Mike55

I'll get some contact cleaner and try that as a first go, failing that I'll look at Sellweb, although noting the other comments. By coincidence I live just outside Tamworth and the boat is moored nearby at Fazeley too, so convenient if nothing else. I'm not great at soldering - my hands just aren't steady enough. Thanks for the very useful input.

I doubt if it is the shore supply cable as the unit works fine in Inverter mode. I've got two shore supply cables so will try it with the the other one just to be sure, although of course this wouldn't eliminate a fault in either the socket I connect to or my fixed inlet plug.

Recently our Mastervolt Mass combi 12/2500-100 inverter/charger appears to have developed a problem with its 3 position rocker switch. The 3 positions are: Inverter-Off-Charging, and it's working OK in 'Inverter', but in 'Charging' for some time I've had to rock the switch back & forth to get it to start working. Once it's started it's fine until it get switched off, then the problem recurs. It's now got worse and won't go into 'Charging' at all. This means that to charge the battery (& get the 240V system to work off the shore supply) I have to leave the switch in the 'Inverter' position. Why does this matter? It doesn't unless there is an interruption to the shore supply when it will then start to drain the battery, made worse by us having a dehumidifier and thermostatically controlled heaters running off the 240V system as the boat is unoccupied over winter. I suspect the problem is a poor contact in the switch. Does anyone know if the switch is replaceable or alternatively if there is anything I can do to clean the contacts? I've tried repeatedly operating the switch, but it hasn't helped. The Mastervolt manual is no help whatsoever.

I've previously used Vactan followed by Bonda primer and finished off with Danboline for a bow locker that does get water ingress through the scuppers. It's remained rust free for about 4 years now and still looks fine even though it has things like an anchor frequently stored in it. To my surprise the Danboline has been very resistant to the inevitable knocks. I used Vactan rather than Fertan because (I believe) Fertan requires washing with water after application which then requires to be dried. Vactan can go straight to the next coat once dry the following day.

So where are you able to use your self pump out system? Every elsan point seems to have a sign somewhere that says something like "Not suitable for self pump out".

I too have recently fitted a Balmar SG200, it's been in use for about 6 weeks now. Monitoring discharge seems fine but when charging the SoC seems to be inaccurate. It uses voltage & tail current to establish when 100% SoC is reached. The 'Time remaining' to 100% is currently useless - it'll frequently go from 6 hours to go to fully charged in 20 minutes. I'm reluctant to start tinkering with the pre-set values, certainly until I've got a better idea of what's going on with it.

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/original/43721-boaters-instructions-for-booking-a-passage-on-the-bridgewater-canal.pdf?v=ebc49c

According to the IWA Silver Propeller web page, any visit after 1/1/2018 counts, so provided you've got the evidence (photo) it should count. The new additions caused us to jump from 15 to 16 - it would have been 17 but we didn't have a suitable photo of Coventry Basin from when we were there in 2018.

And stop calling me Shirley.

That would only work if you only coupled the two 'balanced' sides together. The other two would need to be vented to atmosphere. If you cross coupled the cylinders (as you proposed originally) it won't move. It may be quite difficult to find cylinders where the annular area of one equals the full bore area of the other. An alternative would be to use two identical cylinders but mount them to different points on the doors to accommodate their different strokes. That would be quite an interesting exercise in trigonometry. Good Luck!

I think there may be a problem with your idea to use hydraulic/pneumatic cylinders unless you can come up with a system that extends one cylinder whilst retracting the other. The reason being that the cross sectional areas either side of the pistons are not the same because the piston rod creates an annular space.

I have one too and find it deals with most of my trips down the weed hatch. If I do have to put my hand into the water I always wear an elbow length thick rubber glove. Apart from protecting against Weil's disease, it also protects against fish hooks, which can get caught in the weed/rubbish that ends up on the prop. I sharpened the blade as it was pretty blunt as delivered. The handle isn't brilliant, but I think the current version has an improved handle.

I've often wondered how usable the step at the rear of our NB would be - it's of the extended plate type. Recently I saw a boat with two pieces of angle welded onto the rudder to form a step on each side. Positioned sufficiently low to allow easy use, in conjunction with the existing step this seems a simple modification to make the boat safer. My only concern is whether it would affect the water flow past the rudder.

And a Merry Christmas to you too! Dave ?

Try looking on ASAP chandlers. This may suit: https://www.asap-supplies.com/

We went up them in September and they weren't very pleasant - human excrement, needles etc. We had problems at several locks: the second or third pound was very low due to a paddle left open - at least that refilled quickly once we'd closed the paddle; then at the lock by the G-A-Y bar (can't remember the number, it's the one with no towpath access) we had so much water coming over the top gate we couldn't get the bottom gates open. As we later found out this was caused by a CRT person helping a boat with a similar problem at the top lock (of the 9) by sending water down the flight. The CRT guy hung about to help us through the top lock. Passage involved several calls to CRT but their on-site staff were very helpful throughout. I wouldn't describe them as 'typical urban locks' and they were hard work and slow (due to the problems) but they're do-able by a not very fit couple in their 60s. The Ashton flight was no bother other than the irritating habit of a lot of the bottom gates swinging open by themselves. For both flights we set off reasonably early in the morning, so saw very few people (or boats).

Just finished fitting a timer/thermostat to control our Mikuni heater. I managed to find a 12V timer/thermostat to - most require 230V. Hopefully I won't have to turn it on manually whilst shivering on a cold morning!

Thanks!

I'd add Weston Point/entrance lock of Runcorn & Weston Canal for a similar reason, Winsford bridge is a Silver Propeller location but the other end of the Weaver Navigation gets far fewer visitors. I'd also suggest the end of the Runcorn 'branch' due to the Unlock Runcorn proposals. Whatever you may think of the proposals it does meet the IWA's 'Knocking on the door' criterion for SP locations. @DHutchWho did you contact at IWA?

Having now looked at rather more of the documents associated with this (but not all - there are 191 of them!), I note that there is an existing bridge there which is to be demolished and replaced. Assuming that it is 4.32m wide or more (I can't find a drawing that confirms the existing width), there would be an arguable case that it should be rebuilt no more restrictive than the existing. HOWEVER, looking at what they are going to have to do to repair the breach, any movement of the proposed towpath edge outwards will have a big impact on the slope remediation. And there isn't much point in having a 4.32m wide bridge if it is immediately followed by a 3m channel through the breach site. One thing that I'm unclear about is that there appear to be two designs for the breach area, one using precast concrete sections (extract from that in the OP) and another just using a bentonite layer in a V shaped channel. It's not clear why there are two. The precast version seems the more robust not least because it's on piles whereas the other isn't. Either way this is a significant piece of work, which will be expensive. Also this is all quite near the end of the canal, which is only just round the corner at Hall Lane (another part of the development). So overall, I agree we're lucky to get it repaired at all.

Have a poke around the wiring loom connecting the heater to the switch. You may find two wires joined together to allow a timer/thermostat to be connected. That's what I found with our Mikuni heater. One question: whilst I was able to find a 12V timer/thermostat, all the controllers required 230V. For us that would require having the inverter on all the time just to power the controller. Is the 'Nest' you've found 12V?

Have you contacted the local IWA branch and asked them to object? Also, have you contacted CRT? I thought they owned the MB & B canal? I must say I'm not sure about a floating towpath as it would require wide boats to give notice of passage. I would have thought that engineering out the problem was better rather than building in the problem forever.

Great! Thanks for the update. I'll make one up.

As it's a few weeks since you posted this, how well has it worked in practice? Any problems? I'm thinking of doing something similar but I'm a bit concerned that when the tank is full the increase in pressure within the tank (due to the reduction in the area for air to vent) may cause the flexible pipe between the filler and tank to blow off. My tank vent isn't very large but that's never mattered before.

Yes, I was going to do that too, however the most accurate scales we have are..... on the boat, so that too will have to wait until I can get to the boat.