RD1

That's great, but do you have information to confirm this, not all the hire companies on the Broads are yet convinced.

Ideally you need the solar panels to be perpendicular to the sun in both planes, not possible with fixed panels, but having a tilt mechanism with the sun on the beam would be next best. This could possibly double your solar output, cf. to flat panels on the deck. More messing about, but if you are moored a long time, might be worth the effort.

Thinking on, we have been talking about types of valves and potential leaks, but you also have to consider noise and pressure drop across a valve when water is actually flowing. Full bore valves like ball valves are probably best, gate valves next, but there will be some turbulence as it's not smooth flow, with turbulance, comes noise and then a pressure drop. The worst ones for pressure drop are of course the conventional stop cocks, water is first diverted at right angles through a restricted opening before being diverted again at right angles. No wonder when you are having an electric heated shower you have a temporary scalding when someone flushes the loo.( some showers are designed to protect you from this).

I think the way forward with any valve is to exercise them at least once a year. Then spend the next week or so chasing drips. Chinese take away containers are brilliant, placed under eack tap/ iso valve. Toilet paper tied in a knot and placed around each risky joint gives a quick clue as to where any leaks might be. I hate isolator valves on toilets, or tanks in the loft, they rarely get exercised, rarely work when you need them, and often leak afterwards. The isolators/valves that leak in our house.. Main stopcock, fine when open fully, but close it, and it drips. I tighten the gland nut slightly and it stops. Stopcock in airing cupboard that feeds water to loft tank, not used for 6 years, once I managed to open it, it too leaked. Gate valve for hotwater feed, siezed, crystals built up around gland too. I think it's fair to say, like boilerman, have a spare stop tap, iso valve or ball valve to hand before tackling any isolator. I spent longer fixing leaking valves than doing the job. I have never changed a central heating water pump, I often wonder if the isolators on either side of the pump would actually work, after 15-20 years of non use. I did a part drain to replace a three port valve, that was straight forward, added the remainder of the inhibitor after. Water quality, hardness also affects the reliability, we are in a soft water area, I find valves generally on the central heating fair the best, as long as inhibitors are being used. Recently I exercised all the rad valves and lockshields, to flush the heating system, and descale the boiler etc, I was pleased that non of them actually leaked, when you consider that new one only cost just over a pound lol I have fitted lever ball valves to the feed to the conservatory, 5 years later, they closed with the pressure of one finger. No signs of any leaks or crystal build up. I am hoping they will perform well. I once worked for a company that one division used a lot of lever ball valves for commercial chemical and dosing systems. They proved to be very reliable. Probably better quality than some of the cheaper versions from diy shops. For a stop tap or gate valve, I never fully open it, I start by opening it fully, then close it a fraction of a turn. I like to have a bit of wiggle room, so when it does seize, you can start it in either direction, a few degrees at a time, forward back etc, increasing the movement each time. Works for me. No doubt someone will take my comments and say how wrong some of them are and offer better advice, that would of course be great, and we can all learn from their professional training and experience but it has worked for me for over 40 plus years. I am not advising anyone to try what I have done, it is just feedback from my experience. I love the debate from the plumbing world to ptfe a compression joint, or to hawk white it ( potable version for drinking water) or to assemble dry as designed. I personally prefer dry. I worked on a friends plumbing, following on from a retired plumber, and every compression joint was wrapped in ptfe, he said he never had a joint that leaked. Each to their own lol.

With smoke comes Carbon Monoxide too, so quite deadly, a silent killer. As well as a smoke alarm, fit a Carbon Monoxide alarm too. Even though they are not a requirement, it is recommended that they are fitted. There are at least two major hirecraft companies on the Norfolk Broads that now fit both as standard to all their fleet. Several of us have been campaigning to get them fitted, but the BSS are a harder nut to crack lol Third party CO can kill too. Running engines, generators, gas or diesel heaters, fuel burning stoves, can create CO which can enter other boats, there is a greater risk when boats are stern moored, like on popular mooring places on the Broads, but can also be an issue on double moored boats on the canals and rivers etc.

Just made up exactly that for our central heating, 22 15 22 reduced "T" compression fitting, with a drain cock. Ours was to help bleed the central heating as we get an airlock that can take 2 hours to clear following a complete drain down. 5 minute job now. All parts from Toolstation. When I do any work on old pipe work I always use compression fittings, not soldered or Yorkshire fittings, as once, a few drops of water came from a place that a few drops of water come from, and killed the solder joint. Rather than use stopcocks or gate valves, which seize and leak, I now use good quality full bore lever ball valves. Time will tell how these perform. They are bulkier than stopcocks so you need room to activate too.

You can get school type compasses, and you can get dividers too. Helix all metal ones used to be good ones. The dividers should work ok. you can grind some off the points for a better fit. A pair of pliers across the divider legs to give more purchase should help.

5 star wood treatment, but I wouldn't want to sleep on the boat for at least a month after, confined space and all that. But you could cut and first fix and label, then remove, and soak timbers in a trough, or guttering, and let them naturally dry in free dry air for a while.

I don't want to discuss inverters, but on the subject of shore power, even though you may have a 16 amp supply the marina might not be happy if you take that, so worth checking to see what you can actually use 24/7 That might make you look at your possible consumption.

Now, most people carry enough extinguisher capacity to meet the BSS. Not many carry more. Now, what happens if you use one, satisfactorily like with the OP. You are now on a boat that no longer satisfies the BSS ! so if there was a repeat a week later say, heaven forbid, would the insurance pay out if your remaining extinguisher was unable to put the next fire out? Maybe if you have time expired extinguishers, is it best to try to use them first, and risk precious time should they fail? I read this when people were disposing of distress flares, keep the old ones, use first, again time is of the essence. My extinguishers show no expiry date, they just have the pressure gauge, the BSS examiner was happy to pass them as satisfactory. Should we be giving the powder extinguishers a shake now and again, to make sure the contents haven't settled into solid lump? I think I have just talked myself into getting another extinguisher lol

On the paloma, I don't think it's an overheat cut out, I don't think it has one, you can virtually boil the water on low flow, I've owned the same Paloma for 28 years, serviced it and repaired it a few times. I still believe it is the differential pressure flow across the heater is the issue.Lets see if the OP tries what I suggested and gets back to us. I have suggested this to other boaters on other forums and it seemed to solve their problem. Time will tell.

Mike the boilerman just reminded me, when we use the shower we only have the hot tap on the shower on, we adjust the temperature with the temperature control on the heater. In the summer, we also select the lower heat setting ^^ rather than the higher ^^^ If we add too much cold water at the shower, cold water shortcuts the heater and the differential pressure across the heater drops, and can lead to the gas cutting out.

We have had our boat over 28 years, never had a problem at all, been on canals in Cheshire, Shropshire Wales no issues. On the Bridgewater we had a few youngsters try to get on the boat, 23' grp, they just wanted a ride, I changed the subject and asked them what they did around here, with occasional reference to, oh don't sit there, if the boat moves you might slip into the water, still asking them questions, again with more references to their safety. Asking their advice, where the shops are, not that I was going to leave the boat lol, after a few more words, they said goodbye mister and went away. We were a captive audience that night, I would normally do a midnight cruise and get a couple of miles between us, but we were at Plants lane lift bridge, that can only be opened by BW in the morning. We didn't see the lads again, this was the school holidays, the kids were bored, had I been more aggressive, then their behaviour might have changed too. I just let the kids know that I cared about them, and didn't want them to hurt themselves. We have seen youths with catapults, throwing bricks in the canal at bridges, kids with air rifles, we were never targets, a camera was always clearly on deck, but we never took any pics, that could really antagonise them, and make them want to get the camera at any cost, well that was our thoughts. On the broads, there were few towpaths, or foot paths, you were often moored on islands with a moat around them. Mooring in the middle of a broad... see if you can get us now lol... Just in case, I keep an air horn within reach, fire extinguisher, bright torch, phone, boat hook, mooring pin, etc No problems what so ever, 28 years+ However, if we see a ropey area... we just cruise a few more miles. Nice to have another boat within sight sometimes though.

I know the Paloma well. If the flame cycles on and off, you do not have enough flow rate through the heater. Do not add more cold. I suspect that if you have mixer taps at other locations, that you have both the hot and the cold tap on at the same time. This can happen like on a shower head you have an off tap, but the taps can remain on. So close all taps except shower. If the knackered tap is a mixer, this could be the problem. Remove tap and plug each of the hot and cold seperately. There may not be enough flow through the feed of the hot pipe in the shower, so check for kinks, and also if the hot tap is opening fully, sometimes the tap washer fails to lift fully. There might be debris in the hot pipe restricting flow.

One mistake with any battery, like leaving a light on, bilge pump running too long, diode failure on the alternator, and not charging the battery ASAP will wreck any battery, the more expensive the battery... the greater the financial loss.I would rather have three sets of new cheaper batteries and change them more often, different if you are on board all the time though where you can monitor the battery status often.

If the scratches were on my grp hull, I would consider white gel coat, two part epoxy. Miliput... not tried that, my daughter uses it for modelling, but I didn't know they did white.

One of the thieves dropped a battery on his foot, and now he is in "Traction" he is resting now at his "leisure". The thief doesn't understand the "specific gravity" of the situation as it's his first offence, he is a "starter" at these crimes. lol. Battery theft is one of the things the Police are now "clamping down" on, as a result of the "clamping", they are getting very little "resistance". The police are very down to "Earth" and are "Positive" they will be "charging" all the offenders but one. He has been given a conditional "discharge" as he provided the "leads" to the "battery case".

Just to inform you, we have a grp hull, and an electric start outboard engine. I did fit an earth stud for future connection if required that is hard wired to battery negative bus bar so it is wired to the chassis of the outboard engine, which is in the water via the electric start cabling. I need to check, and I might find the outboard and battery negative is insulated from shorepower earth, if it is, then why do I need a galvanic isolator ? When I did a voltage test with shore power on, there was a voltage differential of 150 mV across the GI. So maybe I need the GI after all. The other issue is, I need to check the fridge, it is gas, (fridge had a flame trap conversion)12 VDC or 230/240V ac The fridge casing is earthed to the GI via the 240volt wiring in the Consumer unit, I hope the 12volt dc circuit of the fridge does not use the casing as an earth or supply return, I hope the 12volt supply circuit is insulated from the case. Otherwise I have a bond from battery to mains earth, then I certainly need a GI. Another thing to check, is the propex warm air heating system, I hope the 12 volt supply to the Propex is insulated from the casing too, as the casing of the propex is connected to the fridge earth, via copper gas pipe. Wow... having talked this through on the forum, I need to do some continuity tests. I was fine up until Oct 2016, as we only used casual shore power, but now we are on 24/7 I still believe the installation is perfectly safe, but how quickly uncertainty can creap in, when you have taken it for granted in the past. I check the anode on the engine monthly, and is showing no signs of any loss, it was new in September 2016. Not easy, but safety MUST come first, saving anodes becomes secondary, but still important. Heavy loss of anodes is usually an indication of earth currents, which may not be the fault of the vessel, but another along side, or heavy steel work nearby. A friend of mine, in a similar GRP boat, had no shore power, he was getting through anodes at an alarming rate on his outboard, a couple per season or more. What he found, was some iron work girders that were part of an old slipway under his boat, rather than move the boat, he now lowers a sacrificial anode near to the engine and electrically bonded to the engine, this has safe guarded the engine anode. I can't explain it as there are no electrical connection between the boat and land, no accidental chains to anchors lol. Stray currents, partially conductive water and dissimilar metals can create all sorts of low circulating currents.

The thing is, when it happened, was there a warning given out to other boaters in other regions about the thefts at the time? This was my dilemma, to warn or remind the thieves about easy pickings. You often see it on the TV, something happens in a region and within days there are copycat incidents all over the country. Using stolen fork lift trucks to remove cash machines was one such situation. Ram raids were another one, but some less bright thieves used their own cars lol, some undrivable and being left at the scene lol.

That works fine if you only want 13 amps total. Very few need more to be fair. I did mine with the 16 amp blue plugs/ sockets. Some background first. I have an IP55 splash proof rcd garage consumer unit, 1 x16 amp breaker for 13 Amp sockets 1 x 6 amp breaker for the battery chargers and fridge. When on inverter only, I have labelled the consumer unit, to remind me to shut off the 6 amp breaker, after all, you don't want to charge batteries that takes the power from an inverter that is taking power from the battery. The galvanic isolator is wired into the consumer unit with a split earth connection in the consumer unit. 1 earth in, to the GI, 1 earth out from the otherside of GI. So I have a galvanic isolator also in line when the inverter is on. hmmm this is not a requirement, as when you are on inverter, you don't normally have shore power. Electrically it is quite safe, but I can't think why it would need to be different. If anyone can advise if it is wrong then please do. As I say GI on an inverter not a requirement. So assuming that the GI issue on the inverter can be accepted as safe, then this is how my system is wired. 16 A blue shore line socket enters boat. It plugs into the consumer unit that has a 16 Amp blue plug . RCD, galvanic isolator mcbs all on line. When on inverter, disconnect shore power, take the lead from the inverter (usually a standard 13A domestic plug socket at the inverter end) this has a blue 16 amp blue socket, on the end of that line. Plug the consumer 16 Amp blue plug into the inverter 16amp blue socket, I switch off the 6 amp breaker, as I explained above. The Galvanic isolator, the rcd and just the 13 amp circuit breaker are on line, the GI serving no purpose from galvanic corrosion protection point of view, as you have no shore power earth. Now I could rewire it differently so the galvanic isolator was out of the inverter circuit, but I would require possibly more plugs and sockets. Other view points greatfully received. In keeping with the BSS, there is no access to live pins on plugs, the BSS inspector saw this as a fool proof connection, not relying on switches. Currently the BSS only do a visual check, looking at plugs and sockets, they don't check the efficiency of RCDs or trips, to do this they would require expensive test equipment to test leakage currents and how fast rcds and mcbs actually trip. Hope it helps. Richard

I think you are right lol I like many on here were born in a time (1950's) that things were hard to get, and once you have it, you make sure you looked after it. Make do and mend was the motto of the time. Darned socks, when a bed sheet ripped or wore thin in the middle, your mum would cut it in half and sew the outer edges together. It would last a lot longer. Your dad would buy slack, (coal dust and chippings) as it was cheap and close down the coal fire so it lasted longer lol. There was no credit, no loans, if you couldn't afford it, you didn't have it. There were schemes called easy payments, or a sort of hp agreements, and of course the tallyman but no credit cards. You worked hard to get it, but you also worked hard to make sure you keep it too. This day and age, people want it now, live today, pay tomorrow, we are in a throw away age, how many fridges do you see down the tip, that look perfectly well, probably just the wrong colour. The week before Christmas, our fridge broke down, we thought £150 new fridge... no problem, or £6 for a replacement thermostat, I opted for the thermostat, as we had another fridge in the garage that was being replaced at the mother in law's house, as she said it was noisy... Well it is fine in our garage, been so for over 6 years now lol I remember the days when washing machines had replaceable bearings, accessible from the rear without having to strip the drum, not any more, sealed for life units, but that life is only 5-6 years lol Paranoid, possibly, but having been brought up when money was tight I would say I was more careful. Without the make doing and mending, we would have spent far more hard earnt cash on just replacements.