Horace42
Patron
-
Posts
1,375 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Gallery
Blogs
Store
Posts posted by Horace42
-
-
On 12/11/2018 at 11:03, MJG said:
Don't underestimate the safety advantages of not having a very hot easy to touch large pipe near the steps to the door at the front of the cabin (If that is where your stove is).
If you lose your footing or slip coming down the steps the instinct is to grab the nearest firm solid object to steady yourself, and it hurts when it's a scalding hot pipe. (Don't ask me how I know this).
I have fitted a vertical grab pole (floor to ceiling) to hold when using the steps. Very useful even without the stove. It is placed to prevent brushing against the flue pipe (but pole-dancers could burn their feet I guess) - and the flue is 4" single wall with a detachable long funnel on the roof.
-
On 13/11/2018 at 14:46, dor said:
My Vetus M4.17 is a 1700cc Mitsubishi engine (S4L2). The lowest I have set the tickover is 800rpm; below that it does get a bit jumpy. I understand this is the normal tickover speed, although some set it a bit higher at 850rpm. It's a good solid reliable engine, although I did have a head bolt shear. Later models (post 2007 anyway) had higher tensile bolts fitted. I only have a fairly ordinary silencer and don't consider it unreasonably loud; it is easy enough to have a conversation on the back when cruising (1400 rpm). People have commented that it is a quiet engine. It's under a semi-trad stern, and I do have a sheet of soundproofing under the deckboard.
Similar to me. Oddly enough, I had a head bolt shear. However, I tune the tick-over to as low as I can to get smooth running, but not as high to get shouted at for not slowing down. The noise is almost a fetish thing with me. All internal ballast was laid on thin foam sheets and packed with insulation material to stop it rattling. My whole cruiser stern is fully sound proofed with insulation panels fixed to all internal surfaces, with seals on all mating surfaces of hatch access plates, with soft engine mounts (that magnify the 'wobble' but cut down vibrations at the higher tick-over revs. The engine has fully flexible drive shaft and coupling to the prop, and with a flexible exhaust pipe connector and all water pipes and cables angled and curved to avoid direct longitudinal transmission of vibrations to equipment fixed to the the hull and bulkhead. There is also a large air vent in the hull body which has a large filter pad to allow adequate ventilation for the engine and the inlet air.
.... and still the 'noise' gets out.
.
-
Mine is a mitsubishi diesel. Marinised by Thornycroft.
Fitted by myself - to replace an old BL 1.5.
Two criticisms. It doesn't like slow tick-over speed under 600rpm (out of balance forces makes it lurch violently and try to jump out of the boat) and a bit noisy in my opinion (even with a good silencer).
-
1 hour ago, Laurie.Booth said:
This is a long shot.
North Stratford Canal.
Next Wednesday I want to go from Lady Lane to Hockley Heath and I need to know how bad the leaves are on this route as Clarrie suffers badly with leaves. Anyone been there in the last few days?
I will probably regret asking...but how does Clarrie suffer badly from leaves?
-
23 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:
A couple of years ago after moving the boat to Macclesfield, which is a lot higher up and colder than the Shroppie where it was before, I found the floor getting soggy at the front of the boat, lifted the boards and found about two inches of water. All, it turned out, from condensation off the back of the water tank (which is the the other side of the bulkhead at pointy end of the boat) which i had omitted to insulate. Since I did, no water.
Two inches of water ?? was that at the front ? .... wouldn't that mean the back end was flooded?
-
I had a similar problem. Not condensation though. All the pipe joints were perfectly dry, but the wetness was there, and was traced to pinhole leaks through the rusty bow tank bulkhead along the lower edge - out of sight under the floor
A temporary plug cured it, the keel-plate dried completely, but eventually more rusty pinholes kept occurring. In the end I installed a plastic liner tank - and have never had a problem with it since.
l
-
16 hours ago, Machpoint005 said:
I have a cricket ball in my right hand, and a cricket ball in my left hand. What have I got?
A bloody great cricket.
.....I guess... a sticky wicket ??
-
22 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:
One of the several places around the country who 'specialise' in such vessels, one example :
http://www.boatwrecks.com/power.asp
32ft Steel hull narrow boat with wooden superstructure and BMC diesel inboard engine. This vessel has suffered flooding damage throughout. Lying Leighton Buzzard
That's interesting - but they all seem to be for sale, not scrapped - none of them are stated to have damage due to sinking (ecause of advance rusty hulls) - except perhaps the 3rd one - the Springer, that has suffered internal flood damage - that without explanation could have been due to rainwater - leaky prop-shaft - open weed hatch - duff pump, that sort of thing.
So we are still left with disposal issues. No mention of whatever finally happens to rusty steel narrowboats.
-
2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:
Overplating is not something that should be undertaken lightly.
It will probably cost more to do than you will achieve in increased selling price as most folks, would consider a cheap non-overplated boat that requires overplating is a better option than one already done. The standard of overplating and the condition below the overplate will be unknown and not be able to be seen forcing folks to consider the 'worse case' that it has been poorly done to cover up problems and make the boat saleable.
I would NEVER buy an overplated boat.
You may find the attached article (written for surveyors) about the "dangers of overplating" of interest.
Sorry to harp on it, but what happens down the line - eventually someone will end up with an unsaleable rust bucket - what do they do - how are these boats disposed of ?
-
3 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:
Not the whole cable, just live and neutral then if you have 3 amps flowing in. 0,03 flowing to earth you end up with2.97 in the neutral and if you have a £500 clamp meter you measure 0.03 amps. As I said he is going to have to take things to bits to carry out the measurement if he has the right equipment
Thanks. yes an imbalance between line and neutral means earth leakage, and thinking about, if the clamp went round all 3 wires the current in the earth wire would cancel out - and a zero reading would be obtained. Obviously a test of not much use. But it has been said the earth wire current is zero. So how was it known, unless tested separately.
Which was on my mind when I commented on the time scale of the test allowing errors to creep.
Apart from sensitivity of the meter needed for low values to be measured accurately, from which it could be argued that someone would not pay £500 for a decent meter. unless be a specialist. and would know what they were doing.
Leading to my observation that if the blacking itself was at fault (but blamed on electrics) might be due to using an expert electrician with little painting knowledge doing a bit of blacking as a spare time job....
-
1
-
-
Although thickness matters - who says 4mm or 3mm, or 2mm or even 1mm is too thin - or even a few holes and a good bilge pump?
It seems the surveyors and insurers have picked a number from nowhere and join a chorus of "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear - your boat is a rust bucket and about to sink or burst apart - and therefore worthless and uninsurable with a comprehensive policy...."
A load of nonsense if you ask me, but regretfully it appears to be the case.
Where is the evidence of all these boats sinking ? I have not found the canals to be a graveyard of sunken boats - and there must be hundreds by now -
So where do all the old boats go at the end of their life? - boat yards to be broken up?
And if a boat does sink due to rusty leaks, does the 14 days limit for mooring in one place apply ? - because technically it could be argued a boat is not 'moored' if it has sunk.
From another angle, what is the profile of a person who buys a rusty boat - why buy a rusty in the first place?
-
1
-
-
14 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:
You don't, you put it round the mains live and neutral conductors simultaneously and if they are in balance you get a reading of zero as they cancel each other out, but if some current is going somewhere else its an imbalance and that would show up if your instrument is sensitive enough. You would probably need to go into the consumer unit to be able to access just live and neutral and to have the consumer unit live while you did it. Or you could strip the outer insulation off the landline, separate the cores so you just capture L&N and tape it up afterwards.
Thanks for your feedback. Yes you are right - clamp the whole cable - I should have been paying attention. But my mind was distracted by the 0.3mA current difference, and finding where it was going when the earth wire current was said to be zero. It would take time to intercept the cables to make measurements - with meter readings leading to answers based on the assumption the 'load' was constant for the time it took to do the test.
And if on the whole power supply cable (at source rather than on the boat) it could be poor insulation and leakage to earth before reaching the boat.
There are too many unknowns here.
It would be interesting to hear what the OP has decided to do.
-
14 hours ago, WotEver said:
I spit on your quavers and offer you a 36 year old clip of 19 year old MW above. Semi quavers, for sure, but at that speed more like demi semi...
I didn’t get that reference either so that’s two of us missing the point.
I am not a musician, so I ask if 'spit' is a metaphorical comment, or is it literally a playing technique needed to get the right notes ?
-
2 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:
Don't you lot know that it is very unlucky to be superstitious?
CaRT's web site has a special dispensation, signed by his Holiness to make sure that the holiness isn't in the boat hull.
That should do the trick.
I wish I had known the superstition about changing a boat name on dry land.
I bought an ex hire boat and changed the name whilst afloat.
I am not superstitious by nature - touch wood - but that explains why my boat has been plagued by rust ever since.
-
15 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:
Or, maybe he just guessed ?
I cannot imagine that many painters would have, and know how to use, such electrical test equipment - it would appear to be so far removed from their primary skill-set.
I have a DC clamp meter. Hardly ever us it. Forgot the name. Can't find the manual. Hall Effect I think. It can show a mA reading waving it in the air near the cable before I clamp it over the cable, then it goes to zero when the clamp closes - if the cable circuit is switched off.
And considering I can only check for one cable at a time - makes me wonder if the painter took current readings in 3 cables taken at different times - and then compared them on the assumption they had remained exactly constant for the time it took to do the test. Or worse, if a simple ammeter was used, then the cables would have to be disconnected to insert the ammeter in series.
Any one who has done this will know it is quite difficult.
-
1
-
-
16 hours ago, sueb said:
Old trainers burn well
...is that after you have taken off ?
-
2 hours ago, DandV said:
I used to have two problems. 1/ getting the charcoal alight in our tow path barbeque.
2/ getting rid of the white spirit I had used for brush cleaning.
Combine 1 & 2 Two problems solved
I use a gas torch to light it, and a hand-held face-cooler fan to make it blaze up.
-
16 hours ago, WotEver said:
I disagree. The logical advice to the OP is to ignore the BS from the painter and to simply get on with her life, safe in the knowledge that there’s no problem.
I don't mind what action the OP takes, by all means ignore the problem, but it's seems to be a worry enough to pose the question here, leading to what the prospective buyer thinks about the effect on value - assuming they are in possession of the facts about the blacking/electrics.
Either way, there has to be an explanation about where the stray current is going - if there is any at all - and if taken at face value, as seems to be the case here - (assuming the provenance of the instrument accuracy, the protocol used, and competency of the tester, is reliable) - then what effect if true, do the results have on the blacking/anodes - then boat value - all in the mind of the buyer?
Personally I would be inclined to agree with WotEver - but it's not my boat or money at stake.
-
I have heard 'white' smoke is OK, but 'black smoke is not.
They all have an unpleasant smell - except for me, tree wood on bonfires - that takes me back many years to happy boy scout camping days when the troop sat round the bonfire at night - signing camp fire songs - where supper was a mug of cocoa (no milk) made with hot water from a dixie hung over the fire - a chunk of dry bread - and a chunk of cheese.
-
1 hour ago, Flyboy said:
I have seen on some boats a neon connected between live & earth to act as a 'correct polarity' light. It draws enough current to deflect the meter on a galvanic isolator but not enough to trip the rcd.
That makes sense, an in that case, would they be part of on the socket/spur. If so I cannot see how the installation would pass an insulation test, but pass or fail, the current should flow in the earth wire.
The logical advice to the OP, in terms of reliable information to support the sale of the boat, it would better to have it's accuracy traceable to a competent sources - so get the electrics tested independently - and get a certificate.
-
18 hours ago, Hannah Jones McVey said:
Hi,
A few weeks ago our boat came out for survey and the blacking job done since months earlier looked like it had seen better days. During investigations since the man responsible for the blacking has done an electrical leakage test and sent us this outcome
'
basically I don’t think there was anything switched on on the boat because the current draw was 71 milliamps and at that current the imbalance between live and neutral was 0.3 mA . the earth wire had zero current.
This means that the imbalance current is flowing out thru your hull
Although small at this quiescent state it would likely rise when other units are switched on'
I am no electrician and this means nothing to me. Can someone explain it in a dummy's guide style. The boat is being sold at the end of the week and I need to know what I should do.
Many thanks
The zero current in the earth wire could be due to a break or bad connection in the earth conductor ....was that checked for continuity?
And as a result of the 'failure' did the surveyor carry out a full insulation test? because it sounds to me like poor insulation of the live conductor somewhere - for all sorts of reasons as explained by others above.
And if the 'wiring' insulation is good, then it is probably some equipment connected to it, as already suggested, so switch it off, or disconnect it, and then test.
I am not up to speed on galvanic isolators, but aren't they are supposed to prevent currents circulating through the hull and water when the boat is plugged into the shore supply?
.....and as an aside, my boat hull has just been blacked, and no mention of any electrical test.....and certainly not part of any BSS test I know of, nor the recent valuation survey I had carried out.
However in your case, for peace of mind, your wiring can easily be tested again - and in view of the effect on value - a second opinion would be useful.
PS: Just seen Sea Dog reply #28. Good points to check. It came in whilst writing mine so didn't see it.
-
Having enjoyed a few one-week hire cruises in the 70's, we decided to buy a boat, but first a house with an EOG mooring. Then we found a 10 year old 50ft ex 8 berth hire boat that cost £9k +VAT. The idea was to try out boat-ownership for a couple of years to see if we liked extensive cruising , ready for retiring from work.
If we didn't like it we would 'get rid of it', thinking any loss would be more than made up by the equivalent cost of hiring for the same amount of time. Fast forward 30 years. I hope it has gone up in value.
Which it should, considering I have extensively refitted the inside of my boat - all very good quality but DIY nevertheless. Fully wired with 12 v and 230 volts sockets everywhere andcomplex electrical/mechanical systems All new equipment throughout at the time it was installed. Engine, gear box, prop & shaft, deep-sea seal, batteries and management system, Victron inverter/charger, calorifier, Aldi gas boiler, central heating, solid fuel stove, cooker, fridge, pump-out toilet, fully sealed sound-proofed engine compartment,
But unfortunately I have neglected blacking and anodes (only 3 times in 30 years) until dry docked last month, and currently repainting with a view to selling in due course when we move home .
Hopefully for more than I paid.
-
21 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:
The error is highlighted above.
Using 'their maths' C&RT stated figures quote £630 per boat
Boat licence income £20.4m
Number of boats with a licence at 31 March* 34,207Income per private 12 month licence (annualised) £630
Income from mooring permits £6.2m
Boating Trade £10.0m
Income from BWML Marinas £8.5m
Other £1.5m
Total Boating and Moorings Income £46.6mThanks Alan, I did not have your accurate figures available at the time I replied, and I took those given by the OP at face value.
The lower average boat price suggests a boat of shorter length, or shorter duration.
I need a lot more facts to get closure to the real average length, except that I can't spend time on it now, as I am making the most of the fine weather to do a bit of boat painting - not that a more accurate figure would be of much help to answer the OP's question.
-
Regretfully it is a fact of commercial law that demand forces prices up. The number of boats can be kept under control by increasing license fees.
I am sure CRT know this.
As an aside, the average length of boat could be worked out from the total income (said to be £30m+) divided by the total number of boats (said to be about 35k) to give an average annual license income per boat of £860. Where from the current fees list, £860 is the region of a 13.5m boat, or 45ft or so. Not a precise figure - but sounds about right - a ball park length if it helps.
Settle an argument please
in General Boating
Posted
Yes, and although smashed, I am fairly sure the windows are too high to see machines inside....