Big COL

Hi Dor I have often thought that a sensible way was to connect twin coils in series, then control the the heat input as and when and from whatever source available. It will limit you to only one heat input at a time but will give maximum efficiency. How often do you want to run two heat inputs together I would suggest never.

Pav A different lifestyle,this is why we want to liveaboard. The theory that there is no difference in expense whether living on board or on land holds up while you are still working and have an income coming in. The people I was refering to, and I am only really putting their concerns forward after many conversations with them - and there seem to be quite a few in the same position, are the ones that sold up and moved on board some years ago. Then, with whatever sized fund they had, their annual expences had been calculated to foresee them through the rest of their lives. With the increase in costs in recent years, and I can think of items that have doubled and in the case of derv trebled in only the last four years, these extra unplanned costs soon eat into any savings. One couple I spoke to said they were now in a catch 22 position. They needed to do part-time work to generate some extra cash - half of which would go to BW as they would now need moorings, or take the risk of getting moved on if they didn't. Not a position you want to be in when in your seventies, these are sensible people that had thought it through - not just done it on a whim, and were comfortably well off before. It's easy be wise with hindsight.

This is only the start of an economic down turn, it will get worse, feel sorry for those who have chosen to give up the conventional way of living and have now to try and survive with the astronomical rise in the cost of living aboard. To most of us boating is a secondary life (hobby) and although it may cost us to maintain this hobby, and in some cases it may well cost a lot of money, but it is only money. You still have a roof over your head. Soon (and I hope not ) a lot more of our liveaboards will be facing financial difficulties if the current trend continues. and the indication is that it will. We will all be locked in somehow, with a boat that is decreasing in value which we couldn't sell for the fear of having to sell for a lot less than we paid for it. Even if you did decide to sell would there be any buyers? I built a boat to retire to, as things are it's hobsons choice as to whether this is the right thing to do. I am a company director and in normal circumstances would have the choice to stay on a little longer, however with an economic downturn I would not have the benefit of that choice, and, due to contractual circumstances, would have to move on board. This is not the way I would go if given a choice, for this is not the time to contemplate living aboard.

You must have worked for, or have been trained by, those famous builders, bodge it and scarper.

Hi Tomska Assuming that you are refering to a wooden door. You can do one of two things, hold the tip of a soldering iron on the end of shank, and wait until you have heated up the screw. It will require a large soldering iron to generate enough heat. Secondly, and this is what I would do, find a short length of 6/8mm rod or a long 6/8mm bolt, holding this with mole grips heat the end of the bar/bolt to red hot on the gas ring, when red put this on the end of the shank, the heat will transfer very quickly down the screw. Hold it on long enough for the screw to get hot and expand, it is the expansion that will break any seal natural or otherwise that is present. Allow to cool so that it is only warm to the touch, then use either mole grips or pliers to remove. If you attempt to try and remove it without heating up the screw you could shear it off again, especially if it's a hardwood door.

Try Maplins.

The stripped hole could be filled with a resin metal putty then redrilled and tapped to the original size. Or fill the hole with metal putty and refit the stud and allow to dry, the down side of this is you will probably never be able to remove the stud ever again.

Good on yer Maffi. Now could you please stop flying that froggy french flag on your avitar, and replace it with the true English battle flag. Cheers dude.

Clockwork starter motors were used on hire air compressors, and generators. You would wind the spring with a handle the same as a starting handle, then when fully wound you would pull a lever and it would then unwind turning the engine over. Oh deep joy starting one with a worn engine brought a whole new meaning on what your right arm was for.

Hi Chris The engine thermostat should still govern the engine temp, if you were to overcool then it would shut until the operating temp is reached, then it will re-open. I agree with what you are saying, running an engine too cool will cause problems. In this case I think one would be reasonably safe in tapping off the engine cooling system. There are plenty of hire boats with a dual central heating system, one where it is heated by the engine ,then backed up by a secondary source when the engine is off.

Not a country boy then? When we had to load a lorry with bags of pre packed spuds.Two of you would use a cosh ( a cosh being a stick similar to a baseball bat) to throw the bags up on to the lorry. The loading would disturb the rats, and at times they would launch themselves at you, you would use the cosh to try and hit them in mid air. believe me you didn't want to miss. This wasn't a common occurrence, but it did happen, just one of the perks of the job. Where was the health and safety brigade then? this is what came with the job and you just got on with it, and I was only a school boy at the time.

It's okay saying this as people have fears which can't be helped but you will not get them jumping at your throat, that's just an old wife's tale. You will probably go for weeks or even months at a time without seeing one. Try emptying a spud stack of bagged spuds, and see if they don't go for the throat.

You need to ask, Just do as the rest do, stick a skier behind.

Nothing wrong with the L if you only drink the STRONG L Good drinking real ale is hard to find when you cut your teeth on BASS.

Run out of booze and you dare to call your self a boater. I think not,

Oh dear Bones smack bottom time.(still love you though) I thought we had covered how to do this? What I omitted to say was that the spray foam will certainly be the final fixing. Batten out a boat properly, then spray foam it you will not need to worry about anything coming loose later. That spray foam sticks like s--t to a blanket

There seems to be a fear of recommending boat builders because of any repercussions via litigation. In my personal experience, having originally purchased a ColeCraft second hand boat, in which I have to say the quality shone through even though she had been badly neglected, this still proved to be a sensible buy. After using her for a season, she was stretched by ColeCraft by 13', taking her up to 60', she returned with a perfectly straight hull, something that you don't always see even on new builds from other builders. After a refit she was sold on, and a new 70' sailaway was ordered from ColeCraft. The relationship between customer and builder was more of a friendship than a business contract. Nothing was ever too much, you could appear unannounced and still be made welcome. I have no problem recommending ColeCraft on the basis that I was dealt with as a customer who received the product that was specified, by a company that has years of experience in building boats.

Hey up Some of us have proper jobs. Does that mean we are not proper boaters then? Let us know when you decide when.

Are we looking for a silencing quality or performance. I have yet to see a F1 narrow boat.

Constructive criticism only Normally a gravity system would be piped in 1 1/4'' or 28 mm the bigger the better. All rads are connected diagonally including the last rad, this becomes the final return. To obtain the best heat transfer you need to balance out all the rads,by using the last rad as the return.This slows the thermal flow which can only be beneficial to the early rads on the system. Hence balancing of the rads progressively is essential Why one sees the need to use a gravity (non pumped ) system is beyond me. Introducing a pump offers so many control alternatives.

Hi Alan You could use a 3 port tap stat to control the temp from the engine to the calorifier. These are thermal / mechanical valves. When the preset temp is reached it bypasses the calorifier coil straight back into the return. These are used on stoves heating circuit to control the water temp in the calorifier,as the output from the stove is usually uncontrollable. Big Col .

Opps I know you know the difference, just wanted to point out the danger of plumbing it in the wrong way.

Mixer tap / Temperature control valve, which should be plumbed in correctly. Depending on the type, you could end up being scalded if not. The cold feed is normally fitted so when you open the valve, cold water starts to flow, you then feed in the hot water by adjusting the temperature leaver/knob or whatever to your required temperature. If you plumb the valve in reverse when you open the valve hot water will flow first and could or I should say has caused problems. So please check that you have it connected correctly.