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David Schweizer

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Everything posted by David Schweizer

  1. During a brief conversation with an angler at Wolfhampcote on Sunday, I commented that he was the first angler I had seen in four days. He informed me that there are virtually no fish in that sectuion of the G.U. because a "Carnivorous Creature was in the water which had eaten all the fish. So what is it and how did it get there?
  2. Well maybe we were unlucky, but there was so much rubbish and green weed at the Coventry end that it stopped the boat completely, and we had to put an enormous amount of power on to get through the entrance bridge. We did find out that the "Warden" who is normally based in the office in the basin had been on holiday for a week, so no clearing had been done for about ten days, but for that much rubbish to accumulate in ten days, does not say very much for those people who live alongside the Canal. On our way out we actually counted more than ten Sofas and Armchairs half floating in the water between Coventry and Hawkesbury not to mention the hundreds of coconuts. Three years ago we travelled through Stoke on Trent and passed through mile after mile of industrialized and developement areas, but the water was clean, and virtually rubbish free. if some cities can do it, why can't others?
  3. Having been through the same proccedure myself, which eventually confirmed that my BMC 1.5 engine was probably a Thorneycroft based engine built in 1981. I know how difficult dating some of these engines can be. Although I did not do it myself, I wonder whether a question on one of the Classic Vintage Vehicle forums would produce an answer. They seem to be much better informed about theses things than most Boaty people.
  4. What is the point of those silly pipe fenders whilst cruising? they only "protect" the rubbing strakes from contact with the lock sides, or another boat. Forgive me for being a bit dim, but isn't that what rubbing strakes are for (the hint is in the name rubbing strake). From my observation all the stupid things seem to manage to do is scribe a muddy arc fron water level to gunwale, wearing away the blacking from the hull sides. Or is it just Me??
  5. Ever been to Coventry basin Phylis? It is fairly unpoulated place during the day, with almost all the shops and commercial units empty, but at night, it can become a decidedly unfriendly place if you are there on your own, there were several boats moored when we stayed, but they were all unoccupied. I actusally like industrial towns along the canal but I would not go there again, the fight through rubbish soup for three miles was not worth it. Pity really because Coventry itself was really interesting.
  6. Oh very good!! Still that is beter than overnight ploughing, which we had on Sunday night, he finished at 2am, and started again a 7am.
  7. When we moored in Coventry Basin, we did not have any problem from drunks, although there were a few sitting in the small garden near the bridge all night. However, we daid have consistent problems all afternoon and well into the evening with a group of teenage boys who were clambering all over every ones boat. I managed to persuade all but one of them that it wasn't a good idea, but the one individual, who I am convinced had insufficient inteligence to understand what I was saying, continued to act like an idiot all day, with his mates just watching and sniggering. When we mentioned the previous day's problems to a security man touring the basin the following morning, he informed us the the CCTV cameras are only linked to the local 9am to 5pm security office, and are not linked to the Police control desk, so no one can see what is happening on them during the evenings, So a bit like burgler alarm box without any contents!!!!
  8. Our boat is 7ft wide and having once got well and truly stuck in a lock wth another boat which had pipe fenders down both sides, I will not even contemplate sharing a lock with another boat if they refuse to lift their fenders. We do have some of those flat black fenders which we use when moored up against concrete for lunch, but for overnight mooring and when the boat is on it's home mooring, we have two "Tyre Fenders". I made them from fairly small tyres, with S/S eye bolts bolted through the centre of the tread, and they hang conveniently from the side steps. Our boat is moored on a fairly busy, and not overwide section of the Northern GU and many boats pass too fast causing the baot to swing backwards and forwrds, the tyre fenders almost totally eliminate the rocking and banging which we would otherwise experience. And before anyone suggests that we should moor more tightly to prevent swinging, the water levels on our mooring can rise and fall signifcantly during the day, so if the level drops, the ropes loosen , no matter how tightly we have tied them.
  9. I have re-written my earlier post because the information I gave was muddled. In short the problem occurs (intermittantly) with the Sterling Alternator Controller connected, and with it disconnected. Similarily, it will also work with normally with the Sterling connected or disconnected. I will try the test when I next visit the boat, but am still confused as to why this should have suddenly started after years of no problems. The warning lamp fiitted at the moment is rated at 12volt, 2.2watt. Some while ago ChrisW suggested that I solder a 3watt 47ohm resistor across the warning lamp terminals, would this have the same effect as a bigger bulb? (I bought the resistor, but have not tried fitting it yet.) P.S. I am assuming that by bigger bulb, you mean higher wattage.
  10. Yes, reading it today, I realise that I have inadvertently given confusing information. I will re write it. Thanks.
  11. We have just spent the weekend on the boat, and as we wanted to do some cruising whilst the weather was fine, I did not fit the Albright solenoid straight away. Fortunately the Durite relay behaved itself and everything was Ok until this morning, when the old problem recurred - red indicator light staying on and no charge being registered on the ammeters. I fitted the Albright and wired it up. One success was that switching the key on did not cause it to close the contacts, unfortunately starting the engine did not close the contacts either, the red light stayed on and there was no charge being registered. I diconnected the Sterling Alternator Controller and tried again, but this made no difference. I then fiddled with the wiring, and as before removed the D+ wire from the warning light with the engine running, re-connected it and it worked on the second attempt. The contact points closed, the red light went out and a healthy charge registered on the ammeter. I then re-connected the Sterling, and everything continued to work correctly except that a higher charge was being registered on the ammetwer. I left the engine running and continued on to our moorings where I turned the engine off, and then re-started it, with then Sterling connected, and everything worked as it should do. I have now come to the conclusion that the fault almost certainly lies within the Alternator, (it is unlikely to be in the regulator as this is the third one it has had in the last few weeks). I am also certain that the fault does not lie in the Sterling Alternaor Controller as the fault occurs with it both connected and disconnected. One thing has occurred to me that the wire from the D+ may not be heavy enough, it's length must be 2.5 metres and it is quite thin, possibly only 1mm, or 1.5mm square, would heavier cable improve the situation? The next stage is to change the Alternator for a new (well, re-built) one to see if that finally cures the intermitant problem. Unfortunately I will not be doing this soon as I have to go into hospital next for an operation, which will leave me unable to do any strenuous work for about six to eight weeks. - One of the reasons we wanted to get a few more days cruising in before an enforced period of rest and recuperation. Edited :- to correct confusing description given in origional posting.
  12. I bought a set from Lidl a few years ago to keep on the boat, they work reasonably well in brass and mild steel, but the taps are basicly fairly roughly ground firsts, so are not much good unless you have sufficient space under the work, to run the tap all the way down, and pretty useless in blind holes.
  13. We have a PRM 160D (now known as the 260D) fitted on our boat. The engineer who re-built the engine a few years ago reckons that at canal speeds the PRM box does not require oil cooling. He was proved correct when one of the hydraulic hoses developed a leak, we removed it and connected the good one to the both unions on the box to maintain oil pressure. There was no oil passing through the cooler for several days cruising, until we were able to purchase a new hose. the box behaved perfectly normally and did not overheat without the oil being cooled, so he may well be correct.
  14. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  15. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  16. There is no such thing s an average time for locks, As Daniel has pointed out, well maintained "modern" double locks such as Hatton or Stockton take about ten minutes or less if you have a well organized team, wheras other old slow leaky single locks such as some on the Napton flight can take between 15 and twenty minutes. I allow an average of twenty minutes for each lock when planning a jopurney, and if they take less time, I arrive and moor up earlier.
  17. Whilst I accept that a H & S assesment might determine that there could be serious risks to pedestrians using the same space as motor vehicles, I have to ask does the same Local Authority apply the sames rigourous regulation to their public car parks, which will often have more vehicles in it, travelling at greater speeds, and no staff on hand to excercise any control. Quite frankly a lot of Local authorityy H & S regulation is misguided, and the produce of muddled thinking.
  18. OK, if I need one, where do I get one from? All the regulators in my spares box have a field wire soldered to them, If I connect that to the Battey, does that make the alternator battery sensing, or will it blow something up?
  19. The omission of a capital letter, I will accept is a typing error, although the intention was for it to be a comma not a full stop. However, anyone with more than a basic comprehension of the English language will have no problem with the commas, indeed without them, the sentences would be grammatically incorrect.
  20. That is much better than my response, and illustrates the naivety of Tomsk's statement.
  21. Where are you coming from Tom? One minute you are criticizing someone (me) for their alleged lack of comprehension of the English language, and the next moment, you are advocating the abolition of the apostrophe. the two stances are incompatible.
  22. Thanks. We are planning to spend a few days on the boat this weekend, so I will try out your suggestions.
  23. I thought that it was I who had a failing in the comprehension of the English language, You really should throw that spade away now, before someone fills in the hole with you still in it.
  24. Come on Carl, your son will know, he is one of the three farmers who try to capture Mr Fox, the other two are Bunce and Bean, (Not libelous at all)
  25. Right, I understand that, and as I have changed the Alternator once and the regulator twice (remember my "not charging problem thread?) I guess there is no way of actually telling without disconnecting the alterrnator and testing the voltage, or would disconnecting the field wire do that? The other thing which I have never fully understood is if the ammeter was showing a highest charge of 12amps without the controller, but showing 55 amps with it, does that actually mean that more is going into the battey or not? My limited knowledge of electrical theory suggests that Votls measure the pressure or force of electricity, whilst Amps measure the current or the amount of electric charge, but diffentiating between the two still cause me confusion when talking about charging batteries. I realise that this is basic stuff for an electroniocs person but any explanation would be helpful.
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