Water Nomad

Hello Everyone. Sorry to jump in on this thread, but do you know were I can get a bubble tester for 10mm pipe? My 10mm pipes had a bubble tester on them, but it was a 3/8" When I smelt gas I checked the nuts were tight enough, but I ended up just ripping the olives off as they were just gripping on the very edge of the pipe. So be very careful to get the right size fittings. John.

Hello Everyone. I have my mooring lines tied tight enough so that my boat doesn't move unless the passing boat is going very fast or close. But one thing is that because my boat is only 200 metres from the Three Locks there can be a regular drop in the water level. This makes my lines go loose and then my boat swings around all over the place. This is all ways a pain as there is no point re tying to lines. But I must admit it does not really bother me, I'm on a boat after all. The strange thing is like this morning, the canal had dropped at least a 18 inches and my boat was on the bottom. No matter how fast the passing boats went my boat did not move at all. John.

Hello Everyone. Thank you for the replys. At the moment I'm just looking at repainting the 3-4 inch wide strip of new steel that is just above the water line, with a full hull repaint in a couple of years. All I need to do now is try and work out the best paint to put on my existing two pack paint. John.

Hello Everyone. When I had my boat overplated just overall year ago I got them to paint my new steel in two pack paint. I must admit I was not to happy as they only put one coat on and it was in the water 18 hours later. Any way my boat is coming out again in 2019 for new skin tanks and a repaint. The only thing is that one marina has told me that I can not put another coat of two pack on top with out the boat being grit blasted. I was told that I will have to cover the two pack in bitchium. I'm not sure if that is correct, but I was hoping to just keep on topping up the two pack. John.

Hello Everyone. Thank you for all the replies. When I get some time spare I will be looking at the pdf and trying to find the bleed screw on the pump, it is a very tight spot. There might be a lever on the pump, but there is little chance of me seeing it. There might of being a pump on top of the filter, I have a round silver disk on the top that seems to be missing something. The engine stop is a push button on the console. The engine is quite new, it was bought be the last owner in 2004 and has only covered 645 hours. I have taken the battery for the engine off and I put it on charge at work, to get it ready for me to try again when I get back from my weekend away. Once again thank you all for your help, I will be busy next week trying to sort it out. John.

Hello Ian. No I don't have a primer pump on the filter. I have fitted a hand primer to the fuel line just after the tank, to try and save using my battery to much. John.

Thank you for the replies and the link to the PDF, I will give a look over. I have tried loosening the injector pipes off the injectors, but no fuel comes through. Strange you say a Beta 38, as the boat was sold to me as having a Beta 38, but the engine plate says Beta 36. John.

Hello. Thank you for the replies. Good point on the engine make, it is a Beta marine 36. I have looked for a bleed screw on the pump, but its not in an easy place to see. John.

Hello Everyone. As the title says can any one give any idea how I can bleed my engine. It run out of fuel the other month and I have tried all I can to get it running, but no luck yet. I have fitted a hand primer to the fuel lines and I have got fuel to both fuel filters. But I can not get fuel to the injectors. I have now got to the stage were I need some to come out to my boat and get the engine running, my batteries need a good charge. Does someone know of a good mobile mechanic near Milton Keynes ? Thank you for looking, John.

Hello Everyone. With regard to a portable shower that it what I'm using at the moment, until I get the water system fitted. I bought my shower of a well known auction site for about £13. It has a submersible pump on a long hose to a shower head, it also has a long lead with a water proof switch and a connector for a 12v socket. I heat my water in a kettle on the log fire, it takes a while, but you just have to think ahead. I boil the kettle two or three times putting the hot water in a thermos to keep it hot. John.

Hello Everyone. I when I got my boat it was fully insulated around the water tank, it was crammed full of Rock wool. Not a very good idea as that stuff loves to soak all the condensation is can, all I was left with was a very soggy moldy mess. I now have solid foam slabs around the tank, such as celotex/ kingspan. John.

Hello Everyone. My 1979 Harborough Marine has a wet bilge. Here are big steel beams running port to starboard, to rest the wood floor on. These steel beams rest on smaller steel beams welded on the base plate running the full length of the boat, from front to the back. John.

Hello Everyone. I have that problem of my boat sitting a bit low after it was over plated last year. I have moved as much stuff out away from the back as possible, but I still need to remove the rotten floor in the back of the boat to get more ballast out. At the moment the water is only about 3 inch's from the top plate. The one good thing is that I'm happy it is secure, because it has the usual T bar on the top and it also has a bolt on each side. The bolts really make sure the top plate in in the right place and you are not just relying on the T bar. John.

Hello Every one. With regard to Solar panels I bought a 250 w panel a few months ago, this cost me £135. This panel is the same as the one's that get fitted to the roofs of houses. The company I bought it of is based in Oxford and they were selling the panels cheap because some of the solar cells are a different shade to the rest. I know it is a long way from London, but there might be other company's selling there panels cheaper as well. The other thing I have found is that that big panel starts to work sooner and keeps on going for longer in the evening compared to the smaller panels that I also have fitted on the roof. The main thing to look out for with the big panel is if you have enough room on the roof for it, as it is approx 1.5 m x 1 m. John.

Hello Everyone. I all ways let my fire die out over night and I do not relight till the next evening. At the moment I'm using seasoned semi split logs from a very good friend. As already said these do not last long and you go through plenty, but they were free. I normally add about three or four pieces of smoke less fuel a night, just to help keep a nice and red base to the fire. I have one window hopper half open, mainly because it has the wires from the solar panels coming through it and in the morning the windows are only slightly condensed. When I first got the boat last August it had not being lived on for a while and it felt damp. Mainly because of the rotten floor, but most of that in the front of the boat has now being ripped up. John.