adrianh

Check with ABC , the boat yard or marsh farm but I think you will have little or no chance. You may have some luck at the bottom of caen hill but not good for transport links

The dip stick is attached to the brass hexagon headed filler plug, remove the screw to check the level. The oil is the same as your engine as this has hydraulically operated clutch plates. If you are stuck in a gear then it is more likely the morse connecting cable or its outer sleeve has come loose

When all else fails the answer is to split the thread and release the item. You can do this with an immersion heater, but you have to be careful not to damage the sealing face. Firstly, start with a small hacksaw horizontally flat across one side of the top face and cut down until you get to the gasket. Then extend this line across the lower face of the immersion head casting by drilling a series of holes using say a 4mm drill bit with the holes at 6mm centres, followed by slightly larger drill bits, until they connect and you can work a hand held hacksaw blade down into the tank. Then carefully cut vertically back towards the thread until you only just start to break through. You may need to do this in up to 3 places with all lines joining, then apply pressure around the outside to collapse the whole thing in - the cheap box spanners will do this for you. It is important that you do not go through the gasket as this will damage the sealing face, but a small amount of thread damage is OK. The best way to seal an immersion heater is to apply a thin film of traditional Boss White on both sides of the gasket with nothing other than a lubricant on the thread.

There are plenty of Din rail mounted contactors available with 12 volt DC operating coils. For an immersion heater you need a contactor rated for at least 20 amp AC load . RS list Schneider Electric types LC1D098JD or LP4K1201JW3 . The latter has a lower inrush current when used on DC. Depending on the switching device in your Victron, I would fit a low power automotive DC relay on its output and then use this to switch the larger coil on the contactor. Also fit a back EMF diode ( IN 5000 series possibly ) across the contactor coil to kill the spark you get on the controlling relay when it switches off - the controlling relay will last longer. Fit the correct low power dc fuses in the wiring of the 12 volt circuits. I suggest that you mount this contactor in a small metal earthed enclosure with a 20 amp 2 pole RCCD on the incoming supply, and switch both the live and neutral using only 2 poles of the contactor ( note the 4th pole on most contactors are only rated at 6 amp so no good for a high load).

You could use a single pump with a 3 port ball valve with an 'L' type ball . Use the left or right port for the inlets. In mid position all ports are blocked.

For a PRM 150 I think that the thread is M16 x 1.5 pitch ( fine thread). It may be 3/8" bsp on the older Delta box. You can buy M16 x 1.5 pitch male/ 3/8" bsp male cone end threaded hydraulic adapters to give you an easy connection for a standard hydraulic hose with 3/8" bsp fittings. I have this arrangement piped through a small tee handle ball valve to a oil lift pump ( as used by Beta etc). This makes an oil change quick and easy. Shorten the thread slightly for the gearbox, use a dowty washer and do not overtighten/cross thread when fitting as it can be awkward to get to.

Is this a mechanical pull to stop or an electric press to stop. If electrical look around the fuel pump for the connections, the solenoid has to be live for the pump to deliver to the injectors. With the engine turning, heated glow plugs, fuel at the injector pump ( guess you have the mechanical fuel pump so you can vent/prime by hand to check this on the injector pump) and the fuel feed enabled ( either by power to the coil or the mechanical option reset) there is nothing to stop the engine from starting unless you have had a catastrophic cam chain failure. If you are looking for info on the engine it is probably based on a Kubota V series - depending on the number of cylinders/total cc's either 905, 1105,1205,1305 1505 etc. you can find plenty of details on line. These were popular agricultural/industrial engines also. Link t0 info added http://www.dieselpartsdirect.com/kubota-D905-D1005-D1105-D1305-V1305-V1505-diesel-engines

I have a similar age engine, permanently engaged starter motor certainly possible as the don't seem to like the damp to much. Do you have the electric stop/start actuator on the fuel pump. Mine has to be powered for fuel to be delivered, has your ignition switch failed intermittently - this could have run the starter motor or and now failed so not giving power to the fuel enable solenoid

If you are just looking for steel tube try these people https://www.metals4u.co.uk/mild-steel/c6/tube/c2239/tube/c56

This is a supplier of mild steel tube for welding, the sizes are the OD and wall thickness :- https://www.metals4u.co.uk/mild-steel/c6/tube/c2239/tube/c56. Best to mark out and cut the thin material with a jig saw, each cut at 22.5 degrees, to join as good as possible then get the joints Tig welded for a nice look. If you look for pipe (not tube) you will get mostly nominal bore sizes which are quite a bit larger on the OD and heavier wall thickness

I think they have relocated adjacent to Sally Narrowboats, Trowbridge road BoA . They may have the contact details as they are in the same building.

Buy 'cheap to replace' do you mean you have to replace this occasionally because it stops working. The problem with AC switches is that the contacts are not suitable for switching high current DC inductive loads, the contacts burn away until you eventually get high resistance, overheating and then open circuit arcing. This is a dangerous scenario when screwed to flammable wood . Hence the recommendation to use an automotive DC rated relay. 2.5mm cable/15 amp fuse or DC circuit breaker is fine provided the length of the cable is correct, ie to long and you will see a voltage drop at the pump which could affect the starting/running

The Gulper takes quite a bit of current when running ( probably 2 or 3 times the old submersible value) so make sure your supply cable is large enough, with the correct fuse to protect it. I suggest you fit a relay - a car type 20 amp rated - to turn the pump on with the coil of the relay operated by the on/off switch - if not you will need a fairly high DC current rated switch for it to last. Don't use the same supply cable that feeds your water pump if the Gulper and this will be running together, as you will lose water flow, that is unless you have a very large cable supplying both. I did this exercise last year but found that I needed to add a Whale inline non return valve in the pipe just downstream of the shower tray to get a smooth operation. I have all 3/4" bore pipe approx 4ft to the pump ( which is 12" above the tray fixed to a wall inside a cupboard and also is not very quite) and then 2ft to the discharge hole.

The handles of different manufactures are often not interchangable, particularly the compact cast or plastic tee handles so you need to purchase with care or change the complete valve

Try soaking the lower part of each tap jumper ( the part that holds the washer) overnight in vinegar. Not the whole body as this will remove any plating. Or try heating the end of the tap in boiling water or with a small blowlamp. As the lower part of the tap does not rotate, screws are normally a standard right hand thread ie turn anti-clockwise to undo. Washers on a bath taps can be 3/4" ( older taps and gravity feed system) or 5/8" or 1/2" on more modern taps ( pressure feed - direct mains) even though the pipe connection is 3/4 BSP. The best washers are proper rubber not the cheaper thermoplastic ones. If the washers have leaked for a long time then the seat could be damaged and need reseating with a special tool.

Assuming this is a solid rubber and not a foamed rubber ( which can be permeable) then cleaning with isopropanol (IPA), MEK ( plastic pipe cleaner and much easier to buy) or Toluene, is needed to remove any surface grease or wax that will have leached from the rubber. White spirit will leave a slight oily film so not so good to use. Hope your drive is all working OK

I used U shape rubber extrusion on the edges of the steel for a few years, this created a problem. I found that when the steel channels contained to much water ( heavy rain etc ) capillary action took the water up and over and the engine bay then had water dripping in. In the end had to remove the rubber and just use self adhesive rubber strip material on the back of the deck to achieve the same

If you have enough space mount the pump on a separate wooden plate then stand the plate off the floor on 3 or 4 soft rubber bobbin mounts - you can get these from exhaust fitting shops/ motor factors/ ebay. Use something say 25mm dia x 25mm long. Small fans are often mounted using this type of system. Make sure that your flexible pipes are long enough - say 200/ 300 mm and are soft enough material. I have found that my pump seem to get noisy if the suction filter is getting blocked or as the internal valves start to leak putting the pump 'out of balance'

As the hydraulic pump in the PRM 150 is always pumping oil when the engine is running and also some gears are revolving engaged, then 'yes', count gearbox out of gear (idling) as running time. This box is often working hard at slightly elevated temperatures so regular oil changes are important. Check for oil leaks on the forward/reverse actuating lever spindle, this is only a small O ring ( BS 012 I think) and seems to be the 1st thing to wear out. Suggest that this is changed every few years before leakage starts. This is a weak part of the design as they have used this O ring as a rotary seal so it will inevitably fail.

If you don't mlnd paying have a look at Stuart Turner Pumps. They make 12 or 24 volt pumps that can be configured as booster pumps ( technically this is what a sureflo etc is). You do need a positive head of water to feed the pump though. They have a proper motor and full spares. Your pumps with non running motors may just need new motor brushes, they wear out by design!

Neken tiles are no longer available as the manufacturer has gone bust

Look at this site :- http://www.kubotaengine.com/products/parts/where-to-find-the-engine-serial-number This may help you identify the base Kubota engine and its size as used by Beta

Looks good, but I suggest you add an 8mm bulkhead fitting for the connection through the plate. The nylon pipe is going to chaff through fairly quickly without that.

You may struggle to find a mooring around here if you also want transport to Bath. The whole area is pretty full with few moorings even for the large number of hire boats now operating The 3 places at Trowbridge are Marsh Farm (bankside); Spencers ( full ?); ABC marina (full ?), then Sally boats at Bradford on Avon, CART moorings around Bradford on Avon and Avoncliff, CART at Murhill ( no easy transport), boatyard at Dundas(full ?), CART between Dundas and Claverton, Diggers yard ( full?) still seems to be operating, Small moorings near the swing bridge before Bathampton, CART before Bathampton, then Bath Marina on the river, Saltford, Keynsham and Bristol floating harbour. Some of these are not easy for transport. There are 2 Universities in Bath. The 1 at Claverton Down is accessible by foot from Dundas round to Bathampton by walking up the footpaths if you are fit ! The other is a bit scattered so you have to use buses across town Trains every 1/2 hour ish through stations except Avoncliff

Try talking to the people at Semington Dock, below Devizes flight