billh

Yes, The flue pipe had about 20ft of 10mm copper tube wound round and then shrouded with a thin aluminium tube over the coil. The top & bottom of the coil was connected to a horizontal stainless "hot-water" tank ( actually a fizzy drink dispensing tank from a pub) , the top pipe to the top of the tank, bottom to bottom. There was a tap from the top of the tank for supplying a sink.Cold water from the main tank was pump fed to the Tee at the bottom of the coil. The heating of the hot tank was by thermo-syphon action , the tank was about 3 gallon capacity fixed at roof height and the pump forced cold water into the tank/coil circuit when the tap was used. It was possible to boil the water in the tank from cold in about half an hour . There was a PRV on the tank in case of overpressure due to boiling. The stove used free fuel( ie scrap wood) . The whole scheme was a complete success story in our application- on a passenger trip boat for washing- up water. Bill

There won't be any current , these batteries are crackered,if they are on the way to the tip and definitely not regulated :-)

Hi Wriggly Get a Charles- had one for over twenty years and it's still going strong. Wet or dry, it has cleaned the worst imaginable bilges over the years- oil, mud,canal water,diesel , you name it , it's sucked it up. Brilliant. We had to get a couple of new hoses over the years, the plastic end wears down if you don't use the metal tubes . The motor has never failed ( famous last words!) Amplifier? i would have a pair of Leak TL12s- but I doubt they would suit you. Bill

But,but, but, the hydraulic lock due to water occurs on the compression stroke when both valves are shut and because of that the water has nowhere to go and is incompressible, that's why it appears to go "solid" at the top of the stroke. There is no extra stress on the valve train because the increased pressure is all on the valve head and seat . If the OP is saying that the engine is still seized, with *both*injectors out then I agree, something is very wrong. Possibly frost damage as it's water-cooled? An aero engine will have lightweight conrods and a chuffing powerful starter motor - fine in normal circumstances . I'm not going to comment on B&S lawn mower engines ,my contempt for them knows no bounds! Petter PH is in the same league as Lister SR etc. That is the Bomb-Proof League. Bill

Con....... a push rod could be got straight enough to work ok in a vice with a nammer!

Neither is there enough kinetic energy to bend the rods with a starter motor or handle. The only way the rods would bend is if the engine seized suddenly , say by a dropped valve, at full power . Even then it's more likely the piston would be smashed before a rod bent. Have you seen a PH rod? My guess is there is still water in it, or as someone suggested, solid water (ice). We are talking about a 1950's designed British engine here , made to withstand all sorts of abuse , including getting water inside, not some flimsy automotive-derived modern disposable. Bill

Personal experience of Petter PH2 air cooled in a dumper. The engine often got water in the cylinders due to being left out in all weathers for long periods. Taking an injector out and turning it over only gets rid of some of the water and it can still hydraulic lock when you put the injector back. You don't say if it is locked with the injectors still out - if it is there is a mechanical problem. Bent valves are unlikely , they are vertical above the piston and bent con rod also very unlikely- the PH2 is a robust engine and a starter motor or handle isn't going to bend the rods. Have you considered the possibility that a foreign object has got onto the top of a piston? Nut, washer , small stone?I had this a while ago on an Enfield diesel, a nut had somehow got into a cylinder and caused the engine to lock up(after 3/4 turn) Bill

For the future,I suggest look into moving the air apertures onto the deck and plating over the hull side holes. It will be a little noisier but a lot more safe. You can boost the air flow into the engine compartment with a car type electric radiator fan if necessary. The engine will be fine after a couple of oil changes, but run it as soon as you can to dry it out. As regards the interior, get the solid fuel stove lit ( hope you have one!) and run it continuously for a few days , get the soft furnishings out and dry them at home. Most damage will be to chipboard or mdf fixtures which may have swelled and will need replacing. Solid wood or plywood should be ok. Get as much of the floor up as possible and get every bit of water out from the bilge. Check the wiring, particularly in the engine compartment- there may be some electrolytic corrosion at crimp terminals if the battery was still connected, in particular the starter and alternator wiring. Bill

The Navy sold off /gave away the canal fleet in 1977/8. before the big Sheffield was sunk. The Sea Cadets at Nottingham had Cleopatra until quite recently , now in private hands. Apparently, Sheffield is in a marina in the Leicester area. The fleet was London, Sheffield ( destroyers), Cleopatra (frigate), Renown(submarine). Andy Wood has written a book about the fleet. Bill

I think there is a catch all bye law about not causing a nuisance to public or other boaters/anglers/ walkers etc. They tried that one on us because fireworks were being let off ( on Nov 5th!) adjacent to the canal. They threatened to withdraw boat licenses of anyone moored nearby if the "nuisance" persisted. The laugh was that no boat owner threatened ( each had received a warning letter *) was involved in letting off fireworks and in any case the bonfire party was on private land and nothing to do with BW. In this case , although probably exempted under the Clean Air Act or whatever it's called these days,smokey boat chimneys could be seen as causing a nuisance and BW or the local authority would be expected to react if there was a complaint. Not that I agree with that, I like the smoke atmosphere, be it coal or wood or even diesel. Much better that BW quietly forget to deal with these sort of complaints , there are more important things to do, like maintaining the canal system. * One boat owner was surprised to get his warning at his home address in New Zealand* Bill

I don't know , but I was aboard , second from left, D16 ( formerly HMS London) last night . She doesn't look anything like that now. The hull is still the same shape , some original fairleads & bollards but a very ordinary narrowboat superstructure these days, and, rather embarrassingly, a Mercedes-Benz diesel engine. Built by J.L. Pinder 1972ish. The guns, rocket launchers and radar systems have been removed as they were made out of unsuitable material, ie wood and were found to be unreliable in use. Bill

With a production run lasting about 40 years virtually unchanged. How does this compare to Gardner or RN? Is the currently available RN the same as pre WW2 DM2? By "same" I mean are all the parts interchangeable? Bending the competition rules a bit, we loaded 3 locos into Maria a few of years ago- the loco engines were Dorman,and 2x Ailsa Craig . Combined age about 155 years and weight 12tons. Towed the lot to Marple and back with a Kelvin F4 (now aged 60). Last year we took a 5ton Bellis & Morcom steam engine ( indeterminate age) for a boat ride to Marple. The design of this engine goes back to 1890. Bill

That's a shame, it's going to be really awkward to refloat at that depth without damage. Round our way, boats like that sit on the bottom without being sunk.I wish our canal was that deep. Any ideas for re-floating her? Air bags? Raise the gunnels above water and pump out with some heavyduty pumps? Bill

I'm not quite sure what you want, but what about those ball bearing runners such as can be found on 19in rack mounted computers and similar ? They are very strong and well made . I had considered these for hatch slides at one time.Unistrut will be well up to the job, but , unless it's all out of sight, it will look like a Meccano construction. Bill

Correct, it must be a Northern thing. The tables I'm talking about are bigger than that in the photo and the cabins considerably narrower than ,for example, a GU butty. But they go back at least 60 years, so , certainly not a new idea. Look at it this way- with a drop down leg , it's strong enough to clamber over when the engine goes out. ( After you've eaten the pies). Actually, you don't have to use the leg, it just works in the ordinary way , leave the leg clipped in the table front. Still no room to get past though, the table comes over the side-bed somewhat. Bill

Is that the right way up? Not much use as a table with that depression in the middle. The drop down tables that I know, have a hinged leg to support the table when the heavy teapot/ boatman/pork pies are put on the table. IME, the knife/ crumb drawer is not well designed, you invariably need an item of cutlery after you have laid the table, just try getting something out of the drawer without spilling anything. when you do spill something it runs into the drawer along with all the crumbs and you then have to clean it out along with all the "knives" . Much better to put the cutlery in a tray on a shelf , above the table and use the underneath drawer to put nuts& bolts, fuses and things in.In fact, anything that has nothing to do with eating and drinking. Bill

These look to be hand assembled in some far-eastern sweat (not sweEt) shop. The soldering of the surface mount components is best described as "variable". I am surprised that units like this are apparently not auto-assembled by machines , considering the huge world-wide demand there must be. I'd be interested to know how long they last. Bill

Many years ago, I worked for a well known electronics company , sadly now defunct. One of our products was Silicon "solar" cells which we made for the early communication satellites. Because of the application- they were stuck all over the outer surface of the satellite, they had to have maximum efficiency and reliability. I was told at the time that it would take 400 years for a solar cell to generate the amount of energy that had gone into making it. Allowing for improvement in manufacturing processes since that time , even if the efficiency had improved by a factor of ten, which I doubt, I would suggest that there is still a negative energy balance for PV units, so except for specialist applications like that mentioned, there are no green credentials for PV cells. I am of the opinion that the same problem exists with wind turbines if you take into account the manufacturing , installation and materials cost ( eg all that concrete in the foundations needed a lot of energy to make the cement). Turbines are designed for a twenty year life, many of them don't make it that far, crackered within 5 years. Is it a conn? You decide. bill

Yea But.... these are for 240v ones. The poster further back was talking about 12v CFLs .I bought some 12v 13w CFLs a bit ago , about £7 each I think . They were ok but nowhere near as good as 240v 13w ones. Possibly the way to go is a small inverter and the 10p CFLs, the efficiency is still pretty good. I have yet to see any LED lamps that are suitable for general lighting inside a boat. Bill

Yes they do swim & feel much better. But why? Is it because (most) wood floats anyway and steel plates sink like a stone unless made into a boat shape? If you took an empty wooden narrowboat onto a deep(say > 6ft) canal- minimum amount of iron in the knees, no engine etc., then pumped water into it , would it sink to the bottom or float ? I can't do this experiment myself , the canal isn't deep enough. Daft question , I know Bill

I thought your dad was involved with 48773? Is it one & the same? Perhaps you were just testing us . Someone once said " Canal enthusiasts are 90% frustrated railway enthusiasts." Most of us get to drive boats, few of us get to drive trains. Bill

I have a log book that belonged to a local (Ashton Canal) boatman who worked for LNER & BW, there is a reference in it to "Wanderer, fitted with National engine , serial number XXXXX" ( which is the right sort of number for a National 2cyl. diesel). Also I got a photo sent from Australia (long story) which shows Wanderer at Fairfield Locks , the name George & Matthews and Wolves reg number are visible.President also came to Gorton from George & Matthews apparently under the 1940's equivalent of a section 8 notice! What is your interest in Wanderer? Bill

There is a picture here: http://www.brocross.com/canal/boats.htm# of Scotia with a different paint scheme at Bollington, looks like fleet number 6 on the engine room. I can't think what the "A1" number refers to, perhaps there was some short-lived numbering scheme ? I have seen this picture before , it's at Fairfield Top Lock on the Ashton Canal and the photographer must be on a boat at the start of the Hollinwood Branch ( unless he's up to his neck in the middle of the cut!). You can just make out the painting on the front of the engine room ( Flying Scotsman?) and a rather unusual painting on the engine room side behind the open door. The chap in the middle of the picture with the waistcoat and watch chain is Inspector Lucas , the boss of the LNER's canal department and answerable to the District Engineer at Guide Bridge Station. The men in the picture all look very proud don't they? Rightly so, Scotia was indeed a lovely boat. Notice that the right hand lock is disused (no gates) , I don't know when this became so. Bill

Pedant...... class 40 was 16svt, the "c" was an intercooler fitted on more powerful class 50's ( same basic engine though!) Sorry.