buggsy

Hi, just to confirm i intended travelling a length of the canal with no locks and the idea was just to be cruising as the bells were chiming and also to watch the inevitable fireworks.

Hi, is anybody going to cruise on New Years eve to welcome in the new year? We have never cruised at night but was considering just moving about 30 to 40 mins just so that we are cruising at midnight. What do you reckon? cheers, Steve

Hi, we had a similar problem earlier this year on our boat and the cause was a damaged diaphragm on the shuflo water pump. Replaced the pump and problem solved. One thing i did notice was that i took several attempts to remove all of the water. Another problem we have is that when having a shower we seam to always have water leaking from the bath but this requires further investigation. Hope this helps. Steve

Hi, I was wondering if any of the forum members had installed a solid fuel stove into a small space and if they have any pictures. We have an alde boiler on our boat and i would love to one day install a stove but i am limited for space in the lounge without refitting the whole lounge. We have a pullman double and cupboards either side at the end of the pullman bunks but were the lounge radiator is sited there is sufficient space to install a stove. cheers, Steve

Hi, I needed help and advice for renewing the hoses and pipework on our Mansfield and holding tank set up and i visited Lee Sanitation and i found them to be extremely helpful and from my experiences found their customer service to be excellent. You can only speak as you find Steve

More frustration!!!!!!!! I have bled the keel tank and allowed water to come out with no sign of air. I have just covered the the bottom of the expansion tank which incidentally approx 3.3 ltrs in volume and cruised very steadily for two hours and when i stooped the coolant was right to the top of the expansion tank. The next day after only about an hour the coolant started to come out of the expansion tank and the engine had only reached 80 degrees. I tried placing my hand over the expansion tank and basically there was pressure so when i released it coolant was billowing out of the tank. The strange thing is i stopped the engine for 10 mins added more water and then set off again for about an hour back to the mooring with no problems and the temperature down at 50 degrees. Once thing i don't understand is that i have run the engine stationary for approx 3 hours and the temperature gauge never rose above 50 degrees. I also noticed bubbles in the colant in the expansion tank but is this just the hotter water rising, is it exhaust gasses or is it just trapped air. The engine was installed by a boatyard and was an engine taken in part ex but some work was carried such as a reground crack. Reading back through some of the replies i will try John's suggestion of taking one of the hose off. Could it be that i have just got trapped air in the system which is the cheapest and best solution. Weltofield suggested flushing the keel tank? I hope i am not providing red herrings but as we all know when the engine on our boats is not reliable it is very annoying. So once again any advice greatefully received. cheers, Steve

Alan/John, when i replaced my thermostat at first i tried it as supplied but the engine heated up too quickly the i removed it and drilled a similar hole in the disc as the previous one and everything seamed ok. I think from all the information offered is that the most likel cause of my problems is an air lock so at the weekend i will attempt to bleed the system and see how it goes. I will obviously report back my findings cheers for all the help Steve

Thanks to everyone for replying and please accept my appologies for the delay in answering some of the questions. 1) The boat has been used for weekends, days out and 1and 2 week holdays since 2003. The only time it over heated/water coming out of the expansion tank was last year when i was being foolish and sped through blisworth tunnel and it overheated just as i came out of the tunnel. 2) The boat was last blacked in 2003 and is due for blacking in June. 3) The thermostat taken out was 88 degrees and so is the replacement one. 4) When it had overheated the pipe into the keel tank was too hot to hold but the pipe from the keel tank felt quite cool. 5) As I said earlier the engine never seams to reach 80 degrees until it overheats but the rise is extremely rapid. 6) The prop was checked and found to be clear. 7) I don't know much about the keel tank construction other than it is on the side not on the base. 8) The only thing i didn't check was the blleed nipple on the keel tank. 9) nothing has been changed other than the thermostat and retensioned the fan belt. I still wonder if i should retry fitting the new radiator cap with the correct seals so in effect pressurising the system but should i then replace the expansion tank cap with one without a small hole so that the expanded water is forced into the keel tank. I contacted Calcutt boats and they suggested the size of keel tank for this engine should be nearer to 10 square feet!!!! Another suggestion was to check the water flow through the gearbox oil coolers. Right lads over to you cheers Steve

Hi, I thought with all the helpful advice i had sorted this problem but once again my engine is overheating and expanded water is leaving the expansion tank. What would be helpful would members opinions of the cooling system. I will have to describe it as i don't know how to add a drawing. The engine is keel tank cooled and the keel tank is 5.6 square feet, I have a calofifier fitted which all works ok. Is it correct for heated engine coolant to go into the top of the keel tank and the cooled water to be drawn from the bottom of the tank? There is only the engine water pump fitted and the exhaust is a dry type. One thing that does seam strange is that, from the header tank on the engine the heated engine water is pipe to the keel tank in 28 mm solid copper pipe wwith a flexible joint but the expansion tank is connected to this pipe run and sits vertically above it. The expansion tank is made of steel with a 2.5" bsp cap with a small hole in the top. When cruising the temperature gauge usually sits at 60 to 65 degrees but when it starts to heat up it happens very quickly. I purchased the boat in 2003 and it was fitted with a lister STW3 but due to the poor state of it a botyard fitted the Perkins but it has only been this yer that i have had the problems. One other thing i normally leave the expansion tank empty before cruising. Solutions If the lay out of the expansion tank is ok- should i fit a bigger expansion tank. Could it be the water pump is failing. Worst of all could it be the head gasket but the olil level is constant and no oily substances in the cooling water. As usual any thoughts would be gratefully appreciated. Cheers, Steve

Hi, i thought i would update you all on my problems. I purchased a new thermostat and radiator cap from C.A.S. a local automotive supplies. I relaced both and also checked the alternator/fan belt tension which suprisingly was a liitle slack due one loose bolt on the alternator and the alternator bracket appeared to be loose. Filled up with water and set off cruising. Within 30 mins cruising the temperature gauge was showing 70 to 80 degrees, I checked the expansion tank but no signs of any expanding water. When i checked under the boards water under pressure was coming out of the header tank overflow pipe. Obviously the system is now pressurised. The previous cap had the rubber seal under the cap removed so i reverted to original cap and also the original thermostat had a 5mm hole in the body disc so i drilled a similar hole, this is perhaps a bypass? Now everything seams ok i hope. Once again thanks to everyone for the helpful advice. Cheers Steve

Hi, I have obtained a manual on CD for the Perkins 3.152 range. I paid £18 for a hard copy from Calcutt boats which wasn't complete so if any one wants me to copy one for them send me a personal message and i will sort one out cheers, Steve

Hi, My engine over the Easter break has started to boil over, first after about six hours cruising and this time interval seams to be getting shorter. I have a keel tank and calorifier fitted and all last summer no problems. I am going to start by changing the thermostat but any further advice would as usual be greatly appreciated. I have bled the keel tank and if changing the thermostat doesn't help i suppose i will have to check the water pump. The oil level seams ok so i don't think that it is the head gasket. any further thoughts ? cheers Buggsy

I had a similar problem on my holding tank pipes and i cured it by replacing the flexible pipe with solid abs pipe as supplied by Lee Sanitation. I found this cured the problem and would recommend Lee sanitation for help and service. I think the solid pipe supplied is by ASTOR which is also supplied by BSS according to the manufacturer's website. One thing i noticed is that the wall thickness is thicker than the normal 1.5" pipe you can buy from B+Q etc. The only piece of flexible pipe is a short vertical link from the pump out connector to the solid pipe. Bear in mind that even after pumping out well this is a very unpleasant job. I have plastic tanks and also fitted an inspection hatch as supplied by Lee Sanitation this has given no problems so far. cheers, Steve

I am planning to repaint the roof on my boat in the spring and i was wondering which sanders the forum members found to be most effective for rubbing down the paint work. I was considering using a belt sander and finishing off with a random orbital sander. As usual all comments gratefully received thanks, Steve

I have seen some boats with the exhaust outlet to the stern rather than coming out of the side. I would have thoght this would be the ideal situation so that you are always moving away from the exhaust fumes?

Hi, I thought it would be a good idea to update everyone on my prpgress. I have repiped the fuel lines and moved the prefilter down to a position level with the engine ( on the counter if this is the correct term). The original engine must have had the lift pump on the same side as the diesel tank but the Perkins D3 that was fitted once i bought the boat the lift pump is on the opposite side to the diesel tank. I decided to improve the installation of the fuel lines with some decent brackets. One thing i have learnt you can get fuel hose assemblies made up by local hydraulic hose companies with the correct hose for alot cheaper than the chandlery shops. By the way also make sure you have the correct sizes of fittings before you start !!!!!!!!!!!! When we tried to bleed up the system we could not get the engine to run for more than about a minute. So obviously i still had air in the system. We cheked all the connections and finally on the suggestion of my father who has experience of plant equipment we changed the fuel filter. I must admit i thought this was a long shot but hey presto problem sorted and now the engine runs spot on and today we have been out for about 4 hours cruising. Earlier this year I had problems with a weak lift pump which caused problems after a few hours cruising, I changed this and at the same time replaced the FRAM fuel filter with an equivalent MAHLE filter but never totally cured the problem any way after all this rambling when you compare the MAHLE filter to the MANN filter which i have just fitted the top lip which seals on the top rubber is a far better design than the MAHLE so this is how the air was getting into the system so hopefully i have now sorted the problem. I will keep you all posted. Steve

Hi, In previous posts i have had problems with air getting into the diesel supply and i have found a faulty lift pump which once replaced temporarily cured the problem but it has returned and i think it is due to too many couplings in the suction line. I have decided to drain the tank and start again, the question I have is I will be having some new hose assemblies made as i have repositioned the pre filter is it acceptable to use iso7840 hose assemblies from the shut off valves to the prefilter in place of the normal solid copper pipe?? I am guessing this is not the normal procedure due to cost cheers Steve

Hi Hayley, we don't live on our boat but try and use it as much a possible but one piece of advice i would offer is look at as many boats as possible and when you make a choice also have a trial cruise. This something we didn't do and we are quite lucky that we got a good buy but hopefully when i can afford to buy another boat in the future i will be very careful in what i choose. cheers, Steve

Electrical system. I have an ex Weltonfiled narrowboat which is approx 15 years old and I am the second private owner of this boat. I am well pleased with the boat and enjoy tinkering about and making improvements where i can or that i am capable of. I have been looking at the wiring and you would be amazed how poor it is i.e one large piece of chocolate strip holding the feed from the leisure batteries to the circuits these are protected by 2 x 6 way automotive fuse holders. One battery isolator switch in both the negative and the positive supplys. I have 1 x starter and 3 x leisure bateries being charged buy a Lucas A127 alternator via a Lucas 33ra split charge relay. I have been looking a previous threads about, battery management systems, circuit breaker panels etc and i thought it would be good to make some improvements. However then i started to think that as everything is working well why not leave well alone or at least until i start to experience problems.

I totally agree with Paul we have just been out for a couple of days to Fenny Stratford and back and I couldn,t understand why the boat was struggling and making a lot of prop wash, I checked the weedhatch and nothing was around the prop. Once we set off all was ok for 10 mins then the same again but a blast of reverse cleared it. Now i think about it the canal was covered in leaves so this is obviously the reason.

Hi is anyone using a cheaper alternative? cheers Steve

Shroppie, sorry for thr delay in replying but I have been trying to find where i purchased some sound insulation. I first contacted TW marine and they sent me a useful leaflet on soundproofing an engine compartment and prices for the sandwhich foam style insulation. Paul Evans from this forum advised me of a manufacturer of this material in the Nottingham area but unfortunately I can't find any details. I remember for £90 cash i got loads which are stuck to all the boards, bulkhead and gas locker on my semi trad. I have a perkins d3 installed and this definately made a big difference. The old forum is now not working so if you like this idea try sending Paul a PM for his advice. cheers, Steve.

I know this may not be politically correct but if we know the identity of someone that breaks into someones pride and joy why not give the bloke a reason not to ever do it again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

John/david, once again thanks for the advice. I think i will leave well alone. I will check all the bolts on the engine bearers at the weekend. The idea actually came about after seeing a Perkins engine for sale on ebay that was being sold with both engine mounts and hardwood bearers and got me thinking. cheers Steve

Yet another question. When we had a second hand Perkins D3 installed into our 60' narrowboat we were advised to have this installed onto hardwood bearers and solidly mounted to the hull. The prm gearbox is connected to the prop via a centaflex coupling. Obviously there is a fair amont of vibration. My question is- is it possible for a DIYer to raise the engine and remove the bearers and post fit engine mounts or this best left to the experts. Finally would anyone consider doing this whilst the boat is in the water. cheers Steve