dor

Richard: Interesting suggestion, change in length of one inch, so I looked into it....... coefficient of expansion of iron 12X10^-6. (can't find a figure for steel at the moment, but it is probably a bit less. Temperature rise say 25degrees 70 ft boat = 840 inches. I make that about 0.25 inch.

Posted this in another thread, but putting it here as it seems relevant: Pictures can be found at http://www.minsups.co.uk/isis Taken near the breach yesterday (13th)

I noticed at the weekend some large pumps have been installed at Hurleston, drawing water from the main line. So Martin, what you float in today, I'm drinking tomorrow!

Used to be a guy on Crewe market who sold packs of 3 dichroic halogens for 1.99. Unfortunately he's not there any more. So, Wilkinsons I thought, they're cheap. a 20W MR11 was singly packed at 2.99. No, must be able to get them cheaper than that. Looked in B&Q - singly packed 5.99 !!! So, found this place on the web: http://www.ricamstore.co.uk/erol.html Their price? 0.65p each. £3.50 for P&P, so for 5, not much over £1 delivered. Just thought you might like to know if you are fitting out. I know B&Q often have their little jokes when it comes to pricing, but this had me rolling on the floor!

Do you leave your inverter "on" when you are not using it? Some inverters have a significant quiescent current which is drawn whether anything is using the power or not. The efficiency of inverters varies a lot also, chances are your inverter draws more current to run itself than it is supplying for the TV. You need to do a full energy audit to see how much power you actually use. The fridge will probably use more than you think. You can check this by connecting up a clock - some fridges have a switched output which becomes live when compressor is running - otherwise use a croc clip to connect to the compressor feed. If you can't find a 12v clock, use a little relay. You need to check how many hours the fridge is on over a 24 hour period, and in differnet conditions: warm cold, weekday, weekend. Check the current draw as well, 54 watts sounds quite low for a large fridge, but it may be right. When you add it all up, you find that running for 3 - 4 hours a day is about right.

Been to see the breach, or at least, as near as I can get. Pictures can be found at http://www.minsups.co.uk/isis

Martin: looks like BW heard you! Not quite sure though why they need to pump at Audlem as it is all downhill - why don't they just open a few paddles?

I've just posted this at the same time as Martin's - and it's disappeared! So I'll try again: Latest on the Shroppie from BW: Dear David, As you correctly say there is a stoppage on the canal however the intention is to conserve water by preventing lock usage until levels recover. You are welcome to continue to cruise in between locks as normal. You will find that many of the locks are chained up at present. The good news is that we began extra pumping today at Audlem to bring extra water from the Midlands to the Shroppie and larger pumps are being installed today. We expect that levels will recover next week and restrictions will be lifted towards the end of the week. Pumps are also being installed to carry water around the breach at Bettisfield on the Llangollen this weekend and early next week, and levels will begin to rise there too. We will keep the website updated as things progress. Yours sincerely, Roger

Shower thermostats are notoriously unreliable, especially the cartridge type. Mira-type are better with a long curly bi-metal strip; slower to react but tend to be more reliable. Still go wrong though. I presume you are feeding both H & C from the same header tank as even with a pump, it is essential that the system has the same hydrostatic head. (I guess that you could have two headers as J O suggests, but they must be at the same level) Also have you fitted a surrey flange (also I believe called an essex flange) on the HW tank? Does the note of the pump alter? if you hear it speed up it may be drawing air through. It is not unheard of for powerful shower pumps to draw the water down the expansion pipe and hence pull air into the system. This confuses the thermostat. When you find a solution, please let us know the cause. Also try posting a question at the screwfix forum: www.screwfix.com and pick the "talk" tab. There is a plumber's section.

BW have announced that the Shropshire Union from Audlem to Ellesmere Port plus the Middlewich branch is closed until further notice. This is due to the breach on the Llangollen above Wixhall which is restricting the flow of water. Hope Hurleston reservoir is big enough to keep me supplied with water!

The Llangollen has a long and venerable history of breaches. All invariably caused by building on the side of the hill and not making allowances for groundwater moving down the slope. The water finds a plane of weakness under the canal, often a clay layer, and uses it to get past the canal. Clay layer plus water creates very slippery layer..... whooosh. Badgers are the fall-guys yet again. Suprised they haven't blamed the water voles.

I wipe my glasses off with a clean hanky.

And Waxoyl will be a real problem if you ever need any welding done (mucho smoke and fizzenundpoppen not to mention the flames!)

Tried that first Jon; that is what put in the first link with the a href etc. The second link I put in with xxx which does seem to work, although looking at the code in edit mode it seems a bit upset as well. Must be my big fingers!

I believe that Sterling's latest digital controller does not need any modification of the alternator. Copes with multiple battery banks also. My Sterling controller is now at least 5 years old and still gives me no trouble. Do the trade get a higher margin on Adverc installations.?

The BBC website has a piece on unlicenced boats and overstaying moorings. See <a href='http://http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4066421.stm' target='_blank'></a> well the link is supposed to be above - all httped etc, but it doesn't show up so: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4066421.stm Well that seems to work, but this forum seems to have its own ideas on how code should be embedded! Also I believe our very own Eugene has been interviewed by the beeb. Fine words, but I will believe it when I see it. Don't know what it is like in the rest of the system, but the number of bridge-shufflers around the Cheshire Shroppie seems to get more and more.

I think this topic has been discussed on the old system. However what you need is a cylinder stat which you can strap on to the pipe that comes out of your stove's back boiler. Then when the water approaches boiling, it can dump the heat out to the radiators. - Or set it to a lower temp so rads come on when the water gets hot.

And of course watch "Das Boot" to get the atmosphere of a WW2 sub (nothing to do with footwear chaps). An excellent film - will be compulsory viewing come the revolution - when I am chancellor of the exchequer (see virtual pub/general rant - sorry too much rioja to put in the link)

Same goes for the WW2 sub at Gosport, near Plymouth. They cut two holes in the side and you go in one and out the other. How the crew survived in this sardine can is beyond me, even without being shot at or depth-charged.

Shouldn't matter where in the circuit the pump is, but as John says, many pumps are centrifugal so need to check it is installed the right way round. If wired the wrong way, they will still sort of work, but not very well. It is important to bleed system properly though, and a good idea is to have a short vertical pipe teed off just behind the outlet from the back-boiler with a vent in it. You can get special caps that are a bit like a stop-end but with a vent screw in it. Can't quite make out exactly what is going where, but it looks to me as if you could do with a vent on the pipe in your picture that goes up, across and down. Funny things central heating systems: common sense tells you that the pump should just push the water round, and then a little bubble of air stops everything.

I am always happy to recommend an Alde: silent, safe, efficient, reliable, controllable. You can control the heat of the water and use a thermostat to control cabin temp. You can even incorporate a timer. Also they will heat your water if you have a twin-coil calorifier (or you can get a version with a built-in hot water tank).

Bit ignorant here (and I bet I am not alone) - what is a pellet stove?

I've seen this Bluesea stuff in Aquafax (Ventian marina). Looks like good kit.

Think I'll go back to a book and an oil lamp.

Perhaps the key part of Paul's definition is: "Innate propensity, especially in lower animals" So does this mean that if you steer instinctively you are a lower animal?