trogstig

I'm sure that this observation will lead to plenty of derision from the denizens of this forum but my experience of a Morso stove was much the same as yours for the first year that I was aboard. It takes practice to get consistent heat from a stove; but once mastered, a stove gives 'better' heat than any of the alternatives, at less fuel cost. I use kindling to light the stove on a Monday morning (if I've been away for the weekend), then only a few lumps of 'stoveheat' (processed coal) three times per day - using about 25 kg per week. It helps if you're not in a hurry to get the stove from-zero-to-hero when lighting it. Accept that it could take 2 hours to heat up, then you're less likely to reach roasting temperatures Central heating is good for the first few hours after the Morso has been lit - also great for warming the bits of the boat that are just too far from the stove. (An Ecofan will do the latter very well too) Everyone who I know who has an Eberspacher on their boat (3 boats) has at least one week per year of Eberspacher breakdown. These are very complicated beasts, and notably susceptible to dirty diesel. The diagnostic box-of-tricks for an Eberspacher is available on ebay - if you own one of these, at least you can identify the basic fault when your Eberspacher fails - and reset the fault code to attempt to restart it if you were able to fix the fault. Webasto heaters (similar to Eberspacher) are perhaps more reliable - but very high output, so fairly thirsty to run. Bottle-gas fired CH (my system) is very low-tech, so very reliable indeed. Costly to run though, at 20 ukpounds for 13Kg of propane...

Just remember to fit a one-way valve between the TMV and calorifier, otherwise your tank full of hot water will be gradually cooled throughout the day. I didn't discover this detail until my new system had been refilled for the third time - having struggled with a leaking immersion heater blanking plate that refused to respond to PTFE tape: mostly due to a burr on the edge of the plate.

Not at all put off living aboard so far (5 years in). Cosy with the Morso stove, etc etc. However: washing up is piling up in the sink - - seems such a waste of liquid freshwater. Remaining gas = 1 + a bit left of three x 13 Kg bottles Remaining diesel = full, less 3 inches Remaining coal (Homefire) = 3 x 25 kg sacks (to think how they mocked when I bought 10 x 25 kg at the start of winter...) Remaining freshwater = not a lot - but rationed, and not out yet. Most notable con of being frozen in = being at a height disadvantage to hungry swans (rather than the usual tapping on the hull, whilst standing on the ice the b#gg#rs have got used to hammering their snouts on my windows . I still won't feed them - indeed, HMQE2 may be about to lose this collective of swans (?) into a boater's stew, should they push their luck much further...) Stig / James

Yes - I visited Dunelm for mine, expecting to buy ready-made so I could modify them to fit. Very helpful lady in Dunelm worked out that made-to-measure was a good cost saving for NB windows, since the fabric is costed per metre. I still made a bit of a mistake in trying to get my bedroom curtains in a hurry - I bought ready-made curtains, for a friend to modify for me (whilst waiting for the Dunelm made-to-measure service for the galley/saloon/gangway curtains). It turns out that these are too big for my friend to unfold inside his NB, so months later I still have the old, flowery and holey curtains in my bedroom - an he has a huge pair of blackout curtains lurking folded under his armchair.

If there is that much of an emergency, I'll climb over the bed with my boots on. This said, when a flake of rust blocked my fuel pipe and gave me occasion to deploy anchor last year, I had 100 ft width of empty river, with <1 knot of current, to play with. Plenty of time for reaching the well-deck without getting mud on my duvet.

The welldeck is not really as good as my rear deck as a place to sit with a coffee/smoke. Reversed layout and a full-width bed means my coffee and I have to (1) lift the bed and restack the boxes beneath it; or (2) de-shoe, crawl over the mattress and re-shoe; or (3) climb over the roof - to get there. The cruiser deck is 'just there' - slightly past the sofa, 10' from the kettle. Meanwhile, the welldeck remains sadly underused (except as storage for anchor, hosereel, kindling box, paint cans etc, etc.)

'Reversed' layout was a major part of my specification when I when NB shopping five years ago (not that I knew, at the time, that this layout was considered 'backwards') It made far more sense, in my head, to come aboard via the stern, then to drop into the saloon. The primeval desire to sleep at the back of your cave is acheived by a forward cabin, remote from any regular gangway. Pros: When cruising (both singlehanded or with friends), having the galley close to the tiller is very handy - no opening your bedroom to the elements to grab a coat, no carrying cups of tea through your bedroom on the move When cruising with more than 2 friends the party is continuous through the saloon, up the steps and to the helm - not split into 2 parties, separated by 50' of gunwale. When moored up and living aboard, it is easier to step on board with shopping via the cruising deck, rather than plunging headfirst through the cratch cover. Since the well-deck and forward cabin door are seldom used with a reversed layout, this configuration lends itself to a full-width bed (I enjoy a king-size bed in Waterlily II ) [Gas-struts allow the bed base and mattress to be lifted for access to lots of storage below - and to expose a corridor to the well deck if required. In an emergency the door to the well deck can be reached by crawling over the bed.] Cons: The well-deck is somewhat isolated in a reversed layout. Good for storage, but not really part of the living space. James.

So... A 12-hour gas system test every week. That's 12 hours without a cup of tea. Gaslow say 20 minutes is enough to observe for a pressure drop; yet Waterlily II still only gets this test once/twice a year. I would have thought that 12 hours makes it a very precise test - if there is still pressure in the system after the bottles have been closed for 12 hours, I'd be pretty sure there was not even a tiny leak. Even the BSS inspection only tests for 20 (?) minutes.

Thanks JohnJo - yes, a lot like petroleum jelly - sounds like the same stuff. Quite - the regulator and HP pipework are as high in the locker as possible, but probably about level with the cylinder valves... The blockage was quite clearly this waxy/oily stuff - there was no assembly paste in the drips I collected; just a modest smear on the compression olives/threads. Sorry - a bit confusing in my original message. The auto-changeover valve, alone, does not provide leak testing - but the pressure gauges let you (1) pressurise the system, (2) note the HP pressure at both bottles, (3) shut off the bottle valves, (4) wait 20 minutes, and (5) observe any pressure drop. HP hoses were new 2 years ago - black in colour; factory made, BS marked hose assemblies. Cooker hose is galv-braid covered, so cannot see colour or hose material. Oh... The cooker hose is at least 5 years old; possibly 21 or so. Perhaps I'd better source a new one then. Thank you for this important detail !

I wonder if anyone has heard of oily/waxy stuff accumulating in (low pressure) propane pipework? Couln't find anything on this subject on t'interweb - except in the context of huge gas export pipelines... My cooker has been suffering from low gas pressure for a while - then last week it ceased working at all. Since my water heater still ran, yet is further down the gas circuit than the cooker, the gas supply was clearly ok. Traced the fault to a blockage at the lowest part of the cooker supply hose. Was just able to blow through this pipe (by mouth), and observed a 'lazy' bubbling whilst doing so. Hung the pipe from one end, hoping for blockage to drain out - no joy. Moved the pipe to a warm place (hanging above the Morso stove), and immediately this oily/way gunk started dripping out. Refitted pipe, tested for leaks (soapy water on connections, then pressure test by bottle gauges) - then the cooker worked For your info: (1) the oily/waxy stuff was yellow in colour; (2) the pipework unions had been fitted with red assembly paste; (3) the cooker has probably been fitted for the 21 years since Waterlily II was launched; (4) the system had been fitted with a bubble tester at one stage, but currently uses a Gaslow auto-changover regulator with gauges, hence no bubble tester is required or fitted. Please. Has anyone got any suggestions about the source of this contamination? I'm worried that this is something (e.g. a flexible hose) degrading in-situ; or otherwise something which needs attention. Thank you. James.