Ian F B

We all need a giggle!!!!?

I agree, dodgy connections are the first thing to check,pay particular attention to the crimped connections on the ends as these can be a problem especially as they age. ?

Regarding Sustrans providing cycle ways,If they are anything like the block paved areas beside my home mooring the number of cyclists will soon decrease due to the loose and sunken blocks buckling wheels and pitching cyclists into the canal!??

Used to be loads of these at Barrow on Soar hired out to all sorts of people who floated about aimlessly trying to get sunk by the next available narrow boat?

This may sound a bit obvious but why not buy a car charger for your phone? Apologies for the above,I broke the golden rule,I didn't read the post correctly??

Also included a new weed hatch to comply with safety cert?

The boat is a 30 footer,which according to one of the previous owners was converted from a collier. The steel used was 6mms which with the original 4mms gives a good solid hull.I estimate that the original hull steel was at least 50 years old from the information I was given,does this qualify as a historic boat? ??? As for the cost it came out at roughly £5,600,which included a rudder repair and a 2 pack blacking.

Let me rephrase my last post,Flo was overplated, new base plate and new sides up to approx 150 mms above the waterline, we were invited over to see the work being carried out, and were more than satisfied with the end result and the good service we received. Do not be afraid,good quality over plating is out there!!!!!???

We did have,but Paul Barber did a re bottom and new sides so now we float quite nicely?

I also have an electronic water gauge much disparaged by certain forum members,not everyone has a 72 footer with a 20 billion gallon tank,our little 30 footer has a 40 gallon tank so a gauge is an absolute necesslty?

I had the same problem,but my tank has a fuel take off at the top so draining the tank from the "bottom" was not possible. The problem was solved by using a sump draining pump,silverline do one for £25.00,the amount of crud was unbelievable and filled 2 large plastic milk "bottles". Must remember to top up with fuel before the winter lay up! Cheers.

Had our 30ft narrowboat "Flo" overplated at Paul Barbers last year which consisted of a complete new bottom and sides overplated 10 inches,there were no serious issues with the hull,but as it originally seemed to have a 4mm bottom I took the long term view,and had the job done,taking the advice of the surveyor.The boat was originally called Finedon Nomad,and was owned by a gent who was a well respected member of the Wey and Arun Trust. As with all things,there will be differences of opinion as to the pros and cons of anything to do with boats,and that is how it should be,but I am more than happy having a boat that should last at least another 45 years. On the subject of surveys,the guy who did "Flo"spent the best part of an hour showing me all the pitting and previous repairs giving me an opportunity to reach an informed decision as to what action to take.

Fair comment,but as I did not have a spare valve or a removal tool this was my best option. Besides I am a nosey old beggar and I like to see how things work!!!!! P.S. Love being described as a junior member as I have just had my 66th birthday!

I recently had a problem with my accumulator,namely it would not repressurise as the valve seemed to be jammed Even though it says it is not serviceable I believe anything put together with screws is!!!! Firstly I loosened the valve off with a 15mm spanner just to release any residual pressure then undid the screws and split the casing. The "bladder" was then eased out of the groove that it sits in the half casing to allow access to the valve. The valve has a thick rubber "O" ring around it to seal it in the casing,this was in good condition so was reused. Giving the valve a sharp tap on the workbench released a small amount of black debris.I followed this up with a good blow through with a foot pump.Reassembly was simply a reversal of the stripping procedure and the accumulator was refitted. Problem solved,time taken about 30 minutes.

If you are going to use body filler on a boat its always better to use one with aluminium in it, and not the normal type,as these are not so tolerant of the extreme temperature changes that can occur on a piece of steel 4/6mm thick.Works for me!!

Hi, Reference drilling snd tapping roofs,invest in a Rivnut kit ,they are brilliant ,drill the hole pop in the rivnut with the crimping tool and away you go.Works in G.R.P.just as well as in metal.Best thing I ever bought gets you out of no end of problems. Cheers, Ian F B.

Thanks for your replies,the pump does rotate clockwise when viewed from the impeller side.Replacing was fairly simple apart from getting the impeller to fully fit on to the shaft.Liberal greasing with the supplied lube is a must but even so the impeller still was proud of the pump by 5mm.this was solved by refitting the faceplate,(which wasnt arrowmarked with the rotation direction)and gently levering with a screwdriver using the starter motor housing as a fulcrum.Once it was seating I took the cover off again and refitted the sealing O ring.On start up it was pumping very poorly but by removing the hose at the exhaust end and priming the pump, water was shooting approximately four feet out of the blunt end (or stern to the purists). I unerstand Jabsco make an Impeller remover but I doubt if there is room to use it on this engine without removing the starter motor. the part nos for the impeller are as follows; Jabsco 653-0001-P; Johnson 09-1026B-9. Hope this is of use to somebody else. Cheers . Ian F.B.

I need to replace the impeller on my pump,the engime is a Thorneycroft Type 55,can anycne confirm that the direction of rotation of the impeller is clockwise as obviously its quite hard to get at and I dont want to have to do it twice Cheers, Ian. P.S any information on my boat would be appreciated with regards to its history,it was named Finedon Nomad in thelate 80s early 90s. Thanks again.

If you want a rough guide a good battery when fully charged will show as much as 13-7 volts when taken off a charger,this will drop to 13-2 after two or three hours and will sttle at 13-1 approx,batteries are U/S when they no longer hold a charge for 48 hours. It is good practice to take your batteries out of the boat and discharge them using a 12 volt 25 watt bulb and then recharge using a car type charger. I have had batteries read as low as 7-8 volts and by using this method have got another 12 months use out of them. If using wet cell type batteries keep an eye on electrolyte level, I know this is probably"teaching Granny to suck eggs"but good maintenance practice will always pay dividends. Most digital meters that you can buy these days are more than adequate for taking battery voltages my Maplins cheapie gives the same reading as my calibrated Avo Mk 8! Cheers, Ian F B

Green Scotchpads,just the job for getting the white fur off ally frames,cheap and last for ages,plus use them wet with a little washing up liquid and you wont make a mess of your paintwork. Cheers, Ian F B .

Hi, Anyone out there had a problem with oil leaks from the engine block where the gaskets are? Does the head need torqueing or what? Is there an engine manual easily available? Cheers Ian F B .

I always use Metallastik,its made using aluminium powder so is not porous like most standard car fillers,yet it still sand really easily and it doesnt seem to shrink like a standard filller,Halfords stock it. Cheers Ian F B

Having hired boats for many years,all of them had a buzzer to remind you to turn off the ignition,so wiring one up to a 3 position switch should be childs play, No problem> Cheers. Ian F B

Bought one of these at the Brum boat show/caravan jobby thing,looks o.k.,also bought the folding leg that goes with it ,nice piece of engineering. Will post a photo when its fitted, Cheers Ian F B.

I have the same system on my boat with a three position switch,but I have taken my main feed into the boat direct from the leisure batteryand put a double pole switch inside the cabin so I can totally disconnect the system I have spent a great deal of my life as a service engineer,and have built cars .restored cars and motor cycles etc,so I am a bit of a dinosaur but I must agree,there is no such thing as a "magic" battery,care and maintenance will probably work just as well as an expensive gizmo ,but the choice as always is yours. Cheers, Ian F B .