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We popped up to Milburn to chat to Andy about maybe building our new boat this weekend and saw Swamp Frogs - she's a beautiful boat - no wonder you are so excited. We are really looking forward to seeing the pictures of her launch this Tuesday. Enjoy the big day and we wish you wonderful times ahead. Tanya and david

I bought two test bulbs from Bedazzled which come with a 'unique voltage spike suppressor' which you have to put together on a connector block which ends up leaving exposed wiring and a fairly flimsy arrangement (could just be me). One of the bulbs is base on CREE XRE LEDs (rated 11-18V) and the other is based on 15x, what I assume to be, SMDs (rated 12-18V). The former is great but costs £25 - the second one is okay and at £12 a better deal. Although I would not hope to run my batteries below 12v, it will happen on occasion and I don't understand enough about the LEDs to know how tolerant they are to that. So, I found another website selling MR16s based on CREE bulbs - http://www.electricity-monitor.com/direct-...CFQUulAod-ygLHA for £15 so that seems like a good option ... however they don't provide any specifications. Any more info? Is the voltage tolerance down to the LED itself (i.e. CREE), or is it the circuit its installed on? Thanks, David Thanks. It seems something like this will do the job. http://www.snellyvision.co.uk/store/televi...s1/prod_26.html. Cheers David

Hi all, Can anyone recommend a 12v DC-DC power converter to assure a stable 12v supply for LED bulb circuits? Something that produced about 5A to drive 10-20 bulbs would be about right. I've only seen one product like that in NewZealand: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/12-VOLT-60-WATT-REGU...9#ht_814wt_1138 Not sure whether I'm looking in the wrong place or for the wrong thing ... why can't I find such products in the UK? Cheers David

I've been living on the bamboo floor on Betty for 2.5 years full-time, and there are 5 of us with 3 kids between us on the boat at weekends - so it gets a lot of wear ... will post pictures tomorrow when there is some light. Pros: really easy to clean, looks good, very hardy. Cons: scratches a bit if you scrape hard things across it, for example, the metal ash-can. The scratching is really not all that bad nor does it attract attention unless you are looking for it. As I understand it, the woven bamboo is saturated with resin so the result is that there is not a 'layer' of resin that can be penetrated and therefore, the scratches are only superficial. But of course it is not pristine. Our conclusions: on our new fit out, bamboo is strong contender, mainly due to ease of cleaning and robustness - But, for cost reasons - we might look into the painted plywood idea as a stop-gap. Cheers David

Hi, Hoping for a bit more help from those in the know... I've read Gibbo's advice about earth bonding (http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/earthing.html) and will follow it, but before I drill a hole in one of the steel floor bearers I was hoping to have a look at pics of other people's hull / earth bonding point. Also, just to check I understood right - for a set-up with generator AC power and DC system (no shore power) - I would bond the AC earth and neutral to the hull and also, the DC neutral. Are these all connected to the hull at a single point? Thanks so much, David

Hello all, I hope you can offer advice about the following scenario. We have a 61ft cabin and will live aboard with 1 and sometimes 3 young children so keeping warm is really important to us. We have installed a Stratford TF30 solid fuel stove which outputs 2KW to room and 5KW to water (since it has integral boiler on 3 sides). We are presently planning the radiator system. There are 4 tappings - two of which are used for a gravity system with one radiator (heat sink). The other two are used for a pumped system with feed and return lines - we will use a Bolin circulation pump. The attached diagram illustrates the proposed system (slightly simplified). Also for reference, I have shown the recommended configuration from the installation guide. Proposed radiator layout Installation guidelines from manufacturer (sorry - I don't know how to insert images directly but the links should work ... they are in an album in the gallery). My questions are: a. will a pumped system circulate in two directions as illustrated? b. if so, would there be advantage in increasing the final return to the stove to 28mm? c. either in this split configuration, or in the classic configuration shown in the manual, should the hot feed be 15mm or 22mm, given that the return is 22mm and the radiator connections are 15mm? I would appreciate any and all advice. Thanks and happy new year, David and Tanya

Hello all, Has anyone had experience with International's commercial range of gloss marine paint: Interlac 665 one-pack Alkyd? Spec sheet: http://www.international-marine.com/datash...gb_isom_161.pdf Cheers David

On the dreaded topic of washing machines, my 'environmental limitations' suggest the following questions and I would appreciate your inputs: - Does anyone provide their washing machine with externally heated water so the machine doesn't have to do the heating work? - Any specific recomendations for a machine make/model for this setup? - Has anyone done this with an instant gas hot water system such as a Paloma? I was thinking that this arrangement might need some sort of hot water feeder tank that is manually filled before the wash. Cheers David

Another alternative to the epping is sold by Midland chandlers called a classic cooking range for £600: http://www.midlandchandlers.co.uk/STOVES-HEATING_B28ET.aspx No experience with it though. David

Hi All and happy new year!, Anyone with experience of the Boatman stove: I would love your advice. I installed one centrally on NB Betty, a 47 ft trad with standard insulation. In the cold weather a few weeks ago I could get the stove to a high temperature by opening the air vent fully after about 1.5 hours ... the heat was very localized to the vicinity of the stove. I acquired an Ecofan and that helped distribute the air around the forward half of the boat and warmed up the cabin aft of the bulkhead to an acceptable level (no door on the bulkhead). Of course, running at this heat, the coal burns out very quickly. Eventually, I've learned how to keep the stove alive overnight but in order to do so, it only runs at a very low temperature. At the moment its not that cold and it is enough to keep the chill off the air in the forward cabin, although the back cabin is too cold. When its colder, its is uncomfortably cold everywhere on the boat. The other problem I have with the stove is the amount of ash that falls out of it when riddling. It doesn't have an external riddler, so I have to open the door and stick a poker beneath the coal to allow the ash to fall down and the good coal to drop to the grate. inevitably, this causes a lot of ash to fall out of the stove onto the heath. I've removed the very small ash tray and instead use a coal scoop to empty the ash from the floor of the stove and that is helping a bit, and improving air flow, but it still makes a dreadful mess. By contrast, I looked at a Morso Squirrel in a shop the other day. Riddling is external; the ash tray is well fitting so I can see that it is unlikely to cause any mess when opening the door; the whole stove is larger and the airflow seems better designed in terms of efficiency. I'm pretty much at the point of deciding to ditch the Boatman in favour of a Squirrel...Is this a case of grass being greener or is it likely to improve things (in either case, I will also install a radiator in the back cabin)? Any opinions would be most welcome as I need to get the boat to a comfort level where I can have my two small kids staying overnight with me. Thanks a lot, David

Hmmm. I did call them at the time when I found out about this, but they couldn't find my records and being in a state of transition, I couldn't find my paperwork from them. You raise a good point Chris and I will look for my paperwork again and contact them. I would suspect that all they did was connect the pump up on their bench and see whether it was squirting properly since £100 wouldn't stretch to anymore (I'm told). I'll give it a go and see what happens. Cheers Dave

Is it really 4 months since I took the engine up to TW? The guys there were amazing, pointing out a bunch of important but small things that were wrong on the engine. The timing was in fact off, but not enough to have stopped her from starting. The real problem turned out to be the fuel pump being on its last legs, and in particular, the stop valve was preventing the engine starting unless it was 'jogged' (I expect Nick would have a more technical explanation). Tney took it to a local guy who reconditioned the pump completely and the engine is now good as gold. So much for Lucus UK (Watford) who had tested the fuel-pump on the bench (£100) and given it the all clear - hence the fuel-pump being the last place anyone looked for the fault. Anyway, the engine is now refitted on the boat and will hopefully now repay my investment with many years of service. Thanks for the help.

Quicky update: planning to drive the engine up to TW on Tues. Having had it removed from the boat, the local mechanic said that he could get 4 of 5 marks lined up, but not all 5. There were however new paint dots marked, but when these lined up, the engine didn't start. I wasn't able to get hold of the guy who reassembled the engine (Mysteriously not returning my calls) so I'm holding out hope that TW will figure it out. Cheers Dave

I ordered strand woven in the end which is denser, and apparently, harder wearing than the vertical or horizontal stuff. Mainly, I preferred the colour and look of it. Waiting for it to be shipped from China (erhum) and expect to fit it just as soon as I get Betty back in the water towards the end of July. Will post some pictures of how it turns out. Dave

I wish some of you guys lived around Oxford No news to update you with I'm afraid, things have gone slowly the last few days and I've had no time to spend on this, or any of the other jobs that need doing. Your technical advice is all very much appreciated. Based on your detailed descriptions, I'm coming round to the way of thinking that I'll get the engine out and drive it up to TW and get this done properly. Only trouble is that they can't do it until end June but, ok, thats life.

Hi, On the topic of fuel, I drained the old fuel today and replaced it with new diesel. Just a quick question, and sorry if it sounds dumb. The fuel filter on this engine is a disposable unit that is, of course, at least 7 years old. Could this prevent the engine from starting - even though the injectors (well, 2 of them at least - havn't tested the other one yet), are spraying? Thanks a lot, David

Hi, I spoke to Willie at TW at length yesterday and am reassured about continuing to work on this engine. It seems that in the unlikely worst case it will still be cheaper than fitting a new engine, and this one is better than anything I could affford once working. Tony, thanks very much for the detailed explanation about resetting the timing. Willie tried to describe this procedure to me yesterday but basically referred me to the user handbook (which I assume is what you put in your post?). He suggested that any competent diesel mechanic should be able to follow the instructions. It counts a LOT that you have a DV36 (I checked now, thats the model in mine) and hence, you have direct experience. The mechanic did redo a compression test after replacing the head with a new gasket and said compression is 'ok' now. (incidentally, he's a diesel mechanic who specializes in tractor engines, as opposed to a tractor mechanic). He didn't tell me about the state of the cylinders - I'll ask. What is the ridge at the top? He did say the head had been skimmed (when it was rebuilt in 1996). I am wondering this morning whether I'm barking up the wrong tree. Mechanic A who removed the fuel pump swears that its back on in the same position as it was. BUT, I don't believe that either of the guys have had the injectors out. Apparently at least one of them is fitted wtih some sort of pressure fitting so mechanic B was nervous about removing them. I'll quiz him some more about that today because, as Big Steve pointed out, they quite likely need cleaning up after sitting all that time. Far from being just a few quid to do this though, LSUK suggested its quite an expensive job. Really appreciate the advice and opinions from everyone, and I'll keep you posted, Dave

Thanks for the coments. I know they are good engines, its why I have invested so much up to now. I def don't think its a 'junker', just whether I can afford to get it running. Thanks for the heads-up about T W Marine - thats the best advice I could have received. I'll talk to them and let you know how I get on. Dave

Hi, Thanks for your opinions. You read through the lines correctly ... in a way - I have made up my mind but its such a large amount of money and, whereas with everything else, I can handle it fairly well (with an appropriate measure of panic in between doing work - and anyway, time will tell how well my choices last), the engine seems such a big risk and there are many horror stories about. I'm pretty anxious about it and the 'professionals' who are qualified to advice me also stand to gain financially and, since I'm the one who has to pay the 15-25 quid an hour for their experiments, it is rather hard to be too trusting. Not that I'm cynical, quite the converse, but its me that has to pay for their labor and I'm no judge of their competence (if I was, I could do the job myself). <sigh> new engines are soooooooo expensive. Cheers, David

Hi again, Next on my list is to lay a floor in Betty. She appears to have never had anything more than the plywood lining. I've pored over the threads in this forum and finally decided to buy single plank engineered wood with 3.5mm veneer which will not suffer from expansion and contraction, and for ease of fitting can be laid as a floating floor. But, its too expensive and not recommended for wet areas such as bathrooms. Finally, I have stumbled across the idea of Bamboo planks. The apparent advantages are: 1. being grass, is deemed by many websites to be suitable for bathrooms and kitchens 2. cheap(er), coming in at £14.95 a square meter. (OK still really expensive, but I don't know any other options and time is not on my side). Here's the link. 3. renewable (bamboo crop is ready within 5-8 years) Any opinions or suggestions for other options (other than laminate or carpet tiles - which are perfectly good alternatives, just not what I'm looking for). Cheers, David

Hi all, I must get around to creating a build blog for my restoration project: nb Betty - until then, you can see some pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/schottyd/BettyFeb2007. Anyway, I would appreciate all advice on the topic of the engine. To bring you up to speed: I bought the boat knowing the engine didn't run and at a price that justified the possibility of having to replace it. The engine is a 3 cylinder, water cooled BUKH, ex coastguard and fitted to Betty after build circa 1990. In about 1996 she was rebuilt entirely at a cost of about £4,500 - the previous owner felt he was being 'well' overcharged because he suspected that the boat yard (no names to be mentioned) wanted to keep the engine and were trying to price him out of having it back. Anyway, shortly afterwards, the boat was rented and the renters allowed the engine to overheat due to lack of coolant. Apparently they switched it off quickly after seeing the smoke (before doing a runner - scary thought). Afterwards, the engine would run for a short (undefined) time and stutter out. The boat was then left standing neglected for 7 years. I don't know the position of the throttle during that time. Just one more point, the fuel tank is stainless steel and the fuel itself, although a little cloudy, appears clean. So, fast forward to the last couple of months since I bought the boat. My priority has been to diagnose the fault in the engine, which won't start at all now, to assess whether to fix or replace it, whilst spending as little cash as possible on the diagnosis. Being inept at diesel engines (and having far too much else on the boat to attend to), I asked a local boat engine mechanic who has a good reputation to take a look. Right or wrong, his first line was to check the starter motor and fuel pump. £200 and 8 weeks later (its been hard to get his time or attention), after LSUK service, no faults identified with either component. The mechanic is certain that he marked the position of the gears for timing when removing the fuel pump and that it is refitted exactly as he took it off. Meantime, tired of not getting his time, I asked an even more local diesel engine guy who works on tractor engines for a living, lives and breathes the things, to take a look. He is sound and I really wish I had known about him when I started. He found poor compression, removed the head, ground and reseated the valves, replace the head with a new gasket - so there is now good compression and fuel supply. Still, the engine won't start. Turns over nicely, smoke in the exaust, but doesn't fire up - apparently symptomatic of bad fuel timing. Total spend to date on parts and labor: about £500. He is now at a loss, suggesting one of two possibilities: serious damage in the bottom end caused by the overheating, or the timing of the fuel pump is out. To repair either is likely to be very expensive (unless there is a trick to working out the correct timing with the engine in situ that someone knows of). Here are the questions: 1) What to look at next? Even more pertinent, how much money should I continue spending on diagnosing the fault before calling it a day, having the engine removed and buying a new or reconditioned one? Frankly, I've already spent more than I was prepared to on diagnosis and I believe that continuing down the current line is a way of hemorrhaging cash. 2) if I replace it (my inclination), does anyone know of a good used engine (for a 47ft approx 14 ton boat)? 3) Finally, I have to say that I'm suspicious of used engines unless reconditioned (after all, why was it removed ?) - and reconditioned engines appear to cost the same as a new jap one (at least, the Calcut BMCs are anyway). Any opinions on that? OK, sorry for the long ramble but I would really appreciate your advice here. I will have to borrow money to sort this out and I can't afford to get it wrong - I need to get living on the boat as soon as possible and don't have the cash to do this twice. Thanks a lot for your time, David

I've been reading the forum regularly for tons of information as I try and get an old, uncared for nb by the name of Betty back to 'live-aboard' order - should have posted an introduction I know but time, time <sigh>. So sorry about that ... anyway, having had new steel doors fitted, reading this thread about security and googling for padlocks, I came across a padlock called rotalok: http://www.rotalok.com/. The company claims that Merseyside Fire & Civil Defence Authority have trouble with this lock and have issued special instructions about it (see link on their website). Any opinions from some knowledgeable folk? 'best David

A couple more thoughts: The classic stove for narrow boats is the Epping range: http://www.narrowboatbrassware.co.uk/page4.html Costs in the region of 700 quid from many chandlers, e.g. http://www.canalshoponline.co.uk/html/heating.html. I've been thinking about getting an Rayburn Regent - big and heavy but cheap on ebay when they turn up. Does anyone have any experience with it? I was wondering how much heat they produce since they are insulated; also what are its dimensions. cheers, Dave

Have you seen the Chilli Penguin stoves? http://www.chillipenguin.co.uk/multifuel.htm A bit pricy for £680 + vat but it has an oven, a glass door and comes in grey. Dave