Dartagnan
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Posts posted by Dartagnan
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I agree with you. They forced crt to back down over so called ‘safety zones’ which was as I understand it was to prevent mooring in particular areas thus allowing rowers to use those areas. Whilst they thought they had ‘won’ crt have now started errecting ‘no mooring’ signs in those same places. Last I heard was that apparently the signs were secured with 13mm nuts or in some cases were no longer secured with said nuts😁😁
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32 minutes ago, Ray T said:
From John M. Hill's book "Colours for Cruisers."
He also produced a similar book for working narrow boats.Waterways World August 1989 has a four page article on scumbling by Tony Lewery.
Thank you for the article. I have read quite a bit about the subject but I haven’t seen this one.
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7 hours ago, Tonka said:
No the rear cabin was OK. It was the doors. But which part of the country, only asking as wife currently doing our doors at the moment
Sadly I am way down South near London.
4 hours ago, dave moore said:I suggest that the whole flaking area is flatted down, re undercoated then re grained before applying several coats of a quality varnish such as Craftmaster. Whereabouts are you? I may be able to help with the scumbling if you can prepare the areas. PM me for a phone number if interested.
Dave
Dave, that is an extremely kind offer and one that I will probably take you up on but I insist on paying. I am in Harefield but the weather seems to have changed and in addition I probably need to return to Belfast so it will probably be next year. I have done quite a bit of reading on the subject but I am devoid of any artistic skills.
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Parts of the scrumbling on my NB are staring to peel/flake. This is only on the side hatches and rear doors which when open are exposed to the elements. As the boat is nearly twenty years old and the scrumbling in the back cabin is unaffected it’s had a good innings. Where it has flaked there appears to be a cream base coat and the’ flake’ appears to be a form of acrylic or varnish substance. In no way do I have the skills of scrumbling but I would like to touch up the relevant parts or would I be better and waiting till funds allow and get all the doors re done by someone with the appropriate talent? I see one can purchase ‘scrumbling’ paint and I am curious as to what product to purchase. Clearly I would need very little. TIA Martin
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A nice, useful and informative update. Thank you
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6 hours ago, Bee said:
Hate buying batteries, its so hard to research and compare plus I think a lot of batts are the same but with different labels. I reckon they should be sold by the kilo like cheese. it seems to me that big, heavy batteries are better than smaller ones no matter what the labels or advertised amp hour is.
Unless part of the battery contains concrete as happened recently when someone purchased a ‘drop in’ lifepo4 battery sourced from China. When the battery didn’t perform as expected it was dismantled where the concrete was discovered😂😂
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1 minute ago, David Schweizer said:
I supose living in the sticks has to have some advantages, Our local Agricultural Merchant is selling Paraffin at £7.99 for a 4 litre container. Some Camping shops also sell it and I have seen it advertised at £6.99 for 4 litres, but no where near London!
Many thanks. Unfortunately there aren’t many advantages of being in London that I can think of and I would most definitely prefer to be ‘living in the stocks’ at present and not just for the paraffin😁
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3 minutes ago, OldGoat said:
FWIW - paraffin was cheap / inexpensive and still is if you can buy it as 'heating oil' or kerosene. However from a retailer the product is produced further up the distillation stack (dunno what the correct term is) and thus more expensive.
I've no idea where you can get 'heating oil' in small quantities and petrol is a no-no.
(I just dip my central heating tank when I need to clean anything metal...
Thank you. Until a few years ago most central heating systems in Northern Ireland were of the the heating oil style and thus was easily obtainable at petrol stations and coal merchants premises. At the time it was quite an expensive fuel so when natural gas was being installed I jumped at the opportunity to switch. Naturally as soon as I switched natural gas prices rocketed and heating oil became cheaper. Naturally, at a time I could do with a few litres I’m in London and not in NI😂😂
2 minutes ago, David Schweizer said:Having a good number of old oil lamps, I still use paraffin but is has become less easy to find, and a great deal more expensive. The problem with paraffin supplies can be layed at the foot of metrification. Sales from Garage forecourts and Garden Centres were never high, but sufficient to warrant an ancient pump secured in on otherwise unoccupied location. These pumps would record the sale in pints, which became illegal with metrification of fuel supplies, and modifyiny the old pump or installing a new one was prohibitive. Consequently, the supply in most places was discontinued, and availability reduced to being sold in plastic containers at what often seems to be outrageous prices. I currently have a good supply in stock, but have found that the best places to find supplies is in Agrucultural Merchants usually around £8 for 4 litres.
Thank you. As you say £10 for 4 litres appears to be the going rate at the moment though Amazon has some for about £8.50. I haven’t checked the Chinese prices so as I’m in London and there is a dearth of agricultural suppliers I suppose Amazon it is😁
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I want to clean the metal mesh in filters from the Cretaceous period on my Gardner engine. When I had a motorbike as a teenager I would have used paraffin to clean all sorts of parts on the engine. From memory we used paraffin coz it was cheap! I’ve just looked at buying some and it’s more expensive than premium grade petrol. So, in the opinion of those that know, is paraffin the product of choice when it comes to cleaning oil/diesel filter gauzes or is petrol better? I can then clean other mechanical bits and pieces in a bath of paraffin/petrol.
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On 10/08/2021 at 22:24, blackrose said:
I only saw the last 15 mins. Mark Evans the presenter doesn't have a clue.
I haven’t seen the programme and mark evans may not have a clue about narrowboat but he is actually quite handy. Many years ago I watched a series where he built a light aircraft and classic car restoration. I’m going to have to find the programme mentioned in this thread, hopefully it’s on catch up😁
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There is a YouTube video by Robbie Cummings showing his ascent of the Rochdale Nine including where he moored the evening before which I believe was just outside the castlefield Marina. Obviously the opposite direction of travel to you but is probably worth a watch as he describes potential issues and solutions.
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19 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:
I'd suggest that (like on an outboard engine) it is used to regularly flush the engine with 'fresh' water and get rid of the salt deposits that accumulate (from sea-water) when used in the marine environment.
Thank you for the reply Alan. I’ll have to look up that up. Whilst this is the fresh water cooling system and not the raw water cooling I suppose it still assists the flushing process.
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This is described as ADAPTER, FRESH WATER PUMP INLET. At the rear is a ‘valve’ and whilst I understand that is an inlet I would like to know under what circumstances would it be used or in other words what’s it’s purpose in the big scheme of things😁
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On 29/07/2021 at 09:29, Tracy D'arth said:
If you have mixed metals in the system, using central heating boiler descaler which is safe on aluminium is a safer bet. Screwfix and Tool Station can supply
14 hours ago, CompairHolman said:Citric acid would have the same descaling power but be safe to handle, cheap to buy, ( Wilco) and biodegradable. As long as there is no aluminium in the system.
Thank you both. I’m unsure if there is aluminium anywhere in the system, I can’t think where there would be but fernox may be a good option.
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10 minutes ago, MtB said:
It always strikes me that a high tech solution to this problem could be developed, using the same technology that drones use to stay stationary in the sky despite the wind. A couple of electric outboard legs, one each end of the boat, some servo motors to rotate them and some really clever programming could result in the boat remaining geo-stationary for as long as it takes for its batteries to go flat, without a mooring line or mudweight anywhere.
Developed long ago in the yachting/motor boat world. Allows one to ‘step off’ when mooring etc and the boat remains in situ😁
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14 hours ago, BEngo said:
Citric acid, formic acid or oxalic acid are more common descalers.
Phosphoric acid is usually used as a rust remover. After removing the rust, any unconsumed acid goes on eating the steel, until the acid is consumed, so it is normal to use inhibited phosphoric acid for derusting. I am also not sure how Phos acid gets on pros aluminium alloys.
Can you set the genny cooling up so that you could use one of the proprietary engine cooling space cleaners? That would be my preference.
N
You are obviously quite right about it being used for treating rust but one of the benefits of the acid is that it doesn’t attack the metal, just the rust. I believe it’s also the prime ingredient in ‘Barnacle Buster’ so I’m guessing it doesn’t attack the seals.
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After a few years of being unable to do some basic maintenance tasks on the boat due to some physical constraints, at last, I am now in better physical health and itching to get started. Amongst those tasks is to service my in built diesel generator including flushing the raw water system. I was considering introducing some descaler into the system via the raw water strainer and allowing it to sit in the system for a few hours before emptying it. I was going to use phosphoric acid diluted to 45% as the descaler. As most members of this forum are considerably more knowledgeable than me I thought it might be best to run this idea past you before I do😂
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18 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:
If you have the Mitsi engine number talk to Diamond Diesels
Thank you for the information Tony, I’m grateful
18 hours ago, rustynewbery said:I agree, my own Mastervolt 3LE needed new glow plugs and MV think they are gold plated! DD sold me a set for a third of the price! PM me with your email and I'll send you a copy of the parts list
PM sent 😁
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I have a Mastervolt Whisper 6000 generator on my NB. It is a Mitsubishi 3LE engine that Westerbeke have used in a generator and has been rebadged by Mastervolt. I would like to give the engine a full service but I am having difficulties identifying the correct parts numbers. This was made in 2003 and is the 1500 RPM version not the 3000 RPM version. Most of the materials I find online are those for the 3000RPM. Whilst I suspect there are no differences in the engine parts I would like to ensure I purchase the right ones. To make matters worse it is my understanding that there are systems in place to protect the manufacturers profit margins against the customers wishes to source and identify pattern parts at a reasonable cost versus the outrageous prices charged by the manufacturers. Would anyone have any suggestions as to what company may supply these pattern parts or in the worst case scenario original Mitsubishi parts.
TIA. Martin
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More dosh for the cycle lanes then??
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On 14/09/2020 at 21:21, Halsey said:
I'll wager broker no 1 was GHBS
As I was reading the comment I immediately thought of them. I had similar dealings with them but fortunately I didn’t travel as I wasn’t convinced they had what they said.
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@blackrose what a great ides.
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On 26/08/2020 at 19:42, john6767 said:
We will be heading down the Oxford to the Thames next week. I was not aware that Clayton had a time restriction as well as Marston Doles but we were planning to stop at least one night on the summit anyway, so should not effect us other than queues. Hopefully that will be the only hold up of the trip, I am rather hoping that the Thames will be quiet, at lest midweek, as it was in Sept two years ago when we were last there.
From what I have noticed (from land) The Thames seems very quiet at the moment. Certainly at Kingston and Runnymede
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Nice colour though ?
Another One Sunk...Norton Junction.
in General Boating
Posted
With the number of people looking for Mr Frost I wouldn’t be surprised if his body is in the ‘hold’ though we was recently photographed sitting in a pub😂😂