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Showing content with the highest reputation on 30/09/19 in Posts

  1. You're spot on there MtB. Of course when it comes to something like marriage which everybody else seems to succeed at, you do wonder about yourself. The reasons for failure were different'ish. Wife 1 died from eating poisonous mushrooms Wife 2 also died from eating poisonous mushrooms Wife 3 suffered a broken neck when she wouldn't eat her poisonous mushrooms.
    5 points
  2. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  3. One of our dogs sees signs like this as an instruction, not a warning.
    3 points
  4. You can cut out 99.9% of the faff by recognising that diesel technology has moved on quite a bit in the last 80 years.
    2 points
  5. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  6. That's all we need to keep our Spirits up-moorings full of Deadaboards
    2 points
  7. Lord above! Friend, electrics is not for you. There are basic truths about the nature of electricity and how to understand how to use test instruments and interpret the results which you don't have a handle on. Stop now.
    2 points
  8. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  9. Which takes me back to your previous assertion that 'An anode is just a power supply'. No it isn't. I have 4 anodes sitting in a plastic bag under my bed and they are not in and of themselves capable of providing power. I understand however how an anode AND a cathode(the Hull) AND both being immersed in a suitable liquid(the canal), can produce a current. In this scenario the anode is only 1 part of the trio i.e ANODE+CATHODE+ELECTROLYTE therefore, and I repeat, the ANODE cannot be in and of itself a power supply. I genuinely believe that is not what you really wanted to say or imply but this simple error, as it is so fundamental, has detracted from the rest of your original posting. Look at it from my and I suspect others position. If the fundamentals are incorrect then how can I have faith that the more advanced information is correct?
    2 points
  10. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  11. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  12. Old Citroen/Peugeot diesels were great. Ironically the most hateful incarnation of a modern diesel is the PSA Group (Peugeot) 1.6 hdi. These little beauties come in various high bhp, low torque guises, with enough built in faults to keep a mechanic busy for life! The turbo fails at low mileage due to oil starvation, the injectors leak if you dare to even look at them, they have a cam chain as well as a belt which wears its way through the head for something to do.. and there’s loads of plastic components so they aren’t even heavy enough to use as an anchor. You might think, “well that’s ok cos I’d never buy a Peugeot”, but what’s that lurking under the bonnet of your Mini? Or Ford.. Suzuki.. Mazda.. Volvo.. There’s even a list on bloomin Mum’s Net telling you which cars not to buy cos they have it fitted!
    1 point
  13. Another pointless notice from CRT. ☺️
    1 point
  14. Jeez how does that bloke manage to be so mind-numbingly DULL...? Its like listening to a vintage engine enthusiast!!
    1 point
  15. I am of a mind and age to call all this shelf life on oil humbug, (thanks Boris, nice word) . When we had garages we bought BP Viscostatic 20w50 oil in 45 gallon drums. It went on the lube rack with the automatic pump in the drum. If business servicing was slow, as often it was, that oil could sit there years. The oil company never told us it had a shelf life, there was no best before date on the drum which could of been years old before we got it. I have pulled vintage vehicles out of barns where they have been for decades. Started them up without changing anything other than fuel. Never a problem, nothing blew up or went knock knock. I will concede that our van fleet got oil changes strictly on time but then most of those vehicles did 50k to 60k miles a year and a lifetime mileage in excess of 400k and oil was cheaper than breakdowns. But a 1900cc diesel ticking over in a narrowboat with damn all load on it is not stressed to the same extent and oil contamination is considerably less.
    1 point
  16. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  17. Lol, not if he had got his mind in "gear". ?
    1 point
  18. Hmm, I wonder if putting allopurinol in the waste tank will stop the sensor from getting crystals on It? ???
    1 point
  19. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  20. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  21. After all these good ideas the op is going to need a bigger bath to take advantage of all this hot water ?
    1 point
  22. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  23. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  24. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  25. The sacrificial metal is more reactive in that situation than the steel. O-level chemistry, somewhat simplistic, but that's a good enough explanation for me.
    1 point
  26. Just another completely pointless dig at the Canal and River Trust by people who have little else to do.
    1 point
  27. Your experience with the old maintenance team at Tattenhall is certainly at odds with mine, and pretty much everyone else I've ever spoken too. In the almost four years that I was moored there I always found them extremely approachable, helpful and professional in every interaction I had with them. Even when I was blacking my own boats (I have two) they were quite willing to provide assistance and advice. I tend to do as much of my own work, including electrical, wherever I can so it was very helpful to have expert people I knew I could talk to along with a well stocked and readily accessible chandlery. Their departure was a serious loss for the marina and a source of a lot of the ill will that now exists there. The few interactions I had with the new workshop team showed them to be quite the opposite. Expensive and off-handed and not necessarily particularly knowledgable. The chandlery is rarely open and when it is, it's staffed by people with very little knowledge of boats or the products they sell. As for the marina itself, physically it was a lovely place to moor a boat and to spend time. Room for dogs to run and easy access to the towpath. The cafe was a happy and welcoming place and there was a great community spirit. Sadly that was all in the past. While it's still a great location it has been seriously let down by its management who have shown a chronic disregard for their clients. Lack of maintenance which lead to unsafe jetties, especially in winter, with inevitable falls a constant cause for complaint. The cafe now caters more to the passing cyclists and walkers than it does to marina moorers. Dogs seemingly actively discouraged. It's unsurprising, therefore that the marina is now significantly unpopulated with many more boaters vowing to leave and not come back. In my opinion, best avoided for anything other than an overnight stop on your way to or from Chester.
    1 point
  28. I’ve not read all of this, and this might have been said before but, surely, all we need to know is that the anode is made of a metal that gives itself up more easily than the metal of the boat it is attached to. Hence the name, (sacrificial anode). As long as the anode is of the right metal, and is properly connected to the boat, it seems to be reasonable to accept that it’s doing its job. A galvanic isolator is also a good idea for boats on shore power. I suppose we ‘could’ buy a machine that tells us that the anode is, or isn’t, doing its job but, on the whole, things have tended to be mostly fine.
    1 point
  29. First 6-9 months you should never do more than use a wash and wax formula, no polishing .
    1 point
  30. From post 27 I think this is your circuit so no negatives anywhere near the switches and fuses. Hope it helps.
    1 point
  31. Not clear to me why that would be. Apart from the plastic case, most of the weight of a Li battery is copper and aluminium foil. A process which minces that and then separates the Cu and Al based on density would seem to be perfectly practicable. The weight of Li in a Li cell is quite small. MP. Can we have new rule that electrical energy is always given in KWh and rate of use of EE in Watts? Maybe we should be purist, as insist on Joules instead of Kwh? The first person to specify a volume of water in acre-feet gets lynched MP.
    1 point
  32. Real-world imbalances are just down to the fact that the cells are not completely identical, I think. I tend to side with Nick on this one: restricting maximum charge doesn't make much difference to the rate imbalance builds up, but it does avoid its consequence: over-voltage of one cell at full charge (or under-voltage is discharge.) the problem is that the imbalance happens at both ends: restricting the range to 20% to 80% means you're only using just over half of the battery you paid for. MP.
    1 point
  33. You could easily bypass a typical switch by using a screwdriver, knife blade, fork or spoon handle to join the two terminals on the back of the switch. If the motor then runs you will have proven it is a resistive switch. You will NOT get a shock and as long as you keep the metal of the blade away from the metal of the boat nothing startling will happen. If the switch is OK you do the same to the fuse and then if the motor runs with the switch on you have proven a faulty fuse assembly, it may or may not be the actual fuse. However I agree with Sea Dog it may be best to wait for help. At present while you are only using terminals on the back of the switch/fuse panel for meter connections I am about 80% sure that you are in fact measuring volt drops between positives of one sort or another and not "normal" voltages. Volt drops are very useful for those with experience but are usually very confusing for most boaters. At present I have seen no confirmation a true negative has been fund from which to measure voltages and it is also not been proven if the fault is in the positive or negative side of the circuit. This is why waiting for help is probably a good idea.
    1 point
  34. Thanks all for replies. No, the river was not in flood and yes I did study the nav notes! More a case of not expecting the unexpected I think. I think I should have let the Weir stream wind me and powered away. In reality I do not believe that there was any danger, however panic tends to impede brain function. I thought Reading was interesting but relatively easy when tackled sensibly. Pat
    1 point
  35. I'VE THROWN IT IN THE DUSTBIN!! It probably would not have made much difference anyway
    1 point
  36. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  37. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  38. It’s a post on a canal boating forum not a technical paper for publication in a journal! If everything on CWDF had to be vetted for accuracy there’d be bugger all left. JP Except for my posts (obvs). ?
    1 point
  39. Think of it as a way of trying to put something complex into a straightforward phrase. Seriously, it can be difficult finding the right wording to explain difficult technical stuff in a way that everyone can understand without making it simplistic. Following my attempts to mediate I have had some PM correspondence with @Chris and PJ. All I can say is that you don’t do something professionally at a senior level for a whole working career if you don’t know your stuff. Seven pages of arguments isn’t helping anyone understand anything of use to them. The issue here isn’t one of technical expertise, it’s about communication. We’d serve the readership better if we got on with discussing the practical aspects of what boat owners can do if they have concerns rather than dragging out this argument. JP
    1 point
  40. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  41. No one likes a swot!
    1 point
  42. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  43. It’s easy. Toss a coin, whilst it’s in the air you will be wanting it to come down one way or the other. Ignore the result and go with the result you were wishing for. on the practicalities, I’d be driven by how marketable the other boat is if it proves to be the wrong choice.
    1 point
  44. A friend of mine has just done this. After enjoying his own boat (beta engine, gas free, all mod cons) for years the shapely tug near his mooring he’d always admired came up for sale.. He bought it immediately with full intentions to sell the original boat but having put years of work into it has decided to keep both. I did the opposite and bought a traditional tug with vintage engine as my first boat, and to be used as a livaboard. I can honestly say as an enthusiast of old engines I’d rather give up boating than swap it for something modern.
    1 point
  45. Surely that is exactly what share boating is, except you are thinking of setting up your own group of people with similar needs to yours, rather than buying into an already established syndicate.
    1 point
  46. But that's not what's on offer. It's a Kelvin K2, a clean running engine that smells of nothing much, unlike a Beta Marine tug engine. I know from experience, having had both in one of my boats.
    1 point
  47. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  48. Here's an oil manufacturer's comment on the shelf life of oil: " You are probably wondering if you can still use cans of oil which seems old: the oil is usable as long as it is sealed, stored in a cool dry location and no water or dirt has gotten in the bottles." https://www.elf.com/en/lubricants-faq/about-lubricants/does-motor-oil-expire
    1 point
  49. This is so daft I've got to see it. For one thing, we learn that when the zombie apocalypse hits Birmingham, our heroes decide to escape along the Grand Union. Bad move I think, for two reasons. First, they've got to do a lot of locks whichever way they leave Birmingham, giving the zombies ample chances to catch them, but I'd be inclined to try to escape via Wolverhampton in the hope that having got some miles away along the New Main Line I'd then have time to get down the 21 before the zombies caught up. Second, it wouldn't be a good idea to head for London. Don't they know that it's a prime target for all monsters in horror films? The first thing any self respecting monster wants to do is to trash some world famous landmarks, and London has plenty.
    1 point
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