CompairHolman

Pretty sure that tannic acid rust converters are not safe for drinking water.

The point is that you don't need to use it in the first place not that some people have used it and think its great, in most areas you can easily remove the rust before painting, if you're using it on bare steel you have wire brushed there are no oxides there to "convert ". The only reason to use it is to stabilise an area of rust you can't remove and prep for painting.

I've never understood why boat builders don't fit welded chimney collars, its cheaper, easier and free of potential leaks, the cast iron collar was designed for wooden boats ( which is why it has square holes for coach bolts ) I just think no one has bothered to think about it and its a tradition. My experience of various boats is that the chimney collar is a common source of leaks and repair jobs. If you wanted the traditional look of a cast iron collar then fabricate one from steel plate and tube and weld it on ?

I've watched a couple of blogs on YouTube where the narrow boat owners have wasted their time and money applying rust converters like Vactan when its not necessary, it seems to me that some boaters don't understand what it is designed for. One blogger applied it to the inside of their water tank and the other applied it after wire brushing off rust and before priming with an oxide primer. As far as I understand it ( and I have consulted the manufacturers ) tannic acid / polymer based products like Vactan are designed to protect steel work that cannot be accessed for painting, its not a pre primer for any kind of paint system. Using it like this is at best a pointless waste of money and at worst preventing the primer bonding to the steel work and all further paint layers are dependent on the rust converter staying put, which if you have used these products you will know they are not in any way equal to a paint primer for longevity, Vactan will wash off steel work in one Autumn / winter in my experience. Vactan'ing everything is just the new fad for boaters that must have the latest chandlery product, because they saw someone else using it they must use it.

Go for a welded on collar then you have no potential for future leaks when the sealant on a separate cast iron collar inevitably degrades .

Most of the advice on this forum is by people that have no idea what they're talking about but just feel the need to comment, so take it with a pinch of salt.

I made my last flue from offcuts of 1 mm thick stainless tube I had lying about, I expected it to just be temporary but in fact there is no corrosion or thinning over the last three or four years and the thin wall radiates heat into the cabin as soon as the fire is lit, there is significantly less heat being lost up the chimney and the draft hasn't suffered, I personally wouldn't go back to thick wall steel flue.

I used to run a secondhand goods small business, I've heard every trick in the book and that one is a common one, they are trying to make you feel sorry for them because its not what THEY want, my response to those kind of offers was " you're right it wouldn't suit you , goodbye" .

Cut some strips of 4 mm ply as wide as the flue pipe then arrange the pieces to the angles you need to fit your installation, fix the pattern together and from that you can work out the angles required to cut the pipe, remember that you need equal angles on both ends if you want them to marry up neatly.

Massive power drain running two units. Change your lifestyle to suit a boat and don't expect to live like a house with unlimited mains power is our way of thinking. We use a ( non powered ) cool box situated in the coldest part if the boat and shop once a week, the frozen stuff chills the non frozen stuff and gets us through the week, we eat the most perishable foods first , and our shopping list is designed around the foods we like but in order of perishability. If we needed to we could buy a bag of ice to put in there as well, were OK without it at this time of year though. Possibly building a larder with vacuum panel insulation would be a next step if I ever get the time to build one.

The thing is spot welded together, I can't see that lasting very long even if it is stainless, its basically going to be sitting at bright forging temperature while its in use, those welds will give up the fight I reckon.

Another " must have " Chandlery product is doing the rounds amounts boaters, they reckon it saves fuel but as usual there is no real explanation why it would. All I can see it doing is preventing ash build up on the grate and making the fuel burn faster by exposing it to the air draft, not really an improvement in my opinion. At least they are not claiming its magnetic and creates free energy. http://vi.raptor.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemDescV4&item=233449296136&category=175755&pm=1&ds=0&t=1577702847000&ver=0&cspheader=1

We have cheap 12v Screwfix led bulbs with no kind it voltage regulation at all and they last years.

Just a hunch I had, happy to be proven wrong.

Here's another question regarding solar , if you're using a digital battery charger to boost the charging in the winter day time should you shut off the solar while using the charger to ensure the charger senses the true battery at rest voltage ? I'm thinking that the solar in winter will boost up the battery voltage without actually putting any charge in ?

The Wickes store local to me used to leave 3 pallets of coal out the front every night , the store is set back from the road behind its own car park and totally in the dark with no CCTV, god knows how much they lost but all because they were too lazy to fork lift the pallets inside after closing.

No not at all, you have just totally misunderstood what I said in that thread.

Stupid comment.

They just started their engine about 10 mins ago so they don't give a toss.

I'd recommend fitting a low battery voltage automatic cut off switch , because as we learnt the hard way if you leave some thing on and go away when you come back your whole battery bank will drain to nothing and it will never hold a charge again. The switch is a few quid on eBay or Amazon our battery bank was over £400 to replace. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-36V-Battery-Cut-off-Disconnect-Automatic-Switch-Recovery-Protection-Module-iO/143358321331?_trkparms=aid%3D1110001%26algo%3DSPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20180213162448%26meid%3D43e7769cf4ac4679a10e46bbdf70af24%26pid%3D100930%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dlo%26sd%3D282664246887%26itm%3D143358321331%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2332490&_trksid=p2332490.c100930.m5375

The 10 kilo bagged stuff from the high street stores is low quality, it sounds cheap but in the long term something like Exel will give out more heat for the money.

What is a constantly barking Alsatian LWA level ? Because there's one on the visitor mooring opposite us and we can't wait until they piss off.

Running an open frame generator anywhere on the canal bank should be banned. Canals are advertised as a place of peace and quiet and you are ruining it for everyone else.

You won't get £10 for a scrap 110 ah battery. £7 maybe.

People are trying to live aboard with the power consumption of a house with all mod cons and so they are forced to ruin the peace and quiet of the waterways by running engines and generators , every person will tell you " but I only run it 2 hours a day" but everyone else is also doing that too and at random times which adds up on a busy visitor mooring to all day noise and pollution. I got fed up with trying to Keep up with demand so i have refitted my boat to cut out all unnecessary power consumption, water hand pump in the galley, cool box instead of fridge , 500w of solar, LED lights, and a 5 v USB powered tablet instead of a TV. I reckon next year we could survive on one 110 amp hour battery, and switch off half the solar panels in the summer.