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Hi All, I'm a relative newbie to narrowboating (one year living aboard at Peartree Bridge Marina in Milton Keynes, and cruising since last July) , and a complete DIY ninnie, and am seeking some advice regarding my Morso Squirrel back boiler. I love the stove, and relied on it throughout my first winter in the marina, but the back boiler part, even when it was working, was disappointing at best. It allegedly drove two small rads in the bathroom and bedroom, at the opposite end of my 57 foot boat, but even when it was working great, the results in the radiators were disappointing. I tried bleeding them, think I succeeded, but they still stayed tepid at best, even with a roaring fire going in the saloon. Also, the previous owners had the water circulated by a mains operated pump. That was fine when I was Marina bound, but as I am cruising away from marinas now, I needed this replacing with a 12 volt pump, which I had done whilst in MK as part of a general refit of the boat for it's new post Marina life. Since the replacement, the thing has never worked properly: either the pump speed has to be set so high it is screaming very loudly, or the water is pushed round so sluggishly that the system starts - 'kettling' - is that the word? - Making scary 'bags of hammers' noises at the stove, anyway, like it's about to explode, whilst vomiting central heating fluid from the expansion tank all over the engine room. So scary is all this in fact, that I've decided I can't risk using the stove at all til this problem gets fixed. I've found it impossible to find anyone competent to sort it out in my new area of operations around Burnley, Lancashire, on the Leeds and Liverpool, and with money now being very tight, I thought the simplest thing to do in any case would be to de-commission the back boiler part myself, reversibly, in place. What I had in mind was emptying the central heating system (though I don't know how to do that either), leaving the input and output valves to the boiler open, and simply cut the copper pipes to them, taking out about an inch, and capping off the pipes, so I can just use the stove without fear of explosion or central heating fluid disasters. My thinking is that if I leave the valves on the Squirrel open and the stove side pipes of the boiler uncapped, air can expand and contract safely through the boiler during use, and I can just use the stove as if it had no back boiler. That way, any future owner who wants to make use of the rads can simply hook up the pipes again, and do battle with the pump. Is this a safe plan? Will the stove operate safely without fluid in the back boiler? Will the boat be okay for the BSS exam if I do this? What should I think about regarding making sure the operation is reversible? All advice appreciated. Alexa

Hi there, I’ve got bit of an issue with my Webasto Heater. It’s a 90 St version (9.1Kw). It’s been working well for years and I never had any issues with it. I always made sure it was working hard, I would only switch it on for 1,5 – 2 hrs max at the time, so I doubt it was ever going to “low flame” setting. Since last week it’s been switching off due to overheating. I vented the system, flushed it, vented again (numerus times) but still the same things happen. I checked the water pump, it seems all good, there’s a good flow and I cannot see anything wrong with it. What basically happens is Webasto runs for 20-25 minutes (sometimes longer, sometimes shorter) and then it seems that the coolant after the unit boils and the unit switches itself off. I think that it generally heats up the entire systems quicker than usual, it is quite of a big system, 6 rads, towel rail and a calorifier – give or take 100 lts of coolant so it was normally taking around 1hr or more for the rads to get proper warm, this now happens after 20 -25 mins. Any help will be appreciated!

Hi, we have a Kabola E7 series which we now have up and running. There’s a bit of a safety issue though, which I’m not sure how to fix... Every now and again the power cuts out in the marina. When this happens, the circulation pump stops working and the water is left boiling with nowhere to go. Would an overboil protection decide solve this problem? There’s isn’t currently one fitted. Thanks, jo

Hey guys, I'm in the middle of trying to get my Mikuni back in action for winter and need to refill the rad system (was drained for winter by previous owner about 2 years ago). I have access to inlet and outlet pipes and the header tank etc... I was assuming just a garden hose into the header tank, and adding antifreeze, but that's where my knowledge would end and you know what they say about assuming! How do I go about:1. Flushing and refilling the system (I know how to bleed the rads here)?2. What additives should I be using?3. Any tips?

Hi All, Due to a school-boy error (pressure from elsewhere to re-fit the interior in quick time) I've found myself needing to re-install the central heating on my 70' narrow-boat with limited access to run conventional pipework to radiators. Having owned a number of domestic properties which had microbore radiator plumbing, I was exploring the option of using it (the later plastic variety, not copper) on the boat. Anyone have experience, good or bad of doing this? It would solve my problem as no joints in awkward places would be required between manifold and radiators. Stephen

Good morning, I am looking for information about the Kabola that's installed on my boat. I believe it is functional but we have yet to try and fire it up. Any information at all regarding this type of system would be appreciated. Thanks

Hello, we have an old Kabola, the E7 model, on our boat. We have yet to get it running. We know that the diesel is reaching the regulator fine and the boiler lights but it burns out very quickly, after a few minutes. When I look at the parts inside the boiler and compare with the photos in the instruction manual, it looks like there might be parts missing. Can anyone with experience of using one of these boilers advise? photos below comparing our boiler with the pictures in the manual. Many thanks

Hello everyone, complete newbie here! Let me start by saying I am not a canal boat owner, but my mother and father are. It is coming up to their 30th wedding anniversary and to celebrate I would like to purchase them a new stove for their boat! I have read around and it seems like the 'Morso Squirrel' stoves are a poplar choice. If anyone is interested i found a nice guide about them here. Anyway I was wondering if any of you have them or can suggest any alternatives? If it helps at all they do not live on the boat and use it for weekly 3 day trips (both retired). Thanks in advance for your help

Hi all, Hopefully someone knows the answer to this. I have an Eberspacher that heats a calorifier. I run the Eber for about an hour and we get a decent amount of hot water for showers. My issue is the amount of time it takes for the hot water to reach the taps. I measured it this morning and it took 12 litres of water before it turned warm. This is the same every time the first person wants hot water. Can anyone suggest why this would happen? The shower is quite close to the calorifier, just a bedroom in between, so I'm finding it hard to make any sense of why it takes the amount of time. Please help!

Hi I've been living aboard for over a year now and each of my 13kg Propane bottles has lasted about 3 months. Pretty good! However, the most recent bottle has only lasted one month - pretty poor! I have a Rinnai instant water heater on board and the only thing I've done differently is to leave the pilot light for this heater on permanently. Prior to this, I would only turn the pilot light on when I had a shower or did some laundry or some washing up. Obviously, having the pilot light on permanently will use more gas up, but I can't believe that it would use 2 month's worth of gas over a period of one month - if you see what I mean! Of course, I could have been given a bottle that was only half full or something but I've been reassured that the stockist simply takes deliveries and has empty bottles collected. It's unlikely I've been deliberately short-changed. So, does anyone have some idea of how much gas having a pilot light on 24/7 might use? Photo of Rinnai with pilot light lit attached! Many thanks

I'm busy trying to get to the bottom of what a narrow boat build would entail so my head is swimming with info - in particular heating options! Ideally the hot water tank and/or radiators could be heated from the engine, a stove or an auxilliary diesel burner, however the plans i have found tend to use the engine on one calorifier coil and the stove / diesel heater on the radiator loop to calorifier which i dont think is as flexible. The engine would be used when cruising or charging batteries (maybe assisted by solar panel), the multifuel stove would provide primary source of hot water and space heating, and a diesel burner would provide a backup/fast heat. It would be good if any of the pimaries could be fed to either the hot tank or the radiators using a 3-way motorised valve. Please see diagram below of what im thinking, which im sure needs tweaking if not scrapping completely! Is the basic principle of what im geting at workable?

Hi all. I'm writing this in a hurry so haven't time to trawl through what is probably a huge number of posts re the installation of Eberspacher heating. Do redirect me with links if you know where my thread is already answered. :-) I live aboard a 70 footer at Droitwich and the Glembring stove I have installed, with its back boiler, is reasonably efficient but due to the tiny hole designed into the stove lid, the entire boat and its contents, including me and my Pooches, have a permanent whiff of diesel about them. As a student nurse, I can no longer go to work smelling like a fuel canister! I'm considering installing Eberspacher heating for radiators along the boat and a solid fuel stove in the main cabin. The boats I've stayed on where these are installed smell like homes and not garage forecourts! This is my dream.... What are you experiences of Eberspacher or similar systems, have you installed it and had a nightmare or a genuine success? Do let me know. Cheers. D

Hello! We are looking at purchasing our second Narrowboat, one vessel that we have viewed has Hurricane Diesel Hot Water Central Heating System. When tested it was quite noisy, does anyone have experience with this type of system?

Spent the weekend on the boat. As its unoccupied the rest of the week it was a little chilly so heating was bunged on. We have recently bought this boat (second hand), so do not have much experience of all the fixtures and fittings and we keep getting little surprises. The heating ran OK Friday Evening. Saturday evening, the heating was back running (hard to miss, the Hurricane is somewhat loud) but after about 30 mins the radiators were just luke warm and similar on the calorifier. No error codes on the control panel. Continuous running of the Hurricane. Still not much output. Flame bright and yellow when looking through the inspection window, though not uniform and looking "spluttery". It was dark at the time or I would have spotted the next bit earlier.... Outside with a torch and look at the exhaust. Considerable smoke and signs of unburnt fuel in the exhaust. D'Oh! So shut it down, and time to investigate. Not had this apart before. Find the 1000 hour service info on the web which was the best information I could find at the time.... The Hurricane is a fairly standard design air blown siphon nozzle diesel burner, so the nozzle seemed a likely problem. Compressor and fan all running, Air inlet hose not blocked, exhaust appeared clear of any blockage. Time to dismantle...... Nozzle out (Delavan 30609-2). Stripped nozzle and found small piece of what appeared to be brown rubber, about 2mm across, but nothing else, all very clean. Air hose to the nozzle checked and clear, compressor inlet filter looked brand new, fuel filter in the nozzle holder appeared clean. The hours counter on the heater has just got to 80, so very little use since new (2006). Rebuild it all and try again, though not very hopeful. Same result. Sunday morning. Still think its a nozzle/spray related issue, so take out the compressor. Standard diaphragm affair so take off the head. Fail to find any information on the web (its a "Thomas" compressor from the US). Obviously has an inlet valve, visible as a brown rubber mushroom head, but no sign of the discharge valve apart from some rubber sticking to the edges of the hole where it should be. The compressor head is a plastic affair and appears to be of two parts glued or molded together, with the head of the discharge valve inaccessible inside, so no chance of fixing it easily. Luckily the boat is at Calcutts who are Hurricane dealers. With no great expectation of success I head to the marina shop, discuss the issue and:- Yes these compressors are known to fail, especially early ones (like ours) No they did not have a direct spare in stock (Hurricane no longer supply them due to reliability issues) Yes there is a replacement, may have one in stock but £300++ needing various parts to make it fit. By now its lunchtime and I agree to come back after lunch when they will have had time to find the various parts. When I get back I find better news, they have a later version compressor head with stainless steel reed valves for a much better price of £40. Brilliant service from Calcutts! Back to the boat, rebuild compressor, fire it up and Yippee it all works ok. Thanks Calcutts, saved the day and my wallet. Chris

Hello Canal Forum Folks This is my first post so, first off, hello. Let me introduce my boat. She's called Barnacle and is an aluminium hulled 28 foot former liveboat that runs off a solar and wind powered electric engine. I wonder if any of you folks could give me some advice about whether to install a back-boiler or not. I have a both a woodstove and a Mikuni diesel heater but, annoyingly the Mikuni only works when its sunny or windy. (When there is enough renewable energy to provide the battery power the Mikuni starter motor requires). In the winter my woodburner is often my only source of heat. I need to replace my woodburner because it has cracks in and I was wondering about replacing it with a woodburner with a back-boiler so that I would get hot water as well as heat in the winter. The backboiler would presumably be fitted with a 12v pump to feed water into my calorifier. I've asked every boat owner I know and I've got a lot of conflicting advice. Some say that back-boilers are troublesome and dangerous, others love them. Do you have any advice? I am particularly concerned about the safety aspect. My 12v batteries are often rather low on power in the darkest months of winter. The pump that pumps water from the back-boiler to the calorifier would need to rely on these batteries. The stove is in the lowest part of the boat so there is no possibility of installing a gravity feed radiator as a heat sink if the pump should fail. Any thoughts would be gratefully received All the best Gi (and Barnacle)