Malarky
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Posts posted by Malarky
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Sorry, havn't been on this forum for ages, and slightly off topic; although power storage could be usefull; I do have quite a few half decent leisure batteries, to offload for a small fee if anyone is interested. Can even probably arrange delivery round the network somehow
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Hi all
Sorry about all the posts, narrow boats are new to me and I'm still learning. I'm wondering if I'm just over cautious or whether my ex hire boat was fitted out and built in an odd manner, some examples...
The water tank is big, the water pipe ran under the floor with built in furniture on top, the only stop cock was at the other end of the boat. I see a few issues with this. If the pipe ever split, for example if it froze, there would be no way to stop the entire tank emptying into the boat. The only way to replace it would be to rip most of the fittings out. The pipe also blocked one side of the bilge drainage. Is this normal? I plan to puta stop cock next to/ on the outlet from the tank and run the pipe above floor level so I can get to it.
The only access to the cabin bilge was a small hole towards the back end- is this normal? When laying new floor we will plan to put access panels throughout.
The pump for the shower was under the floor, to get to it the floor and showertrayhad to be taken out, to get the shower tray out we had to remove the bulkhead between bathroom and bed. We will put the pump in a box next to the shower.
There is a bilge pump but no float switch- which concerns me as what if there was lots of water in the engine bilge and I was not on the boat for a few days,( not the separated drip tray under the engine)? The cabin bilge opens out into the engine bilge so any leak/ flood further up the boat would end up in there sooner or later ( presuming the drainage channels were not blocked by random bits of wood/stones/ pipes).
Presumably all this means that nothing ever broke (until i took it all apart to look at) as there would have been no way of getting to anything to fix it. Is this all quite normal?
Short answer: no, it's an enthusiasts thing, but curiosity gets the better of us!
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Hi, Our 1978 Hancock & Lane semi-trad has a dry bilge and to date is still bone dry and the rear deck drainage system ensures that no rainwater enters the engine bay or cabin either. H&L seem to have beaten the standard by at least 9 years!!.
The mind buggles
... my claim is to have started a trend to also paint the bilge inside as the clean metal had ran out! about the mid 70's is when damp got well sussed out as a thing.The mid eighties, the metal got canned.I'm curious to know if any types of sandwiches survived the Bilgemonster!?
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My 1975 ish springer had a dry bilge, but that was built in by whoever put the wooden top on it.
N
1987-started it becoming a standard
Surveyors and insurance company staff can be a marker point on this sort of detail.
Wet bilge conversion is best suited to serious restoration/rennovation projects as the labour involved in clearing back to metal is mental! You may also need to be prepared to find holes!
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Something that people forgot is that you can also "bond" constructions with dark matter such as wedges and pockets. If you aquire these by increments through the build you could end up with everything easy to remove. That is working narrow and in the box for you! The last piece you fit will possibly need screwing down to prevent anyone picking it apart; but this can be incorporated into the chandlery fixings.
Common problem; sorting it all out then never going anywhere!
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Personally I would say that one week to do below the gunnel, and a week to do above, is about right, rather than doing it all in one.
You can then
Day one
Pressure wash off and start surface prep of blacking and full inspection.
Day two
Finish blacking surface prep and primer bare metal
Day three
Coat one blacking and begin preping remainder of below gunnel side.
Day three
Second coat blacking, priming etc of area above.
Day four
Coat one of area above and messing around other things like repacking stg.
Day five
Coat two of area above and messing about with things like painting your gas locker
Day six
Some contingency time but also any thing else want to get done
Day seven
Back in the water.
Then do the topsides when the ground is higher up and less far to fall head long onto!
Daniel
That seems a much less frightning list!
I would just add the price of materials to the start; and probably set that before even enquiring
about products, mostly 300, 500 or 1000 incremental choices; and it costs 20 to go out the door, goes at the end!
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As Tony mentions, you realy need to get a bit more "fussy" to track it down! Completely clean the suspect area and anywhere above or besides, where oil could be flowing from and consequently end up in that area. Run it for a bit, then investigate with the side of some tissue paper or suchlike, touching it to suspect crevaces and bolted/nutted zones. you may find the leak when oil soaks up the fibres on the edge of the tissue paper.
I bet it's the casing bolts leaking a bit of oil.
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You may find that the flocking is in fact felting. If so you may be able to find someone to make new felts; as felting is having a revival; such a project could give some practice and practical use to the craft. Or have a go yourself?
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We used this. http://www.bushboard.com/range.asp?range=nuance
Worked well so far and far easier to apply than tiles.
John.
So how long is so far? I used some in a shower for a lip as the customer liked the finish and it was all they had! I sealed it in so no "bush" was showing, and it took about a week to soak a tin of varnish into the compacted pieces of compacted hedge cuttings it seems to consist of underneath the formica. It had such a huge absorbtion capacity that it may not show water ingress for ages; long enough for a whole series of beasties to set up a fairly large base camp?
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I believe red oxide is to blame. My previous NB was much the same; the blacking peeled off the red oxide.
Most people's experience seems to be that it really is not a good idea to have primer under blacking on steel canal boat hulls......
Although some say you can used "approved anti-corrosive primers", provided you stick firmly to over-coating time limits. Not obvious to me how you find out which ones are "approved" though!
It may not last as well as if you had left the primer off, I'm afraid.
Primer seems to have evolved into sticking and presenting a shiny finish more than absorbing corrosive molecular activity. Some even absorb compatible paint so well, that you could almost shine the primer, and merely stain the coating with overcoat. Rough sandpaper to it!
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hi all,i am contemplating replacing my battery bank before winter and was wondering if any one had any tips ie.do's and donts,for a person who has never done this operation before.i would say its a pretty standard setup as in 4 110ah leisure,1 starter,sterling battery charger and invertor,2 alternators.is there a sequence i should follow or just rip em' out and stuff the new ones in[if ya' know what i mean].allso i read here somewhere that when you buy new batteries that sometimes they can have dud cells,how do i ensure against this when i go to buy new ones.i was just going to replace them with the same ones that came with the boat,which i am pretty sure are just standard exide car batteries.they have lasted over four and a half years liveaboard (genny charging and no landline).so i dont see the point in fixin' what is not broken.am i mistaken?
thanks in advance.
First thing to mention is to make sure the connections are securely connected to the terminals when fitted. I have recently found a narrow boat yard that has an undisclosed policy of loosening the terminals as part of the service, and the result is a battery change once a year as standard!
It can also show a battery is knackered when the plastic sides bow out of true.
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Have a Happy New Year 'n all to all; but be carefull of killing your well nurtured seal with invasive fixings such as screws. Usually you get seals such as varnish to be more effective diluted on initial application to get them to soak in as much as possible, although some modern chemicals may not conform.
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It may well be within your capabilities stuart23! I would take the injectors out, as it is a simple job, and gives such a good idea of how much carbon is accumulating in the barrels. Something simple to check, but a rigmarole to get off in boats, is the sump, which will give you an idea of any dodgey wear from the quantity and quality of any metal particles settled in it, and in old engines, the mesh on the "oil pump sucker tube bit" may need a bit of degunking. Be carefull not to loose any gunk tho as you dont want it sucking into the bearing oil holes.
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Is the inlet tube now completely clear, why was the piece if pipe in it, was it some bodged important joinery, has the degraded stuff from it caused any problems?
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2.5...
Bosch 0 250 200 056
Champion CH 63
Lucas KLG GF 210/T
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The dstance will be defined by keeping the stove flue away from the heating unit by at least 3". Best check that distance though, as it's a whle scince I fitted a boat.
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Well he was right on one point probably It is not a "public" foot path, but a permissive one.
How is your ice up that end of the world?
They've forced the custodians out of that area and registered the towpath as theirs with the land registry now! Fortunately you cannot claim land by forcing people off it so one day they should loose it all.
As far as Pole fishing on the S.Oxford goes, I can't see why the fishermen don't just cross to the other side and drop a line at the edge of the bank, and do away with poking it from the opposite side with a long rod! I wonder what Freud would have to say about it?
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That's just great!
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As hot water rises up rising pipes, creating a pump, it is possible to make the hot water avoid heating the engine "environment", if you want, by directing it useing a partial "u" bend to pipe the water to and from the engine at the level required to get the "organic" flow required "sustainable". This is a muticultural method used by the indigenious population of Britain to provide a "low impact" and "carbon neutral" solution.
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Joe, as in Joe Springer?
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“They basically failed to heed the excellent safety messages contained in the MCA calendar 2010 for the months of Jan/Feb/Mar/Apr/May/Jun/Sep and Oct. Some still available from most Coastguard Stations!
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72' is fun in the way that it slots into the canals engineering, but sometimes that engineering may need checking
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It never ceases to amaze me what goes on in the medical scene, they've discovered and indeed mastered some incredible stuff, so at least you have an opportunity to get a glimpse into that world.
It's very usefull to hear about this sort of thing, as most of us will know someone with such problems, or indeed be in similar situations, thank you for sharing. Keep your head and heart, and the positive spirit then you'r winning whatever happens
I wish you all the best, and thanks again for posting.
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One thing that really gets on my wick is arbitary age limits and especially those who follow 'rules' to the nth degree.
The 'rules' might say that you cannot pilot a boat until the age of 18 but who cares! As long as the 17 year old knows what there doing what's the problem.
Not that I do not respect rules its just I don't respect rules that are absolute.
Oh for a bit or anarchy.............................
And some diesel of course!
Cutting phenolic faced plywood
in Boat Building & Maintenance
Posted
Setting a circular saw up to be cutting the board surface exactly flush is a fine start, as the blade cuts horizontally.