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Hi Chris To be honest I do not know the logic or chemistry behind this I can only give you my experience and leave it to the chemists to explain. When I purchased my first boat the hull had been treated with anti fouling from new. The hull survey only showed pitting in the area around the anodes, the remaining area of the hull showed very little pitting. I was advised by the surveyor to remove the anodes as they react with anti fouling and should not have been fitted, this recommendation was followed through and when the boat was re anti fouled 3years later the pitting was about the same as the survey. I have followed this system on my new boat and when she came out of the water for re anti fouling there was very little pitting, she will be out again in 2 years time which will be a 9 year period from new, so it will be interesting to see how much pitting has taken place. A theory I have rightly or wrongly is that in the anti fouling that was used on my first boat contained metals which at that time would have been true. I assumed the metals in the anti fouling became the anodes so the complete hull was covered with an anode the conflict arose by fitting extra anodes hence introducing another metal into the equation resulting in the pitting around the anodes. When I anti fouled my new boat the formula for the anti fouling had been changed due to certain metals being banned on inland waterways. Just how this new anti fouling works I have no idea I await any further input.

What about this as an alternative. Only on a new boat or one that has been sandblasted back to clean steel. leave the anodes off and use anti fouling instead of the usual blacking

Hi Catweasel Had a similar experience. My daughter rents out her flat, the electric shower stopped working, usual call dad can you repair it for me. True answer is yes I can, and no I can't as I am no longer qualified to do so. Like you Catweasel 40years a sparks and suddenly, a plumber who has been on a 24hr course is qualified and I'm not. Part P is the electrical version of the gas corgi. God help us, Qualifications for money, I believe that anyone can install the 240v system on boats qualified or not, I am so pleased to be retiring in May, On to the boat and away.

PRM every time. Just make sure you get the ratio right.

The technical parameters state use one unit per 18000 watts at 240v this is a current rating of 72amps. through an appliance with a 13amp supply. Having said this the statement is not entirely true, this unit appears to be a plug in capacitor, which will have some pf correction depending on what uncorrected inductive loads exist. However I believe Domestic meters only charge at a kWh rating which will ignore any pf imbalance.

I have always understood that you as the owner of the premises ( inc boats ) that you reside in you can personally install both gas and electrical installations Should you sell either then you then need to have these installations certified by whichever authority. In the case of a boat if you install a water heater this is permissible unless you sell it before the next BSC. Prior to selling the boat you will need an boat examiner to certify the installation. If you do not sell the boat then the installation will be certified as a matter of examination on the renewal of the BSC

Hi If you use double fin rads there are no cold spots as the heat source is at the lowest point to start with. People will tell you that fin rads don't deliver the heat that is expected. Ours deliver 500watts per meter, I have not found a conventional radiator that competes with this output space for space. As an an added extra the installation can be designed to incorporate fans to deliver blown hot air

Ray You are mixing two different types of control. If you wish to use a tank stat and room stat then these will have to control either mag valves or motorised valves, and the pump. On the other hand if you wish to use a mechanical system of control then you use tap stats, by-pass valves and use a pipe stat to control the pump.

Ray If you google for drayton tap stats etc you should find some pictures and diagrams for their uses. Very quick description is a valve that you can set a desired temperature to, that is then opened and closed thermally. There is a capillary and phial running from the valve which is attached to whatever calorifier, hot water pipe, that you wish to control. I have used them with a lot of success for controlling the temperature of a calorifier on a solid fuel boiler system. When the pre set temperature is reached the valve shuts down one port and opens another allowing the flow to by-pass the calorifier coil.

Ray The alde already has its controls, and you are using them, you wanted to automate your system by not having to manualy use gate valves. This can be done using tap stats and by-pass valves.

You will have to retrain them to do that, they are far too busy collecting indirect TAXES.

Ray Have you considered doing this mechanically using a Draton tapstat or by- pass valve. It will still be auto, an you can still set your hot water temperature. This will eliminate all the electrical problems including the tank stat.

MickG Try ColeCraft, we paid a small deposit and the balance was paid on completion.

MP Is stat a typo? As Co= Common, Call= Call for heat, Sat= Satisfied, Stat is an abbreviation for thermostat And depending on the manaufacturer they could also be numbered connections

Can Joy come as well? Purdy wants to stay at home she likes her bones just where they are meant to be.

Met up with our friends the bootiful Bones and our mate Maffi on new years day. On the construction side we were treated to a pre view of Bones bed, construction only,(sadly) More to follow on completion I'm sure. Had a great time and a few beers catching up on gossip and getting to know each other even more. It's so nice to have a friendship that survives without the necessity of having to be close to one an other on a regular basis. Happy New Year to you both. Health, Wealth, Happiness to you both. Health first. Colin and Joy

Crikey me, what a rant, bet you feel better now Gibbo Well I run a Hurricane series 1. I know Gary has been having trouble with the new series2 and reading between the lines has been having problems with Calcut in resolving them. However I still think these heaters are the best of a bad bunch for narrowboats. Speaking from my experience of these heaters I cannot fault them, the down side, if you could call it a downside, is they opperate at a very high temperature, and the exhaust gasses can set fire to the bank side if you are moored that way round. The upside is they will run on dirty fuel (gas oil). I consider this is a small price to pay when you consider at these tempreatures even using gas oil there are no carbon deposits, the carbon is cremated to a fine white chalk like deposit. If the series2 Hurricane is having problems with voltage fluctuations then order your Hurricane with series1 specifications (horses for courses) Even Gary will admit he had no problems with those. Happy new year to you all.

Hi Justme They look like Ripault connectors, British Leyland used them on their cars in the sixties. I think they are still available from auto electrical suppliers. See who your local Durite supplier is they should stock them. Failing that Google Ripault connectors.

Edders Had the same thing happen a few weeks ago. whats happened is the float bobbins which operate the magnetic switches, have crudded up and are stuck/sticking on their sliders. You will need to disconnect the wires (noting which coloured wire is on which switch), or you will have fun with the sequence when you reconnect. When the wires have been disconnected you can then unscrew the whole unit from its mounting flange. remove from the tank strip and clean. If you Google Tankwatch 4 there is a manual that you can download, easy job about 45min start to finish just a bit mucky. Cleaning the unit that is not the download

Hi Alan Consider supporting the table from above. We have a table that unfolds from under the gunnel and is then supported from the end of the table and the ceiling using hook, eyes and a hanging support piece. Our hanging support is a hollow turned barley twist. An ideal off the shelf support piece would be a barley twist stair rail. A brass ring in the ceiling and in the end of table, with brass hooks in either end of the support rod. when not in use the support rod hangs under the gunnel. The advantage of configuration is that there are no obstructions under the table, no legs to get in the way or bother about when putting up and down.

Alan Probably need to use Newtons second law to find out.