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N.B. Elizabeth Hello, I’m Jim’s wife and after reading some of these comments on here I thought I had better put the record straight. Elizabeth is on the market because Jim has Alzheimer’s, and is now unable to lavish the care on her he once did. How do you put a price on the oldest surviving conversion of a narrowboat? we asked many people, some who worked with historic boats and some who owned them, everyone gave vastly different answers! we originally priced her at 60k to try to avoid her becoming a cheap live aboard, (Jim lived on her full time for 32 years, so nothing against live aboards) the price was always negotiable. We included the fact that she needs to be regularly maintained because with 83 year old wooden cabin she does! Foolishly we waited a year for a certain boat museum to get funding together to purchase her for their collection, as she is such an important boat, due to certain issues within their hierarchy we are still waiting and have frankly given up. Elizabeth has just been surveyed and the hull and engine are in very good order, her top is showing wear and tear but nothing that a little tlc can’t put right. We really hope that whoever purchases her will carry on caring for her the way Jim has over the last 53 years, she really is the most incredible vessel and I can guarantee the new custodians will never be short of conversation, because Elizabeth attracts attention wherever she goes. Annie

Turn off the mains and take that cover off (last photo) and you will find one or even two thermostats inside it, one will have the adjustable dial for temperature. Try turning it up a bit. If you need to change the thermostat then get the proper spanner and a spare gasket or two. ................Dave

You get the tank good and hot then just try to crack the nut, no more, once it moves drain the water down a bit. If you do it with the water pump off and open a hot tap there wont be any pressure in there. The water gives the cylinder both weight and rigidity

I sent an email complete with a photo and details of the green house type heaters I would be using to my insurers and they confirmed they are safe to use would not invalidate my policy.

A tubular or box spanner is a better bet, but if using one like David suggests, put two on at once, with the handles opposite each other. This balances the thrusts so there is only twisting force on the immersion and enables you to easily apply both hands to the job so applying most force. From your pictures the existing heater looks well scaled in! N

I wouldn’t have though that taking the battery up to a high SoC would increase imbalance, but it certainly shows it up more. I think it is true that high SoC is not good for longevity. But then when the batteries are likely to outlive their owners, does it matter? And as you’ve mentioned, it is perhaps keeping at 100% for long periods that is problematic, rather than charging to 100% and then immediately starting to discharge. I notice that with the latest version of iOS for my iPhone, they’ve introduced a thing called “optimised battery charging” which aims to charge only to 80% until shortly before you need it, by learning your charging routine. So in my case I plug the phone in when I go to bed around midnight, and get up around 8am. So the phone will charge to 80% between midnight and 1am, hold at 80% until 7am, then charge the last 20% in time for me to get up. Well something like that, I haven’t woken up in the middle of the night to check it! And of course those are lithium polymer batteries. So for my system I propose a selector knob, 50%, 80%, 100% or whatever. Normally left on 80% but if full capacity needed, switch can be moved to 100% an hour or so before end of cruising day. Or set it to 50% if arriving at the marina to leave the boat for a few weeks.

I'm not sure if the OP is living aboard or not? I wouldn't assume anything. I have foam/ply porthole bungs. I never touch the Morco flue and don't bother blocking vents anymore. The boat could freeze in 2-3 days if the temp gets low enough but keeping the boat ventilated and above 5C is better if you're a liveaboard and away for a few days. Anyway, I've been doing it my way for 15 years without a problem so I'll just carry on. Yes, if you don't have shore power forget about using an electric oil filled rad.

Because you signed it.

Is "Caroline" a pseudonym for Dianne Abbott?

A fat one like this ?

I wonder where they got that from......? more like CrapaJeffster in tribute to the sky high price rises and determination to be the Park Homes of the waterways. from his Linkedin..... Joined in 2014 with the prime objective of modernising the business, improving performance and bringing a much stronger focus on the customer.As at 2017 we are well placed having succeeded in most of our strategic goalsWe have some great plans for the future including Floating home developments and Lodges

Today I’ve taken the plunge and bank transferred the deposit on my soon to be boat home At Last I should hopefully be moving off land after 63 years and starting a new chapter in my life afloat.

I can't help it if folk can't solder. Maybe they need to scrape the wires first. I've come across far more dodgy crimped joints than soldered ones. Virtually all my joints are soldered, always have been and with an air cooled ST2 solid mounted doing its best to shake everythig to bits. Women being more gentle make good solderers.

Been using really well seasoned Leylandii and it's been good but does burn quick. Typical moisture content circa 7-9%. Feels good putting this aweful plant to some use.

Yup. They also sell that type in Screwfix, and Wickes, and... https://www.screwfix.com/p/box-immersion-spanner/29549

No, it's not - you'll make the damned thing lazy! Just wait til you want to get away fairly early one morning only to find the damned thing is having a lie in. It'll end in tears I tell ye!

The inside of the cover should look something like this: The blue bit is the end of the thermostat and it slides into a pocket. It is only held in by the wires so is easy to change. Try turning it up a bit. If that doesn't work they're only a few quid from Screwfix to replace, just get one the right length. Martin/

Alrewas one boat and Fazeley one boat. Do CRT purposely put them in unuseful places. The Fazeley one if you want water you have to go an hour and a quarter north, wind and then an hour and a half south. Had they been between the winding holes it would made much more sense. The one at Alrewas is above Bagnal lock so its to Fradley up three locks wind and return. If they had have been below the locks then they could use the waterpoints in Alrewas. The year before last Rugeley had them north of the aqueduct, mile out of town and Gt Haywood being the nearest water point

Element not thermostat, you can change the stat with just a terminal screwdriver. If you slowly raise and lower the temperature of the thermostat you should hear it click

Nip up the Erewash to langley mill. Dan and Vikki will look after you. Brilliant, wide, clean dock. Live aboard welcomed. DIY if you want. Best prices anywhere on the system. Wrong time of year to black your boat now though.

I was going to suggest that, before I got to the end of the thread. Many years ago, I worked for Remploy who at the time were the biggest supplying manufacturers of heating elements in the UK. The predominant cause of low water temperature was nearly always found to be lime scale build up, or "furring" as it is often known, caused by what our Service Manager always referred to as "Agressive Water!! in other words, a high content if lime in the water. There is no point in trying to remove the limescale, as it will have damaged the element's thin copper cladding. To remove the heater you need a special Immersion Heater spanner, and a lot of elbow grease. Turn the power supply off, remove the dust cover, and disconnect the supply wires, then using as much force as needed unscrew the element from the tank. This can be a challenge with standard old fashioned copper tanks, which can buckle onder the starin of the spanner action, but marine calorifiers are far more robustly built so damage shoud not be an issue. Spanners can be ontained from places like Screwfix for less than £3.00

Many years ago I had a similar problem with 'warm' water. On investigation I found that the Immersion heater element was 'furred' up with lime scale. A new element sorted the problem and we were back to 'hot' water. Maybe you are in a 'limey' area ?

420 grams per hour on 'max' A 13kg gas cylinder would last just over a day if continuously used on 'max' In the cold weather, a boat in our marina was getting thru' 3 gas cylinders (£90) a week, it was their sole heat source so they took it out and installed a SF Fire.

Yup, remove the grey cover (disconnect from power first) and take another photo of what’s inside.

Yes that's right but you didn't assume it, I stated it in my previous post.

http://www.logskrazy.co.uk/index.html Used to deliver to us in Ringstead Northants. Good supply and quality. I used to take a ton at a time, I would arrive home to find a big pile of logs on my drive which I had to stack before I could get my car on the drive. Worth a call

Make sure the bilges are empty and any auto pumps set to off. The Scout church parade in Blisworth one Sunday many years ago were the unfortunate recipients of the contents of my bilges as the lorry swung round the corner and the "water" piled up and set the auto pump running. N

I spent many years managing a team developing epoxies for splash zone coatings. They are only done between May and early september when temperatures are significantly higher. Epoxies can be cured below 10°C and even below 0°C but its not all about the curing. Firstly, you cannot apply unless the steel temp is 3°C above the dew point. This is almost impossible in Dec/Jan. Daylight hours are much less than in the summer and it is often around zero between 6pm and 9am when it is dry and frosty. At temps near the dew point, you will get condensation on the surface WHICH YOU CANT SEE which will wreck the adhesion of the coating and hence it will not last 10 years and a waste of your investment. On offshore rigs, there will be people continually checking the temperatures (wet and dry thermometers) and controlling the workforce. This 'aint going to happen in a boatyard. Typically for offshore the steel temp will be at least 10 °C. The second issue is solvent evaporation. These coatings contain around 20-30% solvent. Solvents are typically xylene, ethyle benzene etc. These do not evaporate well at 5°C. I would not paint at less than 10°C with solvent like this. If it doesnt come out, when you put the 2nd coat on, the solvent in the first coat will get trapped and soften the coating. The coating will still cross link and develop strength but it will be more porous than a well cured and solvent free coating. Additionally when it is that cold, you will need to add thinner (maybe another 10%) so that is even more solvent to evaporate. If I was spending £5K on epoxying the bottom of my boat, the last thing I would do is get it done in Dec/Jan unless it was in a heated paint shed and the painters were taking time to measure steel temp and dew point. As an example, today 1.30pm (hottest part of the day), beautiful sunshine in Warwickshire. Temp 5°C, dew point 2°C - doubt if the boat temp is up to 5°C so very very marginal if I could paint today.