Amphibian Man

Will do. Thanks

Hello all, Sorry for taking so long to feed back. Batteries were down to 8v !!!!!! Starter down at 11.8v I kept the key turned on for about 30 secs against my instinct to turn it off after about 5 secs. The engine eventually spluttered into life and the starter shot up to 14v. The leisure bank went up to 12.6v after about an hour. I really appreciate everyone's input and their willingness to share their knowledge. Thanks.

Ok thanks. I shall do that 👍

Oh dear. It seems I am appearing to be rude, lazy minded, ignorant. I don’t expect anything really. I only hope for some advice willingly given. The batteries were new in 2015. So maybe that is old as batteries go. I shall isolate each one and take readings then connect them up and take readings again.

Sure. I get that 👍.

I do appreciate how beneficial photos and readings would be. I shall do what I can and get back ASAP. Thanks again.

Hello everyone again. Thanks so much for your input I am pretty sure the inverter is all OK. I will have another go at things and report back.

Thanks again.

Thanks everyone. Does being hooked up to the mains make a difference? If the starter battery is flat, would the engine fire up from the mains?

Hello everyone. My beta35 is being a pain. I turn the ignition on having heated the preheater first. The starter motor runs and the two belts turn. Smoke sort of drifts from the exhaust in a lazy manner. And that's it. The engine won't fire up. With my limited knowledge I checked oil levels in engine and gearbox. All wiring is in place. Fuel is getting through the two filters. Can anyone help me with some much needed advice please 🤔🤔🤔

Hello folks, Please could you give me some help. I want to paint the outside of my narrowboat. It has lots of patches of rust though not very deep. Lots of flaking paintwork. I am having problems deciding what goes on when regarding primer, undercoat, red oxide, rust converter (vaclan?), top coat. Is primer the same as undercoat, should the primer be water,solvent,oil based? What would be the step by step process? ........Help!!!! Please!!!

One other thing.......do we black the base of the hull? Sometimes I see boats in dry dock and they are only 6 inches off the ground.

Thanks everyone. Really appreciate your thoughts.

Hello folks, Our boat was 2 pack epoxied back in 2015 ( before we bought it). It is up for blacking now. Can anyone tell us if we just go over the existing 2 pack with ordinary blacking or do we have to get it all 2 pack epoxied again? We are struggling to learn what the process should be. Thanks for any input, John

Hello folks, Anyone know where I can get a glowplug gasket for a Mukuni mx40? I used liquid gasket when I replaced the gp and think I've clogged up the swirl holes 🤪. Cheers John.

Thanks everyone. I am afraid the horse has bolted. I used teamac primer over the whole of the roof. It was warm yesterday and dried to the touch almost immediately. I naively thought once the primer/undercoat had dried it could be more or less forgotten about until ready to overprint.

Hello folks, I am in the process of treating the roof of my narrowboat. I neutralised the rust with Vaclan. Then I applied the primer undercoat yesterday.. All well and good. I guess it had about 12 hours to dry but then it rained. Should I be concerned or am I worrying over nothing.? Thanks.

Hi all, Thanks for all the advice. Does Vaclan take the place of red oxide or primer? Can you paint over vaclan without the need for red oxide or primer?

Hello everyone, When I got my boat a few months ago the roof was covered in years of bird poo and moss and mould. It was caked on. I have eventually cleaned it off but what's left looks terrible. Sand and paint mix I think plus patches of rust. I can't chip away at the sand and paint. It is solid. Can someone tell me what to do please. Do I get rid of the visible rust and just sand and paint over it all, including existing sand and paint? Or do I have to get the whole roof down to bare steel again? And if so, how? I feel clueless. Any advice would be very welcome. Cheers.

Thanks everyone. I am really grateful and encouraged by your input. I will try a few suggestions and get back to the forum ASAP. Cheers.

Hi MtB, The red light stays on while the engine is running. I have a dmm and can use it. Hi Tony Brooks, The 240v socket won't even charge my phone with engine running on high revs

Hi David Mack, I am sure the inverter was switched on while the engine was running.

Thanks. The 12v lights etc work so I thought the batteries are OK. Do they not get charged up while the engine is running? Hi MtB, I ran the engine for a couple of hours about 1500 rpm. But still got the red light.

Hi folks, I am in a pickle. My inverter has decided not to work. The engine runs fine. The 12 v is working. But the battery low light on the inverter is red and I have no 240v. I am new to canal life so seem to be asking and taking more than I give on this forum. If anyone can help I would be extremely grateful. It's a Victron Phoenix combi 12 1600 75.

How unlucky would you have to be, to be bombarded from above by Dumbo. I mean the fact that there is only one Dumbo in the whole wide world 🤣