blackrose

Yes all I've done is remove the brass mushroom vent. The hole is still there so the panel acts as the cover instead. I probably confused you by mentioning sealant. I just put a thick bead of PU sealant around the perimeter of the hole to act as a lip or rim, but it's probably unnecessary.

Name & Shame! And then call the vendor back to tell them you're active on canal-based social media. I'd be furious if I was paying a broker 6% to sell my boat and then discovered that they were preventing people from viewing it.

Fender kickers

Thanks. I'm just trying to demonstrate that if you have a panel over a mushroom vent you don't need the brass vent anymore. I think perhaps some people are scared to remove them? Unless of course they want the central bracket in order to angle the panel. I can angle my panels too using a different system.

Do you mean stick on panels? The main problem with them is that they get too hot and lose efficiency. If you don't have much space for big panels you want them to be as efficient as possible.

If you have 2 centre ropes going through a fairlead on the handrail on each side then the ropes shouldn't interfere with your panels. But you must make sure the fairleads are solidly mounted. A couple of brass screws really won't do unless you don't mind a snapped off fairlead hitting you in the face!

I see people doing this but what's the point of the mushroom vent if there's a big panel above it? Better to remove the mushroom vent entirely and put a thick bead of PU sealant on the roof around the perimeter of the hole to stop any wind blown water getting in. Mount the solar panel above the hole as low as you can, obviously making sure there's a gap. That's what I've done and it works perfectly. There's still a vent and the panels sit lower, so I haven't increased the air-draught and it still looks ok. The height of the frame around the panel ensures that the underside of the panel is about an inch above the hole.

Well according to some on this forum (who forget that their mushroom vents are made of brass and their windows are aluminium) one shouldn't attach dissimilar metals to a steel boat above the waterline. Presumably they must also think that anodes welded on above the waterline would work?

The bitumen was soaked into the cloth anyway before it was applied to the inside of the baseplate. Water will still finds gaps to get underneath and without any air gap or drainage the broken concrete ballast just holds the water in place or even soaks it up like a sponge. This may have been a traditional method and the "industry standard" at some point in the past few decades but believe me it's a shite method and I'm talking as someone who unfortunately has it on my own boat so I'm talking from experience. I'm not one of these people who thinks everything from the past was better as that's often nonsense.

WHAT❓

Ok I see. Thanks for the explanation. I'm still not quite sure why any firm marinising a modern engine for canal boat use wouldn't fit an electric lift pump and make it self bleeding? I'm not sure which brands they are but some clearly don't judging by some of the posts I read talking about bleeding the fuel system.

On my Isuzu I can take my fuel filters off and change them without any need to bleed the air out of the fuel system once I refit them. It's a self- bleeding system so you just turn the ignition and wait until the fuel goes through. I've no idea how it works but when I read about people or see neighbours having to bleed their fuel systems it makes me wonder why all modern marine diesel engines don't have this self-bleeding feature? Is there any disadvantage?

No need for apologies, that's what the forum is for. You might not have discovered it was electric if you hadn't asked the question. Glad you solved the problem.

I used to live & moor my widebeam on the long-term moorings in the basin above the gauging lock. Not all of the moorings at Brentford are tidal. That was 15 years ago and I used to pay £4K which was the same as a narrowboat as it was on one of the outside pontoons. I imagine it's at least double that cost now - if one was available which is doubtful.

Don't let your desperation allow you to spend up to £150K without getting the boat surveyed.

3000 hours is fine as long as the engine has been serviced at the appropriate intervals. I'd want to see some evidence.

Yes it's getting complicated because some people are overcomplicating it. I started using Marineflex 20 years ago when that was just about was the only alternative to Sikaflex. In the last 10 - 15 years or so lots of new PU sealant/adhesives have emerged. I've always found them bulletproof and I've never had a problem with any of them underperforming. Some of these products can even be used on wet surfaces or underwater so I really don't think a little bit of evaporated spirit residue is going to make any difference.

What sealant did you use for the bolts? You must have used some sort of brackets, what were they bedded in with? Likewise mushroom vents, cleats, etc, all need bedding in even on a steel boat. It doesn't need to be sikaflex but if you don't use some sort of waterproof sealant to bed in fittings then on a steel boat water and rust will get underneath. There are some very good modified PU polymer sealants around now which are permanent and silicone is now very much last century technology.

I disagree, it's always worked for me. White spirit removes any grease or oil and doesn't leave any significant residue itself - at least none that would present any issue with most single part paints or modified polymer sealants from sticking. I wasn't talking about pouring the stuff on. Agreed, I wouldn't use white spirit to wipe over before applying epoxy, but I have used the correct thinners for the epoxy. Likewise for single part paints based on white spirit thinners I've used white spirit as a wipe. Doesn't acetone leave a residue too?

No as he already said, he's a watch clocker.

Yes, I'll be interested to hear what they tell you.

Since white spirit cleans up all of these sealants before they go off whatever tiny amount of reside is left is taken up by the sealant and isn't a problem. I've never had any issues doing it anyway and I've used these sealants a lot. I've attached plywood to steel as a mounting pad instead of drilling into the steel and once the sealant has cured you'd need a hammer and chisel to remove the ply. Spirit wipes and panel wipes may evaporate but they will also leave residues. You need to remove any grease, oils and the dust created when you keyed the surfaces before applying the product, so whether it's a dab of white spirit on a cloth or a panel wipe take your pick.