Cal Ando

Thanks for all your replies so far. Interestingly, we are with this insurance company because the were so reasonable! Years ago, the Thames rose and dropped rapidly and the gunwale of my father's boat caught on the landing stage and sank, they paid up like little lambs! Mrs Ando also said not to fight them further until a claim is in dispute, which hopefully will be never. Unfortunately I am an auditor and have a Sheldon Cooper style of needing to ensure that every base is covered! PS How does Gordon Ramsey know it's safe to go back in the kitchen? A: He does a whisk assessment 😂

I seem to be having a war of semantics with my insurance company. Does anyone know of an insurance company that definitely allows navigation on yellow river warnings. We are moving our NB from Newbury to winter it in Kinver, via oxford/GU/Stratford/Avon.Severn/Staff & Worc. This because we are fed up with waiting until mid May until the Kennet subsides! We moored on green boards on the Severn at Worcester, realised we needed fuel, hopped up the W&B to get fuel and lingered on the canal for a day, Severn then went into flood on yellow rising, stayed there for unpteen days. The official, concrete visitor mooring we were on disappeared under 4 ft of flood water. Even when river went into yellow falling, it seemed too risky with imminent rain to risk passage to Stourport. I estimated the flow to be at least 2mph and as we were doing 4mph up it from Tewkesbury when it was green, we might have taken 7 hrs to transit from Diglis to Stourport and might not have got to Lincomb lock before it closed at 4pm daily. We wimped out and went via W&B, Gas street, Netherton, Stourbridge. So I asked my insurers 'if we HAD TO, could we navigate on yellow falling'. They said 'no' and provided the following: Underwriters have confirmed that if you were to navigate into a red or amber board condition location or moor up in a red or amber board condition location then our policy would not cover you So what this statement suggests is, if you are minding your own business (say on the Thames, in the summer, on a green status) and moor on a field, and the river goes into amber and you realise you need to get off that field, you are not insured to move to a safer location as you would be either 'navigating into an amber board condition' or 'mooring up in an amber board condition location'. I have asked specifically 'what happens if you need to move to a safer location' (as we would have HAD to have done if we'd stayed on the Severn), but only received this reply. As usual, insurers are so wrapped up in quelling their own interpretation of risk that they fail to see either other possibilities or scenarios, or common sense. When we first got our boat, we (unwittingly) navigated the Thames on yellow boards. As I've lived on the Thames most of my life I knew what the river could do,what my boat could do and what it and my limitations were.. Our passage was eventful but safe If anyone knows of an insurance company that is happy for navigation on yellow boards, please let me know.

Unfortunately no it probably doesnt. Forgotten I'd found and a Waterline 1 1/4 BSP female to 1 1/2" male (plastic) bushing. It arrived today and I eagerly ripped the screwfix version apart in anticipation of a neater, simpler and smaller solution. No, it wouldn't fit onto the standard 1 1/4" BSP male waste fitting, neither would it fit onto a female 1 1/2" BSP fitting as advertised. neither would it fit onto any of the screwfix fittings. But apart from that - another brilliant bit of kit. Great theory, just one TINY flaw - Doesnt work! Thus I suspect that the " 1/14" BSP to straight 3/4" hose" probably wouldn't fit the 1 1/4" BSP trap either. PS Floplast called me back today. They confirmed that their 1 1/2" BSP to 3/4" hose adapter was indeed 1 3/4" BSP to 3/4 hose adapter as I stated and not 1 1/2" BSP as it stated on the packet. This was why it didn't fit the (correctly advertised, marketed and machined) 1 1/2BSP to 1 1/4"BSP reducer from BES plumbing. As the floplast hose connector part fits most standard screwfix 40mm plumbing items with a screw thread, then whenever screwfix advertise something as 1 1/2" BSP what they SHOULD say is 1 3/4" BSP. The conversation between me and Tam & DI seems even more poignant now that Floplast, as the 'professionals', have admitted not knowing (for 6 years!) what actual size their product either is or should be! so much for standards, 'professional language' universal connectivity and Quality Control!

I quite agree, and this is my point, that the items marketed today are contradictory to standards and produced by people who don't understand their own professional language. A BSP 1 1/2" thread is specified as standard as 47.8mm major dia and 44.8 minor dia. So why do I receive a professionally made item that advertises itself as 1 1/2" BSP thread that measures 53.7mm, (1 3/4" BSP), doesn't fit a standard 1 1/2" BSP but does fit other things labelled as "1 1/2" BSP" but clearly aren't. I assume it's because the thread is, in fact 1 3/4" BSP but is labelled because it fits a push fit pipe of 40mm dia (which is 1 1/2") and if this is attached to something with a screw thread, the thread " is suitable for attaching something the EU decide to call 1 1/2" and thus we shall call the thread 1 1/2" and as its a pipe thread and "a" standard and British we'll label it as "One and a half inch 'British' 'standard' 'pipe'" which is completely different to 1 1/2" BSP standards It;s a bit like taking the standard 6'10" gauge of a narrowboat, converting it to metric (2082mm), rounding it up to the nearest convenient number (which in metric's case would be .a nice round 7' or 2133mm, going and finding a penichette slightly wider than that and declaring that boat's width as the new standard width of British narrowboats Anyway, that#s probably enough ranting from me. Off to find a darkened room

I am pleased to say that, with excellent help from the previously mentioned Wonder Woman in Screwfix, (Noami from Tadley) I have resolved the issue of going from 1 1/4 BSP basin trap to 3/4" dia hose tail into the 3/4" barb in skin fitting. It wasn't easy! It took me 6 days and Naomi dedicated a total of about 90 mins to help resolve this issue, so well done to her and Screwfix for excelling on customer service and knowledge. Thus if anyone else finds this thread or has similar problems, I hope the solution described below resolves your issue. You will need the following parts: 1 32mm basin waste with 1 1/4" BSP thread 1. BES plumbing supplies Waste to Trap connector 1 1/4" BSP female to 1 1/2" BSP male part no. 15507 2 x Screwfix Floplast 40mm to 32mm push fit pipe reducer WC 38 screwfix part no. 69077 1 x screwfix Floplast Overflow & hose connector THC41 screwfix part no. 48625 "floplast hose connector" 1 x 2 1/2" or 70mm length of 32mm pushfit pipe Note that the second 40 to 32 reducer is required only to provide an additional 32mm compression screw cap for the Waste to trap converter which secures the push fit pipe. See the exploded picture and assembly below To misquote Dirty Harry "Uh uh I know what your thinking. Did I use 32mm or 40mm pushfit pipe?. Well to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kinda lost track myself, But this is a .44 Magnum, [or is it a 1 1/2bsp thread to fit a similar 1 1/2" BSP thread, or a 1 1/2" something non-standard thread to fit a 40mm system or a 1 1/2" thread to fit a 40mm pushfit compression joint] thinking about this would blow your head clean off ...you've gotta ask yourself one question "Do I feel lucky?" Well do ya punk?" Thanks to all the contributors.

Thanks for trying Capt Birdseye. Just for the record I got one of these connectors which screwfix advertise as to fit 40mm system with 1 1/2 BSP internal screw thread and its BRILLIANT apart from TWO TINY FLAWS 1) it's not 40mm and 2) it's not 1 1.2 BSP It is in fact 1 3/4 BSP which again is BRILLIANT if anyone else in the world used 1 3/4"BSP as a standard waste fitting.

OK I understand this. What I can't understand is what people mean when they say "40mm" or "32mm" connector. A bathroom screw thread is 1 1/4 BSP. If this is measured in metric it's (approx) 41mm. dia It should mate with a 32mm system. So when people talk about a '40mm' thread, do they mean 1 1/4 BSP, for bathrooms, a kitchen tap push fit to thread converter, the thread for Kitchen systems ???

Just to clear things up, I took all the crap from the old and new sink and showed the nice lady in Screwfux (who was absolutely brilliant and knowledgeable) and she spent over an hour trying to help. One thing that didn't help was that my sink drain that is 1 1/4 BSP is described as "40mm" in the manufacturers catalogue and a 1 !/2" BSP to 3/4" spigot (which is exactly what I'd need if I had a 1 1/2" system) is described as 40mm on the packet. Meanwhile the Screwfux catalogue states that "bathroom sink items are described as 'basins' and are always 32mm & kitchen sink items are 'sinks' and are always 40mm" It then displayed a basin sink waste of 40mm. I wouldn't have believed it was this difficult. All chandlers sell 1 1/4" fittings AND 3/4" fittings but not the things to mate them together. All narrowboat blogs say connect your sink using standard fittings and 'simply' connect to an outlet hose. Any other brilliant ideas apart from drilling a vast hole in the side of the boat, or letting it spill into the bilge and let the bilge pump take car of it!

Thanks for that advice, Rob-M but the last time I went to a plumber's merchant and asked for a waste to skin fitting, the school leaving serving me got a dress makers tape and measured my stomach! 😉 The flowpast ose connector looks promising - many thanks Paul, I hope it's flo-plast and not flop-last!

See how confusing it is. In all cases of 1 1/2" please read 1 1/4"! OK. Not wishing to be sarcastic but to explain things more graphically How do I fit the arse of this basin to this skin fitting using this waste and this hose? (see pics) What else do I need and where can I get it? TIA I have connected 3 sink wastes in the house without issue, but my question is how to connect 1 1/4"/ ! 1/2" waste system to 3/4" (19mm) outlet.

And so on to today's 3 hr conundrum. I have to install a standard counter top basin and waste, converting a 40mm basing waste waste to 3/4 hose to the skin fitting. I have the (supplied) "standard 40mm waste" (which measures 1 1/2") to bolt the basin to the countertop via its 40mm/1 !/2" thread, approx 4" (101.6mm) long. Anyone know how to link this to a 3/4" 19mm barbed hose fitting? The old basin had one of these https://www.midlandchandlers.co.uk/products/dls-plastics-waste-sink-1-1-4-90-deg-for-3-4-hose-wd-051 which the old counter inserted-basin had, but I doubt this waste has the length or robustness to hold the counter top sink in place. This must be an everyday problem on narrowboats but after 3 hrs, can't seem to find the answer. Any help or suggestions welcome. PS advertising a 1 1/2 " thread as 40mm is probably an excellent example of why Brexit occurred.

Thanks to all you lovely people I explained to Mrs Ando what Yall said about Gulpers and Flojets and then went into Wickes to buy my weekly ration of narrowboat timber. When I returned She already had a Whale Gulper 220 (12v) on order! She said she could not stand the noise from the bathroom when the filter blocked. I didn't think the pump was that noisy but then she explained "Not it. YOU!" I have to admit to using profanity grease when dealing with stuck components, especially those designed by 6 yr olds and installed by 5 yr olds! Anyway, hopefully our genuine Gulper will sit out of sight and not drive me out of mind for quite some time. I was amazed by this Gulper video if anyone hasn't seen it, although if this Gulper was developed to handle such objects in a typical Northern Irish toilet system, it begs the question what DO they put in their fruit salads!

Thanks for all your expert responses, especially the advice relating to the water seeping back through the pump. I currently have a flojet R4195 143A, which, as I can't find anywhere on any system, I assume that Noah installed it in his ark. This has a separate in line filter which, since the introduction of a lint trap on the shower trap, only needs cleaning about every month or so. Nevertheless, this is quite the task as the clear, round plastic top normally needs the oil filter wrench to move it, but once free and cleaned, the system works faultlessly for about a month. I might try ditching the filter and see how the Flojet manages on its own with all the crud from the shower directly. Safe boating.

Hope this isn't a silly question but I don't understand enough about pumps to work this out. My Gulper is about 2/3 along a 3m run of hose from the shower drain to the skin fitting. the filter is immediately 'upstream' of the pump i.e. between shower and pump. The skin fitting is about 60 cm above the gulper pump. All works fine. I'm refitting the bathroom and need to move the gulper and filter as a single unit. If I move them further away from the skin fitting (i.,e so the new hose length is about 1.5 m from the pump to the skin fitting) will there be any loss of performance regarding pumping or draining? What happens if I move the pump closer to the skin fitting but move the filter closer to the shower drain? TIA

I can definitely recommend Aldermaston Wharf for Blacking and craning. Careful and considerate craning and a good, thorough job that will last for years. I monitored the work closely but didn't need to as Dave was way ahead of me regarding fixing the issues before I ever got to mention them! Had bottom plate new anodes, bow thruster tube, weed hatch and tunnel bands redone. Cost about £1800 inc VAT then. This was done in 2020 and I'm heading off up north this and next year. I am most reluctant to head north without revisiting Aldermaston for a 'wash and brush up' as I know it will be done properly there. No aspiration on other boatyards, but if you've got a good one, stick with it is my motto!