Bewildered

The best thing about sleeping dogs is the chasing rabbits/squirrels/cars/postmen or whatever. I love the little exited noises and watching their paws running. I'd love to have such exiting dreams

Dogs love a den. One of the best ways to train a dog is to cage train them. As long as you don't use the cage as a punishment or leave them in it for long periods they will feel safe and secure in the cage, especially if you put a blanket over it so only the front isn't covered.Bit space restrictive on a narrowboat though.

We think he is a Springer Spaniel Jack Russell cross. We got him from Sunnyside dogs rescue in Coven where he was just listed as a Jack Russell X. They get a lot of dogs over from Ireland, of which he is one, so we didn't get any history. Could be pointer but he is quite small; head is about knee height, so we're thinking more likely spaniel. He is very underweight and has had a bit of a dicky belly, could be the antibiotics for the kennel cough or just the worry of settling in to a new environment. His age was listed as 18months but looking at his teeth we think he is older or had a very poor diet. For a young dog he is very chilled out; any more laid back and he would be permenantly horizontal. The first night when we went to bed he kept putting his front feet up on the bed, we ignored him and this lasted about 15 mins before he settled down to sleep on my slippers. Second night he checked on us twice before settling down on the dinette seat in the living room. So he's making himself at home. He seems to love people; gets a bit exited when he sees other dogs, hopefully this is playfulness and not aggression.. Can't let him off the lead for a while, at least until he is taught recall. He is house trained but very little else, seems clever enough, but can't start any serious training till his belly settles down and we can give him treats as a reward. Already seems to think the no getting on the furniture rule shouldn't apply if I look cute.

No he's crew, so it should be in the crew section

Lazy crew, half an hour on board and heads straight for his bunk

I on occasion use the centre line as a mooring line. Usually when stopping at one of the concrete edge mooring where C&RT have been considerate enough to place the mooring rings in locations that are totally inappropriate distance apart for a 70ft boat on a waterway that was built for 70ft boats. Rear line tied behind the boat to check forward movement, front line not long enough to reach ring in front of boat and has to go onto ring behind the bow. Use centre line on ring in front of centre to check backwards movement. I know what you are thinking, I could leave the front rope to check forwards movement and bring the stern rope forward to check backwards movement; could do, but C&RT in their ultimate wisdom didn't bother to put a ring there either. So I just say bugger it and use a handling line to moor with, then go to the pub.

As you say they may be thin on the ground but not everyone plumbs their own boats. I did have a mate who is a good plumber take a look at it when I first got the boat but as you pointed out it is older tech and he admitted he really didn't know much about it. Perhaps rather than add this request to an existing topic, that people may not be looking at, I should start a new one. Someone somewhere must know a good marine plumber that understands theses systems

What you say makes sense. This boat has been modified since the original build, the stove used to be in the front corner and is now situated about 10feet or so from the the front of the boat, the pump is as far as I can tell is in the original location under the front steps which is at the top of the system. Probably why I get air lock problems. I don't do plumbing. It is somthing I have never bothered to learn. Yes I could work it out logically but I would rather it be modified and set up correctly by someone who knows exactly what they are doing. All the advice is helpful for me to get a better understanding of what should be done but I'm still not going to do it myself. All I want is a recommendation for a good marine plumber/heating engineer somewhere in the Midlands, preferably near Coven

I see what you are saying but never having owned a stove before I have no idea what temperature the fire will burn at after being damped down and would rather not take the risk until I have a better idea; therefore the wisest course of action would be to minimise the risk and have a low powered pump keep it circulating. As I posted previously, we have already tried a 12v pump and it didn't work, we suspected air locks in the system. Hence my request for a recommendation for a good plumber. 12v pumps don't self prime, so how do you prime them after fitting? I'm after a decent plumber who understands these systems to set it up and test it and show me how to maintain it. If for example I light the stove but find that the pump is not circulating, what can I do to clear an airlock? Is there anyway to check circulation before lighting the fire? Etc

It's the central heating circulation pump. I want to be able to keep the stove alight overnight during the winter. I don't want to turn off the pump and have the water boil and blow up the stove.

Not a great deal better than the one I'm using then, 4.5amps plus the 0.5amps the inverter uses is still 5amps all night long. It's been about 30 years since I used ohms law but I worked it out as 240v x 0.47amps = 112.8watts, 112.8w/12v = 9.4amps or am I missing something about the conversion to 12v?

Interesting, that could well be the solution. According to the specs full load current is 0.47amps; am I right in assuming that it will only draw 0.47 amps from the batteries via the inverter? As far as I can remember the current drawn stays the same, only the voltage and wattage change. If this is right then the 1/2amp the inverter uses,just by being switched on, plus the 0.47 or less from the pump means it should run at under an amp and be more efficient than a lot of 12v pumps.

Anybody know exactly what type of batteries Varta LDF230's are? Varta's web site is very vague on the subject.

Can anyone recommend a good marine plumber/heating engineer in the midlands area? After fitting the battery monitor I now know that the mains pump draws about 5amps and the inverter draws 1/2 an amp so in order to keep the fire in all night I'm drawing 5.5 - 5.7 amps all night long. I need to go back to a 12v pump that is only drawing 1-1.5 amps. As I've already tried a 12v pump without success I want someone who knows what they are doing to fit it and prime it. I think this was the original problem, 12v pumps don't self prime, just how do you prime them and how do you know if the water is circulating? I also want to know if I can have at least part of my system thermosyphon in case of pump failure. We are currently lurking around on the Staffordshire & Worcestershire canal at Coven because we are trying to get a dog from the local rescue centre.

The same is true for anywhere, you want extinguisher on your route to the exit in case you need to fight your way to it. You don't want them at the exit when you have already evacuated. Closing the stable door and all that. Years ago my mate had a mk III Cortina, driving out of London one night his engine caught fire, we quickly pulled over to the hard shoulder on the M4, he did have a fire extinguisher in the car but the idiot had mounted it under the bonnet, where the fire was????

I wouldn't bother with discretely. I'd just take it right in his face, if he complained then I'd point out that this is in lieu of his id until I'm sure he is genuine. But then I wouldn't recommend this action to anyone else, not unless they are prepared to deal the possible reactions from such an action. It's what I would do but I'm a martial arts instructor and just don't give a damn.

Slightly off topic; fire extinguishers in commercial buildings, My brother is a school site manager, he got fed up with the annual inspection of the fire extinguisher and the fact that the fire officer was constantly recommending fitting more of them, but then he did work for the company that supplied them. My brother was having none this and kept asking what is the minimum legal requirement, obviously the fire officer was very vague on this subject. So my brother did his own reaserch and found out that the legal requirement for fire extinguishers in a school is zero. You don't actually need them. The fire officer was adamant that they were required. My brother then asked him, so who is going to use them? The policy of the school is to evacuate and under no circumstance to attempt to tackle the fire. The fire officer responded by saying the fire brigade may want to use them, to which my brother said "what the guys who turn up in a bloody great pump with all the fire fighting gear are going to want to use a pathetic little extinguisher"? So the moral of this is be wary of who gives you advice. It is curious though most commercial premises have fire extinguishes located near the exits, and in the modern world of H&S a policy that says evacuate, don't attempt to tackle the fire. So you are almost out of the building when you see this bright red extinguisher and you think to yourself, maybe I should go back in and put myself in danger again.

Finally worked out the culprit was the freezer. Bought it new in February direct from Shoreline, it is the small TF35 model. We noticed that it seemed to run for longer periods than it ought to; as it is located behind the bulkhead from the bed we took to turning it off overnight. After fitting the BM-2 I spent time working out what draws what, the freezer drew around 3amps continuously. I ended up sitting next to it with a book for a couple of hours and the thermostat never kicked in once. I had pulled the freezer out from the cupboard it was housed in to make sure there was plenty of air circulating around the cooling fins during this test. I noticed on one side a circular patch of condensation about 3 inches in diameter that was freezing cold to touch. Obviously a spot that was not insulated properly during manufacture. I rang Shoreline and explained the problems I was having, they sent out an advance replacement that day. So I can't fault Shorelines customer service. I still think I will be turning the freezer off over night though. It is insulated and as it won't be opened at night will happily stay frozen until I switch it on in the morning during the daily battery re-charge. The back of the frezzer has terminals on it to fit a 12v fan; I assume this will cut in when the compressor is running the idea being to blow cool air over the cooling fins to help dissipate the exchanged heat faster. What sort of fan would be best for this? Does it actually save power? If the freezer draws 3amps and a fan adds say another 1/2 an amp, does the freezer actually run for a shorter time that would justify the extra load necessary to run the fan?