springy

Birchills (it took me a bit longer to find a photo) but a good illustration of the relatively small size of a day boat cabin. and not built till 1953.

Day Boats were basic - many had no accommodation, some were "double ended" having mounting points for the ellum at both ends - https://hnbc.org.uk/boats/bhp-no-3 others had a small cabin with just bench seating and a bottle stove - https://hnbc.org.uk/boats/coronation and the various railway companies had their own day boats working from the various interchange basins on the BCN https://hnbc.org.uk/boats/gwr-no-15 Sometimes referred to as the "Skip" of the canals - many were used in a way similar to a skip or a container, a boatman would take a loaded boat to its destination, transfer the horse, ellum, and running gear to an empty boat and return leaving the loaded boat to be unloaded at the destinations convenience. springy

And if they don't have an exact match for the belt length (they don't usually have a full range in 10mm increments but different manufacturers may have different steps between sizes) pick the closest length with consideration for your setup - if the broken belt still had plenty of adjustment left on the quadrant before it broke then a shorter one may be difficult to get over the pulleys even when the adjustment is at minimum, on the other hand if the adjuster was always 3/4 out then a slightly longer belt may not tension properly. springy

A post on Lee Bates twitter feed suggests its the second attempt - it was damaged by fire in May. https://twitter.com/CRT_Lee/status/1404374696620138498 springy

Balance Beam set on fire on Factory two https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/19949-lock-1-to-lock-3-factory-locks-tipton-new-mainline https://www.expressandstar.com/news/crime/2021/06/16/canal-diversion-set-up-after-lock-attacked-by-arsonists/ springy

I thought the red ones are for hot water / central heating and white ones were for potable water - something to do with the material used for the bladder - is it a "rubbery" taint ? Looking at the Cleghorn site none of their accumulators are marked either way and some are blue ? springy

Sounds like the rest is ok and its the sender that's closed when cold, if you don't have a meter you can reconnect the wire to the sender and hold the body against the engine block - if it lights up then faulty sender. springy

If you have a multimeter you should be able to check the sender, I'm not familiar with those engines but there could be two types of sender - a fixed temperature switch or a thermally variable resistance. As you only have a warning light only a switch is needed, but they may have found that the cost difference between the two items meant it was easier to fit a thermally variable in all engines and include circuitry on the basic panel to set the warning light temperature, the deluxe panel having a gauge instead. Measure the resistance across the sender cold - zero or nearly - sender shorted - replace, - infinite - open circuit, may be a switch - needs warming to test further, OR failed variable. Heat the sender, if you can keep the meter connected it will be useful. Boiling water should be sufficient as a heat source. If the resistance gradually changes (either up or down) then it is a variable sender and is probably ok, if the resistance suddenly changes from infinite to zero then it is an ok switch, either way the problem is elsewhere, Does the light come on when the sender is disconnected ? springy

Not "Official Records" as such nor willow wren, but https://www.canalshop.co.uk/cgi-bin/sh000002.pl?WD=cockerel's&PN=bkindhis.html#a992823 John Blunn's recollections, growing up on Claytons, working for FMC and Barlows and then on BW maintenance. springy

I think you need something like this :- https://www.holden.co.uk/p/solder_nipple_for_1_4_in_copper_pipe or this https://www.thehosemaster.co.uk/soldering-nut-and-nipple/ though you would have to check the sizes, and hope that the pipe is still long enough. springy

A solenoid is just a large coil and so should not care about polarity, though internally it may actually have two coils and a switch if it has separate energise and hold coils. However do not hold a wire in each hand and apply to the battery terminals (as you might do to test a 12v bulb) - if the solenoid design has a large number of thin windings, when you disconnect you may get a large voltage "Back EMF" generated by the returning solenoid plunger and its going through your hands ! DAMHIK springy

Yes its an old British automotive standard, not to be relied on with boats, but Brown should be a live feed, White should be ignition switch controlled, green is fused feeds, green with tracers - indicators, brakes etc; blue main lighting (red tracer dip beam, white tracer main beam, yellow tracer aux lights) etc (IIRC) beaten to it by Sir Nibble just found this https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/cms/files/colour_code_for_vehicle_wiring_-_new_order_2.pdf

Jen got there first with the new switch, your old switch should be :- 1 from battery +; single Brown ? cable with fully insulated cover, large spade ? 2 Key switched 12v out; the twin small spades with three (?) white cables should go to the warning lights and gauges 3 Glow plugs; multiple red wires with yellow crimp 4 Starter motor; the other one (its hidden behind the others) fully insulated cover, cable might be white with a red tracer though there are variations, with only four terminals this should be right springy

There are actually three POL "standards" although they are all based on a 14TPI left hand thread and are equivalent, however, AIUI, the POL standard is based on a metal-to-metal conical seat. So anything with a rubber seal (which those units have both sides) is not strictly a POL but may be POL "compatible" ish . The external Acme thread on the outlet suggests a "multi purpose" design https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propane,_butane,_and_LPG_container_valve_connections springy

Do you mean Star City on the B'ham & Warwick Junction Canal (GU) ? https://canalplan.org.uk/place/pge1 beaten to it by Tony springy

As Tracy D said - Make and model, also can you tell where the leak is from - removing the cover may make it obvious. Frost damage is a common cause of leaks though not usually at this time of year- with a Paloma this may split the heat exchanger which may be repairable by soldering if accessible, or the valve body may be distorted, in which case a replacement valve body is needed. Both of these repairs do not actually involve the gas side of the heater, the valve can be replaced with the heater in situ if access is reasonable. Getting spares may be more of an issue. springy

That's probably old enough, and 9/16 W is just over an inch across the flats, them's big nuts ! springy

Unless the boat has significant age I would expect to find metric threads on the cap bolts. springy

I'm not convinced that mixing a diaphragm pressure pump and a centrifugal pump is going to work without at least some isolation, though that could simply be an "L" port valve joining the two outlets, (the handle of which could operate a switch controlling which pump ran), but don't forget to consider the size of the inlet - that pump has a 22mm inlet, if the pipe from your tank is 15mm it will restrict the flow, less of a problem if the pump is close to the tank but could be significant if the pump is some distance from the tank, any filters or valves in the line may also restrict flow. springy

From today's Express & Star https://www.expressandstar.com/news/crime/2021/04/29/investigation-after-couple-allegedly-pushed-into-canal/ springy

A few years ago several of the balance beams on Walsall locks were cut off - turned out to be two guys with an old cross cut saw trying to see how quick they could cut through - some sort of fitness thing. springy

AIUI Claytons main cargoes were crude tar from a variety of midlands gas works to the tar distilleries; and lubricating oil or fuel oil from Stanlow to the shell depot in Oldbury. There were less frequent cargoes of "gas water" also known as ammoniacal liquor from the various gas works - this was water used to scrub the gas, removing ammonia, which resulted in a product which could be used as a high nitrogen fertiliser and probably a variety of chemical processes. I believe there were also bulk cargoes of the tar distilleries products - particularly creosote to the London area both for the railway companies and GPO Telephone poles. springy

I found this earlier today :- springy

The possibility of the bubble tester being faulty has been mentioned a couple of times, I've been considering the potential "failure modes" - did you check the fittings on the bubble tester itself with leak detector ? Could it be a genuinely faulty bubble tester which only leaks (up the button stem ?) when the button is held down ? springy