Alexa62

Yes! Thank you! Exactly what I was looking for. I’ve ordered one of each, hopefully one of them will do the job.

Hi Harold, thanks for getting back to me. It doesn’t have an LED, and has worked fine as a 12v switch for several years before the corrosion did for it. And if I knew what to buy in a car store, I’d buy it. As I said - what I need is someone to *show* me an exact, like for like replacement that I can buy, online, as I am sheltering. So...?

Hi all, I’m a technical noob, but I know how to operate a crimping tool. Which is what I think I’ll be needing to do... Trouble is, I don’t know what switch to buy and try out my crimping skills on. I recently discovered the source of my electrical problems with the 12v lights in the kitchen area of my boat, which had been intermittent, and then failed utterly. It was this: The area around the mid hatch was leaking in heavy rain, and running down inside the boxed in wooden conduit beneath the hatch, where it pooled around the switch, rotting the wood there and eventually corroding the terminals on the switch until one basically just corroded right through. As you can see from the photo, the legend on the switch reads ‘<on 10A 250V >on’. The switch appears to originally have had just the three terminals on the back, the two that are still attached, and the one that corroded through. Can anyone tell me what such a switch is likely to be described as on websites, (I get confused by all the ‘DPST’ ‘SPDT’ stuff) or, better still, provide a link to a like-for-like replacement? It’ll need to be UK based and hopefully able to deliver in the next couple of days. Thanks!

Thanks!

Hi, Yes, I am at Reedley!

Thanks all for the help so far, especially the diagnosis re what might be causing the problem, the very kind offer of a baffle plate, and the suggestions re the additional air vent thing. I believe the rads I've got are supposed to be 'self bleeding', (?) I've never heard of automatic air vents, but I'm game to get one and have it fitted if it will help... except I can't find anyone who knows what they are doing to do it, hence my despairing idea of cutting the whole thing out. If it were an option to get it working, then of course I'd go for it, but that requires someone who knows what they are doing. I don't. So: Any recommendations re a competent boat plumber in the Lancashire area? (Preferably prepared to travel to the boat, currently in Burnley)? I'd like someone prepared to stick around long enough to test everything before disappearing, as I made that expensive mistake before...

Hi, thanks, I didn't know that about the glass, and sand. Something new to worry about! The boat was commissioned in 2013, I've got the specs for the stove somewhere if it helps any experts out there? I'd also gladly take any references for a plumber or heating engineer in Lancashire who actually knows boats and is interested in getting the thing working properly, if that is an option. But that would have to be something done without ripping up half the boat to get to pipework. I'm reluctant to throw much more good money after bad on something I can happily do without.

Hi All, I'm a relative newbie to narrowboating (one year living aboard at Peartree Bridge Marina in Milton Keynes, and cruising since last July) , and a complete DIY ninnie, and am seeking some advice regarding my Morso Squirrel back boiler. I love the stove, and relied on it throughout my first winter in the marina, but the back boiler part, even when it was working, was disappointing at best. It allegedly drove two small rads in the bathroom and bedroom, at the opposite end of my 57 foot boat, but even when it was working great, the results in the radiators were disappointing. I tried bleeding them, think I succeeded, but they still stayed tepid at best, even with a roaring fire going in the saloon. Also, the previous owners had the water circulated by a mains operated pump. That was fine when I was Marina bound, but as I am cruising away from marinas now, I needed this replacing with a 12 volt pump, which I had done whilst in MK as part of a general refit of the boat for it's new post Marina life. Since the replacement, the thing has never worked properly: either the pump speed has to be set so high it is screaming very loudly, or the water is pushed round so sluggishly that the system starts - 'kettling' - is that the word? - Making scary 'bags of hammers' noises at the stove, anyway, like it's about to explode, whilst vomiting central heating fluid from the expansion tank all over the engine room. So scary is all this in fact, that I've decided I can't risk using the stove at all til this problem gets fixed. I've found it impossible to find anyone competent to sort it out in my new area of operations around Burnley, Lancashire, on the Leeds and Liverpool, and with money now being very tight, I thought the simplest thing to do in any case would be to de-commission the back boiler part myself, reversibly, in place. What I had in mind was emptying the central heating system (though I don't know how to do that either), leaving the input and output valves to the boiler open, and simply cut the copper pipes to them, taking out about an inch, and capping off the pipes, so I can just use the stove without fear of explosion or central heating fluid disasters. My thinking is that if I leave the valves on the Squirrel open and the stove side pipes of the boiler uncapped, air can expand and contract safely through the boiler during use, and I can just use the stove as if it had no back boiler. That way, any future owner who wants to make use of the rads can simply hook up the pipes again, and do battle with the pump. Is this a safe plan? Will the stove operate safely without fluid in the back boiler? Will the boat be okay for the BSS exam if I do this? What should I think about regarding making sure the operation is reversible? All advice appreciated. Alexa