colin loach

do i need to put the boat in gear when charging the batteries, some say you should, and some say you dont. any advice welcome.

iam going to use a spirit base top coat, not sure which one though.

i have rubbed the grey prima down on my sailaway boat, and have treated any rust spots. I want to put a coat of rustins red oxide paint over the whole boat again, because there are some areas where the prima has come of or is very thin. I dont want the boat to look like a patch work quilt if i just touch in all the little areas. Does anyone know whether the red oxide is ok to put over the bare metal and the previous grey prima, the shop has said it is ok but i would like some other opinions. I know the red prima and the grey prima are both spirit based. many thanks

I all. I have bought a sailaway from Liverpool boats in grey primer; I am now ready to paint the outside. There are some pimples of rust coming through the primer in patches. What sort of paint do you recommend from start to finish for hand brushing? Many thanks Colin.

. I wished I had a stainless steel tank, the wife has painted half the tank so she's got half to do

Thanks to everyone for there answers. Dose the bitumen have some sort of rust preventer in it.

I change the lighting circuit to 12v and used mr16 from screw fix, easy to do and uses very little battery

Hi All. I need to paint my integral water tank for the first time, but I have noticed that there's some service rust, should I treat the whole tank to a coat of red oxide before I paint on the bitumen. Thanks Colin.

Gary how did you fix the wood to the door and the roof hatch. I have been looking at some other doors and I can't see any sign of screws from the outside. Thanks Colin.

Thanks for all the advise, you all have been a great help

So that’s why they say that the wiring has to be put in trucking. Thanks Chris.

I am using one at the moment while I fit out my boat. It's ok but a little low when being used as a sofa

My thanks to everyone for there advice, the fridge is about 40ft from the batteries and the light switches will only be turning on two lights each 40 watts max. I am going to see how I get on with mr16 led lights first; I have 12 to fit which is 15 watts in total. I bought them from china and they are white, not blue. Also the cable you all suggested is it two core and sheaved. Thanks colin

Hi all. I need to start the wiring of my 50 ft boat but I could do with some help on working out cable size. The cabin lights would be a max of 120 watts; I don’t know the wattage of the horn, nav lights, or water pumps. The 12v fridge draws about 4 amps. Help please with any information you have. Thanks Colin.

Thanks for that Gary I will let you know how I get on.

Gary have you got any suggestions

thats not good, i need plan b if anyone as got one.

Gary I need to put something on my metal door and roof hatch because of condensation, do you think airtic would if I sandwiched between the door and plywood.

Hi Mike, thanks for the pictures, I found them really useful. I can see how it works but there is a lot of pipe work involved. I think for me it might be trial or error. My thanks to everyone for there help; I shall let you know how it all works. Colin.

Hi all I was thinking of running just one rad opposite the bathroom, with the pipe going it at the top at the furthest point and back to the boiler via the bottom outlet, and teeing off the top pipe to the header tank. Will this work. I can see what you have done in the photos but the wife won't have too many pipes on show. Colin.

Thanks Mike, its better for me if I can see some pictures

When you say t off the header tank dose that mean you t off at bottom of tank and go back to the boiler on the return, and the vent comes out at the top of the tank through the roof. Colin.

Thanks Mike, that dose not sound like mumbo jumbo to me.the header tank is well away from the heater and left from the last rad so it might not get hot at all. look forward to seeing the photos.Thanks Mike, that dose not sound like mumbo jumbo to me.the header tank is well away from the heater and 15ft from the last rad so it might not get hot at all. look forward to seeing the photos

Hi all, I have seen some header tanks on eBay so just one more question, hope you don’t mind. Do I vent the tank out the side or on the top so when it rains it keeps the tank toped up. Thanks Colin.

. I would like to thank everyone for there comments, and you all have give some good ideas, at the end of the day its up to me which I choose. If it wasn’t for your response I would have no choice to pick from. I will just run the rad from the boiler because we are only there weekends and we don’t use that much gas. I will run the chlorifier from the engine when we go on holiday. Mike not sure what you mean about the header tank, I don’t want condensation. Can it be a sealed unit that just vents to outside. The header tank has got to go in a cloths cupboard to gain height because I have a cruiser stern and I would not get enough height in the engine room to put the header tank. Colin.