Big COL
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Posts posted by Big COL
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This 'argument' re CC's, and so called bridge hoppers has been going round in circles for many years and really gets no where. Shouldn't we now agree to disagree and leave things there?
Not quite yet Maffi is doing an excellent job of educating the ill informed. I can not understand the arguments defending bridge hoppers, and BW telling people to bend the rules isn't on either. There are enough miles of vacant tow path for BW to accommodate boaters requiring moorings but this will mean some extra expenditure so there for not in BW's game plan. Leave the CC alone and sort out the unlicensed boats, remove these from the system and half the bridge hoppers will immediately disappear. Police the rules and the rest will disappear. It comes down to how much expenditure BW is willing to put up to allow this to happen, they could quite easily do this and we all know that, but just how big a stick they wave will determine the results. Maffi keep on rules are rules. BW big sticks needed not twigs.
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If anyone is interested i have found a supplier of 28v bulbs for the boating market
@1.95 each in lots of diferent fittings G4 etc
Hi Richard,
I see you are getting there, I suggested over voltage lamps weeks ago, they will last for ever.
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this is the biggest object i have ever heard about being misplaced.this story i must follow.i think i need to put satelite tracker gear in during the build.
Why do you need to track a satelite?
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I cant see where Maffi is coming from! I imagine that although you didnt clean the house you do like a clean house? We could put the canal builders in the same context!
Its probably a bit like the chicken and egg thing trying to define if Brindley and Egerton were real boaters ror not. But they (and others) built the canals with the sole aim of proving a way for boats to carry goods from one side of the country to the other, which is why I came up with the suggestion that Brindley was a real boater.
May I ask doesnt anyone ever feel a sense of awe when they are out boating along the canals? The canals might look simple, beautiful and full of wildlife, but dont we always think about those who built them, what it must have been like building those dark damp tunnels or lofty aqueducts that we take so much for granted today? In that sense I would suggest that people who appreciates the work, the hard graft creating them and the precious nature of our waterways and their history - is a real boater too (and not neccesarily one who has a boat!)
PS I had often thought about those boaters too! When we see a straw boater floating along the canal we can then at last say 'there's a real boater!!'
This is broad spectrum terminology. Why not call Otters, Mink, Floating Dustbins, and anything else found on the cut, real boaters.
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CANAPEE is that not whot we on steel boats, have before lunch. with a glarse of shampers.
Richard
Have I got this wrong, were you not a Tupperware owner? Glory be to the convert
forsaking all others. -
Hi Colin.
I think we are talking about very different things. If you simply want to keep car or bike battery topped up over the winter then a one amp trickle charger is all you need. The original requirement here was for the re-charge of a 110ah or larger bow thruster battery.
John
The model I use does that.
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Looks like a pretty useless bit of kit, seems it is designed to keep a fully charged battery, charged. Does not even specify the charge rate and measuring the voltage with a zero load is not the best idea in the world.
But then what do you expect for 30 odd quid.
Hi John
To which are you referring when you say (looks like a useless bit of kit ) If you google for optimate all the technical information is on there. My biker friends all use this charger connected permanently on their classic bikes and cars. The optimate is certainly NOT a useless bit of kit, and as I have already stated they make a model that is capable of maintaining a 110 amp hour stater battery and it has served me very well connected to my thruster battery and prior to that it was connected to my 4/4 Morgan which was garaged through the winter and would always start first time when asked.
Now you have got me tearful as this has reminded me that I had to sell my one true love to help fund the new boat, but in my opinion it is a super piece of equipment connect it and forget it.
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John
A fancy name for a battery charger. The blurb is from optimate web site. The model I use has a larger charging capacity.
Optimate III battery charger
Optimate Battery charger
OptiMate III - the unique 5-step battery optimiser specially designed for modern 12V starter batteries from 2.5 to 28 Amp-hours capacity. Ideal for motorcycles, ATVs, jet-skis etc.
Since it's launch in 1995, the unique OptiMate has received wide acclaim as an outstanding compact automatic charger, maintainer and recoverer for 12V starter batteries of motorcycles, ride-on mowers and similar seasonal vehicles, as well as for sealed lead-acid gel and deep-cycle batteries used in back-up power supply applications.
Now OptiMate 3 takes the proven OptiMate interactive charging programme another step further – features include:
· Diagnosis of deep-discharge or light sulphation; automatic recovery phase with precisely controlled parameters to recover many neglected batteries, even from as low as 2 Volts. In really difficult cases the interactive programme even gives the battery a subsequent "second shot".
Multi-stage automatic charging programme monitors and controls both voltage and current while charging the battery to ensure optimum charge for the battery, without any risk of over-charging. OptiMate 3 is totally safe even for long-term connection.
Automatic double-check ensures that the battery is fully charged before switching over to maintenance (float charge) mode. If the check indicates that the monitored signals suggesting full charge were premature, the charger reverts to the main charging stage and continues this procedure until the battery is definitely fully charged.
Hourly checks (in maintenance mode) for any signs that the battery is not able to hold its charge or that it is being drained by something connected to it. If all is well, the green LED indicates after the first of these hourly checks and continues to do so unless something subsequently causes the battery to fail a check. Should this occur the red LED will indicate a "suspect" condition but the charging circuit will continue to support the battery until disconnected.
Automatic cancellation of charging programme when mains power fails. On restoration of mains power the battery is automatically re-assessed and the charging programme appropriate to the battery status is immediately restarted.
Automatic resetting of charging programme in case of accidental loss of contact between charger and battery terminals. If this happens, the circuit will automatically sense the fact and within 7 seconds it will disengage - the charge programme will start afresh on reconnection.
OptiMate 3 is totally automatic and fully protected against user errors. There are no switches. Short-circuiting the charger output resets the programme, without sparks or blown fuses. Affordable, compact, intelligent and forgiving of errors, OptiMate 3 is the perfect tool for regular or long-term maintenance of batteries not in daily use.
The REAL & unique 5-step battery optimiser specially designed for all modern 12V starter batteries from 2.5 to 28 Amp-hours capacity.
Diagnoses, recovers, charges, checks & maintains your battery automatically for months. All major battery manufacturers recommend maintaining starter batteries FULLY CHARGED during periods of non-use. OptiMate Ill is totally safe for months-long connection and maintenance of irregularly or seasonally used batteries even while still connected to the vehicle. The sophisticated charging algorithm ensures no risk of over-charging.
Suitable for all types of rechargeable lead-acid batteries: filler cap types; absorbed acid "MF" for motorcycles; valve regulated (VRLA); & GEL-electrolyte types. As simple as 1-2-3: Just connect the OptiMate Ill to your battery, the rest is automatic. Electronically protected against user errors. There is no switch, no fuse and there are no sparks.
Delivered with two interchangeable connection sets, one with clamps for bench charging, the other with in-line protection fuse and eyelet terminals for permanent connection to the vehicle’s battery to allow easy reconnection of charger when necessary.
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All of these postings are of great interest if a little hard to understand for most of us I suspect. I have an observation and a question. The observation is that most boats seem to have too small a domestic battery capacity. I have 630 amp but wish I had larger. I feel anything under 500 amp is too small. The question concerns the comment from John Orentas that a split charge system is not neccessary between an engine and bowthruster battery. My boat has a relay joining these batteries when the engine is running. I cannot see the point of this relay. Why not leave the batteries connected then on our boat the shorepower which only charges the domestics and the engine battery would I presume charge all three.At the moment there is a voltage drop between the relay and the bowthruster battery some 50' away and this battery does not seem to get enough charge from the alternator. I worry that the relay is getting a hammering as the bowthruster battery which is sometimes quite low is being fed by a fully charged engine battery. Advice would be welcome if anyone can understand what I am on about.
Hi Billy
If you are suffering a voltage drop at the thruster battery then as John has pointed out the cables are probably undersized. I have a battery optimiser connected to my thruster battery via the shore line, the reason for doing this is in difficult conditions when arriving back at the marina it needs a 180 degree turn to enter the marina then a 90 degree turn into the pontoon. By the time you have moored the thruster battery can nearly be flat and as you are mooring there will be no chance to recharge this battery before you want use it again. So it sits there all week with the optimiser connected and the next time I need to use it I have a fully charged battery.
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Have seen boats with black matting to cover the deck - big holes about 1" dia.
Saw it in a chandlers, in tiles about 15" or 16" square and they clipped together like leggo. Being a chandlers of course, the tiles were £5 each!
Has anybody seen anything like this at a sensible price?
Peter
Hi Peter
Whilton chandlery sell what you are looking for in a roll, I think it's 1mt x 3/4mt price last year was £30 per roll.
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How do you do that?
Hi Yamanx
Never actually changed the packing on a boat, have done lots on pumps including pumps with flooded suction. The gland box is the same on a pump as on a boat . To change the packing live ( boat in water) you can expect water to come into the boat how much will depend on the amount of wear there is on the shaft etc sometimes there is no water ingress but it's advisable to have a good pump to hand just in case.
To change the packing you need to cut the new packing to length lay the packing around the shaft and mark and cut where they meet, or if you know the shaft size then buy pre cut packing. Undo the gland nuts and pull the slide out of the stuffing box. To remove the old packing I use a long thin screwdriver that has the end ground to a point and bent at 90 degrees force the point into the old packing and hook it out then repeat to remove all the old packing. This is the point when the water will start to flow wrap the new packing around the shaft and push it into the stuffing box note the position of the joint, the second packing do the same as the first but rotate the join through 90 degrees, continue to do the same with the rest of the packings rotating the join each time. It's important to have the joins off set as if they were in line it leaves a open path for water to pass through. When the last packing piece is in push the slide home and just start the nuts, then wind the greaser down two or three turns and spin the shaft repeat with the greaser. Then adjust the gland as previously described, when adjusted wind the greaser down and run the engine in gear while its running turn the greaser down if required. Keep an eye on the gland as you will find it may need adjusting again as the new packing settles down.
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Hi all,
I need to tighten the stuffing gland on Maggie as it has started driping a little. I assume I tighten the two screws marked with arrows in the photo below.
How much do I tighten them?
NB Maggi
With the gearbox in neutral, you should be able to turn the shaft, tighten both nuts equally until the shaft becomes tight and is quite hard to turn. Then back off the nuts a flat at a time until the shaft becomes eaiser to turn, there should be a little resistance when turning the shaft, You should be able to judge the difference in the shaft from how it was before you started to how it is now, the adjustment will have added some resistance when turning. The principle is the same as if you were adjusting a taper bearing. If you run out of thread and cannot adjust the gland any more and the shaft still turns freely, and the gland still drips, then you will need to repack the gland with some new packing.
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I bet if you asked whoever printed "ac only" on them he could not give you a rational explanation why. Other that "well they have only been tested on ac".
John
There must be some truth in this ac only statement, but like you I can not see why. To limit sales to ac only applications, manufacturers are missing out on sales.
which makes me think there must be a reason for this.
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When fitting out my boat my original intention was to use small circuit breakers of the type that can and are incorperated into the 12v distribution panel. I was dissuaded from using this small type of circuit breaker after a friend of mine related the results from tests that had been carried out on this type of circuit breaker.
The test showed that the tripping rate varied from 20% to 60% on brand new breakers, and increased with age. Worst case senario a new 20 amp breaker could take a load of 32 amps before tripping. Some of the test showed that a small percentage tripped under the breakers rateing. Reluctantly I reverted to using automotive blade fuses although I am aware of the fact that fuses degrade with age, but at least it's on the safe side. I have had no problem whatsoever with the fuses and the finished article is neat and tidy. However I have always felt dissapointed that I couldn't build the panel I had originaly designed. Has anyone had problems with these small breakers, this may be a difficult question to answer because if you say I have used these for years and they have never tripped then it may be due to the fact that they are carrying more current than designed for. Catch 22.
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Richard Bustens is going to move his boat, Fribet, which is still in red primer from Atherstone to Audlem.
It is 70 miles and 87 locks.
He has four days to do it. I estimated 46 hours but someone else has calculated 37.
He will have to put some cruising time in and may need to keep moving during some twilight hours.
He can stop at Norbury if he cant make it in time.
Most think it do-able but tight.
Bank holiday weekend and Norbury has a canal festival, could make it even tighter.
Not that I knew about it, I only moor there
Everyone has wished him luck and given encouragement.
Someone suggested he take the whole week off, open a few beers and take his time.
Bernie deleted whole thread by mistake
Have I missed anything?
Yamanx
What route is Richard taking, and how many crew?
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Stuart,
If it is to be a mansfield dump through toilet then I would recomend routing the suction pipe inside the tank to be directly below the toilet bowl.
With these types of toilets it is possible to get a heaping effect directly where the waste lands, especially if (as is often the case) you try to limit how much water you flush away.
With the suction pipe under the bowl you will suck out all the solids first, ensuring that the tank is empty, if the pipe was situated in the corner of the tank, possibly several feet away there would be a risk of pumping out the fluid and leaving the solids behind.
We have done our tanks this way for years and it works well, its more work but it beats having problems in such an unpleasant area!
Ignore the above if its to ba a mascerator of course!
To clean a tank throughly if using a Mansfield toilet you can rinse out through the toilet, open the flap an you can see any solids left. You have to suffer a little bit of Satan's breath, not too bad when the tanks empty but at least you can get it clean.
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Just to update this one - I definately have a 'singing prop' The engineer thinks I've caught it somehow in a way that has made it resonnate at this pitch as it turns through the water. I am now sitting here today as the prop is being replaced. I have tried filing it with a file but can't seem to solve it so decided to bite the bullet and get it changed - will let you all know if that certainly solves it when I cruise the boat back home tonight.
I had a singing prop on my first boat and an old wise man of the cut said I can fix that for you all you need to do is hit one of the blades with a hammer and take it out of balance. I could follow the logic of how it would stop it singing but could not for the life of me see why anyone would want it out of balance when you have carefully aligned the drive chain, I declined his kind offer.
When the boat came out of the water I was intending to have the blades machined. The guy who was to do the machining said if you are in any way practical you could do it your self on the boat. What I had to do was square face the edge of each blade, this I did and the singing stopped.
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My boat has a Kabola diesel stove. On one of her rare spells on the tiller my wife managed to redesign the chimney on a low bridge the other day. My boatyard tell me that a replacement Kabola chimney will cost about £100. Does anyone know if I need a Kabola chimney or will any old one do? The flue is quite small though (only 3 3/8 inch diameter) and so far have only found exhaust stacks that narrow - and I don't think they would look right at the front of the boat. Are there normal stove chimneys that narrow, and will they work on my stove? Or do I grit my teeth and pay up?
Any advice would be welcome.
Graham Blott
Graham
Take your old one to use as a pattern and get one made. There are lots of small fabricators about that will make you one for half that price.
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Didn't they have a conquest or something?
Come on keep up Gary!
That was the Normans.(the french gits)
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Ted
That's all a bit negative what style of fittings and decoration do you prefer, to say something is inferior in some way because it belongs to history is an odd argument to say the least. That would make the Acropolis a bit of a dump.
Ted
Supprise us all and post a photo of your boat.
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Roses and castles? utter crap!, belongs to history.
You don't see too many caravans, or motorhomes painted in the style of Gypsy wagons, or Showmans wagons, do you?, no, because they probably realised a long time ago, just how naff and tacky it all looks.
Ted Cooper
By the same token you don't see too many narrowboats painted all white, with no shades on any of the light fitting promoting the latest fashion the minimalist look. Naff and tacky is only your opinion,of other people's preferences, they no doubt disagree with your thinking, and are too polite to say so. I run a modern boat and have a great respect for those that run a traditional boat with all the work involved with such a boat, at least keeps alive the traditions and culture of the cut in some ways. Otherwise it will be lost forever.
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oooh a lift bridge.....
try doing that at Thorne, on the stainforth and keadby canal......its the youths that try to hang boaters from that lift bridge.......
In the summer months, they (about 30) dive off the top of the bridge into the canal, and wo betide you if you come along to 'spoil their fun'.....
And it was YOU that told us all that nothing scares you
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having been a 'member' on here for some time.....one does indeed become a bit weary at answering the same stuff over and over, re inventing the wheel, as it were....
This will continue to be a problem in as much that there can only be so many problems and questions to be asked relating to the construction / environment of a narrowboat. In the past 6 months there have been members actively involved in fitting out their own boats and the questions have come in thick and fast covering everything related to a narrowboat, and more besides. The answering of these has been educational and amusing and at times war like. It's inevitable that the same questions will arise time and time again, as new members join, with their new boat due for delivery,which they are going to fit out, the same questions will be asked, this leaves you with a choice to either answer them direct or refer them to previous posts, to do the latter I believe would be a mistake as it would tend to turn a live forum into something like a reference library( the answer's in here somewhere mate if you do a search for it) To do this you miss the opportunity to set up a rapport with someone and miss out on their character, their sense of humour and all their idiosyncrasies.
To the regular reader when a repetitive question is asked, they must think not that old chestnut again, which to them it is, but not to the person asking. If it's not answered live and is referred to previous posts then the postings on the boating categories will decrease as members retire to the pub to keep associations and friendships going, and the postings in the pub will increase as that's where all the action is. Perhaps the way to go is to answer simple questions outright and with the more intricate ones strike up a rappport, give them a Link to the answer and reassure them to ask again if they are still unsure It's important to keep the life in the main forum and not just in the pub. Where does a teacher get the inspiration from to have to teach the same thing year after year after year I can only think that they gain satisfaction from seeing their knowledge being absorbed, and they have actually helped somebody. It's not a job that I would want to do, but the feeling must be the same when you help someone on the forum, but as John has said a little feed back would be nice at times. So let's keep on reinventing the wheel.
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A friends boat was lifted out at an angle... not because he wanted it doing that way.. it just happened because the slings weren't in the correct place which caused it to go down by the head slightly.
All was well until he went into the boat and found that everything inside the boat was covered with oily water and diesel which had been pushed forward by the angle from the engine area at the back.
Some boats do have some sort of bulkhead to stop this happening but it's worth checking or you could find out the mucky way. This happened to anyone else?
Liam
Thats just a bad crane operator, he should have just lifted it clear of the water and checked he had it balanced, seeing that he hadn't it should have gone back in the water and the slings adjusted until he got it balanced.
s.t.s boats ltd
in Boat Builders
Posted
Hi Gaggle
Good luck with your new boat enjoy
Their web site though is awful. They should stick to boat building and leave web design alone.