Boredrider

At the end of last season we had our Nobels BT motor rebuilt by an Auto Electrical Specialist in Tamworth. I can provide further detail if you need it, but they said that parts were freely available and were common to other, more well known brands of electrical motor. Ours needed new brushes and a brush box. The contactors are also easily available. Are you able to say more specifically what needs doing on yours?

That's where the cash got splashed. On a paint thickness meter, before starting the job.

One side was done in March this year, and is still looking good. It has been washed twice in the season, with Autoglym shampoo. The roof, which is Epiphanes Red, needed cutting/polishing again after four months, but I didn't cut it as hard on the first attempt. I think that if you invest a bit of time, cash, and effort you will get a finish that will least at least six months, so beginning of the cruising season, and maybe the end, before winter.

I cut with Farecla G3, polished with Autoglym Super Resin Polish, and topped with AutoGlym Extra Gloss Protection. It worked well for me, but you should try a test patch first! I have no idea if there is silicon in the Autoglym products.

Here is a chart that is referred to elsewhere in the forum. I found it very useful when trying to understand how the tides wok on the Trent. I can also confirm that the Trent Boating Association charts are very good at showing you how to avoid the various obstacles and hazards.

Panic over! Spurred on by the prospect of a huge bill from RCR/Burton Waters I spent a long time down the weed hatch yesterday, using a little tool called a Prop Mate that I picked up at Crick a few years ago. That managed to get the rest of the material off, and then the wire could be unwound with a pair of mole grips and some brute force. All seems to be running OK today and I have stood RCR/Burton Waters down accordingly. Huge thanks to all the contributors to this thread.

A quick update: Thanks in part to Zenataomm's suggestion we have managed to get enough material off the prop to get it turning. In the absence of RCR's towing facility we are proposing a 2.5 mile reverse at low revs tomorrow, and a lift out at Burton Waters on Monday (the cost of this is not covered by RCR membership). Thanks also to everyone else for their help and suggestions.

The bank is pretty low, and we have used the keb to haul out most of the fabric, and most of the frame of the brolly. But the bit left wound around the prop is very tight indeed, and at 4mm is not going to unwind, even if you could get a serious grip on it. The propshaft will not turn. The "wire" needs cutting off with a hacksaw, or bolt cutters. My latest move is an email to the local sub aqua club.

The nice lady at RCR says that Burton Waters do not have a vessel that can tow a 60' narrow boat. So that means getting a tug from somewhere else. They will charge by the hour from leaving base, to returning to base. RCR will pay for two hours, I have to pay the rest of the time. She will be trying to find a tug tomorrow morning...........

I've got a hacksaw, and bolt cutters. The "wire" that this brolly is made from is 4mm springy steel and it is tightly wound around the shaft, in front of the prop. You can cut it, ashore and in ideal circumstances, but the RCR man can only just reach the shaft with his fingertips, at full stretch with his head and shoulder stuck down the weed hatch, let alone wield a hacksaw. He even considered going into the water, but there is no way he could reach the wire without breathing apparatus! When it caught, I was in reverse with very few revs on (Gardner 2LW) and it stalled the engine. The prop cannot now be moved at all.

Evening all, We are currently stuck on the VMs at Saxilby, on the Fossdyke. We have the remains of a very large angler's brolly wrapped around the prop, and neither I or RCR's engineer can remove it. RCR have provisionally arranged for the boat to be lifted out at Burton Waters marina on Monday, but Burton Waters have no tug and RCR cannot currently come up with any suggestions other than bowhauling the boat, or hailing a passing tug! We are about 2.5 miles from the marina, and facing the wrong way. I should add, perhaps, that Eclipse is a 60' Hudson, rumoured to weigh 23 tons all in, and the butler is nowhere to be seen......... All sensible (or humorous!) ideas welcome. Mike

A further read of the manual this morning reveals on page 7, under Important Note, a condition that gives your error. It looks like, after the system reset, the Smartgauge may be detecting the wrong battery voltage.

My manual says E04 + lo means the voltage has fallen below 9V. The error will clear as soon as voltage returns to within range. However E04 will stay on the display. Pressing any button will clear the error display. So, no need to do factory reset. But seeing as you have, did you then setup the unit from scratch? Also, given that you say in the original post that the batteries were turned off, are you 100% certain that the Smartguage is wired to the battery side of the isolators?

Locks open to all users this morning! (Tuesday 0900)!

"Update on 20/06/2016: The team completed laying the concrete on Saturday evening and returned to site on Sunday to finish pointing the cills and to manage the pumps. The completed works are currently being inspected by our engineers. We will be carrying out controlled tests on the gates tomorrow and then opening the lock on Wednesday morning with boaters being penned through the lock by the customer operations team on Wednesday and Thursday under a restriction. Staff will be on site to oversee the passages from 9am to 12pm and 1pm to 4pm. The locks will be padlocked at 4pm overnight." We are still at the bottom of the flight, and hoping to be part of the "controlled tests" tomorrow, Tuesday!

Concrete poured today, hoping for Tuesday opening.

Today's picture: Today's CRT update: Update on 16/06/2016: Following the closure of the lock on Sunday, investigations have confirmed voiding beneath the lock floor has caused the concrete that supports the bottom of the gates to lift up. This makes the lock unsafe to operate as it may fail suddenly whilst in use. Understanding the need for opening the Leeds & Liverpool as soon as possible the teams have been working to remove the concrete and design a repair, and the anticipated opening date is Wednesday 22nd June. Trust staff will continue to work over the weekend to complete the repair and a brief outline of the programme is given below: Thursday 16/6 Concrete broken out and removed Design agreed Materials ordered Steel reinforcement made up ready to be installed on site Friday 17/6 Steel reinforcement placed in the lock chamber Chute for concrete pour erected on site Delivery of materials etc Fill the voids below the lock Saturday 18/6 Placing of the Concrete Sunday 19/6 Remove equipment and temporary works from the lock Finish off any re-pointing around the concrete Monday and Tuesday 20 and 21/6 Allow the concrete to harden – this is really important to ensure that the concrete will last and that the gates are durable for the foreseeable future. Wednesday 22/6 Fill the lock with water and open up the canal A further update will follow on Monday.

Concrete now broken up, and latest estimate is for flight to be open on Monday. Before: Today:

"Update on 13/06/2016: Our teams have inspected the lock and confirmed that the concrete tail bay has lifted. We now plan to dewater the lock fully and cut up the concrete tail bay. Once this has been done we will be in a better position to plan the repair and estimate the duration of the closure. The dewatering and removing concrete tail bay will take a few days. An update will be issued on Thursday" Local information suggests that this is the fourth time the cill has lifted since the gates were fitted (?last year?). There is clearly "something going on" below the cill and this time round the engineers want to find out the root cause and sort it. The work may well go on into next week.

We arrived at the bottom lock at 1130, just after the stoppage was imposed! Local seasonal lockie's view is that it won't be as long as a week. Construction team due tomorrow. We are going to stick around for their assessment, and will post any further news received.

Smartbank Advanced. That will put both alternators to both banks, when appropriate. It will also give you a decent battery monitor.

We went into Liverpool last Wednesday, intending to moor at Eldonian overnight. The advice from the CRT guys was that, as we were a single boat travelling alone, Eldonian was not a good idea, so moor at Litherland. We took their advice. Litherland is fine, you are in a locked CRT compound, Tescos next door, chippie and pubs down the road. On the way to the locks by Stanley Warehouse I took a look at the basin at Eldonian. It is pretty isolated, and the first thing you see is a "shrine" in memory of the lad that was shot last November. In the company of a few other boats, it would have been OK. But solo, I don't think its a good idea, and neither do CRT.

"Three" mifis are supplied unlocked,and have been for at least 12 months.