buggsy

Some further questions. I have been speaking to a local boat yard and they recommend "under propping" so that the engine works harder to avoid glazing of the pots. What does the term singing prop actually mean and how do you avoid it. Crowther's recommend 22 x 14 but would there be any benefit from going from 18 x 12 to say 20 x 14? Whats the best way to measure the depth of the skeg whilst the boat is in the water? cheers, Steve

Hi, at the weekend i went on one of Phil's "how to paint your narrowboat weekend". I must say that i thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to any one thinking of having a go at painting their own boat. I think Phil did extremely well not to react to ther guy that was constantly taking pictures with an annoying flash on his camera. From what i learned i know understand why some of the boats painted locally to me look so good intially but do not last and the paint seams to be rubbed of easily. Next year i intend painting my boat and i will be using Craftmaster paints. cheers Steve

Quick update, i charged my batterries at home all week and yesterday fitted them back too the boat and all is back too normal, so the problem was purely the slack alternator belt. One thing i did learn when searching on the net from QA a company supplying patent parts, fitting a new alternator with flat batteries will ruin the alternator. Once again thanks for the replies and i wonder what the next problem will be!!!!! cheers, Steve

Hi, thanks for the replies but i think the "muppet of the week award" goes to me. When i checked the alternator belt today it was loose and thinking back i have not rechecked it since replacing it earlier this year. Another peace of useful information is when attending one of Tony's excellent boat maintenance courses, remember to consult the notes before asking for help on the forum!!!! Anyway i have checked the output of the alternator today and battery voltage is 12.82 and rising, so i have decided to bring all the batteries home for a full charge and will recheck at the weekend and report back. cheers Steve

Hi Catweasel, i connected the tester as the instructions stated on the neg and the positive of the alternator and reved the engine quite hard. cheers Steve

Hi, I have had a quich search and have not found the answer to my problem so here goes. I have a Lucas A127 70 amp alternator fitted to my boat with 3 leisure batteries and 1 start battery also i have a durite 180 amp split charge relay fitted. This weekend whilst out cruising for two long days i have noticed that the volt meter has not risen like normal and my batteries appear low. I have checked the alternator output with one of the led testers that you can buy in the local motor factors and it says that the alternator output is weak! I will check all connections tommorrow but is it time to take it to a professional for repair? cheers, Steve

Can one of the site crew remove this for me as it is obviously an error cheers Steve

Hi, does any forum member know of a Dry dock for use in the Northants, Leicestershire or Buckinghamshire area as i would like to paint my boat next year. I know this is a long shot given all the H and S regs but i thouhgt i would ask. I have considered mooring under the A14 bridge on the Leicester section. Any advice gratefully appreciated. cheers, Steve

Hi,

Hi Geoffrey, i had a similar problem with a Perkins D3.152, we tried all sorts of remedies and had carried out two different checks to prove the head gasket was ok. Eventually with the help of an ex HGV fitter we replaced the head gasket and found this totally cured the problem. The engine now its at about 78 degrees and we have plenty of hot water in the calorifier.what we did find that not all the head bolts were tightened sufficiently which could have caused the intermittent faults. hope this helps, steve

Has Barry Cousins at High House Wharf stopped trading?

Hi, i am considering replacing one our mansfield toilet and holding tank with one of the Thetford cassette toilets which use the boats water supply. Has any one any advice/problems with fitting one of these. As usual any advice gratefully received. cheers, Steve

Hi Liam, sorry for the late reply but i have been away for two weeks, the Perkins part no is 2641808 is the lift pump fitted to my D3.152 and if you have no luck try DIPERK at Peterborough cheers, Steve

On our recent cruise down the south oxford we saw a lot of permanent moorings at places like Thrupp and Cropredy but at Cropredy above Nb Alnwick's mooring i think a notice saying that the moorer was away cruising until a date in August and any one was free to use their mooring until such a time. I think this an excellent idea for somebody like us who would have only stayed overnight before moving on. Is this common on other parts of the system? cheers, Steve

Our boat is 60 foot and has a 160 VR PRM which from the manual states 2:1 reduction. I thought the recommended prop sounded big. With current prop the egine doesn't sound like it working that hard and i currently only cruise on canals and would say i am a pretty slow cruiser anyway. Would the bigger prop pull the stern down more. Steve

i have changed the seals on our mansfield and had to take it off again because the bolts corroded, i have been advised to smear cooking oil between the seals to help with sealing and the life of the seals this appears to have helped. cheers, Steve

To follow on Crowthers have suggested that my 18 x 12 prop was ok for the original Lister STW3 but having replaced the engine with a Perkins D3.152 te correct prop should now be a 22 x14 !!!!!!!!! if i could physically fit it in. I am about to have the boat blacked so i can take some measurements. I should thick the engine will only be on tickover with this soze of prop. thanks for the advice Steve

I have run norton removal tool and we are back in buisness thanks to all for your help Steve

Hi, I have seen on the net that Crowther's produce very good props. I have asked them to advise on the correct prop for my engine and gearbox and i am considering changing my prop if they recommend a different spec. Has any member any experience of these or any other advice. cheers, Steve

Cheers lads, i will try the registry clean up. Now i come to think of it the problem only really started when i tried to totally remove symantec and use AVG. The problem is that certain websites show the front page and will not let you enter and also google will search sometimes then not others. My computer is a dual core pentium so should be pretty quick. I will report back tomorrow on how it goes. thanks, Steve

Hi people, i have a very annoying problem with my home computer. I have recently let my symantec anti virus run out and i have removed this and been using AVG free. I can get to the canalworld home page but something is blocking me entering the forums and also searching on google is non existant better if i use Mozilla but i still cannot access the forum. Any ideas?? Cheers, Steve

Just wondering, I haven't seen any adverts for this in my latest Canalboat magazine but not to say its not advertisd in Waterways World. Their website has no mention of this year and is still showing pictures from 2006! Any one kow if its on? cheers, Steve

hi, Willowbridge 65 p per ltr on Monday. Yardley Gobion 60 p per ltr possibly if tank not empty Steve

Hi, After changing the water pump, thermostat and carrying out tests to see if the head gasket had failed but getting a negative result, we have changed the head gasket and finally all is ok So once again thanks for all the advice. cheers, Steve

Cheers Valrene, thanks for the info Steve