verbo

You're right, I can't see the flame, not without removing the burner from the chamber and holding it while it fires up... I have to admit I am completely baffled on how to put photos up on here! I'd be happy to email them to you.

Success!!! Thanks to all who advised and helped. The heater is now firing and there is very little smoke (I need to see in daylight to be sure). Now starts a cycle of running at full power and then letting it cool in order to burn any residual soot out. You may be interested to know that the problem was within the fuel supply. Apologies if I cover ground you are familiar with but the heater has a central casting with 'cold' side onto which the fan and motor are fitted and a 'hot' side which has the fuel pump, solenoid, nozzle etc on it. The spindle from the motor projects through the centre and powers the fuel pump as well. The pump casing bolts to this casting and fuel is drawn to the pump through a chamber within it. When I dismantled the this assembly I found that on the fuel inlet there is a tiny piece of gauze, completely blocked with somthing fibrous, possibly paper. So the non-firing was my fault for letting grot into the fuel system, sorry Webasto. We are not totally out of the woods as I'm getting some exhaust leakage from the join between heater and burn chamber but this can be worked on! The white smoke was down to fouling within the burn chamber, which seems to be an inherent Webasto feature. However thanks to the knowledge I've gained here I think we can modify our use of it to minimize this which will allow more time to make a decision for the future. Thanks again for your help, it makes a real difference feeling you're not completely solo!

Thanks all for your help so far, I've not managed to find a manual so far but as it's raining and I can't do any painting I have managed to extract the heater from the engine room. Having a look in the clear light of day it does seem filthy inside so that's one thing I can tackle. I also took some photos but now can't work out how to post them, when I do I'll put them up. It is possible that I've blocked the jet with all the handling I've subjected it to so a new one might be in order (one of the bits that isn't too pricey!).

I wouldn't be sure how to adjust fuel pressure and air intake, that'll be an engineer job!! What does the glow plug look like do they all have them? All I can see that looks like it might be for ignition is a pair of points which presumably produce a spark. These are fairly new (less than 30 hours use) and the coil pack for them is new (less than 5 hours use). \msybe time to buy the manual I saw on ebay yesterday!

I assume you're a vegetarian? If so I wish you well in your eating, if not you can go fall on your self absorbed non-threatening unsharp petard. The taking and consumption of a wild animal will always be swifter, more humane and more holistic than the transport and slaughter of a farmed animal. Emotional? So how do you practically support an argument that states that in your book I am not law-abiding when a minor transgression in the law would lose me my licence, hence I behave myself? You appear to be slightly concerned that I might "blow a hole in your head". Why? Because you might be tasty in a winter stew? Because you might some time threaten me? No, neither are even fantastically possible, it's because you are being emotional. I won't comment on Juan Charles de Menezez because I wasn't there and can never know exactly what happened. I do feel though that making capital out of it for your argument is slightly shameful. As for liking killing things, you have no idea how I feel about the death of anything, but it suits you to believe that I enjoy it. It helps you to hate me and other people who you disagree with and herein lies the end of my part in this discussion- you will not agree to disagree because you clearly enjoy hating and that makes you more of a fascist than I will ever be. I feel another Webasto post coming on

John, I'm sorry that you choose to accuse me in a roundabout way of being a Nazi on the basis that I respectfully and politely disagree with you about firearms. I am also insulted, which was of course your intention and is consistent with your promoting an emotional argument rather than a practical one. This of course you are free to do, as I am free to take my properly licensed firearms and use them. I am not part of any 'culture' I am a member of probably the most law-abiding group of citizens in the land: we are under far closer scrutiny than many and we all have a number within the Police National Computer (you may be amused to learn that we share this honour with the country's criminals). "nothing worthwhile was ever created by the use of them" I wouldn't say that, how about numerous dinners? Anyone for pheasant, rabbit, pigeon, venison...

2-3 hours If I remember rightly. The heater runs six radiators and the calorifier. At the moment it won't even ignite which is frustrating to say the least. In response to posts on other threads I had a good clean of the burn chamber and blowtorched the residual diesel (entertaining fire started in the exhaust so I know that isn't blocked!!). Also cleaned the diesel off the nozzle and surrounding bits and pieces. Still won't light, shows a faulty flame sensor on the error code but that's new so I'm thinking I've either got no spark or the fuel is exiting the nozzle in a dribble rather than a jet, which is strange because I'm using a brand new can with road diesel in it while I try to fix it and it worked with this set-up initially.

Not that big, 69 feet. Apparently this is part of the problem, as the heater is not being pushed to capacity. I'm told that a 9KW would be enough...

Blimey some of you were up late on a school night! Thanks for your replies. We were hoping to keep the heater as it worked fine before I started fiddling with it!! In the longer term a domestic heater seems like the way forward but we're looking at the best part of £2000 for supply and fit (not to mention maybe an extra battery?). What would be nice, in the short term would be for the wretched thing to get us through this winter so we can make a plan in the spring!!

We're in danger, I guess of going off topic, although hopefully the original question has been answered. Firearms ownership is an increasingly emotive issue, John I fully respect your evident fear and dislike. I can assure you though I am a sensible human being who likes to make little holes in bits of paper or try to hit flying lumps of clay in his spare time. It is as weird as playing golf and you have far more to fear from a load of drunk football fans or getting in your car than you do from me and my co-hobby-ists. The USA is of course an unusual case because in most States there is not even a requirement to keep firearms locked away, hence the potential for accidental deaths. Clearly this is ludicrous, though addressing the issue now would be an immense task. The precise reason we've come to discuss this is the requirement in this country for secure storage to prevent unauthorised access. Hungerford and Dunblane have been the subject of much debate, but basically as mentioned above both Michael Ryan and Thomas Hamilton were allowed to keep their firearms after concerns had been raised about their suitability. The Police failed to act appropriately, in Thomas Hamilton's case at a very high level. The failing was not gun ownership but system failure. Switzerland mentioned above is unusual again because all young men serve in the Army and when they leave are required to keep their weapons. They then make up a loose sort of reservist force. This is again a situation with potential problems. If I thought my weapons were a threat to anyone I would give them up. The gun is not the issue, it is the person. I feel as great a responsibilty driving my car as I do going shooting.

One could be forgiven for thinking that Webasto were put on this planet to provide extra long threads on this forum so as a newcomer I can only apologise for creating yet another one. I am a newcomer because I am lucky enough to have recently got together with someone who lives on a Dutch Barge. Prior to my being on the scene her 23kw Webasto worked quite well but earlier this year started to throw out white smoke. The fault code showed a faulty Flame Sensor, which I replaced along with the ignition probes and the nozzle. All of which resulted in a heater which wouldn't even ignite, let alone produce white smoke. Cue extracting the heater and taking it quite a long way to an engineer. There it stayed for some time before the problem was pronounced to be insufficient air and a new fan and burner tube were installed. I saw it running on the bench, took it back to the boat whereupon it wouldn't work. I then tried running it as the engineer was, with the fuel lines dipped into a can of road diesel. This worked for a while and then the white smoke started again. I've had various theories, including that the inside of the burner is coated in diesel so not allowing a proper flame to develope. I blowtorched the inside and the burner tube which made no difference. After six months, a 120 mile round trip and £350 bill we are exactly were we were before, with a heater which won't even ignite. Going back to the engineer is not an option, I had to phone every day for two weeks just to get to speak to the guy that worked on it so it's not even worth my trying to phone. It is also six months since we had a proper shower on board so the webasto is close to being launched into the water. Is it worth me buying the Webasto Diagnostic lead and software, if I can find it? Also does anyone know of a boat qualified corgi engineer willing to work in West London (Chelsea area) We've drawn a total blank so far and living without a shower AND a cooker is getting a bit grim!! Many thanks in advance if you can help

Alot of this relies on the individual Firearms Officer and perhaps the area. I know two people who were refused home storage for firearms on boats (Met Police) regardless of the security in place. Both were on residential moorings. As a result the club we are members of installed a number of safes and this has proved very popular. It may come down to the relationship with the officer and how long you have held a certificate. If you have a good relationship with him or her and have held a certificate for a while then they may be willing to grant you more leeway than a new applicant, just as if you apply for a .50 cal centrefire rifle on your first application it's likely to be answer 'no'! The old adage, if you don't ask you don't get applies here. though if they do say no you may want to be careful about getting into a fight with them, they may remember you come renewal time...