Chalky

Thing to be aware of is the flammability of antifreeze. It’s not unheard of for a coolant leak in a car engine to turn into a fire. Water boils off and leaves the glycol which is flammable. Not common, but it does happen. Tends to be an issue with high concentrations. https://www.jcmmachineandcoatings.com/understanding-combustion/engine-coolant-is-it-flammable/

What’s intriguing is the retrospective nature of the BSS. I work in an industry where safety legislation changes frequently ( cars). Any change in legislation does not apply retrospectively however cars have to meet regs that they’re designed to. Safety features can be brought in early and if they’re fitted they’re tested in the mot, if they’re not fitted then it’s not an issue since they’re not a legal requirement. After a legislative change point non fitment or not working is an mot failure. The BSS could adopt that model ( which is used world wide) and introduce changes in a way that suits everyone. New boats have to comply, existing ones can comply if they want to and are tested as required.

We’ve had CO alarms and optical smoke detectors on the boat for 10 years. Tend to use standard domestic ones and replace them after about 5 years. Wouldn’t be without them. I also have a flammable gas detector in the bilge but don’t tend to use it due to its high current draw.

We’re moored on the pound below Banbury lock and the water level has dropped by about 12” over night. Was this the pound that had problems with builders abstracting water? Just had to free the boat off an under water obstruction to get it level.

If they’re automotive grade hoses designed for under bonnet use (and made to oem spec) then they’ll be unaffected by the acid. It’s one of the standard chemicals that under bonnet parts have to survive without damage.

Dead easy. Use an inertial measurement unit feeding into a Kalman filter. Gives you about 30’ before the errors accumulate to the point it becomes a problem. That’ll cope with short gps dropouts. For longer use lidars to detect the edges and obstacles and then feed it into the path planners. The functional safety requirements however are another story...

Sockets and spanners to fit all of the fixings on the engine/gearbox/drive coupling. Assorted screwdrivers, Mole grips, Multimeter, hose clips, block connector, wire, electrical tape, spare bulbs. Same range of tools I carry in the B (just miss out the spare points, plugs and condenser!). Seems like a lot of tools however they all fit in a small tool box in the engine room. Usually the reason why you get stranded is something small breaks, you know how to fix it, but haven't got the tool to fix it with...

I suspect that there's a correlation between the low pound level, the long dry period and the fact that harvest has either started or crops need to be got ready for harvest... Either way the pound is sufficiently low that we can't get off our moorings.

Notice Update: 21st July 17 Navigation: Open, Towpath: Open Oxford Canal Starts At: Lock 16, Marston Doles Top Lock Ends At: Lock 17, Claydon Top Lock Up Stream Winding Hole: prior to Lock 16, Adkins Lock 14 Down Stream Winding Hole: prior to Lock 17, Bridge 147 Update on 21/07/2017: Early indications are that repairs have been successful, Canal and River trust will continue monitoring Restrictions now removed Navigation Open Update on 21/07/2017: Early indications are that repairs have been successful Canal and River trust will continue monitoring Restrictions now removed Navigation Open Original message: Due to very recent water losses to the summit pound it is necessary to close the summit pound, there will be navigation restriction between lock 16 and lock 17 every evening between the hours of 6pm and 8.30am the following day. This is to ensure that there are no accidental losses or misuse overnight and to help maintain and reserve the pound levels. Our engineers are investigating possible causes of the loss.

Oxford Canal Starts At: Lock 16, Marston Doles Top Lock Ends At: Lock 17, Claydon Top Lock Up Stream Winding Hole: prior to Lock 16, Adkins Lock 14 Down Stream Winding Hole: prior to Lock 17, Bridge 147 Friday 14 July 2017 18:00 until further notice Type: Navigation Restriction Reason: Water resources Original message: Due to very recent water losses to the summit pound it is necessary to close the summit pound, there will be navigation restriction between lock 16 and lock 17 every evening between the hours of 6pm and 8.30am the following day. This is to ensure that there are no accidental losses or misuse overnight and to help maintain and reserve the pound levels. Our engineers are investigating possible causes of the loss. You can view this notice and its map online here: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notice/11183/overnight-restrictions-between-lock-16-marston-doles-and-lock-17-claydon-oxford-canal

Not the diesel variant but there were a number of different dipstick / sump assemblies used on the petrol variant. This article describes them. http://www.mgexp.com/article/dipsticks.html

There's some 48V automotive equipment avaliable, but its mainly alternators, motors and inverters. It's been used for some stopstart / mild hybrid applications. The attraction is that it's below the 60V cut off for low voltage - 4 batteries in series are Ok, 5 is over the threshold when charging. This was going to be the big thing in automotive and re-appears every few years. Most systems are now either 12V DC or > 300V DC.

There's an article in today's Coventry Telegraph about the Coventry Canal. Features videos and pictures. http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/take-look-back-coventry-canal-12476442

Get a proper bike shop to look at it and be guided by them. I spent an hour in theatre with a plastic surgeon, 2 days in hospital, a week off work and have 8 hours that I can't account for when the carbon forks failed on my road bike in November. Any frame failure can have dangerous consequences, I was lucky, some cyclists have ended up paralysed or worse. If the bike shop says scrap it and get a new one then do it - it could save you a free ride in an ambulance.

There is one (petrol) engine that I've come across (about 18 years ago) that used a wasted spark ignition system and had to be cranked for a few seconds to purge the manifold and cylinders of fuel vapour before the ignition was turned on. If it wasn't purged the results were "spectacular".

With modern electronic engine management the engine needs to spin at several hundred rpm to allow the crank sensor to correctly sync and work out where the crank is. Depending on the control method used it may be necessary to sync cam position as well. A diesel requires more torque to turn it over but most require a minimum speed to get them going.

What would have been interesting as well would have been the battery voltage. Pulling +1000A will bring it down a lot - I've seen voltages as low as 3V when cranking a 4.6 litre V8 petrol engine at -40C (yes it did start!). The current profile and magnitude look about right. Big problem with Li-on batteries is that their performace is poor at low temperatures and they need to be warmed up to get the best from them (or cooled if too hot). Capacitive starting using a buck boost converter to charge them is a better option.

I got some from Midland Chandlers about 18 months ago. They're also used on a lot of classic sports cars to retain the hood

Try the MG specialists. I usually use the MGB hive. They carry the parts for the petrol engine as stock. I bought the two sprockets, chain, tensioner, seal, gasket and lock tabs from them for my car.

There are 2 cam timings for the MGB, the simplex and duplex being 4 degrees different. The effect is to move the power band by a few 100 rpm. Whether these are common with the diesel is something you'd have to investigate. if there is any commonality I would suspect that the crank sprocket may be common but the cam one would be different. The chain and tensioner will probably be common.

The early 1.8 petrol engines ( 18G* ) used a duplex chain, the later ones (18V) used a simplex one. The tensioners are hydraulically operated. Petrol replacement kits include the correct tensioner and chain. You'll need a new gasket for the cover and ideally you'll change the crankshaft seal at the same time. There's been some discussion on the classic forums about the quality of the tensioners. A Google search will give you the info. On my 18V (late petrol) there is a spacer shim between the tensioner and block.

If you do the calculations properly you factor in the heat rise in the cable bundle at max current before the fuse blows as well as volt drop.

Even worse is the semiconductor makers doing die shrinks to increase their yields. They sell it as making the devices faster and cheaper - what they don't realise/care is that it wrecks all of the emc/rfi work and the whole lot needs re-validating. Lots of pain & grief.

Fully agree. I've had to authorise life time buys of semiconductors for cars that have just been launched and the silicon vendor has decided to pull the plug on the technology. This is going to be one of the big negatives for electric cars - 10 years down the line one of the IGBTs (big power transistor) or a small obscure device fails and the car's scrap. They're not like the older systems where you can buy brand new parts for your Model T or MGB because any machine shop can make tham.

Less than 4ma will kill you if you make contact in the wrong place.