Dave_P
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Posts posted by Dave_P
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13 hours ago, MoominPapa said:
Came through Leicester today. It seems that Covid has changed where people moor, along with so much else. Both sets of pontoon moorings completely empty, and two boats on the towpath side of the straight mile. No boats at all in Birstall. I won the sweepstake for number of moving boats encountered whilst passing through Leicester from Kings Lock to Junction Lock with a grand total of .... zero.
MP.
Then I can hope that my London prediction is true, and I get it all to myself! ?
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1 hour ago, Ally said:
The southern end of the Soar has remained pretty quiet. 2 to 3 boats a day generally so far. Only seen one day hire boat.
Yesterday afternoon there were about 2-3 every ten minutes going past me at Norton Junction on the GU. A bit quieter today, but still a few per hour. Judging by Moomin's comment above, they're mainly avoiding the Leicester line. Maybe people think Leicester is still locked down, like it was last summer.
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11 hours ago, David Mack said:
That's why I have a folding bike on the boat.
I do normally have a bike with me. But for complicated reasons I won't go into here, my bike is currently elsewhere.
11 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:So now when you get your new accumulator, tape the thread, 3 full turns, wound the same way round as the thread, and screw it into the Hep2O fitting on the plastic pipe.
You have a 15mm Hep2O to 3/4" BSP Female fitting on the pipe.
Difficult to make you a plumber overnight, it used to be a 5 ear apprenticeship, but you are doing quite well !
You will need to set the air pressure in the new accumulator. Fit it as it comes pre charged (hopefully! ) and switch the pump on. Let water out of all the taps to get rid of the air. Close all taps and let the pump run until it stops. Very, very, slowly release air from the Shrader valve on the top until the pump just starts again. Done. If you let too much air out top it up again to about 40 psi with a bike pump. And try again.
I've read this a few times and I think I understand. Thanks.
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Update: At 3:30 I discovered that the nearest place I could get PTFE tape was an hour and a quarter walk away. And the place closes at 5:00. So of I went at a brisk trot to get there before it closed. I made it, and after a 2 and a half hour round trip, and returned with a roll of tape - cost 60p! I've now refitted it all and, hallelujah, it seems to be holding (touch wood). Well it's been a rather tiring day. My phone tells me I've walked 28,000 steps, which is good exercise, and best of all, I get to have a shower now.
Thanks everyone for all your help - especially Tony, I think I owe you a pint some time.
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This is all the bits
This is all the bits loosely screwed together
This is inside the brass fitting which was on the bottom of the accumulator.
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1 minute ago, Tony Brooks said:
I think we really need to see all that parts laid out. I think there may be a rubber washer missing but can't be sure. To be honest it looks a bit of a bodge to me and I can't think of any "houshold2 items that would take the place of PTFE tape, not that I think the lack of it is the problem.
I'll take a picture. The brass fitting I took off the accumulator has ptfe tape in the thread, so that's why I assumed that. Give me 2 minutes
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7 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:
That looks like a plastic pipe equivalent of a compression fitting, I don't know how it sealed to the accumulator and the new one may not screw onto it. Lets see the bottom of the accumulator.
There's another piece which I've found which I thought was part of the accumulator, a brass fitting. I've taken that off and it all goes together now! So I put it all on and it's weeping. I suppose there should be some ptfe tape in the thread? I don't think I have any of that. Any clever ideas?
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Update. I got a threaded plug as recommended by Tracy as a temporary fix. Manged to get the accumulator off but I can't get the plug onto the fitting. It's the right plug I think but there's a plastic bit sticking up which prevents the plug from going on. Can I cut this plastic bit off to get the plug on, or is it needed for something?
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2 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:
Does it say for Potable water? Is so then yes, if not then no, especially as it says a steel body and no mention of the internal coatng.
It doesn't mention it. They also do a blue one which doesn't mention it either. The advantage of MC is that I can go in a talk to them. I could even take the old one in to make sure I get the right size.
2 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:I hope so!
Me too.
Thanks for all the help so far folks!
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I've ordered a threaded stopper thingy which should arrive at an amazon locker near here by 1pm tomorrow. I can try and put that on so I can have a wash! Then I can wait until I get to Braunston and pick up this:
Is that the right thing?
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2 minutes ago, matty40s said:
Thanks. There's no way what I have can be 25 litres. I think I'd have to start dismantling my wardrobe to get that in!
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Just now, Tony Brooks said:
I would try griping it and see if it will unscrew anticlockwise.
The accumulator does seem to turn, but I was nervous of doing that!
1 minute ago, Dave_P said:Ahh, so it's not a specifically boat thing?
Are they called something else?
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Just now, Tony Brooks said:
Any Toolstation, Screwfix or p;umbers merchants. Just make sure its for potable water, often but not always blue. 5 litres or larger will do.
Ahh, so it's not a specifically boat thing?
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6 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:
If its loosing water from the steel shell it has already leaked from the rubber bladder inside, its scrap, you need a new one.
Incidentally the red ones are usually for sealed central heating systems and not for fresh potable water at all.
If you cannot find one quickly, put a treaded plug, most likely 3/4" BSP thread, in the tee that it is screwed into instead. Then you can have water but will have a burping pump and may be an initial weep from the PRV when you warm the calorifier up.
Is it this what you mean? https://www.plasticpipeshop.co.uk/34-BSP-Threaded-Plug_p_4270.html
The problem is I can't even see anything. The accumulator is sitting on a wooden base and is boxed in underneath. I can't even work out how to remove the accumulator right now. And I'm tired! I'll be able to look again in the morning.
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9 minutes ago, matty40s said:
Replace, any competent boatyard should be able to fit, stop cock off, pump off, drain taps and leave open, let pressure out of existing accumulator.
Eat strawberries.
Replace like for like*(cant see pipes but hopefully just push fit, so take fittings from accumulator and stick on new one.
Thanks. Can you recommend anywhere round here?
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On 25/03/2021 at 16:01, blackrose said:
I'm not suggesting it, it's a well known fact. It's not a significant voltage, it's a very small voltage. What would cause it is the potential difference between two electrically bonded dissimilar metals immersed in an electrolyte. Look it up. Plenty of articles online.
Surely you remember science lessons at school where zinc and copper electrodes on the end of wires were inserted in a lemon and produced enough voltage to illuminate a small light bulb. How do you think that works?
Thanks for the info. I barely remember school, even less specific lessons regarding lemons. I do have a vague understanding of galvanic corrosion, anodes and cathodes (not learned from school). As I wondered earlier, why don't narrowboats have anodes spaced every six feet along the hull?
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Here's some pics in case that helps
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I noticed my pump (Jabsco Parmax 2.9) was cycling this afternoon. I was on the move so I turned the main switch off and left it to investigate when I moored up. When I checked the accumulator (the round metal thing next to the pump?) was peeing out water all over the place
It was leaking from the join around the middle.
I turned the pump back off and also the main cock from the water tank and dried things out as best I could. I then tried to bodge it with some duck tape, which predictably didn't work.
So I'm looking for advice. Presumably I need a new accumulator? Or can I repair this another way? I've got a tube of epoxy putty arriving at an amazon locker tomorrow which I'll try to patch it with.
I'm currently at Lapworth and heading down Hatton Locks tomorrow. The next obvious place to get a new accumulator is the chandlery at Braunston but that's at least a couple of days away, and to be honest I'd rather let someone fit it for me if possible. Does anyone know a reliable mobile engineer round here, or a boatyard who might be able to do it? Saltisford? Kate Boats?
All advice gratefully received, but be warned I've a track record of cocking things like this up when I try to do it myself.
I'll try and post a photo of the accumulator.
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40 minutes ago, Onewheeler said:
Rather than anodes, I might be tempted to place a piece of mild steel chain under the boat along its length and connect a small solar panel between it and the hull to give active protection. Make sure the panel is connected the right way round! It won't stop it rotting from the inside though.
This sounds interesting. Can you explain more? How would I know which way round to connect the panel? Can you draw a diagram? Would there have to be lots of contact points along the hull or would the whole boat just become a cathode and gradually get thicker?
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7 minutes ago, Mad Harold said:
I think it would be simpler (and cheaper) to simply get it to where you want it,clean it up and paint it whatever colour you like.
You said you have plenty of helpers,so once in place a couple of days work.
Couple of things. Painting the outside of the boat wouldn't be possible if that happened. And CRT have to lift it out in order for it to be legally seized.
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2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:
Or, just buy a plastic pond liner from the garden centre.
Well yes, that's the plan I think.
7 minutes ago, BEngo said:If you stick any piece of mild steel in water it will corrode. The steel itself is not homogenous ( there are lots of bits where the composition varies, there are carbon inclusions etc... ) and some parts are more anodic than others. These corrode fastest and usually form pits. The chemistry at the very bottom of a pit is complicated but creates the conditions that make the pit grow.
Blacking keeps the water away from the metal. Anodes provide an anti-corrosive potential so that even the most anodic bits of steel are less anodic than the Anodes. This means the Anodes corrode before the steel. Empirically, the Anodes have an effective range of about 6 feet.
In this case the hulk is going to corrode from the inside out, as well as the outside in.
The ideal thing to do with the hulk would be to blast it inside and out and then apply an epoxy coating system designed for in water use. You could then forget it for 20 plus years.
N
This is something I've heard before. On that basis I ought to have 9 anodes on each of my hull sides and another 9 anodes along the baseplate of the hull. 27 anodes in total. Typically a narrowboat might get 4 anodes. 2 at the front and 2 at the back.
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7 minutes ago, blackrose said:
I don't really understand this? Anodes are added to provide sacrificial protection to steel on all sorts of underwater objects, many without any electrical systems. They work by introducing galvanic action between the dissimilar metals to the detriment of the less noble metal. It has nothing to do with the electrical system onboard a boat, unless of course there is a fault with the electrical system involving the hull in which case the anodes might fizz away much quicker.
If that's right then you're suggesting that some kind of significant current is likely to be found around a boat with no electric system, is not moving and there are no other boats nearby. If so, what would cause that? I would have thought that any galvanic corrosion would be minimal and not really worth bothering with new anodes for. The hull may have some old anodes on it anyway.
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15 hours ago, matty40s said:
Forget the anodes, not needed if no electrics.
It depends on how long you want your project to last, but blacking should suffice, both internal and external to prolong the metal life........however, its structure will probably last for years anyway, and maybe it should be allowed to dissolve into the natural environment on it's own.
Thanks for this. I couldn't see a point to the anodes either. It seems the boat yard have just sent out a standard blacking quote. That concerns me, as it implies that they haven't really thought about what's needed here. I've advised my friend to ask about a DIY option so we can make sure it's done properly. The charity is not short of helpers and yours truly can oversee the operation.
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13 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:
Is it going to be moved?
Yes. The boatyard is about a day's tow from the final resting place.
1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:I'm struggling to think how this will look like anything other than an abandoned hulk with water lillies growing in it (like that one on the Stourbridge you refer to) unless it's moved off the canal. Might be nice on a traffic roundabout.
You may be right, but I think I'd quite like the look of an abandoned hulk with waterlilies in it. My friend is a very capable horticulturist so I'm sure she's got some think great planned.
Boat sparky in the Birmingham area?
in Boat Building & Maintenance
Posted
Hi Ian,
First, you haven't been deleted: https://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?/profile/2164-nine-of-hearts/
Second, I used to use an excellent boat sparky but he seems to have decided to become totally unreliable/uncommunicative, so I'd be interested in the answers too. In the meantime, what about Richard at Sherborne?
Hope all is well at the Port.
Dave