springy

Jim Evans' book "Essington", I have a copy somewhere but can't put my hands on it. (I'm pretty sure its in "Essington" as opposed to his other book "The People of Essington") springy

Only by cheating & looking at the book ! springy

It may not be the active ingredients that are the problem, many aerosols use butane as a propellant - that would lurk in the bilges, I cant see on the site any indication of the propellant used, but they should be able to tell you. springy

As has been said the valve only needs gravity, but depending on the route the feed pipe takes it is quite possible to get an air lock in the feed pipe, particularly if there is relatively little fall over the length of the run. Possible cures :- fill the tank - this may be sufficient to push the air through, lightly pressurise tank (large hose tightly in filler neck, block vent & blow) fit a small hose to the delivery end and suck (using a small pump if you have one) springy

When locking up or down the boat and hence any attached fenders HAVE to move a distance relative to the lock walls, and so it is inevitable that some abrasion may occur, the most likely problem however is that the boat + fenders become too wide for the chamber - particularly if the fenders were skewed or twisted. In a wide lock fenders positioned between the two boats will only move a slight amount relative to their contact point on the other boat - the risk of problems is very slight, and the fenders will be providing their design function. springy

I'm pretty sure that the filter setup is all ok - the two ports furthest from the mounting bracket marked as inlets connect to one side (outside iirc) of the filter element, the two ports marked as outlets connect to the other side of the filter element. I presume it has previously worked in this configuration. The DPA pump has a feed & return. I'm also pretty convinced that the "extra fitting" in the return line from the DPA pump (bottom right hand inlet to filter head) if removed would prove to be a one way valve. springy

With a tank like that you could just have a tap and hose and use it to top up the internal tank after a week or so - It certainly would make a good interim solution as well as a bench ! springy

100 gallons does seem small, you say its under the foredeck - i presume its a separate tank as opposed to an integral structure - I would have expected there to be room for a far bigger tank under a widebeam foredeck - is there something else under there or is there room for a bigger or additional tank under the foredeck. If you add a tank on the foredeck remember that you will increase the "head" slightly and any fittings - particularly the link between the additional tank and existing tank will have to cope with this. - a leak in the top of the existing tank (what is it made of and does it have an inspection hole?) - would result in the contents of the additional tank escaping into the bilge. springy

Would this help ? http://www.euroheat.co.uk/ImgShare/1018646315TB115%20Toby%20Oil%20Control%20Valve%20Low%20Res.pdf if nothing else it may give a clue as to whats happened springy

Thanks for those Ray - some cracking pictures (bang goes another hour), this one did suprise me, whatever you think of divining :- He's looking for a leak in the bed of the canal ! http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205201206 springy

As I understood it the 15hp BM engine in the "Bolinder Shed" at BCLM was "ex matty's maureen", I do know that it came from matty's yard, but somehow via Dewsbury & Proud (current occupants of matty's site) - any other suggestions welcome, It does in some ways seem a "bitsa" - none of the numbered parts match, and the oil pump box looks to be the opposite hand. springy

For what they're worth I now have some figures for the eccentric offset and thus the stroke (2 x offset) However offset Stour 0.162 " Ex Matty's Maureen 0.154 " Peacock 0.150 " These were taken during rebuilding of the ex mattys bolinder, this was also when changing the angular offset was considered as a way of getting the injection timing right, that is until it was realised the adverse effect that this would have on timing for the opposite rotation. I'm fairly convinced that the setting of the pump plunger will accomodate the variations seen, though quite what they started off as is another question. springy

There seem to be a few Kelvins on at the moment http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kelvin-T4-Marine-Engine-/121243379396 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kelvin-Marine-Engine-TA6-/161186997724 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Marine-engine-Kelvin-T3-/161186998459 an assortment of Listers http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lister-Petter-Marine-Diesel-Engine-/121245449307 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/lister-diesel-marine-engine-/291051755472 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lister-Petter-CRK3-Marine-Engine-/161186997710 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lister-JW6-Marine-engine-/161186997752 A nice 4D http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-4d-Marine-Engine-/271359178571 and a few others http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/perkins-4108-marine-diesel-engine-/181293386981 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sabb-10hp-marine-diesel-engine-/271365121993 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bukh-20HP-Twin-Cylinder-Marine-Diesel-Engine-DV20DME-/221348156950 and I know they're not vintage and have been much discussed but £995 for a new (old stock) engine & box http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MARINE-ENGINE-KINGFISHER-KD26-FUZHOU-295CE-24HP-MARINISED-WITH-GEARBOX-NEW-BOXED-/370967082964 springy

IIRC what I understand by the "Angular Offset" i.e. the angle between the crown of the eccentric and the crank pin is, of necessity, Zero - otherwise running forward and running backward would have different timing profiles, if there is a difference I would expect it to be only very small, and may be more down to wear than design - I can hear the difference on some engines between forwards and reverse but I cant usually tell just by listening which way she's running (though many people can). Reversible engines (many large 4 stroke marine diesels) AFAIK have a mechanism to adjust the valve & injection timing to achieve reverse running and the engine will actually stop, before being restarted. a Direct Reversing engine such as a bolinder doesnt change the timing and relys on bouncing off a half stroke to achieve engine reversal. springy

Strapping the gate post - sometimes more reliable than reversing a Bolinder springy

Hi yes a bigger alternator looks like a sensible move for your battery bank, and I dont see that sourcing a suitable match for the mounting lugs sould be too much of a problem - there are a relatatively small number of options, as long as you get a match not a mirror ! Don't be tempted to go too far up in amperage - the standard 9.5/10mm wide v belt will struggle to cope with the loading, unless that is you have dual belts, polyvee or increased pulley wrap. My impression is that 80-100 A is about as much as a standard belt setup (3 pulleys - crank/water pump/alternator with approx 100-110 degrees of wrap on the alternator pulley) can manage - you just end up eating belts or bearings depending on whether you run tight or loose. Plus of course more of your engines BHP is soaked up by the alternator leaving less available at the prop. Also a higher rated alternator may have a bigger "frame" - the brackets line up, the pulley is the same size, but because the axis of rotation is slightly further out from the mounting points a significantly longer belt is required - not necessarily a problem - belts are supplied in a range of standard sizes. (I did a similar upgrade about 18 months ago - needed 75mm longer belt - not a problem, however clearance between alternator and engine side cover panel reduced from 25mm to 10mm - Phew !) springy

Hi Yes it looks like a fairly standard "bosch" alternator certainly standard "european" termination, however the layout of the mounting lugs is important and any replacement should be an "exact" match - it is possible to get two alternators which are identical at a glance but in fact the opposite "hand". If fitting a physically different alternator you should also check that the pulleys line up - all of which point to the fact that fitting an identical replacement will make life easier. Whether you go for an off-the-shelf remanufactured unit, or find a local specialist is up to you. However ... the second link is to a 55A alternator - what size is your battery bank, it may be an opportunity to go to a higher output alternator, depending on other factors - what engine is it? springy

Stay Alert ! Northgate Locks Chester, Middle chamber, two full length boats going down. Boater following draws top paddles to refill top chamber; as the level comes up the leak around the quoin post of the offside intermediate gate turns into a deluge onto stour's cabin top https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iYHuZI_wUE stour is being driven from the engine room springy

much more friendly than the motorists between 7:30 - 9:00 am ! springy

As Grace & Favour suggests Its the size of the skin tank thats the crucial bit- I did mine a few months back and I seem to remember the final total being somwhere just over 50L (water/antifreeze mix) but this may vary considerably depending on the design of your skin tank(s) and interconnecting pipes, buy plenty, mixing it to the required proportion - (I would tend to go higher than the 30% minimum but it gets costly) and just keep going till its full, you may need to bleed any high points - I have one bleed in the top of the skin tank, and another on the high point of the calorifier circuit springy

Reading the blurb on one of the offerings suggests its not two heating elements but " *DUAL CORE TECHNOLOGY USES A COMBINATION OF 2 DIFFERENT METALS IN THE HEATING ELEMENT WHICH ENSURES THAT THE TIP WILL HEAT UP FAST AND HOLD THE HEAT FOR LONGER. " http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DUAL-CORE-DIESEL-HEATER-GLOW-PLUGS-FULL-SET-OF-4-BMC-1-5-NARROW-BOAT-GP302-/151079218065?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item232d05eb91 springy

Simple answer - No ! Others with more knowledge will no doubt be along shortly, but at the very least the tank you linked to is designed for automotive use and needs to be filled with Liquid propane through an appropriate pumped filling hose, the tank also supplies Liquid propane to an evaporator. Standard propane bottles supply propane Gas even though they are filled with liquid. springy

The semi-diesels were generally purpose built marine units - often the smallest ones in a particular companies range, when weight is not a prime consideration but reliabilty and simplicity are, you can rely on substantial engineering. Its my impression that Petrol/Paraffin engines (i.e. spark ignition) from various manufacturers were tried but didn't really gain wide acceptance - suprising given that it was a popular choice for tractor propulsion. Maybe reliability of the ignition system was part of the issue, although I would also expect them to need a reduction gearbox to provide sensible shaft speed/torque profile, whilst the semi-diesels may have had reversing gear the shaft would have run at engine speed. springy

Wonderful map tony, - its not just an O.S. map its also an instant illustration of why its all here ! springy