petro

Hi Ian Bought one from Alex @ alex.aston@tiscali.co.uk. Wife says it works a treat on standard spindles. Too small for those on GU main line beyond Wigrams. Cost £39. Alex lives not far from Fenny Compton. He is also advting in Waterways World this month. Cheers P

I bought second hand last year and had the same concerns. The guys at Whilton gave excellent advice and I had a full survey done by a local guy. Most thorough and professional and I have a new certificate of compliance which is pretty useful if you want to licence and insure your pride and joy. He did check the gas system and found a fault plus one or two other minor points. It was useful to be there at the survey and see the checks on steel thickness etc. Builds confidence etc It probabl;y cost about £600 including haul out but I am well pleased with the result and I would do it again if necessary. Money well spent for peace of mind. Good luck and happy boating Petro

Reading this makes me realise how fortunate I was that I bought a syndicate share with Challenger who I stayed with for 11 years until we bought our own boat. Surely if people are keen boaters timeshare is quite the wrong way of getting afloat and it is so complex.

kanagroo hat, blazer, scruffy shorts and plimsols are in vogue south of Buckby petro

Hi all I am a bit clueless on boat charging systems and would be grateful if somebody can give me some advice about my TWC regulater. I have charged the batteries for about 12 hours over the last three days and the charging rate is constant at 14v. Should the rate decrease as the batteries are charged up ? However, the green light on TWC regulater has started to flash at around 1300rpm. It goes off at 1700 + which is much too fast. Not knowing a lot about these things, what is it trying to tell me. I have two domestic batteries and from these run a shoreline fridge and an LED tv plus fluoresecnt lights etc all 12v. Is this too much for just two batteries or is the TWC on the blink ? Shoud I also be checking the alternator output and what should i be looking for. Grateful for any comments you can offer. Cheers Petro

Hi Boatie I agree with the others and replaced a gas fridge with 12v Shoreline last year. It seemed the best way as no way would my surveyor give me a pass because of the venting arrangements and they were external. Fridge cost about £340 from Richard at Whilton but it is good and does the job. Happy boating Petro

Definately get a survey. Bought my boat last June and paid about £350 to a surveyor. Also paid 250 to have boat pulled out but it was satisfying to see that the steelwork on a 17 year old boat was as good as new and no rust. Thanks Peter Nicholls ! Best value I have had for years. Good luck petro

Does anybody know where I can obtain a service manual for a Mitsubishi 1.4 4 cylinder engine. I have googled etc but no luck so far. Thanks in advance P

Thanks to all for your comments, most helpful. The back of the fire will be about 75mm from a tiled panel, this is at least 130mm from the side of the boat so there will be an air gap at the back. guess therefore the flue pipe will be around 150mm from the lining further up Seems as though I ought to line all three sides with asbestolux then tile on top. When it is done, I will post a picture. Again thanks to all. P

Hi all I have been reading lots of info about stove fixing and am in process of fixing a Valor Arden in my boat. The space is fairly narrow but I have 150mm either side for air circulation. Sides are 18mm ply and then 9mm tiles. I plan to fit at the back an 18mm ply panel, then a piece of asbestolux or similar and then 9mm tiles on top. The fire is fixed to a slate bed mounted on a 4" wooden plinth. I also plan to bolt the fire down using angle brackets. There is air space between the fire and slate and I guess the fire will be about 75mm off the rear panel Clearly there is a whole lot of experience out there; can I ask if the above plan sounds ok. I have aslo read that 4" steel or cast iron pipe is better than the flue pipe sold at Chandlers; is this true.? One small point for those oldies who can get a Wednesday oldies B&Q card, I bought the Arden for about £250 ;20% discount then a further 20% off becoz of the card. Best price I have seen at chandlers £340. All info gratefully received P