Batavia

So you recognised the semi-painted Batavia! You obviously passed quite slowly, as none of the faux rivets seem to have fallen off yesterday........ Have a great trip. Chris & Daff

The starter battery obviously worked - Chalice was spotted in Berkhamsted this morning! Chris

The arrangements are very different for hydraulic dives and hydraulic gearboxes. A previous post has covered the hydraulic drive situation. A trolling valve can be fitted to some hydraulic gearboxes and essentialy reduces the "clamping" pressure between the clutch plates, allowing "controlled" slip between the input and output. This can be used at low engine speeds only (due to the heat generated in the gearbox by the slipping) to adjust the output shaft speed between zero speed and zero slip (i.e. the normal gearbox ratio). We have a trolling valve on the ZF box in Daedalus, and it is ocasionally useful if one wants to go very, very slowly. We only specified it becase it is a cheap (about £150) and simple option. PRM do one, but it is more sophisticated and pretty expensive. They can be useful if the speed on engine tick-over is too high for comfort. Chris

I never said that this was a disadvantage.............................endless fun for all the family (or what is left of it)! Chris

Yes, but the extra-long tiller (you need to be able to reach the engine controls) sweeps all your visitors off the stern..... Chris

I don't think that they work well on any other setting - either the flow doesn't give enought differential pressure to open the gas valve or the temperature is useless! Chris

They break easily if you try and twist them. My preferred method is to remove the clamping "ring" which holds the valve innards in place (2 screws) and then pull the innards out horizontally - you are much less likely to break the shaft in tension than in torsion. The underlying problem is that the plating breaks down inside the valve and the parts corrode together. Chris

The choice of full size LPG ovens is not huge. We are installing a Baumatic oven in Batavia, which seems to be one of most frequently-used ones. The only down side is that it needs 240V, which has resulted in us deciding to install a back-up mini inverter to supplement the main combi - otherwise inverter fault means no oven and limited food! Overall, it seems worth the additional hassle, as the small, tinny Vanette oven (with its chonically-slow grill) that we have in Daedalus is far from perfect. Chris

Yes - and I thought that the swan neck bit would be a good idea to retain, as the fitting is not that high above water level (low-ish counter on Daedalus - but not as bad as Batavia would be!) and the Eberspacher is mounted very low (as per their instructions), so the idea of a falling exhaust which could get flooded was not that attractive. The supplied fitting was not quite as posh as your picture and was painted black, so presumably intended for a narrowboat. Chris

I have used one for my Eberspacher, with iron pipe fittings to creat a swan neck on the inside, to which the corrugated exhaust hose is attached. Seems a more robust way of fixing things to the hull that the curious fabricated assembly which Eberspacher supplies. It is not a balanced flue. Chris

Depends on which version you first used: Fortran - yes, old Fortran IV - in your prime Fortran 77 - callow youth Chris

The Acorn Engineering Catalogue has the reducers in Imperial sizes and states that they are not considered to be olives and hence can be used for gas (or something like that). Chris

It is certainly not a standard Wade fitting and I have never come across one in brass or stainless. You could use a reducing olive if it is for fuel, but these are brass and hence not suitable for gas Chris

Probably microbiological growth - it comes in many colours. Chris

Your best bet for a safe lift in the area is P&S Marine in Watford. Chris G

The pressure inside the cylinder will indeed be the vapour pressure of Propane at the relevant temperature. From memory, this is about 7 barg for Propane at 20 deg C (and rises very rapidly as the temperature increases). Depending on what you are accustomed to working with, this is either a little or a lot of pressure. Chris G (whose last pipeline project has not caught fire/exploded - yet)

Try one! I can't understand why they are not more popular for removing paint from boats, as they are pretty effective. The main points are: Relatively quick - perhaps 2-3 hours to do 50 foot of roof; Ability to get into corners; Noisy - but what means of removing paint isn't? Not as dusty as some methods, as the paint tends to come off in very small flakes rather than dust (might depend on the paint); The steel is left a bit pock-marked - but the "micro dents" are filled by decent coats of primer/undercoat; Remove any brass fittings - these wil be cratered, rather than pock-marked, if you slip.... If you have a source of air, the tools are pretty cheap, ditto the needles. Chris

My favourite, Permabond A130 (mentioned in another thread), is fine with diesel. I had to do an emergency repair on a fuel pump 8 years ago, when the incorrectly-supplied seals fell apart and my only option was to re-constrcut the pump, sans seals, and to stick together with Permabond. It's still working - must fix it properly one day! I was introduced to it by the pipe fitters on a site I was working on, and since then have specified as the stuff to be used, (where necessary) on all threaded fittings on Kerosene and Gas Oil duties. Chris

Everyone has their own preference - mine is for Permabond A130. It has the advantage over some other types that it works well even when the parts to be sealed are covered in fuel. Chris

The hob should be fine - just get them red hot and then drop them into cold water. If the surfaces are badly marked, it would be worth lapping them (and your fingertips) on a piece of wet and dry. Chris

Basdically you need to get the body of the pump filled with diesel, as the ability of the pump to lift fuel depends on the seal between the rotating vane(s) and the pump casing and the liquid in the pump body greatly increases the efficacy of this seal. In many pumps of this type, it is impossible to self-prime the pump (due to poor internal tolerances) and the only solution is to remove the pipework from the top of the pump and fill it directly. Personally, I always install a ball valve on the inlet of this type of pump (rotary or semi-roraty) and keep the valve closed when the pump is not in use, to prevent the body from draining back into the main tank. In theory a non-return valve would also work in this application, but may or may not do so, depending on its design and quality. Chris G

Lignum Vitae?

Ideally you need some low friction material on the bottom of the hatch to run on the brass strips. I have used this stuff from Axminster for many years - it has the advantage that you can get 4 x 25 runners runners for two hatches out of the 900 x 100 x 3 mm piece at a low price (certainly compared with many other suppliers of PTFE). http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp?pf_...le=1&jump=0 Chris

Not yet - they are just getting started - wait till they get to the "Hamming Windows at Dawn" stage - that will be worth watching... Chris

We originally had 2 Houdini hatches in the cabin part of Daedalus and whilst they were OK-ish (not recommended unless you have a Brasso fetish), we decided after 10 years to replace them with 3 dog boxes (when does a pigeon box become a dog box?), each of which is about 30" long by 20" wide (from memory) with a large rectangular glazed area in each "lid". These not only let in an extraordinary amount of light but also let out heat and cooking steam. Having been well-designed, do not leak! The opening mechanism is very simple - blocks of wood for partial opening and fold back for full opening. The only change I would make if I was starting again would be to double glaze them, to reduce the condensation - but then you have the problem of insulating the surrounding steelwork to the same standard......... Aesthetically, I think that they add interest to the cabin top skyline - but that is clearly a matter of choice/furious arguement. Chris