Ricardo

I think that wee hole is there to prevent an airlock forming when the engine water cools, otherwise the thermostat won't open if it's not touching the water. Ric. I found this interesting page when I was trying to work out why my thermostat had that funny little disc thing on the bottom: Bypass Thermostats

My accumulator is mounted on it's side and seems to work fine. It's tiny though, about the size of a rugby ball. On my last boat the accumulator was 3 or 4 times this size. Ric.

I'd assume that the grease would work it's way into the packing if you put enough pressure on it, until there's no pressure left, at which point you'd find the plunger thing slack again. Ric.

The Ensign 2000 has ballast tanks that you fill with water to get under low bridges. I saw a guy on one of these once standing on the cruiser style back seats so he could see over the wheelhouse. Ric.

RESULTS! [Just in case anyone's interested] The domestic water now is hot within 30 to 40 minutes, just running the engine on the mooring. After running the engine for a couple of minutes the water leaving the second coil is quite cool, despite very hot water entering the first coil, but it gets gradually hotter as the domestic water heats up. After 10 minutes it'd be hot enough to make an in-line radiator worthwhile. I haven't added any extra insulation yet but the water in the calorifier was still warm 12 hours later, but I didn't actually use much once it was hot so very little cold water had been added to the tank. The engine thermostat seems to open just as quickly as it did with the old calorifier but the water going to the skin tank isn't as hot as it was before, although this gets hotter as the water in the calorifier heats up. Ric.

FOLLOW UP I got the old calorifier out and the 'coil' was approx. 10mm pipe that went straight to the middle of the tank, dropped down 3 or 4 inches and then went straight out again, less than 24 inches in total length. The new calorifier has two coils which are each a double coil of 15mm pipe with tiny fins to increase the surface area, I'd guess that each coil is between 3 and 4 foot long, but that's an estimate from peering through the immersion heater hole. The old calorifier was perfectly clean so the lack of heat exchange was just down to the rather poor design. Ric.

I've seen a short aluminium ladder with a thin ply 'plank' attached to it used as a boarding plank, which has the added advantage of being a proper ladder should one be needed at some time, like when the boat's out of the water. Wouldn't a proper plank of wood be a cheaper option than the staging board, whilst also having less chance of chipping the paintwork? Ric.

I got the new one today. I did think about using the old one in series after the new one but since it takes an age to get even warm it doesn't seem as much use as a small radiator elsewhere. The big problem is access to remove the old one to clean it out, or to replace it with a new one which would have been my plan if access was easier. If I do remove the old calorifier then it'll probably mean cutting into the woodwork so changing that area into a cupboard with a plant-on door would be my best option. I suppose I could have made a cupboard with a calorifier in it but I'm past that stage since I have the new one already. I'm absolutely certain that there was no airlock in the calorifier, the highest point in the coolant pipe was branched off the header bottle feed and the tank itself was full to the brim, it has to be since this is where the hot [tepid] water exits, if there's air here it gets shoved down the hot water pipe. I did wonder about this but I have seen lots of boats with underbed calorifiers so reasoned that there must be a workable solution. Under the bed on my last boat was always cold even in the summer so it'll make a change at least! I think I'll insulate as much as possible and make the heat escape to the airing cupboard or bathroom if I can. I like the idea of 22mm copper pipe as a 'radiator', my last boat had huge copper pipe [about 2" dia] off the back boiler which carried heat to the bedroom and that worked just fine. The wardrobe is between the bed and the bathroom so pipes can be run through to the bathroom and heat both the airing cupboard and the bathroom. A short length of 22mm copper pipe could make a very handy heated towel rail. There's that problem too. I have included a drain plug in my plan but the last bit of water in the tank will have to go up to get over the metal bulkhead into the engine room, I have an old water pump that I could include in the pipe connected to the drain though. Ric. I think I'll have to insulate with this in mind. OTOH it's a cross bed and the locker I'm using for the new calorifier is only one third of the width of the bed so I might not be too badly off if I have my feet over this end of the bed. Ric.

I'm passing the water through both coils because the water leaving the first coil will still be hotter than the water in the calorifier so there'll be some heat to extract, just like having a longer single coil. The boat is new to me so I don't know the history of the original calorifier, it's full of water and the engine water passing through it is piping hot but it takes over an hour just to get warm water out of it, and the bottom of the tank is still cold. I suspect it's just not a very good calorifier but it might be the result of limescale on the coil. Either way a new calorifier allows me to have the option of an immersion heater and any waste heat will warm up the bedroom and wardrobe, and the space under the bed isn't used so it's no great loss. Ric.

I've decided to fit a new calorifier to my narrowboat. The old calorifier is in the engine room behind the control panel woodwork, sitting on the swim, the new one will be under the bed. I'm planning on fitting a twin coil unit with an immersion heater boss [just in case] and running the engine water through both coils. I'm wondering whether there'll be enough heat left in the water after this to justify any attempt to try using it, like a small radiator or simple loop of pipe to help air the wardrobe. Does anyone have any experience of fitting something like a towel radiator in the calorifier return? How much insulation around the calorifier is normal in an under bed location? My current calorifier is sitting on the swim in the engine room with nothing but the sprayfoam it comes with. The old calorifier might stay where it is due to the work involved in ripping it out, any bright ideas of what I can do with it, bearing in mind that it barely gets hot even after an hour cruising. If I do rip out the old calorifier then it'll leave a big hole in my nice engine room panelling so I'll be looking for clever ideas for filling that, cupboards/drawers is an obvious use but I have been thinking about a car radiator and fan run off the skin tank pipes for those winter cruises, any ideas/suggestions/warnings regarding this? Cheers. Ric.

I saw an interesting seat on a trad the other day. It was a small seat mounted on a vertical triangular frame which swivelled on a mount that was screwed to the inside of the doorframe. It was positioned in such a way that the seat would be either in the middle of the hatch level with the doors or tucked away into the corner opposite the controls.