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Colin Smith

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About Colin Smith

  • Birthday 08/10/1961

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Boat Name
    FOALUA
  • Boat Location
    In build - Chester

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  1. I have been informed by the Police that the defendant in this case has now been formally charged with 3 x Criminal Damage and 1 x Recklessly Endangering Life. She has been bailed and is due in court in July.
  2. Le Tonkinois. Have tried other stuff but the only thing I would ever use now for interior and exterior is Le Tonkinois. Incredibly easy to use, simple and quick prep. If you need to touch it up or want to put another coat on, all you do is a quick rub-down with wire wool, remove the dust with a tack-cloth and then chuck it on. I use a foam brush but you can use anything. It blends so no brush marks....Simples!! Did my deck hatches 4 years ago and still like new. http://www.letonkinoisvarnish.uk/
  3. She needs help but people have to want help for it to do any good. My concern is that she has now been bailed by the police, is moored next to a pub and could repeat the carnage at any time. Every time we hear a boat coming, we're peering out to see if it's her. She was aware enough to give the finger to another boater who shouted at her to slow down and get over. She was also able to blow into a bag and deny she'd hit anything to the police when they questioned her.
  4. On the evening of Wednesday 11th March 2015, between c.18:50pm and 19:15pm a 65ft Narrowboat called “Living The Dream 2“, index # 51235 was driven at full speed along the moorings at Golden Nook, just after bridge 114 towards Chester on the Shropshire Union Canal. The boat hit numerous moored boats and rammed one head-on at full speed causing thousands of £s of damage. Fortunately (and bravely) another barge owner managed to jump aboard the speeding boat and bring it to a stop. The ‘skipper’ of the barge (who was a drunk female) was arrested by police who attended the scene. It is believed that “Living The Dream 2“had travelled from the area of Tattenhall Marina. Whilst there are witnesses to the main incident, if anyone has any information regarding this boat and its owner or witnessed it travelling along the Shroppie on Wednesday 11th March, could you please contact either myself via this forum or the Police by dialling 101 and quoting Log # 732 11/03/2015; Crime Ref: CC15068963. Thank you. Colin Smith
  5. I've used Woodweld in sub-zero temperatures. In fact I've used it for all the timber construction with hardwood (Iroko), ply and softwoods. Superb stuff. My link
  6. I got one of those too. Amazing the difference it made compared to running the laptop via the inverter - takes a lot less out of the batteries.
  7. I've turned there before - it's a bit tight especially when idiots (C&RT) moor up directly opposite in the bridge 'ole. I believe someone took out a newly installed fence/wall there once which resulted in a complaint to BW. A certain woman has been known to run out and shout every now an again if she see's someone turning! Can't see a problem if you take care.
  8. Well I've tried charging the Delphi's at 14.8 and seem to have less capacity than before! I'd looked at US Battery a few years ago but at the death Vince popped up with the Delphi's at £25 each so never ordered the them. Must admit the Delphi's have been fantastic and thay have had some hammer - I think I've had my money's worth! Anyway, I've ordered a couple of 6v 283Ah monoblocks to try. The spec looks good - c1150 cycles @ 50% DoD. I've been impressed with the attitude of US Battery in the conversations I've had and if they work out OK, we'll add them to the business product portfolio too.
  9. Thanks everyone for your replies and advice. I've upped the charger to 14.8v for now so I'll see if that has any affect. I'm pretty much resigned to replacing the bank so the plan will be either the 6v US Batteries or a bunch of 'leisure' ones. Depends on budget. I'm also going to add 2 x 100W solar panels and buy a new battery for the laptop! Thanks, Colin
  10. The heating is on for about 8 hours/day at most in winter so that works out at about £25/week. In summer it's only used for heating the calorifier - an hour or so. So that's about £3/week tops. There are days when the heating is on for less time. All in all I spend about £600 a year on diesel for the heating which I don't think is too bad compared to the £1200/year electric bill for my 1 bed flat! I know people who are spending £20/week on coal. So in that scenario, it works out reasonably competitively. It realy comes down to what you want - I like the convenience of the Mikuni especially the fact that I can time it to come on and go off when I want - I never come back to or get up in a cold boat. In summer, I'm only heating the hot water and if there is a chill, I can put the heating on for an hour or so if needed. Can't do that with a stove! It also helped that I can buy a Mikuni and the parts for sevicing at great discount through my business so it didn't cost much more than a decent stove! If you're able/happy to run a stove on 'free' wood then that will obviously save a lot of money and there are other benefits to having a stove such as helping with condensation, boling a kettle on it etc. As many have said before, a diesel heater and a stove is without doubt the best option and I keep thinking I'll fit a stove at some point, just haven't got around to it yet and I'm not convinced that I can be bothered with cleaning the thing out, the dust and loosing the space that it will take up.
  11. I've had my MX60 on my 57x11 barge for 3 years now. Wouldn't have anything else. The parts are cheaper than the Webasto/Eber and servicing is simple. Annual service consists of a new glow plug, de-coke the wick and that's about it. I wouldn't use the thermostat/timer that Mikuni offer - the thermostat will cycle the boiler too much and that will cause problems. I have a simple 12v timer to switch it on/off twice a day and thermostatic rad valves on 5 rads, a towel rail (standard valves) and a pipe 'loop' in the wardrobe to act as a heat sink and keep the clothes aired. Running costs work out at around 1/2Ltr an hour (45p).
  12. Yep, They are sealed low maint type. I have a Sterling Pro Digital 1250CED 50amp mains charger (set to 14.4v max) which is a 4-step charger and although it says in the (limited) info, that it has an "Automatic 7 day de-sulphation cycle", there isn't anything I can find on the charger to indicate if this is running - I run the charger daily at the moment and usually run it until it's on 'float charge'. It would be great if I could bring the existing bank back to life to some degree but I wouldn't know exactly how to do that (even if there was a chance of restoring them). I guess I don't want to fork out if I could get another 3 or 4 months out of them. If they are toast, then I've a few options of a) getting some new 6v 242Ah US Batteries; b.) going for 6 s/h 2v fork-truck batteries or c) just chucking in 4 new 110Ah leisure type ie Numax or something. They'll all be around the same sort of cost. I'm just not sure what to do at the moment!
  13. I have 5 x 110Ah Delphi Freedom batteries that I bought from Vince 3 years ago. I’m trying to estimate what (if anything) is left in them and now that I’ve had a few years using the various electric odds and sods that I have, estimate what I really need in the way of capacity. I charged up the bank then disconnected everything and left them for 2 hours. I checked each battery with a meter and they all showed 12.93v. Connecting everything back up, I then switched on the inverter (Sterling 3500W PSW), the voltage at the batteries then showed 12.75v. Then plugged in my laptop which has an adapter rated at: Input 240v 1.5A, Output 19v 4.74A. Used the laptop for exactly 2 hours then switched it off. Put the inverter on standby (‘power saver’ mode). The voltage at the batteries was then steady at 12.2v. I intend to replace the batteries and add a Smartgauge but I don’t want to underestimate what I really need. I’ve completed an audit and excluding the Laptop, I estimate a daily requirement of 90Ah. I use the laptop for around 8 hours every day so that will need to be added in. So to my questions: What capacity is left in the existing batteries (can that be estimated from the above)? and suggestions for a suitable battery bank? Thanks Colin
  14. Just thought I'd update this for anyone who may be interested! I ended up buying one of the Tesco fridges that I mentioned above (just noticed that they've gone up £10). I am very pleased with it. True, it will hammer the batteries when running off the inverter but I've only done that once! I filled the freezer box with those blue block things that you can get for coolboxes and plug it in when on shore-power,the engine or the genny is running to normally charge the batteries - leaving it un-plugged overnight etc. It is very well insulated and stays very cold inside. So much so, that I can confidently leave it up to 2 days without the need to switch it on. Even if I've had the central heating on all evening, it only needs a few hours running the next day to keep it cool. So for less that £90 delivered I don't think you can go wrong - if you already have an inverter! Colin
  15. Could be the flame sensor? Though it should turn itself off if that is the case.I'd take out and clean the flame sensor and the glow plug, then re-boot the system before trying to start it again. Colin
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