tosher
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Posts posted by tosher
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The Canvas Man has some interesting designs and options.
I am placing an order with him and have heard only positives from those who have used him.
Would be very interested in how this works out if you go ahead. Could you post results & pics if poss. Thanks
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I dont know the answer to your question and I dont want to guess...what I will say is I spent 2 hours talking to HM plant about their isuzu 42hp marine engine. They themselves knew absolutely sod all...but they said they would give me the phone number of the guy that marinises them...from what I could see...he knows his stuff. If my existing BMC wasn't as good as it is I would of bought one..a superb motor at a a very good price and if you can get to talk to the mariniser I would imagine any questions would be answered no problem.
Strange that, I went to the HM Plant factory in 2007 when it was at the airfield in Gloustershire and watched the engines being marinised in their workshops, what they didn't know about Isuzu marine engines wasn't worth knowing. Perhaps things have changed since they moved up t'north.
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I'm not sure what that means exactly, but I've had mostly very positive dealings with Sterling customer services. While it's true that the main man has a brusque telephone manner, one is more likely to be speaking to one of his underlings who I've found to be polite, knowledgeable and very helpful.
Exactly my experience.
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On a related question, does your actually heat the boat?
Mine keeps it above freezing, but not what I'd call 'hot'.
Yes warm as toast, 57ft boat, usual layout, 3 rads + towel rail + calorifier. Rads are almost too hot to keep your hand on.
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Hi there.
Webasto is a topic that has often been discussed here but I'd like your comment on a noise that's appeared recently. I started using my Webasto about a month ago for the first time ever. It sounded quite nomal at that time. I have been using it roughly for 2 hours every morning and occasionally 2 hours in the evening. For the rest of the time, the fella is off and resting. Suddenly, about a week ago, that strange noise appeared in the very first minute after ignition (after that it's fine), and that noise seems to be getting worse every day. It sounds a bit like an old engine that would need oiling or lubricating... that's the best I can describe it. Any suggestion what that might be?
Thanks
Marc
My Webasto does exactly the same and has made the noise since almost new (about 2 years), works fine but sounds a bit rough when firing up. I mentioned this to a Webastow engineer who happened to be working on the boat next to mine and he said nothing to worry about but gave no explanation as to it's cause. I intended giving it a good service and clean during last summer but never got round to it. It's still working fine so will do it next summer. Incidently I have heard other boats making the same noise as well.
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I have a Stockton 4 on my 57 ft boat that I did have a problem with when trying to burn wood (coal was ok), there was very little control over the rate of burn and the glass was blackened almost immediately after lighting. After 18 months and many phone calls & e-mails to the manufacturers I finally got it sorted, it had been assembled incorrectly in the factory and no secondary air was being admitted when in the wood burning mode. It took three visits to my boat to find and correct the fault (no charge) and it now works very well, it was a bit of a struggle but we got there in the end and are pleased with it. tosher.
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I spent three years cruising the french canals, mainly south & west, in a 47 foot GRP ocean going sailboat drawing 1.8 mtrs. Ran aground constantly! Removing non sea going equipment including the mast made very little difference to the draft. Finally removed the 9 ton cast iron keel and substituted it with a fabricated steel 1 ton long shallow keel and reduced the depth of the rudder by a corresponding amount. This lifted her about 12 to 15inches above her marks and reduced her draft to 1 mtr. In this configuration she remained very stable and we were able to make a few short passages to sea in calm weather. But my greatest fear by far was puncturing the under water bilges on the rocky bolders which seem to line most of the canals, this seems to be the favoured method the french use to protect the banks from erosion. My advice would be to buy steel for the canals and the closer to 1 mtr draft you can get the better. Hope that helps.
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Good idea Phil, I would be very interested in paintwork maintenance and repair. Every boat accumulates scuffs, scratches, chips and the odd bit of rust and mill scale during it's life and a short course teaching owners how to deal with these to extend the life of their paint work would be very worth while. Regarding numbers I would prefer 3 or 4 people per course rather than 1-1. tosher.
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I have a Sterling 3KW inverter on the boat, it is a little over three years old. It works ok but it does seem to spend a lot of time spinning it's internal cooling fans, even when there is no output load. It is in a well ventilated cupboard, top filter is clean and the air comming out of the inverter when the fans are running is cool. Anyone know if this is normal for these units?
Ken
I have Sterling 3KW inverter (combi unit) about a year old, the fans do run quite often, for short periods, but only when the inverter/battery charger is working quite hard. When just floating the batteries on shore power the fans never run. This inverter was a replacement for my original one that kept tripping out, the fans on that one never ran at all so maybe that caused the fault. It was replaced by Sterling after 2 years free of charge. tosher.
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I never displayed a licence.
My tax affair are a private matter between myself and the enforcing authority.
I don't display my income tax returns in the window, either.
Or, perhaps, purely to exercise their right to privacy.
Just noticed that on the back of my licence holder it states "YOU MUST DISPLAY YOUR LICENCE - IT IS A LEGAL REQUIREMENT". I'm sure some people would argue that it does not say "Current" licence but most people fully understand what it means and do comply.
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We have a Shurflo water pump like this one. Is it possible/advisable to raise the cut in pressure on the pump. We have a accumulator tank in the system, and it seems to work well in most respects. Open the tap and get a steady stream of water as the pressure in the accumulator is used up. The problem is that the pump waits until the stream has died away to a dribble before it cuts in and starts pumping. It's particularly annoying if you only have the tap open a bit as then the flow dies almost to nothing and you have to wait quite a while for the pump to kick in. Either that or you open the tap further and then get sprayed with water when it does suddenly kick in! It would be better if it cut in earlier, can I adjust this, and would there be any disadvantages to watch for? I don't need to change the high pressure cut out, just the low pressure cut in.
Call Shureflo LTD. Tel 01293 424000 Get it straight from the horses mouth. tosher
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Just carry a small shovel, cr@p on the canal bank and then throw it in the canal with the shovel. Just like hundreds of dog owners do with their dog cr@p !!!!!! Only joking!
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Maybe you should checkout Sterling Battry to Battery charger, designed for just this situation. I have a 50amp one and it works fine for me.
Phil
This bit of kit works fine for me as well. May be worth a mention that the Vetus manual states that the max length of usage for a 55kg bow thruster (12volt at 375amps or 24volt at 205amps) is -- 4 minutes continuously or maximum of 4 minutes per hour.
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Before fitting solenoid valve check that water circulation round engine block won't be impeded. Sometimes calorifier takeoff can be cut into the engine by-pass hose which ensures circulation before t/stat opens, if that makes sense
Thanks for that, the Izusu engine manual says that if a calorifier is NOT fitted then both the take off and return pipes on the engine should be blanked off and not connected directly together so I assumed that blanking just the supply off for engine warm up would be OK.
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Slightly off topic but has something happened to Chris-W, I doubt he could resist responding to a thread like this. Hope he's OK.
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Interesting question !
My understanding, before I put a calorifier in, was that it should intentionally bypass the engine thermostat, so that the domestic water heats as fast as possible, without waiting for engine thermostat temperature to be reached, (and even then competing with the skin tank for the heat).
The rationale is similar to a car heater or van or lorry cab heater.
That's what I went for, so I'll admit my calorifier is slowing engine heat up from the moment the engine is started.
That said, the bits that companies like Calcutt and AMC supply as marinisation parts, are designed to attached to the engine so they do bypass the stat.
Am I killing my engine faster than before I added the calorifier ? Possibly ??
I'm confused !
That is correct, the pipes to the calorifier are taken off and returned before the thermostat. A 12v solenoid valve of the correct bore, fitted in the calorifier supply and controlled from a switch on the engine panel labled "Fast Warm UP" may be the answer?
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If I start my Izusu 42 from cold with cold water in the calorifier and drive away immediately it takes at least 20 minutes, maybe longer, for the temperature gauge to reach normal operating temperature of about 85 deg. If however I close the water valves from the engine to the calorifier, the engine is up to temperature in less than half the time, about 8 or 10 minutes. If I then open these valves the engine temperature falls back to about 75 deg and slowly returns to normal as the calorifier warms up which takes about a further 15 minutes. So on a completely cold boat the engine warm up period can be reduced by approx 50% by isolating the domestic hot water system until the engine is hot. Is that a good practice to adopt???
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Does the thrust from the hydraulic bow thruster vary with engine speed or is it constant from tickover to full revs? If you have to increase engine speed to increase thrust then this will also increase the main prop speed and hence boat speed. If this is the case then to increase thrust without increasing boat speed would mean selecting neutral first then reselecting a gear to drive the boat, then reselecting neutral again to power up the thruster -------- If the thrust is constant at all engine speeds (as in an electric one) then control would be much easier. tosher
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Rylards Premium Protection is thinner and shiny and goes into the pits better. Rylards Rytex is a thicker 'bodied' bitumen and is more matt and has less coverage.
I followed a previous recommendation to use one coat of PP first, then a coat of Rytex and then a final coat of PP for the shine plus it has a supposed additive that helps against diesel damage. 1 tin of each should get you three coats.
This advice was given to me by Rylards, they say Premium Protection adheres better to the hull/old coating. I did as they suggested just over a year ago but the boat has not been out of the water since so can't comment on it's effectiveness. tosher.
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I had great problems with a 3 dongle initially until I reinstalled the software. This time a newer version was downloaded and this has been, so far, trouble free. Are you sure you’re running the latest version? Just a thought.
Here is the question that many people will be thinking --- How do you download the latest software? tosher.
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If you are in Braunston then the chandlers of Trad Line http://www.tradline.co.uk If you are in Warwick the by the Cape pub. I am sure there are lots of others all over the system, where are you?
I travel all over so can call in most places. tosher
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Which type of bow & stern fenders are the most robust and last the longest? The traditional ones constructed from 100% rope or the more recent ones which have some sort of rubber core. Can anyone recommend a good maker or a good place to buy them? Thanks.
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I am amazed anyone has managed to wear out a set of brushes on a bow thruster. However I think they can be a source of trouble on Vetus thrusters. I put a posting on this forum years ago suggesting that the brushes on a Vetus bow thruster are too tight in their sleeves. I had trouble with them sticking and had to carefully free them off by taking them out and sanding them down on all sides. That cured the problem. They seemed however to be hardly worn down.
I had exactly the same trouble a couple of weeks ago on my Vetus which is 2 years old. No wear on brushes but sticking in boxes and freeing off solved the problem. tosher.
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A quick call to HMI Plant, the main UK dealer for Izusu enginines would end the confusion. They are very helpfull with queeries from boaters. tosher.
Manure
in General Boating
Posted
Is this true ??????
Manure : In the 16th and 17th centuries, everything had to be transported by ship and it was also before the invention of commercial fertilizers, so large shipments of manure were quite common.
It was shipped dry, because in dry form it weighed a lot less than when wet, but once water (at sea) hit it, not only did it become heavier, but the process of fermentation began again, of which a by product is methane gas of course. As the stuff was stored below decks in bundles you can see what could (and did) happen.
Methane began to build up below decks and the first time someone came below at night with a lantern, BOOOOM!
Several ships were destroyed in this manner before it was determined just what was happening
After that, the bundles of manure were always stamped with the instruction ' Stow high in transit ' on them, which meant for the sailors to stow it high enough off the lower decks so that any water that came into the hold would not touch this volatile cargo and start the production of methane.
Thus evolved the term ' S.H.I.T ' , (Stow High In Transit) which has come down through the centuries and is in use to this very day.
You probably did not know the true history of this word.
Neither did I.
I had always thought it was a golf term.