IDS

You can't paint tank insides at this time of year anyway, you need to wait for summer weather to avoid condensation forming as you try to paint. The upside of this is it gives you plenty of time to plan, and possibly even to drain and open the tank to give it an inspection and gauge the extent of the task ahead. My boat is a couple of years older than yours and it definitely needed to be done, although the rust silt stayed firmly in the base of the tank and never found its way out of the taps (due to internal configuration of tank). Depending on your tank configuration it is not a job many relish, but if you do it yourself at least you know it is done properly. If you have the cash get a boatyard to do it.

Unnecessary expense, and space requirements. The pump generates the most pressure variations so it's normal to place the acc near the pump for best efficiency. The pump usually needs to have a good access requirement, so it makes sense to put the accumulator in the same place for access and adjustment purposes. The system will probably work fine though where ever you put it (them) down stream of the pump.

I think Wickes will be useless for what you require, use either brass or stainless.

I always use tap water for our gas boiler (just like domestic systems), but other fancy boilers may specify otherwise. Your antifreeze choice is blue or pink, use whatever is in there already, and premix with water to the required concentration before you add it. More importantly if the header tank requires filling, you have a small leak somewhere, now is the time to look for it.

As others have said it's probably a bad connection on the back of the panel, wiggle the wires and diodes that go to it and you should find the bad connection(s). As it doesn't sound for either oil or alternator when you start the bad connection is likely to be the common +12v line from the panel to the sounder. Replacements are cheap however Maplin have plenty to choose from.

Don't get your hopes up too much. I found that when I drained my tank using the provided pipe and bsp plug (no tap fitted!) it became obvious that it didn't drain the bottom of the tank. I used a drill pump with some 15 mm copper pipe through the filler to get to the bottom of the tank (got an extra 15 litres out.This was actually a very easy way to do it.

It looks like maybe originally it was a single board that drained into the channels round the edge. Then the previous owner fitted the sound proofing and it became too heavy, so he cut it in half. The best solution is to fit a removable channel across the middle, that rests in small close fitting "U" shaped brackets welded to the side channels. The removable section requires one CS bolt at each each end to hold it down firmly. This arrangement on our boat leaked slightly until I bedded the joins and the bolts in "Fernox LS-X external leak sealer" (which is great for this kind of job as it is easier to remove than some other sealants).I can PM pictures of mine if you wish. A single board is the simplest fix, just join your existing pieces together with a couple of battens (or 1" angle iron strips) fitted lengthwise and seal the join with Sikaflex.

To save floor space the stairs are quite steep, with open treads (no risers fitted). On ours which is 103 cm to the top of the lip forming the door frame, there are 3 treads at 28 cm intervals from the floor. The top tread is 28cm deep, the lower two are 22cm.The string front edge at floor level is 60 cm from the bulkhead. A toolbox fits perfectly under the bottom tread. Hope that helps. Ian

You can try a large flat blade screw driver with an adjustable spanner fitted to the blade to give you some leverage. If that fails see above.

Butyl strip, tidy up the squeezed out edge after few months with a spatula edge fashioned from a piece of wood so as not to cut the paint film.

Quality good. Service excellent. We have a cratch cover still going strong after more than 10 yrs. He did a tear repair and restitch on major seams recently, where the original thread had worn, at very reasonable cost.

I used one similar to one on the left. Did a great job on the roof, many layers of ancient paint, couple of hours (hire period less than a day, if you get all the mushrooms etc off the roof first). Wouldn't like to use one on a vertical surface. I used a 2 kw generator (110v) with no problems. If you plan to use a builders type 110v transformer check the power rating of your 240 v supply, the start current surge is quite high. Finish off round the edges etc with an angle grinder and a 'clean off' disk.

It is likely the accumulator is supplied with no charge, check by pressing the valve pin. If it is already charged it may be too high pressure for your system. Normally pre-charge the accumulator to half the normal system pressure (i.e. about 15 psi if the pump cut off is about 30 psi). If the accumulator has the correct pre-charge, then if you turn off the pump after it has pressurized the system and then turn on a sink tap you will get a volume of water from the tap of about half the capacity of your accumulator. (1 litre in your case) You can use this as a guide for charging the accumulator if you don't have a pressure gauge handy !

Definitely change the switch if you can get at it. They are only a few pounds. Make sure you get one with the same 'amps' rating as the one you are replacing, there are a lot of lower rated micro switches that look the same.

what does the accumulator pressure read when the pump is running?

Our ex hire NB had an external pump fitted, I think it was a standard modification to the fleet as the pump in the reservoir was a bit weedy. Just wire your existing room thermostat to the new external pump. and remove the original internal impeller unit completely

We have 2 folding bikes both quite old and a bit heavy, but invaluable for getting to shops villages and for just exploring. Both have old type 3 speed hubs which makes handling and storing them more convenient than multi sprocket changers which are easily disturbed. Not so good for serious cycling though, where more modern bikes have advantages. Be ruled by how much space you have.

Why not talk to the PRM-Newage technical desk, I assume they will have one, their web site has contact details

Usually the marina staff will turn it for you using the entrance to the basin (not for the faint hearted if its windy), then send you on your way

I think you will find that your 'otter' was a 'coypu' if you saw it in the Castelnaudary basin. We saw about 4 of them in the water near the bank feeding on baguettes that had been chucked in for them. I assume they live on the little island. We also saw one briefly on the towpath some 5km to the E of Castelnaudary.

Phone Vactan, they will give technical support to specific queries via the phone number on the leaflet. I found them very helpful.

On my panel in that location is a push button for the stop solenoid.

Go Outdoors seem to be selling 110 AH Leisure Batteries for £65, they claim a 2 yr conditional warranty, .....but the spec only claims 70 cycles to 50% !!!!

Slowing down wasn't mentioned, but they were aware that we were experienced boaters. We saw very few moored boats, and not very many moving ones, it's still early season. All moving boats were hire boats, except for one or two large dutch barge style private boats. We did notice one boat charging along at max speed but this was an exception, its not really much of a problem as they are all shallow draft. Tip: - in that area canal side communities are quite sparse, so bikes are very useful to get to the villages, if you want your fresh bread and pastries.