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Tony Brooks

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Everything posted by Tony Brooks

  1. I have not met her, but right from her first posts I got the impression that she knows best - or thinks she does. When asking the forum about narrow boating and relating her previous experience, I well remember that when I tried to explain that a narrowboat in shallow water coming when trying to come alongside behaves very differently to a yacht that probably has a round bilge, a keel and is in deeper water. I tried to explain how when reversing close to the side, prop thrust throws water between the swim and bank, which tends to push the stern away from the bank. Apparently she knew all about that, so I gave up. Much the same when an experienced member, working in the field, tried to advise on her kitchen refit, or the rudder drama. Then there were the battery problems with batteries located in unusual positions with non-typical wiring. Just my impression of her, so I tend not to respond so much.
  2. Well, it should do. Electrical heat direct into the water in the tank. Please address the issue of your mentioning "radiators". It is rarer, but not unknown, for engine heat alone being used to heat radiators. Usually here is another form of boat heating like a stove with back boiler, or a gas/oil boiler. If you have another boiler, there may well be valves so you don't have to have the radiators hot when you are heating water in the summer. The radiators being only just warm might, in that case, be a valve in the wrong position. Bleed the skin tank, bleed the calorifier engine coil circuit as described, topping the header tank u as needed, and then see if it has made any difference. Report back and please try to answer questions.
  3. I don't think so Panya gave us the info required, apart from a length mistake, while Porcupine still seems to be resisting telling us why they think the tank is empty, just sticking to their assertion that it is. Totally different posting styles.
  4. I would suggest that the majority of boats (the older ones) do not have thermostatic mixing valves and the reply suggests that a rise in coolant level as the engine warms up is unusual, it is not, but 20cm/4" is a lot. The OP would be well advised to bleed the skin tank as well as checking the pipes for air.
  5. Rising coolant in the header tank as the engine warms up and the coolant expands is normal, the rest is not. I assume that your only source of how water is a calorifier - if not, please come back and give more info because valves might be involved. Your talk of bleeding the "radiator/coolant system" suggest that either your boat is not typical or you do not understand how the radiator (central heating) system, hot water, and cooling system interact. Please tell us about any other sources of keeping the boar warm that you have. On the basis of the little you have told us, I would suggest that the engine coil in the calorifier has an air lock and needs bleeding. Trace the pipes between the calorifier and engine, there should be two about 5/8" or so in dimeter. Make sure there are no upward bends in them that can trap air. Then loosen the upper calorifier coli connection and see if any air is vented. Your domestic how water system might have a thermostatic mixing valve in it, usually close to the calorifier, and if this is maladjusted or stuck then that might limit the domestic hot water temperature. After an hour or so running, feel the hoses on the engine calorifier coil, both should feel hot. If they do not perhaps the engine cooling thermostat has jammed open, so what is the engine running temperature.
  6. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  7. Horses for courses, or what is best for you, your boat, and that way you operate. Both are lead acid batteries so both will be subject to sulphation if not kept very well charged. Traction batteries are likely to be open cell whereas AGM are sealed. AGMs may have a better performance when subject to high discharges and high charges. Traction probably need regular equalisation and voltages higher than an alternator can produce, and may well need regular topping up. For me, and it is personal, I would rate the ability and ease of comparing the state of charge of individual cells on open cell batteries way above any convenience from AGMs. But that depends upon how easy it is to access the battery tops.
  8. Not enough detail to guess how deep any pits are, but the rusty blisters are, I think, fairly normal. If you scrape a few off, I expect that you will find pits. What matters is how deep they are and the nominal thickness of the baseplate, so you can estimate how close to leaking it is. Despite the paint the hull sides look very pitted, but it is the depth that matters.
  9. It is the early detection of leaks that makes me favour a clean engine painted in a lighter colour, so stains are more obvious.
  10. I think you obviously do if you are into trying to get into the latest tech a "cheap" way. Not that £800 is cheap, but it seems to have significant drawbacks when trying to marry lithium batteries to automotive alternators. I am sure an alternator sensed revcounter could be driven by a start type reluctor bolted to the front pulley nut and a sensor on a bracket. Just pleased I am old and happy with basic technology.
  11. Why not, as long as you can get it thoroughly degreased. Plenty of old newspapers under it to catch the inevitable drips. I would use "machinery and engine paint" because it tends to be heat-resistant, covers well, and I was told it tends to be more tolerant of less than ideal prep.
  12. My view would be to use a standard alternator sensed tacho as long as the alternator has a W terminal. Even if not, a half competent auto electrician could solder a fly-lead to a diode to do the job.
  13. Typically, two wire inductive sensor has a coil wound around a small bar magnet inside the case (that is your 800 ohms) Each time a ferrous object passes close to the tip of the sensor the magnetic field around the coil becomes more diffuse or tighter packed so the coil produces a voltage. You typically end up with a sine wave output with the frequency proportional to the engine speed. Try testing it with the meter set to frequency (Hz). Try touching the tip of the sensor to some steel to see if it is magnetic. Three wire sensors use a hall effect sensor, but use three wires.
  14. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  15. Once again, agreed. Our boat was similar and it suffered badly with condensation there. It may be worse if one is living board in winter. I found that my breather pipe where a lenth of steel tube had been welded to the well deck floor had rusted through and was leaking a bit when filling the tank, but luckily mine was above the floor. An easy fix with a hole saw to cut the steel out and replace with a compression bulkhead fitting. Not so easy getting the hose on between tank and breather. PS. I fitted a polythene barrier under the ply to help keep damp cabin air out of that area.
  16. I think the second photo shows a fireless steam loco, so possibly from the armaments' factory by the River Lea or I have an idea that Huntley and Palmer used one in their Reading factory on the Kennet.
  17. Note that the OP says "galley outlet". That is not the same as a skin fitting, although it might be. On many canal boats (unlike GRP or wood) the outlet is steel pipe welded into the hull that is flush on the outside so can't get knocked off. The OP needs to see exactly how his boat is fitted and then decide for himself.
  18. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  19. Not unless it is a hire boat, it won't. For private boats it is only an advisory, but in any case the flooding height is the sink rim PROVIDED pipe between the hull outlet remains intact and in place. If a length of hose has been used then I would double hose clip it.
  20. Or it is a battery sensed alternator with the sense wire missing or open circuit. That would cause the alternator to produce a high voltage, as would an open circuit field diode. You said that "The idea is to have it on only when the engine is on" which is rather ambiguous, but I assume that you mean "only when the engine is running" rather than "all the time the ignition switch is on". You can't use the ignition switch on its own to only turn your fan on when the engine is actually running, with the fan stopping as the engine stops. What you can do, and is the easiest, is to have the fan on whenever the ignition is on. On most modern boats a buzzer screams at you if you leave the ignition on with a stopped engine so it is almost, but not quite, what you want.
  21. You can't do that with the ignition switch, you need to add a rising oil pressure switch to the engine, but terminal 15 feeds the warning lamps and instruments you are unlikely to leave the ignition on with the engine not running. Check 83 because it may stay on, once the ignition has been on, until you turn the switch off and take the key out. if it works like 15 then it will be fine to use, but remember both terminals will stay live if the ignition is left on.
  22. By that reasoning, there is no point in putting a 6mm or less drain in the engine block, yet the manufacturers do. I have never found that a length of coat-hanger or welding wire pushed into such drains failed to clear them. You may need to bend it a bit and waggle it about, but as soon as the flow gets going, it pretty much clears itself. I think t would need a spigot welding in if you want to use a valve, but I think a simple plug could use a thread tapped into the tank skin. If welding is to be done then in order to weld the bottom of the spigot it would have to be clear of the baseplate, s that provides a sediment trap.
  23. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
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