running diesel motors as generators is surely not food for them as diesels really need to run under load.
My thoughts exactly. Even a 1kW Honda will charge a 500aH bank and is bulletproof.
Yes it's a possibility but there are so many circumstances where you cant use it. I'm not going to be one of those people that start up a bloody noisy genny o deck in a lovely quiet anchorage just as you're enjoying the sunset. Or worse, sunrise!
Where there any 'aimable' yagi type antennas you could have fitted instead of the omni directional? A yagi will pick up weak signals that a omni wouldn't even 'see'
Yes directional antennas are good if you are spending a long time in a marina & need the extra, not a lot of use swinging at anchor though!
Peplink pepwave has a nice GUI
Hi, enjoying all the videos and music ; Can you please give me some info on the guitar music around 13 minutes in? 👍🇬🇧😊
Yes its called 'Waltz for little Italy' by Bireli Snow
Use a Honda generator until you remedy the problem. 👍👍👍✌️✌️✌️
Hi Guys, great video as always, thank you . Steve, as a matter of interest, how many amp hours is your house bank and also home much solar do you have. Thanks
Hi Richard, our house bank is 560Ah ( not enough!) and our solar is 670W but the 150W panel get the boom shadow so is only about half efficiency. That set up is okay with the Genny, would be ideal with a 800-900ah house bank I think, but without it I need more solar and twice the house bank & ideally something like a hydro generator. I will do a whole video on power as it’s such an important issue.
I know you’re nervous about Lithium so if you went for AGM which is only slightly more costly than lead you’d increase your useable power by at least 20%. I think the solar piece is more important though. I have 8KW on my roof and a 13.5 KW Tesla battery but at this time of year we still need every bit of power the light can give us and we rarely fill the battery so more panels and AGM if you don’t want to take that expensive plunge for the additional 20% reserve. Regards Richard
Steve, I would like to thank you for sharing the bar keepers friend and 3m metal restorer “tip”. That stuff worked like a charm! I’ve been looking for products too, these products are the best i’ve seen so far. I’ve cleaned a lot of important parts with it, from the steering to the ruddershaft. Thanks!
Go for intgrel alternators. Distant Shores has one. Look at there channel. Loose the genny; make place for better tech. :)
Arh interesting I didn't know distant shores had one, is that on the Southerly they're now selling? We're involved with a video collaboration with them and a couple of other channels so I will have to ask them about it. I'm not a great fan of strapping extra bits to the engine, but Nigel Calder knows his stuff so it definitely worth considering.
@@svfairisle Nigel Calder is amazing.
Yes they have one on board the Southerly that they are selling. They show it in one of their videos. I would definitely contact them for more information. I don’t know what your budget is or what that alternator cost but i would definitely look in to it.
Stay safe guys.
Finally caught up, watched all through your videos. You start with a leg up on most channels I have watched just from clearly having a lot of experience filming and editing. However, sometimes it feels like there is a little bit of a personal touch missing sometimes. Your tech videos are great, we get to hear about your opinions on things good and bad and get to see what you see through a new perspective. The filming of locations you visit feel like a post card from national geographic, they are very nice, but it is not important that it was you taking the shot.
Are you saying you would prefer more of us in locations?
@@svfairisle I would like to hear more about what makes the experience of visiting a place unique to you or unique to the particular events that surround your travels. A cathedral is always going to be wonderful and nice to see in a photo, but there are plenty of places to find each one in the perfect lighting from the perfect angle. What did you see that may be a little below the surface, or something that surprised you, or something you started thinking about in relation to other things you have seen or learned in your life that offers your unique perspective? I follow the channels of a stone mason, Mike Haduck. He isn't nearly as good at making a good video, but I like when he does videos on places he visits because he talks about what he sees from the perspective of a mason thinking about how they actually did the work of building a place. You are both interesting people, with a great deal of experience and perspective from your life and travels, so I bet the conversations that you have among yourselves are very interesting. I would like to hear more about what you personally find remarkable or interesting as you travel.
Okay we will try and do that:)
Excellent vid guys.. wonder whats going on with the gen, maybe a broken piston.. did it stop suddenly with a crunch?
No, that's why I was so sure it would be something simple. It ran fine, we stopped it as usual then next time a week or so later it wouldnt turn over. Really strange as that rules out any big mechanical, piston /crank type problem, but can't think of what would have it completely seized solid like that. Bloody boats!
@@svfairisle bloody boats is right! I'd pull the oil filter and look for iron shavings.
Only takes a tiny amount of babbitt material on the crank
Pull it down to the bearings
Lekker man lekker
It looks like the TV is connecting into the WiFi network already, so the Ethernet cable probably isn't necessary (unless you'd prefer it to be a wired connection than wireless).
If you're worried about lithium (aside from it burning a hole in the wallet) it might help your concerns to read on the different chemistry types, lithium ion is more volatile, but lithium iron phosphate is pretty safe. Like any battery they have to be treated nicely, but the batteries in 787's and hoverboard's were lithium ion (that said, li-ion is safe enough for road cars). Happy sailing! :)
I seem to remember when the 787 first came out it had problems with its batteries.
@@michaelbundy3867 yeah, what I'm saying is that AFAIK those were lithium _ion_, not lithium _iron phosphate_. They're different chemistries. The LiFePO4 is safer/easier to deal with and batteries like Battle Born, Renogy, etc all come with the charge control gear inside to just treat them more like normal batteries - just lighter and with more stored power.
Ha! I've been caught out!! You win the eagle eye prize this week. It's true I had the Amazon firestick plugged in and the TV grabbed on to that before ethernet connected page flashed up on the screen, I just didn't wait for it in the edit, didn't think anyone would notice!
Steve, Judy - have you looked at the Integrel On-Engine Generator as a power solution? I passed over it due to cost and my preference for big solar with lithium, but I'm in touch with a new Integrel adopter who is delighted with it. And, the Integrel people have recently released a 'Lite' version, that still produces tons of amps from a DIY installation. I think it's still kind of expensive, but performance wise, very good.
p.s. Is that a Metabo drill? You know you're watching a quality channel when there's quality tools being put to good use! :-)
That's interesting, thanks I will take a look. Not sure what drill I had out there I have many, but I have to say I have my selection of quality tools but tend to buy a lot of cheap stuff as well knowing it's going to get trashed quick on a boat!
I do have the Integral system fitted two years ago and we also cook with it as there was no room for a gas locker that didn't get in the way on deck. As live aboards for 15 years we now find this works extremely well and the system has been reliable but was expensive initially. The sealed batteries they use are North Star Thin Plate Pure Lead (TPPL) that were developed for the telecoms industry and seem to be a happy alternative that fit between the performance of conventional lead acid and lithium. From the size of your generator you could fit 4off 190Ah batteries there to increase your exiting capacity if that worked for you.
Hi Steve. The Digital Yachts 4G solution is what I am about to put on my boat as well. Are you using the Vodafone sim card that comes with it and if so how to you cope with the roaming in Italy - I understand that you can get quite high GB plans but they are downgraded when overseas, like a 50 GB ends up only being 15 or 20 GB when not in the country where you subscribe...
We already have a 3 contract so havent got the Vodafone one. Yes under fair dealing all the phone companies give between 15 and 20 GB max. So no point getting an unlimited plan because it will only be unlimited in the UK.
I had a similar problem and went with a Honda portable, so much easier.
Since your generator is seized, you have nothing to loose to have it removed over winter , and have it stripped down by a competent engine reconditioning company ( automotive ), not some yachties pretending. If the engine is beyond repair, you then have the option of purchasing a similar inboard setup or maybe a smaller inverter system.But perhaps you have already considered this. At least if you can resurrect the existing system you will get to know the system inside out.
I already know it inside out unfortunately having stripped it down twice already in the last 4 years! It's initial installation was not good & there's too much back pressure on the exhaust. It had suffered water getting back to the top end before we bought Fair Isle and there is internal corrosion.
Good to use the Vaporetto, the gondolas are stupidly expensive!
Yes they are strictly for the tourists, worth doing once though. Once we find an engine for the dinghy we can use that for most things.
Hi
The chanel settings you were looking at on the WiFi (Ubiquity Bullet) radio you can't change. As you are connected to other WiFi access points you are the station. The chanel is set by the transmission access point not the station.
We are live abroad on our boat Amel Super Maramu in Greece at the moment. We are in Ireland over winter and own a wireless Internet company, Celtic Broadband. So I know wireless equipment well.
Hi Jay, yes I know I cant change the channel the wifi is coming in on from the Marina, in this case channel 6. But what i was saying is that there should be a way of changing the local wifi channel from my own unit, which at the moment is channel 11 when necessary. All systems I've ever come across have this. With the Wirie for instance we had great trouble when we stayed in Eastbourne as there was so much wifi around. Of the 11 channels all were used multiple times and as you know they overlap as well so I had to really play with the Wirie to find a less used channel so my own wifi wasn't obliterated by all the others. The Digital Yachts system must have a way to change the channel, I just haven't found it yet!
Yes there is but that is in the internal router settings. If you know what make it is, that is the box that looked to be behind your switch panel, that the Ethernet cables plug into, I can probably tell you how to do this. It may be Mikrotik.
Also best to set this to just 20mHz channel space as you probably won’t be connected to very high speeds that requires 40 to 80 MHz of bandwidth. Also the lower the bandwidth the better b more penetration the signal will have.
Shipboard ferrets are useful for cable routing
First! Yay!
Serious maintenance jobs underline true boat ownership. Excellently put together thanks guys. Stay safe
Thanks, been binge watching your vids , so refreshing to see people to whom the journey is more important than the arrival. Enjoyed your techi bits that aren’t too nerdy and the quality filming . But most of all people who are not obsessed with how fast their boats can go ! Enjoy the journey , I’m sure there are many like me , landlocked but enjoying it with you .
You set the channel on the router you're connecting to, you as a user, can't change it. (Just leave it on Auto anyway). Next time try a strong magnet with a washer on a string to pull cables through weird gaps like that.
Go electric! Plenty of people are building their own lithium batteries on UA-cam and you can save a fortune! Get a small genset for emergencies and a hydrogenerator :)
Bit off topic I'm afraid but I was wondering how you are planning (if you have been able to) to deal with the consequences of brexit in terms of the restriction on visting europe for only 90days in 180days, and any potential VAT issues as far as the boat is concerned.
I've had a bad day trying to fix things that dont want to get fixed and you have to go and bring that up! Answer is we have no idea. We're okay next year with Croatia and Turkey in the mix, but then we might just have to high tail it out of the Med. Who knows!
@@svfairisle Sorry to bring it up. Just think that maybe some people who follow your channel don't realise it could be a big issue. Not that brexiteers care. Hope at least you are having the warm weather we have here in south of France. Makes maintainance a little more enjoyable.
yes we have a mixture of warm sun and fog! Which means there's days for all boat jobs:) We will talk about the rules I'd just like to actually know something first though!
Steve generator problems.? Exhaust valve seized-alternator bearings -colour of oil in sump .. to free seized objects i.e. pistons toque may apply, in my opinion ‘shock ‘ is what more likely to separate items to move... lithium batteries manufactured in South Korea or Japan, they may be assembled and sold in other countries .. they will be more expensive but they will be more reliable.. I have noted in your adventures reliability is very important to you. Jacktar
Thank Colin, I will check out the South Korean / Japanese batteries. Generator is a mystery, oil good, top end looks good with rocker cover off, alternator & starter motor disconnected. Glow plugs are out but I don’t think the engine is hydro locked anyway as it’s not at TDC. I strip it to get it out so I might at least work out what happened
That antenna needs to be on the mast,
It’s important for line of sight transmission antennas like the VHF to be as high as possible. Won’t make much difference for. 2.4 GHz receive antenna & what you gain in reception you’ll loose in the longer coax run, even with really thick coax.So no, wouldn’t go to the trouble of mounting it up there
@@svfairisle Oh yes you would loose a little with a much longer run, Wonder about a passive booster somewhere to help that? might get you a little bit extra signal when your not too close to the source.
I didn't,t realize sail boats could be so complicated, it sounds very stressful.
Oh yes!
The bigger they get the more stressful they get,but the bigger they are the more comfort you have.
@@billtrue3017 catch 22
PVC conduit would make life easier
It would if was already installed yes!
Can you get a refund on your new anchor and just use the generator as an anchor?
Seriously though, I know that you distrust lithium but that area where the generator is you could get a lot of lithium batteries in there. Loving the maintenance walkthrus. Cheers Baz & Aannsha.
Ha! yes I'll see if it fits on the bow rollers! My plan was always to use that area for batteries, as you say it's a good size and it's also in a good position for the cable run. At the moment there are two batteries in the aft cabin which have a 4 meter cable run which isn't great. Still not convinced about lithium, although I could build a fire proof box for them in there. Not sure the bank balance will stretch to all that this winter though sadly.
@@svfairisle LiFiPo4 are not a fire hazard.
The LiFiPo4 comment is right on! Zero fire hazard especially with a modern BMS. Best investment I ever made! Get rid of the genset and add more solar or higher output alternators. Check out the Nigel Calder solution.
engines ar a lot of trubl i m sti lookin fo a jeannew 54 yacht i see one fo 350k in port grimaud moored next to a hom on watr
4
Love your videos, but please don't use the torque wrench as a breaker bar..... poor torque wrench :(
Before writing the engine off disconnect the alternator IE the generating unit as it could be seized giving you the impression the engine is seized
Yes, not easy to get at, but I’ll have a go !
San Georgio... not just Georgio.
Where is link?
Link for what!
@@svfairisle link for your new wifi system
@@MrSeamaster1998 Arh okay, here it is digitalyacht.co.uk/ I will do an update at some point. But I can tell you after a year of use it's sometimes frustrating as the software is over complicated and flaky. Having said that though the unit means we have stable fast wifi from the marina here in Cesme so can watch Netflix etc, without it the wifi would only be good enough for emails so it's a godsend here.
Not that much learning to lithium and go prismatic cells, High and low voltage cut off and a buck boost DDC to DC charger and sized to your alternator (this is important to not burn out the alternator) to run off the starter Battery of the original house bank as that genny box will fit in 700 amp lithium giving you 8 kilowatts.Easy than playing with that wifi tv ect maze, but read up.
Taking out the glow plugs will not tell you in that motor is hydro locked, they are in the inlet tract not the cylinder, you need to take out the injectors.
It a Mitsubishi engine, direct injection, so the glow plugs are combustion chamber, removing either will do the job
@@svfairisle Hmm ok, just looked a little short to be in cylinder glow plugs that's all, that and the fact that its mechanical injection and not common rail. (definitely look further into it though, might not be as bad as it looks)
You are aware that LiFePo4 are absolutly safe? A bit more expensive, but you get moch moe bang for your bucks.
I'm no expert in battery technology but I think 'absolutely safe' might be an over exaggeration? medium.com/@mikelam9676/causes-and-consequences-of-explosion-of-lifepo4-battery-547e58e8cc69
There's no question that LiFePo4 is a good option for lithium and from what I read the real risks of fire are tiny, but I do worry that you are relying completely on the battery management system to get things right and there's a whole shit storm of things being thrown at it with solar, alternator, shore power, generator sometimes in conjunction. It's difficult enough to get all these systems playing nicely with Lead acid batteries which in comparison will take loads of abuse. I don't want to be a Ludite and the advantages are not to be sniffed at ( although you're right the price is!) but I think it will either need a LOT of research on my part or handing over the task to a completely trustworthy installer, and how do you find one of them?!
@@svfairisle If you look at the specs of LiFePo, you will find, that there is no way they can start "burning" by themselves. A thermal runthrough, as it is called and what I think you refer to and is possible with other LiOn chemistry, is physically impossible. Not sure what Mike is refering to, but the things he is talking about most likely happen when the battery is used at it's limits. Like in a car, a forklift or something like this. You are using the battery as you house bank. If you put, let's say 700Ah in, it will be bored. The loads you put on it will be 20 amps? 80 when everything is running simultaniously? Most systems can be loaded with up to 1C, so this would mean you could pull 700 amps! This will most likely never happen.
And compared to lead, even as AGM, LiFePo is all better, lighter, easier to handle, you can discharge it almost to zero without worriing too much. Do that with a lead battery, even the good ones, it's dead within weeks.
If you want to know more about the technology perhaps contact Ryan of Ryan and Sofie Sailing here on YT.
Yes, he has a side business called Dakota Lithium, that sells LiFePo batteries, but he has the knowledge about it and can explain it to noobs like us...;)
Thanks, yes i'll do that.
I'm going to get a fair bit of flak for this I think... but, for anyone considering the Digital Yacht 4G solution, you can save a bundle by purchasing the components individually. The shiny 4G box actually holds a small plastic box, which is a re-stickered Teltonika RUT-240 which goes (on average) for about 140 euros. Add the cabling and the antenna's and you're looking at about 400 to 500 euros, which is a pretty good savings. Nothing against DY, props to them for marketing products like this, but I hate how they also fell into the trap of charging a bundle on top purely because it's "marine" or "yacht".
It's certainly true that if you know your way around this sort of IT you could save money by buying the bits and working out a system for yourself. I don't think the Digital Yachts gear is a big offender in the mark up for a ready to go system though. The Wirie we had before definitely was. It was more expensive than the Digital yachts system to do exactly the same job but as you could see the hardware was really inferior and as you say the electrics are just a bunch of components from China because they all are. Anyway I'm afraid my lack of knowledge in this field means even getting THIS system working was a struggle, with a home built system and no support I'ld just have a bunch of wires at the end of the day!
@@svfairisle I was actually speaking literally - that Teltonika box is exactly, literally, what's inside the digital yacht box :) Only thing they did was add some custom firmware that says (c) Digital Yacht everywhere. However, it does indeed require some IT knowledge to get going. I've actually got the Digital Yacht edition of the 4G box on the boat (except I took it to pieces out of curiosity). It works quite well, but as you said, the interface is absolutely clunky if you're not in IT. Not a problem for me since that's how I make my living, but it could be much better. From a "reality check" standpoint; it will not give you the range it claims it can when coastal sailing, you have to get lucky with the placement of cell towers, but too much movement (read: traveling) and it will get quite... iffy. In most anchorages on the south of France though, it does work very well and often gives you more speed (due to better signal) than your phone can.
Yes don't worry i wasn't banking on the 20nm from shore claim, but with Fair Isle we sit in the water not on it. A phone below is often below water level so we don't get great reception!
@@svfairisle oh it works very well in that case :) It's just that I've had people (who I advised purchasing this or alternative systems to) complain that they're not getting "teh interwebz" 20nm offshore when they're in absolute bumfuck nowhere, so since then I'm kind of in the "manage expectations" side of it all :D
Come on Steve, how are you coming through the winter month? Fix that generator! Some WD40, a little oil. Patients. Don’t let that generator be the boss.
Serious: Because if it’s true what you say about seawater that came into the cylinder via the exhaust it will happen again on you new one to and you have to change something in the exchaust design.
Yes you're right Hans the generator wasn't installed well from new, I know the previous owner had problems and actually goy a new generator from Mastervolt because of all the problems. But they didnt address the real problem, the exhaust run. It would need a major (and expensive) change to get right, which is why it hasn't been done. But actually the main reason it hasn't been done is I do think a modern yacht with enough solar, good alternator & maybe a hydro generator could do without one, which has always been my plan. Rest assured if this genny is dead it will not be replaced.
@@svfairisle Steve, it’s a diesel. I’ve seen worst ones start after 30 years in a field. And it would bring us a nice technical video too! And somewere in that beautifull Venice there must be good mechanic willing to help. And maybe it’s not even the engine, it could be the generator which is stuck. Sailing the world means being a sailor, mechanic, cook etc. If you were here in Holland I would come to assist!
Thanks Hans, i'm going to go and beat some sense into it with a stick right now! (sorry that's a Faulty Towers reference that may make no sense to a Dutchman?!)
@@svfairisle John Cleese, not really my favourit but “Always look at the bright side” is my motto!
W
fill the cylinders with penatrating oil .come back in a week with a 6 foot pipe over your bar . something will break .
Diesel and atf has proved to be better. Project farm did a video on that
@@haywood12 ATF =Auto Transmission Fluid genius ! . I love seized up stuff because they just need some persuasion
@@carlkenyon4599 you never heard that before? It's a trick I learned about 30 years ago.
@@haywood12 I have not heard it before i've just uses penatrating oil and stp gas treatment .. I will try ATF and diesel in the future . This is a great palce to learn all the great tricks -thanks
What’s all this superstition about lithium? ;) Seriously though, the technology’s there already, and it’s got to prove cheaper than a new genetic, right?
Well from the research I've done so far I'm happy that the LiFePo4 batteries don't pose the fire risk that earlier Lithium tech suffered from, for me any risk of fire however small on a boat means a no. What I want to get clear is that the BMS systems are robust enough not to trip and leave you with a black boat the first time the alternator spikes or we overload the inverter or something. Sometimes systems can be too cleaver for their own good. If I can find something 100% reliable I agree the tech is too good to miss.Had enough of rebuilding generators!
👍😘🙋🥰💖🐣😋
Can you remove the generator and dismantle it, looking for things you can fix?
Yes I will probably pull it to pieces to get it out & there's a chance I'll find a fix, but I doubt it, feels pretty major to me!
Firefly batteries on Amazon 116 ah £440 plus £22 delivery
Really! in which country?
@@svfairisle I’m in the UK
Hi folks, Love the videos thanks. Firefly now have a UK dealer. See www.macbethenergy.co.uk/ for more details. Think he is selling them on Amazon. Fair sailing.
Interesting thanks.
Why don't you trust lithium batteries?
Cos i'm a pussy! I will look at it again, but on the whole being an early adopter of this sort of tec isn't the best plan where something going wrong can either leave you with no power of a fire that you cant put out! In my previous life I covered several stories on problems with electric cars. These are designed and fitted specifically for their batteries and still had major problems resulting in disastrous situations. Retro fitting random batteries in a marine environment to a system that has, in our case, 4 different charging sources (well 3 now the gennys dead!) is not just a slot in solution no matter what anyone tells you!
You said that other countries should learn from Italy only because they let you enter the country without any problems. Look at the Situation now. Other countries should learn not to learn from Italy.
Use fish tape.....and no it doesn’t have anything to do with those swimming creatures