nb Innisfree
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Posts posted by nb Innisfree
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How about a two part connection twixt anti cavitation plate and lid, large dia short section of tube welded to AC plate and same with lid, tube would have a shoulder so that both sections would fit together, large dia would ensure stable and secure position-
Unscrew lid bolt, and remove top plate, lift out AC plate.
All this assumes that there is enough vertical clearance to insert/remove two short sections.
Tubes wouldn't even need welding provided they can be securely positioned before replacing lid and lid has proper sealing round the edge.
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Just for the record I designed Innisfree's heating so that the Mikuni heated the rads & calorifier via a two pipe system, it could also be run from the engine coolant via a diverter valve + engine could be preheated by Mikuni (handy in cold weather)
Engine could easily run CH using its inbuilt coolant pump. DHW was provided by engine or Mikuni or immersion heater, stove didn't have a back boiler as it would have been too complex to integrate it into the CH circuit and provide a gravity system to protect against stove runaway.
All this necessitated the system should be unpressurised, it ran like that with no issues.
Quite a simple system in the end which involved a lot of complicated planning & novel ideas!
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FWIW I designed & installed a locking mechanism for Innisfree's engine cover to be operated from inside the engine bay, so I cut a 5" square hole in the steel bulkhead to reach in from inside the back cabin, lined it with plywood & fitted a sliding hatch, it doubled up as a fire port so I had a co2 extinguisher handy.
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Once Innisfree was rotating in the early stages of a turn (full blast of power to initiate rotation with prob about 3 to 40 deg of rudder if memory serves correctly) then applying full reverse would almost stop the boat but rotation would remain the same thereby tightening the turn considerably.
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Give him my best wishes Peter and tell him to leave those nurses alone...x
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Don't forget to tie a rope to a blade (& to the boat!)
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2 hours ago, magnetman said:
Out of interest what circumstance led to you needing to change the propeller?
Change of 2k rpm engine to 3k rpm one, same prop actually just had it reworked by Crowthers.
Crowthers RIP
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I once changed the prop through the weed hatch, water temp was below freezing & the pain was unbelievable, faded away after 15 mins but that is the point at which physical damage starts to occur, had to withdraw and warm up (more pain) then start again, not recommended in winter! 🥶
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With Innisfree prop walk wasn't very noticeable when in reverse unless near piling when it seemed to go in the opposite direction most of the time, I eventually came to the conclusion that the prop helix when in reverse would bounce back off the piling and hit the swim and push it away...but sometimes it could go either way or neither, it seemed to depend on water depth and shape of canal bed near the pilings.
I could never reliably guess which way it would go, so just adjusted to behaviour at each occasion. Very complex.
ETA: It also depended on which side the piling was on, if on the stb side prop walk would often be conventional, but then again depth of water and canal bed blurred the results.
Witchcraft
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Sodium metabisulfite (Camden tablets) is an effective bleach neutralizer, it can affect plastic so rinse after use. Can be purchased from home brew suppliers in powder form.
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I designed my own wheel steering on Innisfree (60' nb) direct mechanical linkage, 2.5 ish turns lock to lock, in practice afloat it was spot on.
Only thing I changed was to fit a knob to the wheel, positioned at 12 o'clock when straight ahead + drilling another hole in the rudder plate to give a different radius and alter the wheel loading.
Placed the steerer out of the way and gave more room for passengers, great in rain or hot sun as the steerer could stay under the pram hood.
ETA: Just remembered, I eventually ditched the wheel and replaced it with a simple crank and knob knocked up from a piece of ply decking, even better.
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Innisfree (60' narrowboat) 1st engine was 33bhp, enough for rivers but if batteries were in bulk charge the 100amp 24v alternator took enough power to bring max rpm (theoretical 2k rpm) down to about 1750rpm from 1950rpm. 2nd engine was 40 bhp @ 3k rpm (reworked prop) and had a few bhp spare at full alt output so was ok, we only ever used max rpm for emergency stops (narrow bridges & oncoming boats!)
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3 hours ago, Tony1 said:
I would never doubt your wisdom for a moment sir, but if I might don my canal investigator hat for just a moment, I would pose this question:
why is it that my original domestic alternator was regulated to 13.9v, and the new one (installed in December) is also regulated to 13.9v?
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Daughter's got a chocolate lab, 8yrs old now, very intelligent when it suits her, very thick when it doesn't! She's gorgeous, there will be lots of tears when she's gone.
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12 hours ago, LadyG said:
It's only relatively recently that smoke alarms have been widely used in domestic situations
Bought our first one in '84/'85 after attending a grim fire scene, very unusual to have one in a house then & not seen for sale to general public. When they became cheaper some time later and I decided to fit one in each bedroom (TV in each) my colleagues thought that was over the top, and that was from firefighters, funny how attitudes are fixed by convention.
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Hats off to whoever thought of them in the first place
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We had a folding ladder thing as a boarding plank, 3m long, with chequer plate, pinned to boat & shore, moored where we fancied.
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13 minutes ago, KezzerN said:
'Not' I assume you mean
Yes ok whatever, I'm getting too long in the tooth to listen to you splitting hairs and commenting on something you seem to know nothing about.
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3 hours ago, KezzerN said:
My relative that was a fireman always said they would much prefer to have a false alarm than someone be over cautious about phoning them and then they ended up pulling a body out of a fire, but each unto their own.
You're stating the obvious there.
ETA: It sounds to me as if you're suggesting I preferred someone died rather than be called out to a false alarm, if so then you're very naive, I've dealt with enough death to want to see more.
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33 minutes ago, KezzerN said:
A relative once got the fire service out because the fire alarm was going off and they were sure they could smell smoke but couldn't find anything. Their partner thought they were mad. Turns out that there was an electrical fault where wires were burning in the wall cavity. If they had taken the attitude you believe they should have taken the place would have burned to the ground. Were you perhaps at one of those fire stations that had very few call outs and the staff didn't like being dragged away from the TV set?
I've been at busy stations and quiet ones, makes no difference, when called out we went, day or night, whether we liked it or not, in any case quiet stations welcomed some action but not time wasters. It doesnt wastes time just for one station as others have to be mobilised to provide cover, and sometimes while attending a spurious incident a genuine caller has to wait longer for help which can be life threatening.
Yes I've seen some decisions made by senior ranks which in retrospect were a bit iffy, fortunately no comebacks but that's the nature of the job.
9 minutes ago, nb Innisfree said:I've been at busy stations and quiet ones, makes no difference, when called out we went, day or night, whether we liked it or not, in any case quiet stations welcomed some action but not time wasters. It doesnt wastes time just for one station as others have to be mobilised to provide cover, and sometimes while attending a spurious incident a genuine caller has to wait longer for help which can be life threatening.
Yes I've seen some decisions made by senior ranks which in retrospect were a bit iffy, fortunately no comebacks but that's the nature of the job.
ETA: It's really exciting when you sit on the toilet for a much needed dump only for the bells to go down mid drop and after a perfunctory wipe to then find it was a waste of time. Return to station jump in the shower for a quick splash and then the bells go down again, great fun.
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3 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:
Don't big fires start as little ones?
Very true but if we want a fire service that responds to every alert then we need a much larger one.
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I spent 28 yrs as a full time firefighter and attended a few incidents where someone had dialled 999 because their smoke alarm had gone off, we were an emergency service not an advisory one, 4/5 firefighters one appliance, someone once said after we responded to a smell of smoke that it was ridiculous, why couldn't you send a man with a van instead, where a "man & a van" would come from is anyone's guess as we were on minimum manning anyway. Folk must think there are lots of spare hands on call 24/7 just to check things out.
Innocent ignorance.
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Weed Hatch - Mission Impossible
in Boat Building & Maintenance
Posted
We need a photo.