SamKingfisher

Word of warning re the maplin charger - mine has been on back order now for AGES. Still no sign of it.

I have a Henry. It's great - 600w good suction and seems to have a soft start motor (if that's possible). Imagine it would run fine off the inverter if it hadn't packed up. The inverter that is. I've been through 3 sterling inverters now and wouldn't buy another.

I went to have a look, and have some photos I'll try and post. It's a mess. Access is terrible. To complete the manoeuvre they'd planned, the beast had to go right on the edge of a naff bit of towpath. There was only going to be one outcome of that . . .

Hi. I have a thermo top c which came with the boat. I have almost all the bits it needs to work, except the wiring loom. I have a silencer and a 7 day timer. As far as I'm aware it worked fine but was in the process of having the silencer fitted when I bought the boat. It was disconnected for the boat safety as had no exhaust. Is it worth owt? I was thinking of having it bench tested so I could sell it as working and serviced - is that a waste of time and money? If anyone wants it they are welcome to make me an offer. What I don't want to do is forget about it til it really has had it . . . It's between 12 and 18 months since it ran. Thanks for any tips.

Well. I think it was on it's way to field locks - they were already 3 weeks behind, and had previously got a crane stuck in the mud, so were planning to use a temporary metal roadway for this one. Luckily I've just brought back my Thetford cos it looks like it may be a while before I can get to dobson for a pump out! Dowley gap and the aqueduct shut in the other direction - Dowley also 3 weeks behind. Edit - missed lots of posts for some reason - yeah def for dobson not field I think - for field you'd use the access from the sewerage works road I think.

I have one. Differential thermometer and pump from solar project (6W one is fine) and a radiator painted black in a glass fronted box as a collector. It works really well when there is actual sunshine, but needs topping up when overcast - so this year I am going for an evacuated tube panel. Then I will be more worried about boiling the calorifier but will either deal with that in a low or high tech manner. Low tech = covering the panel when I go away . . It's great when it's working. Free hot water!

Wait and see! I'm only talking about protecting the bow. I've seen people moving their boats with a whole other boat at the front . . edit for typo

If the stove has the official morso back boiler, it keeps the back of the stove pretty cool (less than 99degC all being well!) as long as it's in use, i.e. not emptied and disconnected. Obvs this doesn't change the regulations, or what you should do, but it does add some peace of mind. The flue is much hotter than the back of the stove, when a boiler is fitted. When I moved mine, from the previous owner's setup, the wood was scorched despite being behind tiling and fireboard. There was no insulation or airgap. edit to add That was before I fitted the boiler of course

For the benefit of anyone new like me, wondering whether they should do an oil & filter change - what a piece of p**s. Do it today and don't keep putting it off . . . .So much easier than on a van. Isn't that pump thing great? Nanni 4.195HE if you're interested. Anyone else got one of those? And a tip a la Bizzard. If it's nippy out, run the engine til it's nice and warm, and do the oil change just before you turn in for the night. Pump the warm oil out into old pop bottles and take them to bed with you - one for each extremity. Bliss. Screw the tops on well though! .

Oh I like the sound of iceboards! I can't think of much finer than a midnight trip through the ice on a still night with a full moon - and not to feel so trapped, I'm miles from pump-out. Having had a good look at the blacking, it seems that I've scoured mine off fairly effectively at the bow, from maybe 1/2 hour through fairly thin stuff. I suppose it stands to reason - the difference between running my hand through water (pleasant) and running my hand through ice (blood everywhere eventually). The blacking at the sides looks ok, so far as I can tell. A sheet of water boil ply cut into lengths, hinged - or just tied together - and hung over the bows aye? And now I'd feel OK about passing people, so thanks for clearing it up for me.

Just wondered if it was a "thing" - like slowing down for moored boats. And whether I should check and touch up the blacking at the waterline more frequently than if it didn't happen.

Yes - that's why I was asking not complaining! So how much damage does it do to your boat? Am I wise to have a go myself if I need to get to water / pump out?

So, when boats come past me on my mooring when it's icy - are they grinding my blacking off? Because it sounds like it from on the boat! It's quite some noise. We're talking of 1-2cm of ice that's being broken. This morning it was a CRT tug and butty, taking 3 goes to get through - I accept that they have somewhere to be, and work to do, but is it bad manners to run a trip boat or private boat past on a semi-regular basis? Obvs it's bad for your own blacking (I've been daft enough to take mine off somewhat, though not whilst going past past any other boats).

I've done the whole boat and I think they're great. Mix of bedazzled and puffer. Putting some very thin gauzy yellow material around the shades, or loosely over the ceiling lamps provides a very warm light without making them too dim, if you find them too cold. Good for tunnel light too - done some night cruising just putting one of the table lamps with 2.8W cluster out on the front deck. Loads brighter than the original incandescent spotlight. Not such a problem with voltage drop either.

OK, I had a good look at it, and while the gutters were clean and took water away just fine, however there was some nameless gunk trying to form a bridge between the deck plates. I have removed that and am now waiting for it to rain again. I don't have access to a hose, and I'm not sure how well I can mimic rainfall by flinging the cut at it. At one point, the deck plates touch, a proper interference fit, is this a bad thing I wonder, in terms of water getting where it shouldn't. Will update when it rains.

Good point. Will do.

Aye, you can see it dripping down. And I never have to pump the bilge during dry spells. I'm not sure I'd eat my dinner off em. I'll have a good look at them tonight, but when I last gave them and the pipes a really good clean it didn't seem to make any difference. When it was last happening I lifted the deck and the gutters weren't near overflowing. Yep. I might give the gaffer a go, I wasn't sure it'd be up to it but if it is I'm not fussed about the look of the thing. There are some shocking leaky locks around me on the L&L (60ft boat, can't avoid it) and I regularly get completely soaked, but for some reason this drenching doesn't seem to find its way through the deck in any large quantity. It's slow, relentless dripping that fills her up.

Happy new year all. This is a long standing problem, since buying the boat, that I thought I could cure by putting some vinyl cut to size on the stern deck to cover the cracks where you lift up the hatch to get at the weed hatch. But even with the back deck covered, when it rains it still drips into the engine bilge. I don't think that the vinyl has made any difference at all. I have checked that the U section and pipes are clear, though it's fair to say that the U section gutter and the cracks don't line up perfectly, though one is still under the other. I'm just wondering if this is a common problem, and if so how is it sorted. I'm looking at pints collecting in the bilge with every rainy day.

Aye, surely if I was in a house, and using redundant shower cable to power an immersion, I'd fuse for the immersion not the cable? Hypothetically.

OK - cheers! For some circuits such as my solar hot water, the total draw is something like 0.8A - given that you can't buy a 1A MCB I am going to put an inline fuse on that one. Or just rewire the circuit with fuse wire (joke)

I presume that now I have changed all my lighting from incandescent/halogen to LED I should, to be safe and correct, change the MCB to one that is rated for the new maximum amps drawn by the LEDs, i.e. 16amp MCB to 6amp MCB. Or does it not matter, as a short will trip the 16amp MCB just the same as it would have before? I helped clean up after an electrically caused boat fire in Exeter (pretty bad one) the other day and it's rather concentrated my mind.

Thanks! Very clear answer and I will do it asap. Yes, I have that too.

Thanks. I would never use the short power and inverter together, seems obvious not to. Yes. I quote "The ground wire in the AC junction box on the output of inverter is connected to the chassis" and - wait for it - "The neutral (common) conductor of the inverter's output circuit is connected to chassis ground. Therefore, when the chassis is connected to ground, the neutral conductor will also be grounded. This conforms to dadada in same way that neutral conductor from utility line is tied to ground at AC breaker panel" This isn't an uncommon inverter (Sterling) and I'm suprised that it's such as surprise to you . . . Simple question - shall I tie this lug to the boat chassis? Yes or No I know it's yes, but I'm a catious otter. Also, do narrowboat 12v circuits have a chassis ground in the same way that a vehicle does? When I've grounded the inverter (if I ought) will then an inline RCD work to protect us equally with the inverter as it will with the shore power? Cheers - I'm learning fast but I have to start somewhere . .

Hi - I've been reading up on this topic on here, i.e. that one of the "live" 240AC feeds from the inverter needs to be connected to "earth" to provide a neutral, and therefore safety. The inverter has a lug on the chassis for this purpose. I just want absolute confirmation from someone who knows what they are talking about, that I should take an earth wire from here (inverter lug) and tie it to my steel hull - which seems like a big deal to me as I imagine this same hull is also used as a ground for the 12v electrics? In my ignorance I fear that they might "argue" with each other. Also that I should tie the earth from the (about to be installed) shore power to this same earth? I am going to fit a GI and an RCD, I know this isn't relevant to the question just getting it said. Less importantly . . In addition to the 2.5kw MSW inverter I also have a 600W PSW one - do I ground this one in the same place or is it true what the seller told me that I can't hurt myself with 600W? Am I even right to think "what the heck have I got two inverters for anyway?" as the MSW will probably run the PC fine when I bring it on board . . . Thanks in advance, Sam

Gate replacement at Dobson and Field locks near Apperley Bridge on the L&L. From 03/01/2013 to 08/03/2013 expected to take much sooner than 08/03.