Slow and Steady

I had a mate who made his living reviving outboards like yours even if they'd been dropped completely overboard as long as it was fresh water. He didn't use a lot of parts, it was mostly take apart, clean and polish, reassemble. He started off buying them by the van load and was making a fortune last time I saw him. People tend to abandon them and get another after dropping them overboard.

What, the boat or the outboard? Though as I said I now nothing much about outboards I'd bet my hat that water will have got into it if it's been left dipped in the water for 4 years without use. It may turn out to be a good thing that your old petrol didn't have the ooph to turn the gearbox. A grown up will be along to offer better advice I'm sure, though actually they did already up there. ^

Modern petrol looses it's oomph big time in 3 years. If it was a car it would barely drive under load. If there isn't much in there top it up, otherwise chuck and renew. this does not mean your gear box hasn't seized, I know nothing about outboard gear boxes but old petrol is very not good.

Also... has the petrol been in it for 3 years?

Alcohol eh? The government approved heavy drug of choice. Rather a lot of people equate how much fun they're having with how drunk they are, it's a fact! Then some of them find they can't enjoy themselves without being drunk. Then some of those become alcoholics who can't even function without it. A slippery slope for some. I used to love getting completely fall down drunk when I was a youngster, in the pub every night for 5-6 pints of real ale was just normal and even at college I had a couple every lunchtime. Got bored of it eventually.. or maybe it was when I had kids... or maybe it was when the weekend hangover lasted all week. Don't drink at all these days or go to the pub to be bored stupid by drunk people who think they are amusing. Sober people should probably be banned from pubs, we ruin the atmosphere.

Give 'em a shake now and again and they are fine. Just a handy place to store magnets which "like" to be stuck on something known as a keep to stop them loosing their power. ?

No. They are trying to save themselves the bother of trips to the elsan. Mike Todd seems to think I've "forgotten" this possibility though so I was replying to him.

You make my point for me, thanks. The point being if you are taking you pee to an elsan... what's the point or separating the solid out? You might as well just take your cassette there.

That no doubt involved another team after the site was settled on!

The only cops I ever see "on the street" are community police, not proper ones. They are there just for show and to direct people to the nearest public convenience. Real cops wouldn't lower themselves, they are far to self-important and busy in the station one finger typing up reports on crime they failed to attend.

One Saturday night at about 12 o'clock I saw some scrotes raiding the local sports centre bar via the fire escape c/w flashing loud burglar alarm so I reported it to the police. 1/2 hour later they were still loading their getaway van and no coppers to be see. The next day 4 coppers on double time were going house to house enquiring if anyone had seen anything. Despite me leaving my details they made no special effort to contact me so when they got to my door I told them I hadn't seen anything. What's the point helping them if all they want to do is casually catalogue the crime when they could have had the scrotes bang to rights?

12v fridges work just fine IME but they are just so damn small! Maybe that's part of the reason the power consumption is often less than a 240v domestic.

OK for you in the middle of nowhere, but what about the hoards of trendies in that there London where I suspect the majority of separators reside - down the nearest road drain along with their old engine oil?

I expect insurance is so expensive they only have the legal minimum and suck up the repair costs themselves. Retro VW camper hire is the same, people treat them like crap, thrash them until the engine explodes then call the hire base to complain. I know a few who tried it and gave up because the nice little earner turned out to be full time loss maker.

Good for you, another rare land owning separating toilet user... but it's notable that you and others extolling the virtues of separating toilets still avoid addressing the wee issue unless pressed and don't have an acceptable practical answer. Or do you transport 3 months of festering urine to your land too? I suggest the vast majority of liveaboards are not land owners or they wouldn't live on a boat. IMO it's irresponsible to encourage people to install toilets with no acceptable means of disposing their waste products.

Every time you mention ceramic bowls an pump out tanks and £1,000+ and £100's on maintenance you sound more and more desperate. You are over egging it. e.g. I'm a liveaboard and have a cassette toilet and spare cassette that was on the boat when I bought it 5 years ago. So far it's cost £0 to maintain and £0 to empty it. Your £100 home made bog seems expensive to me. I suspect anyone with a cassette toilet is laughing at your attempts to justify your choice on cost. You tip your pee god knows where, put your poo in dog bins? Street waste bins? because there is no "green" way for you to deal with it and your toilet cost you a comparative fortune. Cassettes, even flushing ones use almost zero water so you can't win there either. You're loosing the argument on all fronts, in fact I suggest you get a cassette toilet so at least you'll be able to stop dumping your piss and shit in the local environment. No need to thank me.

Some scrote would pinch his magnets.

Consider that "something else" may have caused the initial short making the cable hot enough melt the insulation and then the cable tie holding it away from the heat exchanger. I saw that on a neighbours boat where the hot cable then carried on downwards and sliced the corner off a battery. All his cable ties had melted, it was a proper mess. Self inflicted in his case thinking he could change the battery isolator without disconnecting the batteries!

He just boils the battery to clean the plates but for novelty value/to look clever uses a stick welder instead of a charger.

My flexible panel bought 6 years ago lasted less than 2 years, it didn't like getting hot in the sun and as it died would work for a few minutes at a time if I threw a bucket of cold water over it. I believe expansion/contraction breaks the flimsy foil joints between cells as I notice they have more these days. Hopefully they are better now, good luck.

Good point. It was the first flexi tail I found to illustrate the point of these things being fine v solid connection. Must try harder!

No! (but it was a random flex tail) Please do tell.

Begging your pardon, but what exactly is wrong? What I described is exactly what I and er, everyone else who's gas-safe installer actually understands the regs has installed. If you have fixed solid pipe all the way your installer did not understand and opted for belt and braces. Pretty damn sure I'm right and you are simply rude and ignorant. Interesting that Mike above even got it wrong initially and he's a certified gas plumber!