trackman

I use M16 on Tony's advice as I want any bugs killed not just dehydrated! A simplification I know. However, before I used any additive, after trying Fuelset and since switching to M16 I've never seen any water in tank or water trap in nearly 10 years. I did see some black goo in the separator once, but not in the diesel filter. It was at that point the M16 went into the tank for the first time! End of black goo.

We've had a section of old tyre round our front button since the boat was new. The builder fitted it after treating front & rear fenders with creosote. He told us to re-treat the fenders every couple of years. We have & they've lasted 10 years. Edit to say: the old tyre only lasted about 5 years but I fitted a replacement which I cut from an old car tyre. The remainder of that awaits the need to replace the replacement!

We went for PVC in the end. It's said to be more durable and not prone to mildew. We are more than happy with its looks now we have it fitted. It was also cheaper than the alternative canvas type material we were offered.

Did our flue/stove joint in red silicon 2 winters back and it's been fine. The old fire cement had cracked as it, in my experience, always does. High temp silicon every time! Just check the label as not all types are the same. Some are not really high temp!

We experienced such fluctuations with a 1.8 BMC when someone slightly overfilled the sump. Pumping a little oil out to get the level a bit below the max on the dipstick stopped it completely.

Another vote for Incralac. Our brass was done years ago, I guess near to 10 years in fact. It's still pretty fair tho I probably will strip and redo it soon. That may be difficult as some suggest by my word it will need to be amazingly so to take more time and effort than all those years of polishing I've already saved!

Tracer seem a fair compromise between quality & price based on the one we have & comments by others on these forums. Bimble Solar seem to get good reports as suppliers too. I bought an extra panel from them last year to add to our system and theirs was the best price I found for the type I needed.

Yes, fewer locks by the GU route. However many on that route are wide locks rarely used & relatively hard work. Down the Stratford way the locks are all easy singles. Aston & Farmers Bridge locks are pussy cats too. Plus the scenery is great much of the way, either interesting city or lovely rural. We've done both often but much prefer the Stratford way.

Just for info, I recently found a deal on USwitch for an EE mini Kestrel (a Myfi equivalent) and 15Gb/month on 4G for £15/month. No upfront charge for the wifi router either. I signed up for one and so far its good. Gets a far better signal where we are currently than our old 3 Myfi does.

We both have Bromptons, they must now be nearly 15 years old. We ride towpaths frequently on them. They cost a lot initially and I hate to think about replacement costs, but given their longevity..... The Kevlar tyres (we find Schwable the best price/performance balance) kept very at very high pressure stop nearly all punctures. They do need changing once the tread wears away though. An old cycle shop proprietor told me years ago to buy new tyres before they are needed & keep them for several months in a cool dark place to cure the rubber properly. He was right, since doing as he said we've found tyres last far longer and puncture less easily.

We were at Croyde Bay with our grandsons last week. The tides became noticeably higher each day. It really messed up the sand castle construction, our works kept being wiped out even though we moved sites higher up the beach every day!

Whatever the engine is I imagine his van's fuel consumption has improved a bit since he took that out of it!

Does £555/ft include everything, such as insulation, flooring and lining,or is that for the steelwork alone? Could make quite a difference!

Absorption fridges are very inefficient. The system was usually fitted to 3 way units to take advantage of "free" power available from a vehicle alternator when travelling. The intention being that you switch to gas or mains as soon as you arrive at your destination. On a boat you'd sensibly use gas or a mains hookup when moored and only use the 12V absorption option when boating. Even that will potentially reduce the efficiency of the charging of your domestic batteries! Our Shoreline fridge isn't silent but the running compressor is barely audible in our bedroom. That uses quite enough power. I can't imagine how we'd keep up with the power demands of an absorption fridge!

You now need to register an account at the scrapyard and the money is credited to your bank account. It's illegal to pay out cash. You'll need photo ID, a utility bill or similar to prove your address and your bank details. Took me 10 mins and then I got about £37 for 4 no 110Ah batteries. Otherwise leave them at a local authority tip that has battery disposal facilities, but then they get the money!

Gas heating would be dangerous if not room sealed with a proper flue to the outside. It would also cause condensation problems due to the water vapour produced by burning lpg. Not recommended.

We have a computer cooling fan set in a hole in the floor behind the fridge. On our Shoreline fridge there is a pair of spade terminals which are live only when the compressor is running, and I've wired the fan to these on a fused, switched circuit. I turn this on in summer so the fan draws cool air from the bilge and blows it at the rear of the fridge whenever the fridge cuts in. In our case I turn this off in cooler weather to save power, but in your situation you needn't do this.

We had a Rule fail on a previous boat but the replacement lasted years. The one on our present boat has worked fine for over 7 years so far. Capacitative switch having no moving parts to gum up. I added the wiring for the auto switch, our boat builder wired up only a manual switch. That alone was no good for us as we needed to be able to leave the boat unattended for reasonable periods without worrying that the bilge might be filling up. I check the auto switch periodically by pouring a quantity of water into the bilge. It has always worked.

No thanks, I had one once. It resulted in a very nasty collision involving a 16oz hammer, the block from the kit and one of my fingers. I swore to pay someone else to lay my floors in future, after I stopped swearing about the crushed finger tip, that is!

We have exactly the same, no detectable leak either. I think it's about the calorifier cooling down after engine running getting it really hot. Pressure drops as a result of cooling. If it's already low due to use of taps, the drop can be enough to trigger the pump. It's random to a degree because of the water use influence, but likely at night as that's often the longest period without engine running.

Don't think that is relevant. There would need to be good evidence that the tunnel was in some way affecting the canal and having a causal effect on the breach. More likely the tunnel owner could come after CRT for damage to their asset! Btw, it's unlikely that such a disused tunnel belongs to Network Rail. Such stuff was left with British Rail Residual at privatisation. Bet they've no money anyway!

What he said. Our Shoreline is just the same. Now approaching 9 years old, has always done this, never along term problem. Since we fitted solar panels, it seems to occur quite often on really sunny days for some reason, but it used to happen now and then before that. Flicking off the breaker briefly usually resets it.

I'd also suggest the multi connector. We've had issues with ours, not the same as this but definitely caused by poor connections inside the block.

We have a Tracer MPPT fitted in our trad style engine room where it gets pretty warm with the engine going. So far no problems, though we haven't experienced really hot sunny summer weather yet since fitting it.

Plastic sheets seal well against solid material like brickwork. The high pressure actually helps to press it against the surface creating a seal. Problems arise when the plastic is against something unstable or soft, which gives under the load. Dams like this will also have problems when the substrate is permeable. The water goes through that and undermines the dam.