The Bow Thruster Battery Bank

I failed to mention in yesterday’s post that I almost asphyxiated myself removing everything from the bow thruster locker in an effort to find the source of the smell.  Now I realise what submarine crews have to contend with.  It wouldn’t be a pleasant way to die!

The defective sealed battery was venting quite badly and I needed to get it out of the locker and off the boat.  Raising the cratch cover allowed more fresh air to circulate and by working swiftly I was able to disconnect the terminals.  But not before turning the Bow battery isolation switch off.  Just to make sure there was no shorting of cables I seriously taped the ends of the removed cables.  The battery was then placed on the towpath where it continued to vent and cool.  By this morning it was as dead as a dodo. 

We headed towards Braunston just before 10.00am and moored on the Midland Chandlers customer mooring.  Obviously batteries were high on the shopping list but I also wanted a couple of replacement fenders and a chrome cupboard hook to to replace the one broken on the rear cabin doors.  The swindlers had batteries in stock and before purchasing I made sure they would take the old batteries as part of the purchase.  When one battery fails it’s best to replace all the batteries in that bank as the faulty battery can have affected the others.  Consequently we needed to replace both batteries.  They have a dual terminal setup with both threaded and non thread studs.  Fortunately the swindlers had suitable replacement batteries in stock and they would also take the old batteries.  I assume these get recycled for the lead.  I was rather pleased when the sales assistant told me he would give me a 20% discount as I was buying two.  The rest of the morning was then spent replacing the batteries.

Unfortunately it wasn’t a simple job of taking the old out and replacement them with the new.  The new didn’t have exactly the same terminal layout and I had to modify the timber battery case.  This required the removal of part of a timber lip inside the case and the only saw we own has a very fine tooth 6” flexible blade.  However by taking it slowly I got there in the end.  Once the batteries were secured I turned on the isolation switch and Jan tested the electric pole.  We were back in action.

Everything was re-stowed back in the locker and we moved off to find a vacant mooring just beyond the first entrance to Braunston Marina. Mick and Pip (nb Lillyanne) are in front.  We first met them when going in opposite directions on the Leeds – Liverpool Canal a lifetime ago!  Jan and I thought they were around Birmingham and got a surprise to see them in Braunston.  Mick is still attempting to resolve their problem of insufficient heat getting to the calorifier.

In the afternoon I wandered around to Tradeline Rope & Fenders to purchase another two of their excellent rope shackles.  We used one to secure the centrelines to the roof and appear to have misplaced our spare.  At £4.50 each I find them good value for money and it saves the paintwork on the roof.

Next stop was the chandlers at Bottom Lock where I managed to purchase a replacement chrome cupboard hook for the rear cabin doors.  At £11 it wasn’t cheap but we need it otherwise it’s very difficult to secure the doors in the closed position when we’re both on the stern.

Last job for the day was to have another play do some serious investigating into the TV signal reception. Braunston probably isn’t the best location to do this as I’ve noticed the surrounding houses have aerials pointing at 180deg to each other.  If I can’t solve the conundrum here then we’ll have another look at it when moored in a more exposed location.