DHutch

Agree that on that basis, it doesn't make sense. You save maybe 200w per light converted to LED from Sodium, and need say 3000w per charge point even if they are fairly slow overnight chargers. HOWEVER from what I have seen, a lot of street lights are actually fed with reasonably with/from chunky underground cables to the point where I wonder if a reasonable number are actually wired directly into a phase the main domestic feed for the street. Certainly this is how most rural street lights are wired. At which point the load capacity of a street light could well be equal to that of a domestic 7kW single phase charger.

Locks, a lift, and an inclined plane indeed! I am a bit late to this thread, having been aware the new bridge has removed the road blocking the project at the time, I have recently started working at Runcorn/Weston and already doing a reasonable amount of boating Weaver, so its right up my street. There is a good fall between the two waterways, however it does seem a trifle overcooked to have three types of level change technology. from the information I've see the one staircase lock proposed appears to be in the location of the middle staircase. Therefore presumably both the lift and inclined plane have around two staircases' fall each. I don't know if any work has been done on a link to Weaver, and perhaps the 'winding hole' by the railway being 'two locks' down rather than one puts it at a better level for a link following Percival Lane and joining up to what remains of the old Runcorn and Weston canal. But certainly a link to the Weaver would make the link a more accessible and hence usable one the having to do 350yrds of the MSC! Its a maddening distance, with half of it being basically waste lane, but other half is active industrial works build over the old docks. Two key maps below. Daniel http://unlockruncorn.org/the-plan/ https://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/m.dodge/mappingmanchester/leech/

Hi, Depending on the computer you are currently using and the level of editing you want, you may have some basic image editing software, such as microsoft paint, bundled with the machine. Alternatively there are a huge number of options for image editing software, including some web-based solutions. However this is not my area of expertise and I cannot offer any specific suggestions. Daniel

Kerosene, domestic heating oil, yes. Apparently they have to take minimum of 500l at a time. I believe it now soots up within a few months, and they are struggling to find anyone who can service it. Both elderly. Hence my contact is trying to help them out of a hole. Daniel

A friend has a contact who lives on a boat and has a Hamco 2000 oil cooker, which is about 50 years old and needs replacing. It also heats the water They are looking for anything or anyone that could replace it for a newer version? I've said that oil cookers are not that common. However open to advice of a replacement and or suggestions of someone who can do the work. Potentially including converting to diesal/gas. Thanks Daniel

Hi, Sorry to hear you are having issues. I presume you still have access to the email address used? And have checked your spam folder? I can manually reset your pw and email it to the account email address. I can then also merge the two accounts, if both accounts PM me to confirm that. You can also get in touch with the site staff using staff@canalworld.net or our contact us form. @NewCanalBoy Daniel

We use Lieghs paints (SW now) and have done since the boat is new, in part because my grandfather is a Boltonian and used them decades before hand. We will certainly speak to them, however it's also good to get ideals and thought from here. Especially as what works commercially isn't always compatible with or the best option for the DIY boat application. It does however sound like a really searching thin paint, and encapsulation is the best route, rather than mechanical or chemical removal or conversion. Daniel

It's a 10mm base plate, effectively zero pitting on the outside, so we're not worried yet. But stopping the pits getting deeper is very much on the agenda.

Ok. And although it is talk about being used after grit blasting, it will be able to treat/eat/prep its way into 3-4mm think black rust?

Y See that sounds really promising, and our surveyor also recommended it, and it's that pitted even rain marks don't worry me. Roland's comments are less reassuring here. But have a read around the previous threads. As I understand it, slightly contrary to it's name, it does dry to form a hard and coherent surface, that you can walk on, over paint, grind off again, etc. All bit of over a few days. I guess a bit like Danish oil drys.

Yes, I mean we could blast it, but unless anyone can recommend somewhere with the kit that would do it for a reasonable cost in the NW, I still fear it's going to be prohibitive in terms of cost and mess. You have to sheet up the whole of the inside of the wheel house, from the floor to the folding sides, then the whole area below the floor which is about 3ft off the base plate, then stand in an 7ft deep hole shot blasting (your feet?) through the hatch in the floor. Which not damaging anything! Not that it wouldn't be nice to blast it! And as suggested below, I'm sure if there off tiny bits, the epoxy would bridge over just fine. That was my thought first time right at the start of this, before we used Vactan much at all, and it actually exactly what we did do 15 years ago, but it failed. Which is why we did it again, with Vactan, a few years ago, which has now failed again! Yeah, I mean it feels ok, and running at the designed circa 100psi it's got grunt. However when the compressor doesn't have the whaft you end up at 40psi very quickly, and have to wait for it to build again, and it just takes all day. I was having a bit of a dig around after we did some more needle gunning, and while some pits where ok, maybe one in ten you could easy chip a 4mm thick 6mm dia chunk out, and maybe as many as 50% had a mm or so of the black rust left. I did actually bring the chisel but we ran out of time to try it, however with what must be 100s if not 1000s of pits you would never be able to do anything one an individual basis for the whole area, even 2sqm that's just days of work. It would be faster to cut the whole section out in drydock and weld a new 5ft of baseplate in! Daniel See that sounds really promising, and our surveyor also recommended it, and it's that pitted even rain marks don't worry me.

Yes, I mean we could blast it, but unless anyone can recommend somewhere with the kit that would do it for a reasonable cost in the NW, I still fear it's going to be prohibitive in terms of cost and mess. You have to sheet up the whole of the inside of the wheel house, from the floor to the folding sides, then the whole area below the floor which is about 3ft off the base plate, then stand in an 7ft deep hole shot blasting (your feet?) through the hatch in the floor. Which not damaging anything!

Yes. It claims 4cubic feet a min average, but that must be a low duty cycle! More like 10-15 while running I would guess.

Also just and overall comment to say a huge thanks to everyone who has commented on the thread so far. I've tried to keep up with the replies, and answer the questions raised, but if I've missed the odd one let me know! Daniel

Granted, I have had one the same for one place of work, and likewise for Lowri's flat. You can get them in all colours. But blue/green seems much more common then red/orange! However, what I want to know is what this one is for! 😆 Ahhh. Now that could be it. My gut feeling is it is for somewhere north, that I've not been to. The Lancaster fits that in a way not many places do. Also for facilities, not a Marina. At which point, it seems like it is now defunct! Daniel

As I understand it, black ferroso ferric rust (Fe3 O4) is formed rather that conventional red rust (Fe2 O3) when there is a shortage of oxygen, such as under a robust but failed paint surface, or if you have water trapped under oil or the like, and rather than coming of nicely it's a right pig! And it's magnetic... I'm not a chemist, but I can vouch for it being a pig to remove! Maybe we should sharpen our needle gun, and or get a 3-4hp compressor!

I wish the needle gun got it back to bright. Often it's very good, if the rust is in the early stages, nice loose fluffy red rust, off like a flash and a lot better at taking the failed coating off to access it that a wire wheel. However the black rust when it's had limited oxygen, deep at the bottom of these pits, is good and hard the surface so 3D at 3mm+ deep the gun seems to struggle. This also not helped by the size of the task, as the compressor can't keep up with gun, so you end up running at lower pressures and powers even if you wait for it to get back up for the harder bits and or a final blast. It's 'only' machine mart Clarke Air model, and I'm sure an industrial model with a 5+hp compressor to match and sharp needles would do more. But it certainly can't get this area of the boat upto good enough to put even surface tolerant epoxy ali onto. Daniel

Infuriating isn't it! This bottom is 30 years old. And maybe this is the answer. Forget about trying to get any paint to stick, and go down the Owatrol Oil, Waxoyl, Dinatrol route? Early post about Waxoyl being porus noted, if slightly supprised by that comment?

We mix the base well before measuring, if typically carefully and vigorously with a stick rather than drill, due to the cleanup issues with two pack. The ali epoxy base is so thick you can stand a spoon in it and it be there days later. When fresh from the factory a few days earlier, we just use it. After about a year it with settle with a 5mm layer on top, and again we beat that into it well.

Right. Which is presumably the case with all of them? Either they contain a primer, or they need rinsing? Obviously as you suggest, while rinsing and drying is easy with a part in a workshop on a nice day happy days, hose and airline it off,. lovely. When it's part of the boat however, you don't want to rinse it into the canal or onto another part your trying to paint, or the bilge, it's more faff. If maybe in this instance, less faff than starting again 2years later!

The epoxy ali we use is harder, and more brittle than some, certain compaired to dacrylate which appears to remain reasonable soft even 24-48hour in when I assume it's reached effectively full cure. However, we understand the importance of a good mix, and mixed all our two part paints (epoxy and the acrylic urethane topcoat) carefully and accurately using a microbalance and the manufacturers guidelines, including running out of the two parts at about the same time which is always a good indication! Daniel