Yet more rain - electrical problems finally fixed?

We were planning to spend the day moored as the weather forecast was pretty bad. However when we woke we checked the domestic power voltage - it was way down, the batteries had lost much of their charge overnight.

Our batteries are 3 years old. Canal boat domestic batteries lead a hard life being frequently cycled between full and say 50% or less charge. This is very different to the battery use in a car where it provides single bursts of power but spends most of its time being fully charged. Lead acid batteries do not react well to the boat environment and it is considered lucky if a battery bank lasts more than 3 years. So in a way it was reassuring to finally have a clear symptom of what was probably the underlying cause of all our recent difficulties.

So we set off as soon as we could at 8:00am in the pouring rain and made for the nearest large chandlery at Venetian Marine 7 miles and 1 lock down the canal. We arrived there at 10:45 and purchased and installed 4 new large batteries.

I checked the old ones individually with a voltmeter. 3 were good and 1 definitely faulty. Over last night the good batteries must have expended their power trying to charge up the faulty one. Under such circumstances it is not worthwhile just replacing the faulty battery as all the batteries have led the same life and so must be considered liable to fail at any time endangering both the alternator and the other batteries.

We were lucky to leave our mooring when we did as by the time we left the lock there were five boats behind us waiting to get through - perhaps an hours delay for the rearmost. The main problem is that the hire boats are in full use now, it being school holidays, and the usual turn around day is Saturday. So on canals near hire boat centres Sunday can be very busy.

Apart from the boats, the canal is a lonely place with little sign of habitation beyond an occasional farmhouse. The few roads one sees are minor with little traffic. The only link with the outside world is a major train line that crosses the canal near Venetian Marine.

We have moored near Venetian Marine and the railway line for the rest of the day and are running the engine to ensure the new batteries are fully charged.