born2zsolt

Hello, After owning our lovely 65 ft narrowboat for few years now we decided to sell her, we found a buyer and realized that not sure what are the next steps. The buyer will have it surveyed, and I will take the boat to the dry dock but not sure about when and on what conditions the holding deposit should be paid. how much? In the unlikely event of surveyor finds something untoward and he wants to reneg the price but we don't agree - what happens to the holding deposit? is it refundable? is there a description of the all process? I googled and googled but found nothing. Thanks!!

Thanks, i tightened jubilee clips but that interestingly enough made dripping worse. I think i will ask for professional help at this point!

Thank you for all your amazing shared knowledge! I have located a leak where thick pipe joins keel tank. Another jubilee clip (there are 2 there already) maybe could improve or solve the solution although i am not dure how i will reach there. Or you reckon cutting off end of tube and reinstalling would the way to go? I am quite a bit bothered by the thought of the underside of my enginebay steadily rusting away. This being said all my 3 boats had water in bilge- maybe it is very bad practice.

Interesting! I tend to top up my cooling water when my finger can't reach the water in the header tank and I don't fill it up all the way. I am doing it because after that point I have no way of telling how are water levels, and i haven't got a gauge telling me water levels or temperature. I have one sign to show for water overheating but trying out if water boils over and engine overheating sounds like a dangerous game!

my engine needs about half a liter of water top up every time after cruising. Is this ok or too much? I was convinced until now that water of an inch accumulating in bilge comes dripping through prop, but recently i had that repacked and tightened up, so that is no longer the case and I was happy that from now on i will have a dry bilge! I still have water in bilge and i don't like it. So if cooling water is leaking how to stop it? The engine was serviced recently in Uxbridge, but mechanic did not spot it, is it something he should have? And if yes can I ask him to come back and fix it at nominal or no charge? Thanks all for yr help.

Asking questions here is research. And more than that because this was exactly what I wanted to know, but now i don't have to ask it! It always amuses me how many people sneer at more or less stationary CCers like myself living and CCing in mostly London. This awful housing shortage is not fun for anyone but has vastly increased the number of people living on boats (aka linear housing) who will increasingly get out of their comfort zones of inner cities and will create a new generation of boaters. I always wanted to live on a narrowboat for the fun of it but I only made the jump when there was no other alternative (only living with flatmates well into my 30ies). And it was such a good jump! Zsolt

So i bought a 120L flexible tank and the saga goes on as last one month we run out of water 2 times, which was quite a surprise!The flexible tank will sit nicely in the bow locker once i cleared out all the rubbish accumulated in there over the years. As it will be just a bit over the main water tank syphoning might not work. So now i am looking for a nice small reliable water pump which will pump it from the secondary tank to the main. Any thoughts on what to shop? Tanks!

OK, tried that, i was bleeding and letting out water for about 20 mins just to be on the safe side. While doing that i watched few youtube videos about plumbing and they did seem to suggest that you can also have an airlock which would come undone when bleeding through bleeding nipple but you have to take out a whole bleeding nozzle and connect hose to release air/water (this is after isolating the radiator then opening the in and out valves one at a time). So this is what i will do this weekend, as although the splashing in radiator improved but the lower side of the rad still felt cold for quite long time. As i understood it it is crucial for the rad to work effectively to get the lower bits heating up fully as this will generate the airflux through ribs.

Interesting! So how did you figure out that it is leaking into stove? Could you feel dampness when the fire was not in inside the stove?

The system has been in place, but we bought the boat last spring so we never used it very heavily. I don't think it is overheating, the thermostat controlling the pump is set to 50C. Ii used to push out the water from header tent when it was set to higher temperature, but not any more. The pipe is installed before the back boiler inlet close to the stove, while the header tank is on the far end of the boat. Am i right to think that if it is drawing air in then it should also leak the same place? How can you find such blockage? Interesting. I will give it a go. I was convinced that the water has to move in order to push out air from all nooks and crannies.

Thanks for all the responses. I bought a flexible tank but i still didn't fitted it in, as somehow we use much less water than i thought we do, maybe because on this boat we have a morco instant water heater, so you don't end up running water for 2 minutes waiting for the hot water to arrive from far end before you can take a shower.

Thanks! I ended up getting a guy who did an amazing job on the roof, it took him 2 weeks of sanding, then kurusting of patches, of what i had many more then i thought i would, then primer on patches, 2 layers of base coat and then 3 layers of top coat. I am so glad that he did it. It looks properly amazing.

Hi I have a Morso 1430 + thermostat + waterpump + 3 radiators + header tank set up on my 65 ft narrowboat, and in the last 3 weeks i was having issues with it. It feels like that it keeps loosing water and no amount of bleeding can sort it out. It works for 2-3 days after bleeding it, then it starts to play up again, making the pump struggle slightly, sloshing noises in the radiator, banging noise in the pipes. I looked around and fixed one minor leak at radiator tap but the problem still persists. Has anyone got an idea how to fix it? Many thanks Zsolt

Hello, My 65ft 2007 narrowboat is now in need for some re-painting especially on the roof and near gunwales where the usual bruising through locks happens. In general the paint is good condition if a bit faded and i only have small areas of 1-3 cms which needs fixing. Can anyone help me out with advice? What is the best way to do it and which material is the best to use? I have found several articles about full re paint but not so much about fixing existing paint. I am also considering adding bow markings - my boat is painfully featureless! Any thoughts on preparing the area to be painted over? Many thanks for all your amazing advice. Best Zsolt

Thanks all, I think I will go ahead and buy one. I wonder if i can syphon backup tank to main or I will have to install a small pump. Any thoughts on small energy efficient pumps?

Hi, Girlfriend and me live on a 65FT narrowboat which has about 500liters of fresh water capacity, which is OK, but i really dislike it when it runs out unexpectedly. So I am thinking about adding a backup fresh water tank of 200 liters. My first thought was to buy a flexible marine water tank like this one, which could go in the bow locker next to gas bottles, so when main water tank runs out i can syphon water from backup tank to main tank. Any thoughts on this or better ideas? I don't really have space for water butts so that is not an option. Water tank could go on the roof but that is unsightly and very exposed to sun which can cause algae formation I hear. Thanks Zsolt

Is there any sureshot way to find batten behind lining? I was experimenting with knocking but me and missus interpreted the sounds differently!

Thank you for explaining the situation lot better than i probably did....just got overjoyed for finding solution. Now i have to find breather! Thanks All

And again! From: Katherine Anna Palmer [mailto:anakatherine.palmer@gmail.com] Sent: 03 December 2014 10:55 To: *********** Subject: Re: Message from someone interested in your advert Hello, This boat its just perfect, Immaculate condition, no damages, once with the boat you will also get all the equipment my husband had, my current location is Elgin in Scotland. The final price is not negotiable: £7250. My husband died 2 months ago and I can't even use it because I don't have a driver's license. I had a buyer just 1 week ago but that person really scared me. He came with 2 friends and wanted to pay me with fake notes. I was lucky that my father in law was close and noticed that. Since I'm getting a lot of messages regarding the sale, I decided to list it on eBay with a buy it now option and whoever wins it will be the next owner. I assume you already have an eBay account. If not, please register and let me know when you are ready so I can email you the link. If you'd like to secure the deal before anybody else does, then please buy it on eBay. Feel free to ask me any questions. Thanks and then.... Hello, After my last experience I'm not welcome visits any more, sorry. The best way to complete this transaction, because of the distance problem (I'm in Elgin in Scotland, the boat is also here with me), is to use eBay Money Back Guarantee. They will handle everything for both of us, including transportation and transfer of the boat papers to your name. You don't have to pay anything extra, the total price that you must pay for this boat is £7,250. Here is how the transaction will go on: -I will make a private eBay listing for you. -You will have to click "buy it now", fill in the forms and follow the instructions. -eBay will send you an invoice with all the transaction details and the payment instructions. -You will have to secure the funds to eBay. -After the funds will be secured to eBay, the delivery will begin and the boat will arrive to you in max. 48 hours. -When the boat will be in your custody, you will have a 3 days inspection period. If everything is alright, the transaction ends and eBay will release the money to me. If there is something wrong with the boat, you will be fully refunded and I'll get my boat back too, without any extra fees. Everything is covered by eBay. I will get paid only after you confirm that you received it. I would need your ebay username so I can send you the link. I'm waiting for your reply. Thank you. Reported to Action Fraud, plus to Ebay....apparently suspect sent an ebay link to my girlfriend who was in contact with her, and on the ebay link she spoke to a live agent who said that it is a fully legit private listing. Take care

Hello, From CRT website it looks like there will be two stoppages in central london this winter. 17 Nov - 19 Dec 2014 , Lock 5 City Road lock 03 - 14 Nov 2014 Lock 2, Hawley Lock / Camden Does anyone know how reliably CRT is predicting the end of these repairs? My boat is booked for blacking on the 27th of November in Uxbridge, but planning to stay on river Lee before and I would hate not to be able to get through because works take longer than expected? Thanks Joseph

Hello Everyone, The solution was ridiculously simple, yes you were right the pump being starved of water, but it was not because of blockage on pipes, but because i - apparently - tightened water tank cap too much, hence vacuum was created in water tank! It also explains how system recovered over night just to fail again few minutes later - i suppose enough water leaked into water tank to counter vacuum. I am not sure why it did not happen earlier. Anyhow in long run i would need to cut inspection hatch to access water tank. Any idea/recommendation where it can be done well and how much it will cost? Many thanks for all of you again, Zsolt

Wow, is THAT a filter? So this morning's findings> I turned the pump circuit back, opened tap, and managed to run it for at least half an hour(also took a shower, hey!) with no problem although with intermittent splurts of air from tap, I Can't help thinking that i might also have air in the system causing some or all trouble. Anyhow after closing tap the pump kept running, so i shut the circuit again :-( i will clean the filter then report back. I suppose when dismantling filter i only have to worry about the small amount of water between filter and pump if i closed main tap at tank, as filter is higher than the rest of the pipe between filter and tank tap, and pump would not let water running back from the pipes between pump and faucets? Or what is the iffy nature of fixing filter? Thanks for all amazing advice.

Thanks everyone for swift reply, you are amazing! i will go through the boat to find the water filter tonight , i might not have one installed though, does this mean buying a new pump?

Hello, Thank you for your response. OldGoldy, I own boat only for half a year so i don't know the plumbing intimately yet. Where the filters would be? Dalslandia, the pump is located at the stern while the water tank in bow, if this is what you were asking? not sure about the water tower. All my troubles strated after refilling my water tank (no inspection hatch whatsoever!), so dirt can be the cause, i suppose, although i don't quite understand how it recovers over couple of overs of being turned off, then failing again? Thanks

Hello, I live on a 45FT narrowboat, and few days ago my domestic water system started to play up. First it just bursted out with water when i opened tap then went on as usual, but since yesterday i keep loosing pressure after running taps for a while, and then i loose all pressure but the pump keeps running. It looks like it can output only certain amount of water then it fails. I have a flojet R4305 - 500 installed, i put some photos of model and arrangement here> https://www.dropbox.com/sh/f5wpaxhxsli0kok/uvBnpvbWbb I was trying to air the system using this trick i have found on anther forum> "Folks should get in the habit of turning off the water pressure and then opening one of the faucets to bleed the air out when they leave the boat to take the pressure off the pump diaphragm, then shut the faucet. When you return, and turn the pressure switch on again, the pump will run for a very short time." ...but it resulted extreme amount of bubbling noise in the system otherwise yielded no results, apart of having water for a while (plus some rust today!) then loosing all pressure again. so now i keep turning of the pump circuits to keep the pump from buzzing forever (it keeps coming back if i turn electricity on). It somehow fixes system for a little while, i have running water, the pump turns itself off when turning taps off(with a kind of odd delay), but then i loose pressure again. Please let me know if you have any idea how to fix it. Thanks Zsolt