lampini

Oo - er! Think I geddit... Even tho we liveaboard I have pulled 4 days of 10 plus hour shifts so I'm not gonna be able to sensibly have a look-see with the cable until Friday realistically... This is with my sensible head on - realising that sticking my head in the engine bay after a day like I've had wouldn't be sensible at all ... Grrrrr... Wanna play with my engine!!!

Level IS read when screwed right down - sezzit in the manual! Will do the kitchen roll thingy tho - Excellent wheeze there Andrew.... I won with the fairy lights btw... Has probs given me an over-inflated sense of my own mechanical abilities now! God help that poor gearbox... Interested to see if it is red fluid - it really seemed just this clear thin stuff..... Hmmmmmm...

Thanks Tony (again!) - will try the test and report back - probs tomorrow now as am at my mum's trying to make the fairy lights work... a bit more of a simple job - for me - lol!

Wot it says in the title... Start engine, into gear and nothing - for about 5 seconds and then the prop starts churning properly. It happened when we set off from the mooring on our last cruise but then all was good for the rest of the cruise. Gearbox PRM120D transmission fluid about 1-2cm above mark on dipstick.. difficult to tell as is clear fluid! Got OH to observe driveshaft and it is THIS which starts to turn really slowly at first and then suddenly speeds up, so i may be wrong but don't suspect the prop.. v difficult to access weedhatch! Help? (Beta 38 engine btw....)

Tell me about it!!! Trying to find a new cooker full height but less than 50cm deep.... I don't think such a beastie exists for less than about 350 sovs... Grrrr.... Be more than happy to stand corrected! ;-)

And at least twice the price!

I get mild arthritis in my knees, and I've found that wearing those wind proof cheapo waterproof trousers makes ALL the difference... Don't care that I sound like crisp packets when I walk around in them! :-)

We just had a week off and did the Ashby up and down again.. We looked at the weather and planned accordingly with short days of bad weather and one day of sun when we did dawn till dusk! It helps of course if there are two of you who steer; and our burner was nice and warm so we just took it in turns to go and warm up, and make the tea! I agree about seeing more wildlife, also with the leaves mostly fallen you can see more of the countryside too... We had a kingfisher using the boat to scare fish up (I think that what he was about!) and he kept pace with us for about a mile through the woods between Shackerstone and Snarestone... :-)

+1 and then a bit.... Thanks - you're a dude! Will give it a go after work tomorrow.... tb-training is where i've learned most of the (minimal) stuff i do know btw.... Uber-dude! Hilariously, the OH got in from work and reminded me that he has a fairly juicy guitar-amp we can turn on.. Apologies in advance to anyone out on the lower Ashby on Saturday - if you see a boat lit up like an xmas tree with some funky guitar-riffs emanating from it..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sowybhBXgdU Oh look - an excuse to re-post this!

Good idea if our inverter could cope, but it's only a 600w-er... My irony claxon is still going off! Keep yer ears open on the ashby on Sarurday! :-)

Sat in car pmsl! Sadly we only have a 600w inverter... A heartfelt thanks to all, was feeling a bit lost with this earlier..... :-)

Got back to the boat and did exactly as you had advised - also regained my sense of humor as we oh-so-assiduously made sure we were low power on everything i only managed to muster about 24A, including the slow cooker - no TV - just low powered laptops! Sparked up the engine and she settled at 1200rpm at 14.7v... (charging at 3.2a on average) Will we get away with that? Will have a scout around for more power-hungry stuff. Oh.... the irony!

Thanks guys - am on the move doing the folks' shopping and stuff... This is all pretty useful stuff.. Will try Ashby Boat Centre in a bit - they're my nearest - anyone had experience with them?

Will do chap! Have to nip out for a few hours now but i will pick this up later - my aged parents need a few hours attention on my day off... Not for the first time i am thanking my lucky stars at finding this forum - some amazingly generous posters on here.... and i'm such a worrier! This has been bugging me all week since i noticed it at the weekend... i was worried i'd fried the batteries (chugged for 2 hours before i noticed the high voltage!), but they seem ok...

So by going on a run - i WOULD be risking a frying of batteries - bum... even by a 2 hour chug down to our new mooring? (she said hopefully!) Really thanks heaps for replying though... i'm trying to get my head around this stuff so hard it hurts! So sorry Tony - you are an LX god (i have been trying to get my head around reading your online courses!) and i am an utter numpty and a fule.... Where or what is D+ and B+? As above, i'm really grateful for this help!!

we have 2x 230ahc 12v Haze gel maintence free batteries, and a NASA BM-1 battery/charging monitor (which i love!). Before i start the engine, the BM1 reads: 13.5V Charging 2.4a (from Solar - inverter off, no 12v load) 88%C Time to Charge 25hr. 731 Int Ahr. I start the engine and.... Between 15.2 and 15.4V Charging between 1.2 and 4.2a Time to Charge between 9.3hr and 77hr. 732 Int Ahr Is this voltage too high?? ALSO the D Battery warning light is flashing about once per second with an accompanying chirrup and a "hunting" of the engine revs - this at about 1200 rpm. Nothing above changes at 1400 rpm and a good engine rev makes no odds. At tickover the warning light is solidly on. The engine is a Beta38 with a 100A alternator.. The Label says : LSKRA 14V 100A. (AAK5535) We both have a week off next week so i'm thinking of getting someone to look at it, BUT.. Am i likely to "fry" the batts at 15.4v if i take a few hours to chug from the bottom-ish of the Ashby to (say) Springwood Haven? (EEK! ) Any one else know any marine sparks up this way ? Currently @ Trinity Marina but supposed to be moving to our new mooring between bridges 4-5 on the Ashby on Saturday (soooooooo happy about this!! )

My thoughts exactly, altho who can know the OPs circumstances? Found an old thread..... http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=43011

I think fire regs might come into this? ETA - i don't think they do actually, crazy as it may seem! Maybe ask your insurer? Sounds like a rubbish place to live aboard, maybe the new owners are trying "dissuasion tactics"?

3rd - ed for the Hobbit. It's heating a 57' all porthole narrowboat (centrally placed) very well. It's really really controllable and, from the small ash output, pretty efficient. Very little to go wrong (although i'd have spare glass and rope and adhesive around! ) It will happily stay in all night with a decent log and a few bits of coal. Downsides are; bit messy to lug coal about and empty the ash.

Or you could try these guys.... http://helpwildlife.co.uk/p0343/

Obviously you need to get in there and fill in all the gaps which you will find IMHO will be behind the paneling.. Sadly my arthritis makes me like the princess and the pea - my knees and hips will detect the smallest amount of damp (and an incoming rain front too!)! We put a layer of this http://www.practicalsurfaceware.com/anti-moisture-mattress-underlay-airmat.html under the bed and also up the side too.. not cheap at £60 for a double size but worth it i'd say.. Now the moisture collector under the bed has about two drops in it at last inspection rather than the half a container we had before, my hips and knees are happier than they were in the house last winter!

There is a particularly psycho who hangs around Sutton Cheney on the Ashby- we just call him the B&st&r swan! One chap who had obviously just had a rather shiny new paint job was under sustained and serious attack as B&st&r swan seemed convinced that his own reflection in the shiny cabin side was another B&st&r swan! This lasted for over 20 mins as the poor man tried to wind his boat.....

We are thinking of replacing our gawdawful "Dometic" marine cooker with this..... http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/household-appliances/cooking/cookers/flavel-fsbg51s-gas-cooker-silver-15050644-pdt.html A mate has one on his boat that just passed it's BSS....

Nice job! Cool to have properly clear glass for once innit? Wonder how long it will last... we always cleaned the glass but it never gets THIS clean....!