Anna_Licorice

At the moment the stove top is about 75 and the flue 45. Inside its well over 300 degrees. This the diameter is about 6-8 inches (guessing with hand measures until I find a tape measure!). Thanks for the replies everyone.. They've been helpful for putting my mind at rest. I think this is a case of if it ain't broke then don't fix it - and I should find something else to obsess about!!

Hi there, I recently got an infra red thermometer (for another reason) and have been using it to check the temperature of the flue pipe on my stove. I did some research and read that the optimum temperature of the pipe should be up from 105 degrees to for fuel efficiency, etc. My pipe is only showing 50 degrees most of the time or 80-100 when the fire is first lit. The stove itself is keeping us warm on board so I have no complaints there. It will go all night and I don't think we are burning excessive amounts of fuel (20kg bag of Excel has lasted up to 3.5/4 days). I cleaned the pipe again last week (after doing it in October) just in case that was causing any impact. It made no difference. I am hoping that the pipe is insulated and thats why the outside temperature is low and that I am worrying about nothing. I really just wanted to get some thoughts from people with a little more stove experience than me! Thanks all in advance.

Yes I saw the cost of a new air pump. Which is why I don’t really want to rush into anything for something we don’t use that often. Its not doing anything. Just suddenly one day the thermostat display panel went off. Yesterday I checked the wiring and looks like there are no issues with power to the device. The only thing I didn’t change was a 30 fuse that was connected inline near the battery end of the red cable because I didn’t have any spares. I’ll order a new fuse and try that anyway before doing anything else I guess.

Thanks, will do. Not sure how old it is - could be up to 15 yrs.

Hi all, The Mukuni has recently stopped working - the display panel went off suddenly and the on/off switch no longer lights up. A few weeks later and I've finally got round to doing some troubleshooting. The light is flashing 5 times which the manual says means that the air motor needs to be replaced at a great cost. Changing the 7.5v fuse made no difference. I read some posts on here about cleaning the whole unit before spending any money and was looking for some advice before attacking it with my screwdriver. I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty but it's unlike any DIY task I've tackled before. Also, has anyone else replaced the air motor - is this a simple enough task? Many thanks in advance!

Hi, just wondering if anyone had used anything like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/30-second-install-galvanic-isolator-built-in-status-monitor-instant-protection-/172330026118?hash=item281fab8486:m:mXAIAWg679QK68sNCA2Hq6Aor this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Why-buy-a-Safeshore-Marine-galvanic-isolator-19000-boat-owners-cant-be-wrong-/172288446086?hash=item281d310e86:g:~wIAAOSwhcJWJnYd Just looking at options and wondering if they do the job. Also if its worth the extra money to get the status lights?? Thanks

No not been running the engine. I'm aware that also heats the water. I haven't found an immersion heater anywhere. Thanks Tony. Will have another look at the weekend and trace all the lines back. Did tidy a cupboard last week so maybe I did knock something.

We are on mains. Usually we have only had cold water unless we use the makuni to heat the radiators. Suddenly, today when I turned on the taps there was hot water on demand. We might have an immersion heater. It was in the paperwork but we didn't know what it was. We might have an immersion heater. It was in the paperwork but we didn't know what it was. I took photos but they wouldn't upload. We've turned off the mains line and unplugged it.

We are on mains. Usually we have only had cold water unless we use the makuni to heat the radiators. Suddenly, today when I turned on the taps there was hot water on demand.

Hi We've suddenly got hot water on tap. How do we turn it off? We want to leave the boat moored up with no hot water while we aren't here. Could it be this fuse box? Any ideas greatly appreciated.

Very helpful thanks

Thanks everyone, some really helpful advice. When I took the plug out the shower tray is sitting on wood and I put my finger down and felt that it was all wet- but looking around the tray it isn't wet all the way up to the wall. That's what makes me think it is a leak from the drain. The shower shares a wall with the kitchen and the pump is under the kitchen sink. I'm just not sure how the water gets from the bottom of the shower to under the sink.

as some of you might remember we bought a boat that needed a bit of work. Well when we looked under the sink it had two of those mould preventer type containers- full up. The sink smelt like mould. So I pulled out the shelves and found a puddle of water under the shower gulper. (I quickly put the shelves back down and buried my head in the canal sand) (Just kidding) ​ I can't see where the water is leaking from. But I know some things. It doesn't appear to be the pipe going to the outside. It does not appear to be the pipes going to the taps. And it does not look like the pipe attaching to the gulper. But somehow there is water under it. When showering under the sink fills up with clean water- not soapy. So I thought maybe the water was leaking through the tiles. I filled only the basin of the shower and it still leaked, thus ruling out tiles. So I tried to take the basin out. WOW. So I ended up removing the bottom layer of tiles- not easy but the shower still wouldn't budge. I unscrewed the plug- then it occurred to me- could the shower be leaking through the plug- it is only a flimsy black bit of plastic on the other side of the hole? So that's where I'm at at the moment. An unusable shower and the thought that it is worth just siliconing the plug to stop leaks around the edges and seeing if that stops the leak. Any other suggestions, or this happened to anyone else? thanks Anna PS On the plus side we've used the marina showers now and they are quite nice.

After emptying my Porta Potti again today (two of use get about 4 days usage before having to empty it) I am glad to have stumbled on this thread. I did not like the 'idea' of storing my waste for a pump out- but it was more the thought of what could go wrong that I couldn't fix, and also wanting to use the space under my bed for other things. But having had a Porta Potti now for a few months I have to say I'm quite paranoid and obsessed about finding Elsan spots to empty the waste. And once or twice some Elsan spots have been out of order- causing us to use the spare cassette- leading to my initial dislike of carrying waste around. I'm going to research composting toilets now. Thanks for the posts.

It will be our first show also. Very excited.

Yes, I'm afraid my lack of electrical knowledge is not helpful. And wife and I do plan on doing maintenance courses we kind of just thought that we could make it to our home marina. The engine made odd noises starting up- it seemed to have started up but actually it made such weird noises that the wife tried to turn it off and we don't believe that it had actually started up now (again our limited knowledge leaves us unsure), it would not turn off, smoke came out of everywhere, but especially the exhaust holes. The guys that came and saw it were shocked that everything had blown also. And once inspected the ignition switch may have been the cause. To get us moving they say they found wiring loom burnt out starter motor and alternator burn out, isolators and itnition burn out. They say once it arrived at the boat yard, strip down and inspect wiring loom to instrument panel and domestic charging found multiple issues, readdress and make good wiring loom.

Yes, that was the diagnoses of the RCR. Then when the engineers came out they said the same thing as you. But upon investigation the alternator was indeed toast, the starter motor also- the ignition switch was fried and it seems to have burnt through the cabling. It is the rarity of this that is most worrying. Why it happened and will it happen again.

they think it was a faulty ignition switch. (that was quite hot and smelly after the fire and it has to be replaced)

He couldn't rig anything in the end because the parts were completely fried. Even the wiring. I'm trying to not take it personally and actually have 'words' with the boat! It did feel like cheating by the tow path as we had a lovely time and just pottered around doing little jobs, eating well and I did quite a few paintings. We have solar panels (but old ones) that kept the batteries a little bit topped up- though we still didn't use the lights at night just incase. (Early romantic nights instead.) We would like to update the solar panels- but all money is now in the engine bay. Sob Here are some paintings I started on my holiday from my exhausting 3 hours cruising on my narrowboat. Thank you Sir Nibble, the boat is with some mechanics at Heyford Fields marina. We are at home. We hope to have the repairs completed by Thursday to move her closer to Cow Roast on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But I don't think we can do that amount of cruising in the days we have. No warranty. And as some of you wise souls pointed out the mechanic who had looked at the diesel leak didn't end up fixing it like he said he did. that was spotted by the new mechanics.

Ok, first of all, be gentle we have had a bit of a shock. Moored up fine on our first night. Lazy start to the next morning. Wife turned the key and then engine made an odd noise, then smoke escaped from the exhaust hole and we shut her down- though she wouldn't initially turn off. The smoke smelt electrical right away and was later confirmed to be electrical. We called the RCR and it was unfixable- even if he had all the parts (alternator, starter motor) he would have run into difficulties as we later discovered that the wiring was burnt and the ignition switch unusable. As you can imagine we are quite shaken up by this and not a little sad. We were also on a public holiday, so unable to get help till four days later. We were fully stocked though and optimistically managed to have a great time moored up on the tow path watching the boats go by. So, that's our story so far. How common is this? xx Anna

I don't want to hijack this thread though. The problem is still being figured out- however what seemed to happen is that the alternator, the inverter and the battery isolation valve burnt out- the burn was so extreme it took some of the wiring. I'll do a proper update once it has been diagnosed properly.

Thanks Peterboat. We were quite shaken as smoke surrounded us- just as we were about to set off. But, I think, looking back we did the right thing, and turned the engine off and called the RCR.

It is exhausting- locks especially. However, I'm a bit jealous at this post! We had a lovely engine fire (alternator burnt out, starter motor went with it and wiring got fried) on night one! Which kept us stranded near Braunston for about 4 days. So we have left the boat with the marine engineers and headed home! On the way to the marine engineers some idiot- driving way too fast- in high winds- crashed into the side of the boat as he took a blind curve!! I was 'pot- pot- potting' away at a sensible speed, but was left no time to steer out of his way! I was pretty shaken up by that! If he'd been driving slower we would just have passed normally. We have encountered a few speed demons! However, so glad that you are having a good journey. x

Really helpful thanks.

Quick question. We need to get a new hose. Any recommendations. There was a flat blue coloured one that rolls up thin- anyone able to review that? I'm thinking about ease of use as well as storage. Thanks Anna