LEO

I went down that route a few years ago, boat out for blacking, hull survey at the same time, was not selling the boat but it seems a logical thing to do. Have not sold the boat, but at least I know my maintenance works are good.

Mr Brooks's comments do make sense, I found this cover and gaskets tricky to refit when removed...........good luck.

Lots of right angled bends in the pipework.....and did you run the engine in gear, under load, or leave it ticking over?......

No, I kept the crankshaft pulley the same, but experimented with Picador pulleys on the pump, obviously brackets have to be made to adjust the fitting of the pump, and it was a bit 'trial and error', but it all worked. The BMC engines are lovely small units and deserve 'Classic' status, sadly many now are in uncaring surroundings in London. Funnily enough, the reverse problem was solved by Engineers with the current engine in my boat (2LW) small engine pulley, with add on pulley to drive alternator. My Dad, wartime RAF, always said the standard answer for any tricky question asked in interviews was 'to introduce a suitable system of weights and pulleys' it seems to work..

True, but I found the smaller pump worked well on my boat (30Ft BMC 1.5 raw water cooled, it was a strange arrangement which incorporated a Calorifier. I found adjusting the diameter of the Pulley varied the flow rate, it was used on the Thames. It did overheat, ticking over in locks, but I found this was due to water channels in the block getting silted up. In the end I carried out a major redesign of the cooling system, cleaned all the waterways in the block, converted it from raw water cooled to a heat exchanger and changed the raw water circulating pump. Initially, I had problems, too smaller pulley caused the engine to run too cold and water gushed out of the exhaust. A much larger pulley improved things and then engine ran well. Really, they only push water though a heat exchanger, and oil coolers (engine and gearbox) and out through the exhaust. The old smaller Jabsco, I overhauled and run it coupled to a small lawnmower petrol engine to water the garden pumping water from a rainwater storage unit. Hope this helps, but I do take your point.

I have looked for this pump on various websites and it is no longer available. There is a smaller Jabsco unit which you could use, the BMC I had was fitted with one of these smaller ones originally and it worked well, the drive shaft is a smaller diameter so you might have to change the Picador puller. As Mr B says any rads would have to be run off the calorifier circuit, the guy who bought my old boat (with the BMC) did this successfully installing 2 rads, water is pumped by the engine circulating pump.

Cleghorn and Waring may have parts or advice, you can move the Pulley along the shaft to get the optimum drive position, I use to use a Picador ally pulley, a fairly big dia. one as I did not want the pump running too fast. Depending on the liquid pumped these units have to be frost protected by draining down - generally unscrewing the cover screws. Mine came with a comprehensive manual - this may be available on line somewhere (try Jasbsco site) they are good pumps, I have the single bearing unit as a spare.

Hi, I had a boat with a pump like the one in the photo, it's a Jabsco unit, with 2 bearings and grease caps, I recall they were designed to drip periodically, over tightening the gland nut to over come this was ruled out in the instructions. I used to catch the drips in a small plastic bucket. It gave good service and was used to circulate raw water in a heat exchanger system on a 1.5 BMC, The pump was purchased from Cleghorn and Waring at Royston.

Here's a better link https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F3pUY3Hi%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR19mt-Y1bHBazb-ndiRraCiu0brR4usXB8mWybtBDI5XHJrVqegLRyYHiw&h=AT18kikSj2zBz2fCeEKnVnXumLVpyKD6PK28GbmKmjxK_WdABqXxO4LQre7bjx6H-K6OYUSp1GGa0DDIOyS27Lt62UDSVhwQBLzcPgHvxwf7DYAfRZP25wDiN8h_0CgYiA&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT3WI3AWBIhNe4EPSmBZNXq-XKDVEoRHFf-uwRMU0-KT-Pn-34ejRNeWehOpcNNDSlTG4I-A_5ALb1b6kvyUWTGhxt5HrvZF-q2gI0-RmHWjCMWP8EMz4rYUVK0CEZRm5FqOwTT7vspA9qdM_vamPaYjxZ-V-wfgTNqryHc5I4OyxM-OI2xq8cm5wAxtWqq2ErkFhj8CBKsz0v84FVAUYjRwQAvYOwwdaDUAxYV3Iq3YlNdTDhj2_nsIea4D_0CzFNwP-zj3BNNjGGZdwKsMFMampHDzD2oUyPUSXow3EomaoWO1fmavvxyORsQbI5yBWLrHmb0qhW7v4S4OtnwWFa1P8xZnrUe8xk4PEY7h

Sorry Try this link. seem to be distributed by Saltdays price of this one is £29, but in other adverts they are more expensive. came up on Facebook, will try to get a better link.

Hi Team There is a model engine on offer on the internet at the moment, various sizes, types and prices. Looks interesting and might be worth considering to save boredom, from Masks, social distancing, mistletoe and pudding ---anyone ordered one?........ Merry Christmas, one and all and all the best for 2022, any guesses as to what the next virus will be called? I see A? or the Coast Guard face prosecution in Paris over possible neglect in the Chanel....... Mike. Sorry, forgot to do a link thingy, too busy trying to adjust glasses to protect eyes from that new interior colour 'London White' (err, sorry am I allowed to call it thus, I am a slave to accuracy).

I am wondering if the World has gone 'topsey turvey' I bought my first boat back in 1988, without a survey for £9500, it went well and I kept her for 18 years. I replaced her in 2005 for another boat, again bought with out a survey.. it's still going ( well with a Gardner, what would you expect.) I spent a lifetime working with with 'peeps' buying and selling properties and few went into the depth of questions/surveys potential purchasers of boats go into now.............perhaps it's because 'peeps' can't but properties now.....perhaps we can discuss the rise in boat values as aligned to house values as demand for 'liveaboards' increases ans=d stimulates values.

Hi, Interesting post, I think the problem will be the fire will produce too much hot water and one radiator will be insufficient to off load it it - I run a Kabola OD4 and this runs for days quite happily, it produces hot water for the calorifier, One rad, and the large expansion tank acts a radiator in the engine room. All the water heats to about 80/85C, and the fire has a hot water, oil 'shut off' valve which operates at 90C, not sure if your Refleks has such as valve, so the water may just boil. It works mainly on a gravity circulation system, but has a pumped bypass circuit which operates automatically. Sometimes the fire shuts down if the water gets too hot, this is running the fire on it's lowest setting and the circuit has swept bends. Hope this helps

These are good small stoves, as said you need a new thermo couple, it sounds as though the end which projects in the burner pot is damaged, this occurs when cleaning the interior of the burner pot is carried out in a clumsy manner. Fuel Supply - the small copper pipe between the carb and burner pot becomes blocked. Removal and cleaning is needed. Adjusting the fuel supply screws is a 'no no' unless you know what your are doing, as is over riding the fuel shut off valve. I find the best way to overhaul mine is to remove it from the boat and take it to my workshop.

Hi, I was faced with the same problem on my boat, I have tried my hand at most things and took pleasure at trying scumbling, First read up about it, get a sheet of ply, decide upon colours, base coat it, and the paint the scumble, use the combs. use the flogging brushes leave it to dry, results poor, keep on trying, pleased with it apply some varnish. Happy try it on the boat. Takes time......but the results bring pleasure. I re worked the slide and surrounds.......

Hi, I find the Gardner very reliable, and very easy to start, on the button. Both 2 and 3LW's equally so, 2LW's are happy on a narrowboat up to 70ft, 3 LW's the same. They are easy to maintain and spares not too bad. The 2L2's are good, but spares and be a problem, Not sure about 4 cylinder models in narrowboats, they are too big and never really work hard enough. Most of the 2LW's have been recovered from South Africa, brought back as wrecks and rebuilt. Some people set the tick over speed too low, which can cause problems for the engine and gearbox. Overall lovely engines. There is only one way to sort out condensation and that's ventilation..... Mike

Correct, apologies for the error..............

Hi, Thanks for your reply, I have a 48ft tug style and the boat you viwed at looks excellent and a Doug Moore decorated back cabin!. Check the damp problems, Fixable?. The 'throne' looks as though it has a swivel seat. I have had some damp problems with mine, they are minor though - one was caused by a porthole leaking - it just needed the bolts tightening (carefully. Brass/ steel) and the roof light to the back cabin was tricky to bond onto a bowed roof, also the brass bolts needs a sealing as these leaked, Had the boat 16 years now and this and the 2LW have been virtually faultless. Boat prices at the moment are very full. Hope this helps. Mike

Hi, This is fair comment, it's tricky buying boats at the best of times and the present time is crazy with many changing hands without even a survey. You are trying hard to do the right thing, and I do wish you luck, The sub floor void is the area under the floor, down to the top of the base plate. I think all boats have problems, even new ones but they do take time to show themselves. I've bought a couple of boats no survey, and have found faults, but have found it part of the 'pleasures of ownership' to cure these. The boats themselves have brought great pleasure in ownership........I remember one resulted in a a lot of water on top of the base plate, it took me weeks to find the ingress of water - a paint drip on a fridge vent, diverting rainwater into the boat. Being practical helps if you are a boat owner and saves you money, relying on a damp meter does not help.........I know from experience in looking at houses and boats - I have never used a meter on a boat.....condensation levels do not help. Not sure how many boats you have owned but the advice is to buy a cheap boat and learn about problems, or if you have the cash, buy a more expensive boat and learn about the problems.....but bear in mind there is no such thing as a problem free boat when you get it, it only becomes problem free when you have owned it for some years and know it's workings, that takes ages, (I nearly said they are a bit like a woman, but 'woke' brickbats might start flying about). Have fun, the only other piece of advice- make sure you have a reasonable 'stash of cash' to pay for unexpected problems if and I am sure when, they crop up. Hope this helps ----Mike.

Hi, I suspect a lot of those damp signs are condensation and poor ventilation, 'Orrible things those resistance meters, you call Damp meters, you are only taking a surface reading. I would have preferred the water pump to be mounted in a tray to catch leaks and it does help if cold water pipes are insulated. The damp in the bulkhead will always show, I assume the sub-floor area has been checked and is dry. I'm a retired Surveyor and hated those dammed meters, to use them properly you need a decent one which has been calibrated.

I had a circular glass replacement cut at Amersham glass in Chesham - they have now re-located to Amersham, I had the edges ground as well. Hope that helps. M

Interesting, I fitted one, it failed within a few years.Check the instructions, the manufacturers indicate they have a very short service life. A post on here produced answers confirming similar similar experiences.