musicman

I agree that filling the grease barrel is the key - mine unscrews at the bottom of the barrel and I can fill it with fresh grease and slowly retract the plunger back up the barrel as I go. One easy test of whether grease is getting down to the stern tube - surplus grease has to go somewhere and usually, most of it oozes out around the gland itself and (when the prop is rotating) splatters itself liberally around the bilge area!! Lovely

When I started boating - hiring our first trip on a narrowboat twenty years ago - the simple rule was this: If your wash breaks before it reaches the bank you're going too fast. However, it didn't take long for me to realise that the whole pleasure of boating was not in speed, but in allowing the pace of the boat to slow my whole body clock down to a gentle poddle. Since then I have never overtaken another boat nor felt the urge to beat anyone to the next lock. By the way - where does the boredom come from? Am I lone in never feeling bored? If it's not the countryside that keeps my mind ticking over, it's a glance at the engine control panel, or thinking about the next project on the boat! Plenty to keep me occupied whatever the weather. No need for GPS on the canal - just the right Pearson guide!

I was thinking along the lines of mounting them behind a diffuser - perspex or ground glass.

But the light given out by LEDs is so different (bluey/white) than a warmer halogen bulb. This surely is a matter of taste - not everybody likes white light and, let's face it, it hardly flatters wood finishes so is always going to look pretty nasty on a boat. However, having said all that, 20 good quality LEDs could certainly match a 15W halogen bulb in terms of lumens, but as to whether you can get good quality LEDs cheap, and whether this would produce the quality of light you want - that's another matter. Cheap white LEDs are generally useless - no wonder they don't last. One of the ideas I have had, but not tried it out yet, is to build a ring of about 20 white LEDs interspersed with amber or red LEDs to create an overall warmer effect. Anyone seen anything like this as a commercial product - or shoudl I set up in business with a new idea! (you heard it from me first!!!)

The DVD covers most bits - thanks very much. Now all I need is info about the wiring to the D5W - the DVD covers the much newer kit with block connectors. Mine seems to have wiring in every conceivable direction!!

I am a new member to the forum - just found it through a Google search - brilliant idea. I have a 45foot narrowboat which I started fitting out too long ago - the kind of project that never ends! Brilliant in Summer and Autumn when the weather's nice, but freezing in winter! Hence my purchase of an older Eberspacher last back end - working unit, but no instructions. I've done some homework and realise that I probably need to fit a separate tank for white diesel and the plumbing presents no worries - I have a spare coil in my calorifier to heat the hot water and will run a flow and return for a couple of radiators. But it's the installation of the heater that I need more info on - like electrics, exhaust and water connections. If anyone has done this beofre, then Iwould be garteful for some advice. There's plenty of room in my engine compartment - does any one have any photos of a working install or have a spare installation manual for sale? I can't believe that the only way to go is to get a registered fitter to do it - it has never been the way I have done things on the boat before and I don't intend to start now! Any info appreciated.