Opener

I've used refillable ink cartridges on my inkjet printer for a few years. The best way to fill is using a syringe with a blunt needle. A spare syringe is an ideal way to draw up an accurate dose of diesel treatment and get it where it belongs.

Something to learn like "the shower's fine as it is....!"?

It is always safe to assume - and I speak from recent experience - that, even if you have steamed for the last two hours without seeing a single craft, the first blind bridge hole you come to .........

Cheers for that. Yes - ours is very much secondary to the SF stove. I'm always astounded at high gas consumption reports but we get a cauliflowers worth of hot water in around 30-60 mins use. I can always judge when the water is hot enough when the burner starts to cycle on and off. Only replace 13kg cylinder of gas once in a while. Alde cupboard already packed (as well) with coats and shoes so stripping out would yield minimal extra space ??.

This is what the sticky-out bit looks like - other colours are available:

Apologies - can I hijack this theme slightly - although this may be of interest to the OP as well (Sorry!!). Has anyone out there given up an an Alde upright, removed it and gone for an alternative/substitute? What did you end up with? Where did you put it? How much disruption to existing fittings etc? A broad idea of the eventual cost? Ours is used solely for water heating as required - maybe twice a day. It is hooked up to a 'heating' system but this comprises finned rads enclosed in vented boxing up one side of the boat but you have to feel the vents to work out if it is on or not. They could come out 'cos we are quite happy with a dual fuel stove when required. The Alde itself fails at the beginning of each season and is living on borrowed time!! Cheers, guys!

This is what the curved pipe at the bottom of the header tank looks like after removal of the tank (it that is of use to you). On spare cabinet that lives in the garage to provide spares.

Yeah! Ran aground in the middle of the cut on some silt near Foulridge. Asked a passing hire 'for a snatch'. Passed over a rope which the guy on their stern stood holding while they motored away. Surprisingly when the rope became taut it didn't pull us off......

Ours - on a Barrus Shire - died a few years ago near Wigan. RCR were likewise unable to source a replacement and organised a nearby commercial vehicle electrical specialist to attend, remove, take away and rewind. So that may be an option. When they arrived, however, a man who knew his business diagnosed the alternator was not broke - grafted in some wiring because of corroded split charge relay and there have been no probs in the intervening ??decade. Got to be a moral there somewhere ?.

If you've got a squeal, I'd suggest you've got a shiny pulley. Once you've got a shiny pulley you're always going to have a shiny pulley, unless you do something about it. A shiny pulley will have less grip = belt less likely to grip = shiny belt = squeal. Vicious circle. A new belt will be quickly converted.

Or..... ask yourself why there is a squeal? I'm sure the solutions proposed are valid but I'd suggest that a nice smooth surface on the belt (which you will get fairly soon after the squealing starts) and a nice smooth surface on the pulley = limited grip / slipping / squealing. So, whip the belt off and take one of those nice cheap sanding blocks to the V surfaces of the pulley - you just want to 'bust' the glaze all the way round. If the belt is over shiney as well, rough that up a wee bit - don't take too much material off. You are just trying to promote grip and eradicate slip (ie squeal) so gently does it. A crude solution but it usually works for me.

OK - this is half an answer. My new Android phone has space for a network card and a second slot for storage or a separate number/account. Can't remember the details but phone started exhibiting strange symptoms - would not perform some functions. Only resolved by removing second card and operating on one/provider SIM/card.

Good stuff - used it last year (twice!! - take careful note of the ambient temperature parameters).

Hardly worth it - it's only in black and white!

Your Alde needs two things to work - 12v and gas. Silly question first. Mine looks the same as yours - if not used for a while the gas in the pipework mysteriously 'disappears'. Option 1 when attempting to light is to re-establish gas supply. I turn on a burner on the gas hob - which will take a while to first light - then I know that there is gas in most of the pipework. Have you got gas to the Alde - is there a nearby isolator? When you 'prove' that the electrics work you may also take a wee while for the gas to come through and ignite first time. Now electrics. You have a main power feed to the block on the top of the cabinet. Can you prove 12v there? The circulation pump in the top of the Alde header tank runs from that 12v feed but via the room thermostat. So go turn the thermostat up high and move the switch - does the pump run? Yes = power to the connector block. No = 12v feed problem. How are you trying to light the boiler? You need to push DOWN on the black control knob and turn to the 'spark' position. This activates a microswitch under the knob via a fragile arm - if that arm is broken (easily done - ask me how I know) = no switch on. I have bypassed my microswitch with a manual 12v switch mounted beside the coloured indicator light. Push and turn the knob/activate the switch to light - wump! as pilot light lights - switch off power switch but hold black knob to heat thermocouple on flame failure device. Still nothing? Take off the lower front cover to get at the spark generator. Track the live wire from your switch to the top of the magic black box (other colours are available). In the ignition position for the controls do you get 12v at the box terminal? The spark generator box is notoriously temperamental. They don't like being left unused for a period eg Winter. I'm onto my fourth or fifth. Swapping out that box - an expensive option - is my usual solution. Good luck!

OK - a bit of a cheat but I met him as well in 2014:

The thing that occurred to me was one of they 'duck ladders' that you see in odd places where banks are smooth/vertical/high and locals have taken pity on the local foul/fowl population. Presumably for the benefit of chicks rather than adults who should be able to fly out if they apply their common sense. ??. How sophisticated and permanent it needs to be will depend on boat design, frequency of mooring and common sense of feline ?.

Hmm! I suppose my 'solution' was based mainly on internal works. But even externally the thread of the screw and the wood are going to be in very close proximity and the screw head - ?countersunk?? - should also seal the hole so I would hope there would be very little scope for washout. I'd be a bit concerned about silicone grease or similar viscosities being liable to wick to the surface around the screwhead and stain the surface over a period. I'm talking about using a pretty dry bar of soap so the lubricant is solid rather than liquid.

.. or what about Ronnie O'Sullivan? Although he has sold his boat now. Suppose he'd always be bouncing off things....

For repetitive screwing ( is that what I mean?) I just carry a well used bar of soap. Scrape the thread of the screw across the bar once which picks up a bit of soap - lubricates but is dry and not a liquid which may 'run'.

Yup! Last time I came up Bingley, I was asked by distraught onlookers to retrieve the body of a poor cat that has perished in the pound outside the cafe. After some very dramatic and amateurish manoeuvring i was able to report to the watching hordes, 'your dead cat has webbed feet!!' ?

Aha! That explains the rather large black plastic bag hanging in a tree just down the towpath ?.

Yeah!! You spotted that one as well ?.

All very interesting with useful information for pedestrians, joggers, cyclists, school pupils and other towpath/footpath users. What about boaters?

Yup, but have blinds instead of curtains. Canal side open. Towpath side - part open with the inside edge of slats up and outside edge down. Towpath users are high - usually at least 1.5 meters plus height of towpath above water - so they are looking down on the whole width of the slats so effectively a solid surface. You inside will be low down and have a view between the slats without being visible (except to nosey dogs ?).