rob@501

AJ, you are quite right. Calcutt have quoted me in the region of £1100 on a new PRM 260, and I'm beginning to wonder if thats not the way to go. ( bloody boats ) but as already been mentioned the 260 does have a reputation for being boom-proof. So I think my best course of action is to get the box off and then have a rethink. In the mean time I'll get onto PRM Marine as you suggest David. Once again many thanks to all for taking the trouble to reply. I will keep you posted as and when.

Extremely red faced here 160 NOT 150, the replacement would be a 260. Senior moment Thanks to everyone who has taken the trouble to reply. Still cant believe I wrote 150. What a T1t.

I'm taking out my PRM 150 gearbox this week,the reason being I have little or no forward momentum , whilst I could go water skiing in reverse. I've checked the obvious lever controls and have replaced the filter/strainer (now no longer available) with a blanking off bolt thingy. All to no avail. Now my options are as I see it: Go out and buy a reconditioned gearbox (PRM 260) for which I've been quoted £700; or take it to the nearest marine engineer and have him strip it down and quote me for the repairs, assuming the parts are available. I've been advised by the boatyard to go for the first option, the argument being I won't save myself much cash, and that way I should get a guarantee on the recon gearbox. I don't want to spend more than I have to, (cash being tight) but at the same time I don't want to regret trying to do it on the cheap. Anyone care to offer an opinion on what they would do, or hazard a guess at the cost of letting the engineer do the job?

Thanks to all those who took the time to reply Taking your advice, I'll be replacing both the regulator and the tap. These are selling on Ebay, as a set for around £28 including new tails. In fairness to the chandlers at the yard, I'm sure what they are selling at £50 are automatic changeover. I will see what price they can come up with for manual changeover. Rob

Hello All. Long time forum reader here and grateful for all the information over the years. I've spent a couple of days last week preparing the boat for its BS check next week. This has involved installing a new on demand water pump and then repairing the subsequent leaky pipework. Satisfied that all was working OK, I turned my attention to the Paloma water heater. All seemed OK, plenty of on demand hot water. I only mention the above because I don't believe in coincidences. Satisfied I had achieved what I had set out to do for the day, I set about packing up my tools and heading off home. I have the fairly standard gas supply configuration, Two bottles connected by hoses(tails) to a 3 way brass valve/tap (either bottle open or supply closed). Then gas pipe to regulator and then on into the boat. On leaving for the day I turned the 3 way brass tap to the off position, and pop off it shoots. I'm not talking bang take your eye out pressure but just enough to shoot it out of the valve. Ive repositioned it several times and each time it has popped off within 5 seconds of turning the gas on at the bottle. Now my question is a)Is this tap just old and worn or b)Is the regulator knacked or c) something else.? I can buy a new regulator and 3 way tap set for £50 from the chandlers. Boats 30 years old BTW, tap and regulator could easily be the same age. Any ideas or thoughts on the matter greatly appreciated. Rob

If you want to whileaway a few hours, you can do worse than to take an amble along the as yet unused Grantham canal as wife, dog and I did last Sunday morning. Walking in glorious September sunshine along the well tended towpath/cycleway in the direction of Grantham, with Belvoir castle high on the hill, in view the whole time, it is easy to imagine how wonderful it will be (soon, lets hope) with boats there on the water. I predict this will be one of the most popular stretches of canal anywhere in the country in years to come. Make sure you leave enough time to get to the Dirty Duck PH at Woolsthorpe By Belvoir for a pint or two of Green King IPA.

Nice one Snibble, large washer either end and away you go. Also a thanks to you other guys for making me aware of the potential pitfalls of pipe fenders. This is why I read this forum, practical knwledable advice.