colinnorth

THanks all decision made. No need for any further replies. If I could close the topic I would.

I have been cleaning up the brasswork on my cratch frame. The brass is now lovely and bright and I would love to keep it this way BUT I am not a brass-polisher by nature. Should I varnish it (with yacht varnish)? Or should I lacquer it with something like in the photo?

I am happily moored there. The Marina was put up for sale in the Summer of 2022. The 'big boys' came and had a look. I think it was not big enough for them with no chance of enlargement. The moorig rates (as previously stated) have not been increased for several years and are well below the other marinas around. I am not aware of any slippage into the railway, the bund and roadway seem very secure and well built/maintained. The marina does not own the canalside moorings between the marina and the pub. The electrical supply is very good and well made, there is electricity to every mooring and water available on every finger (jetty) all within an easy hose length. The office accommodation is sound, there is fibre based wi-fi throughout. There is only one toilet/shower available to tenants - this is fine bearing in mind it is a non-residentail marina. There is a drydock with a large attached workshop. There is a store for coal/firewood next to the Calor gas locker and diesel tank/pump, there is a pump-out and an elsan emptying point. Attached to the office is the (new) small chandlery and the (old) much larger chandlery which could easily be converted into a clubhouse/bar. The location of the bungalow lends itself to being rented out to a 'site manager' and is sufficiently fenced off to deter anyone calling the occupant with trivial problems. The only really necessary work that I can see coming up in the next 10 years is to replace the fingers/jetties as they were built many years ago on scaffold poles and some are becoming a little rickety. If it were not for this point, I would happily put in a bid. I will be watching the auction on-line with interest.

Thanks, just looked up Smol - they want to deliver me on a regular basis. Will have to think how that would work.

Thank you all for your input. Having read a number of adverts for 'Eco' style products I find that the 'Eco' bit usually refers to the packaging that the product comes in rather than the product itself. 'Eco' products usually bang on about: Ours come in a cardboard box - no plastics etc.

I have been using Aldi Almat washing sachet thingies in my washing machine BUT I have just read the warnings on the box and it says it is very bad for the aquatic environment. What detergent, preferably sachet style are people using that are more friendly to the aquatic environment? C

I have a Roland FR-4x virtual piano accordion so I can play pretty much any instrument I want (badly)!

The boat is built 2005, fitted out 2006, registered with CRT 2006. The thinnest reading is 4.8 and is below the waterline, There is a galvanic isolator fitted and the boat is permanently connected to the shoreside mains. (At least for the last 4 years that I know of) Last blacked in 2018. Rust layer showing all along the waterline.

I have just had a boat survey done and have found 1.2mm pitting in 6mm steel. Is this a worry? If one was purchasing such a boat, at what point would you decline the purchase of said boat? (in 6mm steel - 1.2mm? 1.4mm?)

Thanks for your comments. I should have stated that the tank is part of the hull. I have not been able to work out exactly where the leak is. I would need to refill the water tank to find out. I might try a hammer test on the bulkhead to see how bad it is. A job for when we can travel after the COVID restriction lift. Colin

My bow water tank has a pinhole leak and loses water into the bilge. This was found immediately after having the water tank stripped, cleaned and re-painted with standard potable paint. That should mean that the tank was rust free before painting. I am looking at possible means of repair and have found: Specialist Coatings who have effected repairs on narrow boat water tanks. Their product is a three layer non-toxic, (sort of) fibre glass loaded paint, conveniently in three different colours to aid application. No toxic or unpleasant vapours during application. Does anyone have experience of: Using this product? Opinions about the product? Thanks Colin

Thank you for your input. I can confirm that the glow plugs have all individually tested across 12 v and ‘glow’ witnessed. The glow plug holes are regularly reamed with the appropriate drill (I have the Morse Taper version of the drill which makes reaming a doddle). The glow plugs are switched from the ignition switch and 11.8-12.2v arrives at the glow plug during the warming cycle. The glow plugs are not powered during the starter motor part of the cycle. I hold the glow plugs powered for about 30 seconds. The head was removed a year ago (for an unconnected issue) and the starting issue is the same before and after. This does seem to be a cold weather issue so I will probably leave things as they are for now.

Back on the boat for the first time since lock down kicked in, with a diesel compression tester. Test 1: remove glowplug 1, stop fuel, crank and measure. Step an repeat 1-4. All with engine cold and not having run since mid March. Cylinders: 1 390, 2 410, 3 410, 4 410 Start engine and run until warm repeat test: 1 410, 2 430, 3 430, 4 420 This does not seem too bad to me. After the tests the engine started immediately ok. This is beginning to sound like a colder weather issue to me. I will try again tomorrow and see what , if any starting issues there are.

Thanks guys, this is all sounding a bit expensive...

When the engine is running, it runs well and there is no noticeable tappet noises or irregular sounds. The engine sounds smooth when running which is why I have not looked at the valve clearances in this context. I checked the cylinder bores by finger for any scoring or damage and all was (in my opinion) very good with minimal noticeable wear. With each cylinder at TDC there was no detectable slop or movement that I could induce in the pistons to indicate wear. Not very scientific I know but it is about my limit of knowledge. There was no detectable carbon or oil build-up in the cylinder bores or in the head for that matter. Whilst the head was off I did re-seat the valves using grinding paste but was of the opinion that this was not really necessary as everything seemed clean and well fitting. I have PM'd Richard with the thought of getting a compression test done. Colin

Tony, Thanks for your reply. Getting to another engine may not be easy, but I will try that one... I will change the fuel filter. It is a spin-on replacement as I could not get on with the original one. It may well be due for replacement, I will check when I return to the boat tomorrow. I had the head off about a year ago (one of the exhaust manifold bolts had sheared off and needed drilling out), The valve clearances have not been checked since about 20 hours after that job was completed, so about 220 engine run hours ago. Colin

Tony & Richard, Thank you for your input on this... I can confirm that I regularly (and have done so within the last few days): Reamed the glow plug holes with the appropriately sized drill, tested the DC resistance of the plugs (3 @ 3.5ohms and one at 2.1ohms, the latter being a replacement with a quicker warm-up and higher current. They glow when placed across a 12V battery, the higher resistance ones drawing about 4A and the lower resistance one about 8A. I am not aware of any fuel leakage into the engine (dip-stick levels have never risen). The drip tray under the engine has no signs of fuel (only black oil drips) and the pump has no damp patches that I can find. I think I would like to speak to Richard about the possibility of a compression test. The only compression test I can perform is to rotate the engine with a large screwdriver across the (starting handle) indents and find it fairly difficult to do. I have nothing to compare this with. Thanks Gents, Colin

It does take time before white smoke appears and (from memory) it is erratic white puffs rather than a streaming cloud then becomes a cloud, then starts. Glow plugs tested and all OK, 12V arriving at glow plugs, tested by meter. I am at Fenny Compton Marina and was looking to get a replacement injection pump from Warwick (by car).

Every morning I have the same problem. It takes an awful lot of cranking to get my engine started. Once started, it runs like a dream. If I start the engine again (say after lunch) starts immediately. Can repeat this all day. I am confident enough to be able to stop/start at locks etc., during the day. Next morning, an awful lot of cranking to get her going. Then runs like a dream all day. Whilst talking to my local garage diesel mechanic, his diagnosis (from a distance) was that the diesel injection pump was internally worn and that fuel was leaking back overnight. The engine is 40 years old and the injection pump is original. Is this a likely scenario? A rebuilt pump is not cheap so I would like to be reassured before buying a replacement. Is it easy enough to replace and re-time? Many thanks. Colin

I have taken many routers apart for scrapping & recycling. All the ones I have looked at have a voltage regulator chip in them capable of =/<15v* and the input capacitors have been 16V jobbies. The internals of a router all run at 5V The normal charge voltage when the engine is running would be 14.4v (mine is). This represents a 20% over voltage. I would be quite happy to run my router off my 12v whether the engine is running or not. * I don't know how to make the equal to or greater symbol from the keyboard!

I have just looked at Blue Sea 6007 switch which looks good by specification and would replace my Off/1/Both/2 switch. It is about £59 or so.

Tony, Thank you for your prompt reply. I will attend to this matter as soon as I can rather than wait for the next BSS. I will hunt down a good Master Switch

I have just had an issue with my starter motor failing (as deduced by RCR). Having replaced the starter motor I am not sure that was the issue. Normally when starting the voltage as indicated on my panel (analogue meters) drops to about 10.5V whilst cranking. With the issue (for which I called RCR) I noticed that the cranking volts seemed to drop lower - about 8-9v. This meant the starter motor failed to turn the engine over correctly and made an 'orrible noise. RCR checked my batteries with a drop tester and deemed them OK. Whilst re-connecting the new starter motor I traced the wiring back and found that the main 12V feed to starter motor came from the rotor of the OFF/1/BOTH/2 switch. This made me wonder if a higher resistance in the OFF/1/BOTH/2 switch was causing the problem. I have now wired the starter motor directly back to the starter battery (as it would have been on a car). Question - is that now correctly wired? It does mean that I have to remove the starter battery + lead to isolate the engine for working (as one would with a car)?

I will check the markings on the Injector Pump. The injectors were purchased from Calcutt: http://calcuttboatsshop.com/epages/c3a6cb0f-3e0f-4132-9636-974f7502e04d.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/c3a6cb0f-3e0f-4132-9636-974f7502e04d/Products/CR5333102REC The 12V feed comes via the Ignition key to the 2nd glowplug. I will look at purchasing a relay to improve the voltage arriving at the glowplugs. I have examined the glowplugs in some detail on a bench power supply, that is how I derived my glowplug current draws. There appear to be (at least) two types of glowplug. The old, original glowplugs which draw about 4A and take some 20 seconds to start to glow and have reached full brilliance by about 30-40 seconds and then there are a range of quick heat plugs which draw 16A to start with, start glowing after about 5 seconds by which time their current has dropped to about 6A. There may be others. I will get a relay and fit that before going any further and will check the injector pump timing. Thanks for all of your replies, they have been most helpful.

Thanks for your replies. The Relay is probably my next move. I will check the glowplug voltage when next aboard. Strange however that this did not happen before the strip-down/rebuild. Pretty sure the injection pump was not moved. I note that 3 of the glowplus (that have been in situ for some years) all draw 4A constant whilst 12V applied. The 4th glowplug which was replaced by me some 3 years ago draws 16A falling to 6A once is has started to 'glow'. That's a total of 28A down to 20A once warm. The battery is in good condition. I habitually warm the glowplugs on the leisure batteries and switch to engine battery for the Starter. This in my tiny mind gives the starter battery the best chance at supplying oomph to turn the engine over.