[Rust in the water coming from integral tank - but no apparent access to get into tank]

3 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Almost certainly rust but as you are running your tank down the water is probably sloping about as you move about so it has stirred up the rest particles that are in the bottom of the tank.

 

 

 

Why did you quote my post, Tony?

I was referring to the rust on the deck and hatch plate.   what other rust could you see in the photos?   certainly nothing that was inside the tank.

[Rust in the water coming from integral tank - but no apparent access to get into tank]

5 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Leave that foredeck floor to rust a bit longer and you will have all the access that you need ! 

 

eh?   I see lots of flaking paint but no sign of serious rust - except the hatch plate that is a load of rubbish.

[Rust in the water coming from integral tank - but no apparent access to get into tank]

8 hours ago, MrsM said:

I second that. If you have a mild steel integral tank it will need regular maintenance; ie emptying, cleaning out, rust treating and tank repainting. This is a nasty, messy job but not too bad once you get on top of it. Do you have a filter on your kitchen tap by any chance? 

 

who was the culprit shell builder who made a tank access panel only 8" x 4" ?  name and shame please.

 

next winter one of the essential jobs will be to hire a welder for a day and make a proper access hatch big enough for an average human to enter head first (think shoulder-width) but please secure the ankles 'cos if you've slipped in you cannot reverse out - unless you turn the boat upside down of course.

[Hire Boats have priority!!!]

11 hours ago, pearley said:

I have no problem with true commercial boats having priority, coal boats who have a schedule to keep, trip boats on the Thames, maybe even hotel boats, but hire boats take their place in the queue with the rest of us.

 

is there a law against watercraft discrimination?

[Rules regarding how far you move your boat.]

29 minutes ago, Higgs said:

 

It's catch 22. You sign for the T&C when get your licence. It isn't law. 

 

 

 

but it is probably covered by the laws (or at least the legal precedents) concerning contracts.

[3 pin round plug/240 v cable]

Do you propose to use 240v supply?

 

IMHO folk tend to use old round 3-pin plugs (earth pin not used) and sockets to distinguish them from 240VAC circuits using square pins.

[from London to Oxford]

9 hours ago, GraphicEdit said:

 do you prefer thames river route??...
My plan is  from "grand union canal " to "Oxford canal"
 

 

strange that essential information has to prised out of the OP like a whelk from its shell.

 

it would never occur to anyone that someone asking for advice about a journey from London to Oxford would be planning to do it by taking the long way round.  

[If it's inevitable that a speeding cyclist will hit someone, this is a satisfactory way for it to happen.]

17 minutes ago, Mike Tee said:

The only thing wrong with that result is that only one of them fell in.

 

to be fair, only one of them was riding like a tw*t.

[Are Liverpool boats really the best narrowboats you can get?]

my granny loved muffins

[Are Liverpool boats really the best narrowboats you can get?]

23 minutes ago, manxmike said:

We had a Liverpool Hull, loved her. I was keen to buy a Liverpool after using a boat belonging to a friend which was a Liverpool boat.

You might not want one, maybe you're rich enough to be picky, but I found them excellent and would happily own another.

Please don't presume to speak for me, we have never met and obviously don't share the same opinions.

 

Why has the thread suddenly become about chickens?

 

I don't know but the majority view is that you are OFF-TOPIC 

[Are Liverpool boats really the best narrowboats you can get?]

18 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

I cannot claim all of the credit, it was a group effort and a compilation of tangential hyperbolic information.

 

corrected that for you insofar as it applies to you.

[What is my battery SOC?]

13 minutes ago, Sir Nibble said:

I like the way SG is annotated "per cell". Gives the impression that whoever compiled the chart has no idea what specific gravity is. Do they imagine that adding the SG of each cell will arrive at any valid information at all?

 

or they meant what OP is saying - but they should have used the words "each cell".

 

32 minutes ago, Rebotco said:

I'm assessing my 110Ahr open cell FLA starter battery condition.

I have charged it at home for over 24 hrs and left it stand without load for 12 hrs.

The temperature is 18 Centigrade and the hydrometer readings for the 6 cells vary from 1.250 to 1.201.

Suspect its close to knackered, but what do the electrickery gurus think?

 

what was the water/acid level in each of the cells?

[Are Liverpool boats really the best narrowboats you can get?]

46 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

 

How and why did you do a tour of a gravy factory?

 

no !!   please !!!    that would be too much information. 

[Are Liverpool boats really the best narrowboats you can get?]

7 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

Their quality on many products has improved over the years, and, on some products is excellent. 

 

so your comment 'never mind the quality, feel the price' may be disregarded as a load of old tosh because it doesn't represent what you believe.    QED.

 

 

AdE, do you ever wonder how others perceive you when you make opinionated statements that are then found to be baseless?

 

 

[Are Liverpool boats really the best narrowboats you can get?]

1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Look at how Aldi's market share has increased against 'centuries' old established supermarkets, they must be doing something right - 'never mind the quality, feel the price'.

 

 

 

Your comment can only be interpreted as saying that Aldi's quality is poor - what a load of old tosh.

 

Perhaps you are an Aldi snob who hasn't used them regularly.

 

We do our basic bulk shopping there and find that some of their items are better than anything we can find elsewhere.   For example, try their sourdough rolls for home baking - nothing anywhere else compares.  And I have 3 rechargeable 18v drills that each cost less than £30 and they are still going strong (light boat construction/maintenance and domestic use) after 5 years.

[Rope fenders or metal tube]

3 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

 

Bye-laws certainly do have teeth if the decison is made to enforce them (which C&RT seem reluctant to do)

 

which is the point - if bye-laws are not accompanied by sufficient enforcement resources then they are meaningless; suggesting they are laws is just taking the Piddle. 

 

 

..........................   oh, and don't forget - "the law is an ass"  

[Rope fenders or metal tube]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Are you suggesting that Bye-Laws are not laws and breaking of the bye-law is not subject to a fine ?

 

If it is conveneient are you going to ignore all the other bye-laws regarding lights, passing other boats, running your engine in gear whilst moored, etc etc etc ?

 

no

[Rope fenders or metal tube]

4 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

BRITISH WATERWAYS BOARD GENERAL CANAL BYE-LAWS 1965

Section 6 :" Vessels to have fenders ready for use"

 

Happy ?

 

yes, very.   I'm sure you will be the first to agree that anything that is quoted should be properly attributed.    if you don't then you may begin to assume the character of a norty canine who fills the "other space" with drivel.

 

 

ahh!!   a bye-law.  not usually referred to as "the law" .......................  hmmmm    ................................  that waters it down a bit, innit?

[Rope fenders or metal tube]

19 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

You are correct , not just front and rear fenders but all fenders should be ready for immediate use - it is written in law :

 

Every vessel navigated on any canal shall have ready for immediate use proper fenders of suitable material and in good condition and the master of such vessel shall use such fenders whenever there is a risk of the vessel striking against any other vessel or against any wall, lockgate, bridge or other thing.

 

which "law" ?

[Are Liverpool boats really the best narrowboats you can get?]

9 hours ago, cheesegas said:

I have a 1992 Liverpool boat with an owner fit out - there’s a few design flaws with the back step drainage and gas locker lid but overall well designed. Good engine bay access, solid stern handrail with bracing, big drainage channel in the engine bay and the weld quality is good. Maybe it got worse afterwards, but the original paint still looks good aside from rust spots on the roof at the back. 

 

It’s not been particularly well looked after before me, but it’s only needed a bit of plating at the front. 

 

if AdE had his way posts like that would be removed by the mods.  

[Are Liverpool boats really the best narrowboats you can get?]

14 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Lets just leave it at 'you are wrong again', I've witnessed 'banana' boats, boats with one gunnel inches wider than the other, poor welding, & appalling paint.

Just because you brought one shouldn't mean you cannot admit to their faults. 

 

We looked at buying one but having seen them built I'd rather give up boating than own a Liverpool boat.

 

if that is true then why did you originally refer to some photos you had seen?

 

as you already know I spent a lifetime managing the construction of "big-inch" welded steel pipelines with high performance coatings, and I can assure you that there was nowt wrong with the welding or the alignment or dimensions on my boat.

 

perhaps you are unaware that they built so many shells that they had several workshop sites - the site in central Liverpool where mine was built was professionally run and well organised.  I have no idea what the others were like.

[Are Liverpool boats really the best narrowboats you can get?]

4 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

You have obviously not read the threads properly. or seen photos of them being blacked, painted or whatever. An apology will be accepted if offered.

 

 

 

 

I can go one better than that - I have owned a Scouseboat from new and visited the factory 3 times during its construction.

 

It would appear your only evidence for comparing them unfavourable to a Trabant is some photos you have seen of "them" being painted.  IMHO the quality of the steel, the workmanship and the company's integrity were (in 2005) beyond criticism.  the design was a little unimaginative but not as patently ugly as some shell builders.

[Are Liverpool boats really the best narrowboats you can get?]

Despite what many believe, particularly the highly opinionated AdE (who appears to have knowledge of salty boats, but I am not aware that he has ever owned a steel canal boat, narrow or wide), there is nothing wrong with most boats built by LBC.   The fact that they once dominated the market for shells and their high production figures allowed them to make economies of scale and offer shells at lower prices than many serious steel boat builders (ignoring the general steel fabricators who made a few ugly sewer tubes as a sideline) does not automatically imply they are badly built and of poor quality.  There are of course exceptions and Friday afternoon boats that may have faults, but once they produced about 50% of all shells sold each year and if 5% have significant faults, that is a lot of boats.   Trabant - no; Vuaxhall - maybe.

 

Of course a LBC shell will use less gas - because the owner is more aware of costs and does not waste heat unnecessarily.

 

 

[I am acquiring some property on the river bank in Bristol and would like to know what is possible and what you would do?.]

32 minutes ago, David Mack said:

This section of the river is semi tidal, so on days when the tide comes over Netham Weir, there will be times of day when you can float things, if not from the garden, at least from higher up the bank.

I really don't know why folk get excited about it being 'semi-tidal.  The River Avon above Netham Lock is very rarely affected by the tide - only extreme spring tides will over-top Netham Weir, and as a local you will soon get familiar with the pattern of the tides and avoid any dangers.  Like any river there will be periods of heavy flow and rising levels. 

 

 

[best 2KVA generator]

36kg is no good for me on my (lightweight) camping cruiser, but I understand the advice about over-speccing the power rating so that it runs more sweetly under part-load. 

I anticipate running two chargers that draw 500W and 460W respectively so a 2KVA jobbie will not be running under full load.