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Big COL

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Posts posted by Big COL

  1. Richard

     

    I have the fitting instructions for c-warm with me, and the connections are described as follows. As you look at the tank with the immersion looking at you, same as picture on the web site.

     

    1- connection (A) this connection is at the very top of the tank and is = hot water outlet

     

    2- connection(B) this connection is bottom right of the tank and is= cold water inlet

     

    3- connection (C ) this connection is top right of the tank and is = relief valve

     

    4-connection (D1) this connection is two thirds up the tank on the left and is = coil inlet.

     

    5-connection(D2) this connection is below (D1) on the left and is =coil outlet

     

    6-connection(E1) this connection is two thirds up the tank on the right and is coil inlet

     

    7-connection(E2) this connection is below (E1) on the right and is coil outlet

     

    8- connection (F) is the immersion heater

     

     

     

    D1/D2 is one coil and E1/E2 is the other coil. As far as I can see both coils are equal size as it states. The coils of c-warm heater are completely independent in operation. the water storage heater will work satisfactorily with either coil alone or with both coils together in use.

     

    Hope this helps any more info required I am only to happy to help

     

    Colin

  2. Well done, John you have raised a very valid point here and you are absolutely right, but another point to consider is what happens after you have made a stage payment? Because effectively you now own a percentage of the boat, which increases with each stage payment, should you insure this yourself or rely entirely on the boatfitter's insurance? If so would an insurer pay you out if your boat was destroyed due to negligence on the part of the boatfitter. The same applies if the boatfitter goes into liquidation, and you have a half completed boat that you have paid for in stage payments. I may be wrong but I think the boat remains an asset of the company and you join the list of creditors. Therefore should you not insure for this also?

    When I took delivery of my sailaway it went into my friend's boatyard. I then insured it for the final estimated cost but I am almost certain that you can be penalised for over insuring. My insurers were made aware of the situation that the boat's value would be increasing almost weekly and were ok with this.

    As I am no expert in this field, perhaps someone who is could enlighten us. I seem to remember from Oliver's web site that she did some research into this with her contracts. Perhaps she might know.

    Please don't label me a profit of doom and gloom, it's your hard earned cash that I am trying to help protect, a few hundred pounds at the onset could save you thousands in the end. Thankfully I am through all this now and can enjoy the pleasures of boating, still best of luck to you all who are enduring the build - it's worth it in the long run.

  3. This is my last post on this subject as I have no intention of entering into a slanging match over this as it is too serious in the aspect of safety to allow it to become protracted. As a qualifed engineer that you are, and knowing the hard work that was required to become one I would have thought that you would have shown some respect to your fellow engineers,a boat inspector to my knowledge and experience is far from some one who has read the book and completed a two week course on each subject. I have found them to be extremely knowledgable and practical, I should imagine that they will take a dim view at your perception as to how they acquired their considerable knowlege base.

    As a qualified Electrical/Mechanical engineer who in 42 years working experience has covered many Boiler,Pneumatic,Hydraulic,Gas,and Water, installations, and although being at director level, I am still totally hands on, (by choice) I feel I have gained enough experience to have a valid opinion on this subject. If you had witnessed some of the horrific D.I.Y jobs not just on boats that I have you also might have a change of heart.

    As you are well aware,but for the benefit of those who are not, you do not have to be CORGI registered to do any gas installation on your own boat it just has to be inspected and passed on completion,by a CORGI qualified surveyor unfortunately there are some, that forego this inspection and it is these few who cause the problems for the rest of us, of course there are plenty of very competent D.I.Y. who make a very professional job of their work, but as with all things in life it's the rest of us who have to be protected from the idiots.This was one of the reasons CORGI was originally started to have safe standards and get rid of the cowboys. If you consider this to be hysteria then so be it,but you can still show your fellow engineers the respect they're entitled to.

  4. None of the pipework should be 'buried in the insulation'.  All parts of the pipework should be accessible for routine examination.

     

      It is but if the pipe was not continuous then the inner conection will be inside the insulation of the bulkhead which means if it's spray foam you will need to remove a considerable amount to effectivley make the joint and to leave it visible for further inspections. this to me is wrong and if not certainly not best practice to have a joint at a bulkhead. Best practice would be to pass a continuous pipe through a proper bulkhead fitting which has compression olives on it which stop the pipe from chafing. I know you can use a grommet but people then tend to use anything to hand (e.g. bits of rubber hospeipe etc.)

     

     

    There is no requirement to make a seal where the piping passes through a bulkhead, nor does the pipe need to be continuous.  The recommended grommet is to protect the pipe from abrasion.

    John Squeers

     

     

      This statement is definitely wrong and dangerous - what you are telling people here there is no need to make a seal with a non continuous pipe. I think in the nature of the serious consequences that could result from this sort of information the thread should end here and a reply from professional Corgi registered engineer obtained before someone has a serious accident. Sorry to be blunt but gas in boats needs the utmost respect. Installed properly it is perfectly safe.

  5. Can I just qualify what you refer to as bored out fittings. A gas bulked fitting is specifically designed for that purpose, it allows the pipe to pass through unbroken and has a compression olive and nut on both ends, so when the installation of the pipe is complete, they are then tightened to prevent any chafing on the pipe. Stan said he hates these bulkhead fittings - two more joints than are needed. I am almost certain Stan that you are refering to a normal gas bulked fitting but because there are compression nuts on both sides you think it's being used as a straight connector. I canot imagine any surveyor passing any gas installation with a joint through a bulkhead. If that is the case I'm glad it's not on my boat and would advise that you get some clarification if this is permissable, bearing in mind that the inside part of the bulkhead fitting is usually buried in the insulation and is difficult to reach.

  6. I would be grateful for some advice.

     

    I am stripping the roof of my steel narrowboat so that I may re-paint it. The present finish is several layers with what looks like paint with sand applied to give a non slip coat. The paint comes of with a scrapper but with one square metre taking two hours the whole job will take considerable time and several scrappers. With the sand they need to be sharpened after only a few minutes use.

     

    I have considered paint stripper but I don't wish to pollute.

     

    Does anyone have any ideas as to how to remove this type of finish?

     

    Many thanks

     

    Simon

    NB Bulrush

     

     

    Simon

     

    The easiest way is to wet sandblast but this can be very messy, if you have a look on google there are various eco friendly paint strippers,just how effective they are I cannot say. The only other option is a 4'' angle grinder with a flapper disc or a heavy duty orbital sander with a coarse disc, this will be dusty and require quite a few discs,the one small advantage this has is that as you dislodge the old sand it partly becomes an abrasing agent under the disc but it also wears the disc. I suppose if you were very careful and worked quickly you could try an electric hot air gun but with care! best of luck

  7. On the old forum Oliver requested for any information on fin rads. Having just completed our new 70' trad on which I designed, specified and installed all the electrical and plumbing requirements I am only too pleased to pass on any information that may be helpful. My first encounter with fin rads was on our first boat which was a 47' Colecraft build and Colecraft fitout, the heating consisted of a single pipe fin rad system coupled to an aldi boiler and was very efficient on that length of boat. We had this boat stretched by 13' and an extensive refit was undertaken. At the same time the aldi was removed and replaced with a diesel stove with backboiler and a pump added, along with alterations to the calorifer to automatically control the water tempreature. This was necessary as you cannot control the heat source on the type of oil fired stove that is normally used on narrowboats. On commissioning the new system it immediately became apparent that there was a problem, with the stove running the lounge would be at a comfortable temperature but the flow out of the boiler was only just warm. The stove had a 5kw rating - 3kw to space and 2kw to water. Although the pump was controlled by a pipe stat that woudn't start the pump until the boiler had heated the water to the required tempreature, when it did start it moved the water through the system so fast that there was no time for any heat pick up as it passed through the boiler. To overcome this I slowed the pump using a variable resistor and eventually managed to balance the system so it was working satisfactorally.

     

    As all this was taking place I had ordered a 70' sailaway from Colecraft as a liveboard. I had some serious reservations on the heating system that I was intending to use, I was intending to copy the system from our old boat but this had thrown up a few questions as to the suitabilty of this for a liveaboard, mainly the availability of hot water on tap without the need to run the engine, or having to light a stove just for this purpose. A rethink was required and the only alternative was an independant bolier that was controllable for both hot water and heating. This didn't leave much choice as the erberspacher and others of similar design were at the time getting a considerable amount of bad press. I was about to order a Kuranda when I spotted an ad for a new heating system for boats called Hurricane - a Canadian system distributed by Calcutt Boats. I arranged to visit Calcutt and was immediately impressed by this system - firstly it comes as a complete system, easy to fit, totally controllable for both hot water and heating with a 9.4kw output and fully self diagnostic . 1st problem solved. For rads no one will ever convince me that there is anything better than fin rads - they are positioned in the correct place, at floor level, so as to obtain maximum heat circulation, they are neatly positioned so they are unobtrusive and if you select the right ones far more efficient than normal domestic rads. To improve the efficiency on the rads I searched for a manufacturer of a two pipe system where both the flow and return are in the fins - this way you get the benifit of any heat left in the return. I found a company called Claytons in Coventry who make rads for trains, coaches, etc, They come as a complete unit with a kickproof cover as part of the construction, all you have to do is screw them in position. They come in lengths of 1,2,3 meters and can easily be coupled together if longer lengths are required. Claytons they will also calculate what exactly you require if you send them a layout drawing of your boat. From memory the output is along the lines of 500watts per meter of radiator. To finish these off we had the boatfitter fit a 3'' shelf over the top for the full length of the rad which dovetailed into the boxing which covers the pipes, so from a standing position they are disguised without interfering with the heat output. I also ran a complete loop from the back of the boat across the front and down the other side leaving the pipes exposed where they pass through cupboards and under beds so as to combat any condensation

     

    Now fully commissioned this system has far exceeded my expectations. I know I was in a fortunate situation with this boat and wasn't constricted by a budget as the equipment that I have used tended to be more expensive but it's a once in a lifetime build for me so I tended to overlook the cost factor and with the end result I'm pleased I did.

     

    Sorry to be so long winded with this but I feel that my experiences may be of some help as the colder weather gets closer and people think of upgrading their heating systems. Reading this may give them an insight into any pitfalls, the major one being controlling the heat to where you actually want it so you remain comfortable. Clayton's contact details: Clayton Transportation Climate Control, tel: 02476 691916, email: clayton@btconnect.com (no web site)

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