EdwardMeades

Im on a monthly rolling at the moment. I'm thinking of switching to EE anyway.

Great tip - I always go for 4G, even when i'm only getting 2mbs. I will see if I can use the 3G on occasion.

Anybody got any pearls of wisdom they would like to share for getting the bet signal/ reliable connection on their Mobile Internet? I'd love to know what providers people are using and what you're paying. I'm currently on a three unlimited data contract paying £27pm. The EE coverage is much better in the Marina i'm in but it's £37pm! Here are my best ones: External Antenna (I use this one) and get it mounted high up Find out where your local Mobile Phone masts are. I have been using this website Change the Cell Bands you are connected to. Some mobile phone towers transmit signals on different wave lengths. On Some routers you can change the settings so it will only connect to one particular band. For example three uses bands B20 - 800 and B3 - 1800. Changing the bands can also force your router to connect to a different Tower. Sometimes there will be two in the area (one transmitting on B3, the other on B20) I use an application called huaCTRL that will let me change the bands. Not every Router will let you do this. I use a Huawei B535 Change your APN (Access Point Name). This is the "gateway" or Access Point your router will use to connect to the internet. Sometimes an APN can slow down because it has a lot of traffic. You can google alterative APNs and set them for your Router (For Three, I use 3UK, AUTO, three.co.uk). I change the APN settings in the Huawei App Turn the Router off and on again once in a while It's also worth mentioning that a lot of Routers can be run on 12V - but I'd recommend using a buck converter just in case.

I thought the idea was for the flue to pass through the collar without touching it? For example a four inch flue passing through a 5 inch ID collar, then the gap is filled with rope and silicon?

Do you have a magnetic stove thermometer? It wouldn't take much effort to put this on your flue at the top and see how hot it actually gets - just to see it in numbers. It's still something you should be wary of. My flue wasn't in contact with the wood, it was the register plate which was much thicker steel. That still got hot enough to cause the wood to combust. From memory I think the thermometer at the top of my flue reached 150 degrees.

Totally agree with hindsight. I'm sure there are many others who make the same mistakes

It is a single skin flue that would be used for a house - I think it is 1.2mm thickness.

EDIT - I should add for complete transparency and honesty. I had changed the stove and collar myself last year myself. This was clearly an issue caused by me and my own carelessness. I am ashamed to admit it of myself but the message is important. I want to share my fire scare with the community. Like a lot of people who have bought boats over the last couple of years, I bought mine cheap with an owners fit out. It has a recent BSS and everything looked OK on the Survey. There must be so many other people out there who, like me, are careless, naïve, and not aware of how quickly things can go wrong. If you have recently bought a boat or not familiar with fire safety and the regulations houses and boats I urge you to read on. I think there is a real risk for others who have bought boats with owner fit outs, that have had fires installed by people who do not know what they are doing and do not understand the dangers. If you have never sat down and thought about what could go wrong, planned how you could deal with a fire and, more importantly, how you can get out quickly I really implore you to do so - it will only take you a few minutes and it could save your life. My Flue is single skin, all the way up through the ceiling. Where the flue passes the tongue and groove cladding and into the chimney collar it had a decorative metal register plate on, to hide the hole. The register plate was then screwed into the wood and the gaps caulked. (register plate looked something like this). This register plate was MUCH too close to the flue. It was not touching the flue but had been installed off centre. At the closest point the flue was approx. 10mm from the plate. The heat was transferred from this into the tongue and groove. Over time the heat transferred had charred the wood . There was no visible charring or discolouration around the register plate. It only occurred directly under it to the front of the flue. A few weeks ago we had some really strong winds. The fire was on and I took the dog out on the towpath. I noticed a smoke blowing from a mushroom vent near to the chimney. This immediately sparked panic - there were no joins in the flue inside the ceiling, and no smoke was inside the boat. I realised that there must be something on fire, inside the ceiling. I removed the register plate as quickly as I could - and saw a small area in front of the flue was charred and glowing orange with embers. Now that I had exposed the area to oxygen, it immediately caught fire (See Pyrolysis). The wind was also blowing in through the mushroom vent and feeding the flames. I grabbed my fire extinguisher and put the flames out, and also sprayed the area with water to take the heat out of it. This was really a scary experience and I am extremely lucky: - It was complete chance that I noticed the smoke coming out of the mushroom vent whilst outside - The Fire Extinguisher was close to hand BUT IT WAS OUT OF DATE BY 1 YEAR!!! - The event happened at 7pm. If I had been asleep I probably would not have noticed What have I done to prevent this happening again? - I have cut the wood back from the flue much further (200mm all around) - Removed the single skin flue and replaced with twin wall - No metal register plate. I am just leaving the hole for now for my own piece of mind. I am considering making a cover with a generous clearance all around out of a material with poor conductivity like cement board. - New fire extinguishers, one at the front of the boat and one at the back - Emergency hammer to break a window (just in case) - Read as much literature on fire regulations for boats and houses as I can stomach - Read the MAIB report for the Lindy Lou

Well depends on the circumstances I suppose. Sometimes I need a bit of extra power to get up to 4mph if there is a headwind or current. If I'm squeezing through an especially tight bridge or avoiding a hire boater. Maybe I'm just rushing to get to Sainsburys before it closes? I've got a PRM delta (older version of the 150?) but not sure of the ratio.

I did give it a good rag up and down to the nearest winding hole, didn't seem to help much. Checked the prop and it is clear. Don't think its oversize but maybe I can find a picture of it somewhere... Many thanks

I have a Lister LPWS3 in my boat. Engine dates to 1990 and has a minimum of 2500 hours on it (hour meter was broken when I bought, didn't realise). I start to get blue smoke at higher revs (1800+). This gradually gets worse until I dial it back again. The smoke then starts to reduce to almost nothing again. When cold I get very little smoke at all. This onky happens when warm. In addition there is a black oil spraying from the exhaust. This is also weeping through the joints in the exhaust. I checked the oil last weekend and topped up about 200ml (after 45 hours running) Everything seems to be pointing towards rings/ valves leaking and a rebuild. Does the brain trust have any other ideas or quick fixes I csn check begird going down that route? I'm on the Middlewich branch, Does anyone know a good engineer in my area?

Just very disappointed that they are advertising a premium service, and then providing a very poor one. Regarding temperatures it was a pleasant 15 degrees yesterday and the hull was bone dry. Obviously not warm to the touch but I'm not in a rush to get it finished. I will pick and choose when to get the coats on.

Just posting here as an outlet and to vent. I really dislike confronting people, and having to call people out, unfortunately I have spent the last two days doing exactly that. I arranged for a premium blacking service with my home Marina. I live aboard but work full time, so figured this would be the best option. They sent me a nice looking scope of work that told me they would pressure wash, inspect, go over entire surface with a hand grinder, wipe down, inspection from yard manager, before applying blacking. The cost for this was 891 quid. I got my pressure wash, and they recommended rewelding an anode that had come away, and welding sone additional chine near the swims that was missing (looks like the boat was built this way). Great I thought, sounds promising. After three days on the yard I had not heard anything. After I went into the office to ask when work woukd start, they made a call and someone turned up 10 minutes later. Great I thought, I know how busy these guys can be. Unfortunate the bloke they sent just wanted to slap the blacking on. He had no clue about the scope of work, he said they had never done any hand grinding on any of the boats they black. I politely said this was the service I paid for, and what I expected. He got the yard manager involved and they agreed to go over with the grinder. He had also forgotten about the welding which I had to ask for again. Great I thought, maybe just a communication issue. He spent 30 minutes grinding the top half of the boat above the water line. Conveniently he stopped at 16:50 and said he was finished. I pointed out the bottom half of the boat, and asked if he planned on finishing this tomorrow. I also pointed out several areas of flakey bitumem/ scale he had missed, picking it off with my finger nail as I showed him.He walked off without answering. Great I thought, this is going to be awkward. The next morning at 0800 I went out to find him merrily painting away. This is where it started to get really uncomfortable. I called him out on not finishing the grinding. He looked my straight on the eye and said he'd done every inch. I know for a fact he did not do below the water line, and did not do the swim, rudder or supports below the rudder. He had not wiped the dust and grim away from his minimal grinding. I told him I knew all of this because I'd watched him doing it! To top it off he was now painting at 0800 and the boat was wet with condensation. Once more the yard manager came to have a look. He took over the grinding, attacked sone of the tougher shake with a hammer and did a better job. At this point I'm happy with the surface preparation, but the boat is still soaking wet. As I'm talking to the yard manager, the first bloke starts painting away again. I tell them that I've had enough and to pack up, and that I will be doing the blacking. TLDR, was prepared to pay for blacking, had to supervise the work, constantly battling them to do the work they told me they would, got sick of them doing a piss poor job and canceled them. Not sure if I should mention which Marina I'm in, but plenty of other have had issues with them and I'm on Middlewich branch.

Exactly this - so its not a filter at all, and I don't need to worry about it being empty. Perfect - I just located the actual filter. Looks s but fiddly to reach but not terrible. If you have a parts manual it might be of help for future reference! Thanks everyone

Hello Need a fuel filter for my lister LPWS3. Its one of the models with an aluminium filter housing thats held together by a central bolt. I took this filter apart earlier to find the filter, but to my surprise it was completely empty (except for the diesel, watery diesel and crud). Anyone tell me where I can source the correct fuel filter? Thanks in advance