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Hello all! I have a Morco F11E water heater. Every time I start it all the flames ignite but go out either immediately or after a few seconds. It then tries to relight but only one or two flames will light around the ignition. In the relighting stage I can manually light all the others with a handheld flame. Seems to me there are two problems, the gas flow shutting down and the ignition failing to light fully after the first try. Any ideas? I've cleaned out the water filter and pumped up the accumulator and the water flow sensor stays on while running so i don't think it's a water pressure issue, more likely gas pressure? Thanks in advance!

When recently decending Stourport narrow locks I was invited to decend and pass in the middle pound a boat that was ascending this I believed was an ideal situation as it ment the lower locks would then be set for me and the upper locks set for the ascending vessel however another vessel owner decided even though he knew I was already in the flight that he had right of way so emptied the bottom locks for his benefit causing a huge waste of water when questioned he became quite belligerent and told me I was in the wrong and should of stayed above the locks because any boat leaving the river has right of way even though I was already in the second lock when he arrived is this correct?

Hi Out of the blue we had no hot water on Sunday morning. We are moored in a marina and on shoreline with an immersion heater. No biggie, changed the fuse in case it was that but that didn't seem to fix it. We have had had someone out to change the immersion heater (he said a filament had gone?) but now - still nothing, It has been on for 9 hours at this stage so it should be hot. It gets hot for a few seconds when we first turn the tape on and then luke warm at best thereafter. We have tried running it for a really long time but - all we get is 15 - 20 seconds and that is it. Obviously will call them again when we can (Monday morning) but if there is anything anyone thinks we should be looking at in the meantime, I would appreciate it!

Hi I have a narrowboat built by Coalcraft. The watertank is steel not stainless steel. I empty the tank every September, October when I winterise the boat. In April when I wake the boat up the initial water from the tank shows signs of rust. The watertank is under the deck and gas locker at the front of the boat Has anyone else experience this? Has anyone got into the watertank to de-rust it and paint it? Thanks

As some of you may know the wife's foot went through the water pump dividing it nicely in half and causing a splash or two of water to threaten to sink the boat (exageration). Has anyone got any advice for how to change the water pump- turn off the water obviously- turn off the electricity supply (I'm guessing)? I also need to replace the front panel which appears to be leading from the bow onto the stair (where the water pump is). Heeelllpppp...

Hi all, For a while I've been toying with the idea of buying a narrowboat to continuously cruise along the London Canals, for a few weeks or so I've been doing a fair bit of research but for some areas I still haven't found the answers I'm looking for so thought I'd turn to you guys to see if you can help me out at all! Apologies in advance if some areas have been discussed already and also, if any of the questions sound silly... I really am a complete newbie to this... 1. As I mention - I'll be CC along the Canals in London, so have been researching what distance as I need to travel each week, obviously don't want to take the mick and want to stay on the right side of Canal and River Trust. However, their website isn't totally clear on how far - all I can see is that in a years licence, 15-20miles is expected, which seems more than fine. But how far is the minimum? Just for an example, say I started in Little Venice and was travelling East, how far would I need to travel to satisfy the Canal and River Trust for say one weekend I didn't want to travel 'that' far? 2. Which brings me on to my next point - as I read, each 14 days would be the time I top up water, which would top up my batteries (as I'm moving) and usually empty the loos out. May seem like a silly question but are these water points at regular intervals? Similarly, to electric points? (if I needed it half way) Also, are loo-emptying-places at regular intervals also? 3. Again, brings me on to my next point of water storage tanks and electricity batteries... my budget is around 25k and aiming for around a 40ft-er trad steel narrowboat so from what I've seen, many don't have a tank or seems quite small. If so, can this be retrofitted and to what cost? I understand becoming more frugal is all part and parcel of it (which I'm excited about) but for say a 10/15minute shower a day - what sort of tank should I be looking at to tide me over for two weeks? However, I guess this would hinge on question number two! In terms of electricity, I don't watch a lot of TV but would like to charge my phone, listen to music, have lights! Where should I even start with what to look for to tide me over 2 weeks again? 4. I guess this question is more to the nitty-gritty when I view but what are the main tips/points you'd recommend to look out for a bad conditioned narrowboat? Is there such a thing? Don't mind buying something that requires a bit of modernisation but in terms of 'behind the scene' stuff, what do I look for when looking at an engine? At the electric board? Heating system? Or should this all be taking care of at survey stage? Anyway, I think that's probably enough for now on my first post. I really would appreciate any tips/answers - no matter how big or small! Really excited to be buying - just need to get my head around it all first!! Speak soon, Nat

I have a grey plastic water tank situated under my front deck. I discovered a very slow leak in a joint in the plastic pipework coming from the pump in that area and that's now completely sorted out. However, I've noticed that the cupboard which houses the tank is still wet. On further investigation I've discovered that there is a small hole right on the top edge of the tank from which water squirts a fine spray when the tank is filled/full. Obviously I need to fix this PDQ. I can't get to actually see where the leak is coming from but I know roughly where the squirt comes out. I was thinking of using Fernox LX sealant, with perhaps a piece of right angled plastic profile over the area bonded on with the Fernox. Is there a better solution, bearing in mind that this water is used for drinking? I'd also really like a water gauge to see how full the tank is. Any recommendations here would also be very welcome. Many thanks for reading this whether or not you have any solutions!

Hi all Kitchen refit is going well, I am changing my existing kitchen layout from a both sides "walk through" format to an "L" shape on the Port side. At the moment, I have 12v/240v/Gas under the gunnel on the Starboard side and 12v/240v/Water under the gunnel on the Port. Is there any reason why i can't have gas, water and electric all under the same gunnel? i'll leave a 12v and 240v loom under the starboard too. Any advice for doing this? Do the lines need to be isolated from each other? thank you! Jess

Hi folks Could you please take a minute to sign our petition.We would like to improve the facilities for all who use the beautiful river Nene. https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/please-help-improve-river-nene-s-facilities?source=facebook-share-button&time=1422959109 Thanks Safe & happy boating The new website is now up and running :- http://www.friendsoftherivernene.co.uk/Articles/About-Us

My water pump often takes ages to pump water through., i have checked the system for leaks, added a compression tank and still the problem persists. there is no way to adjust the pressure on the pump. the pump is not that old and the problem has been going on pretty much since i first installed it. Do you think i just have a faulty pump or i need a hight power pump?

Earlier this year we had a new (steel) cabin built, but we decided not to go for a new built in stainless water tank at the same time (we probably should have done, but hindsight and all that...). Now we find ourselves in need of a water tank that will fit through the door or a hatch (both limited by the opening in the steel. So I've been scratching my head trying to find something that we can get into the boat as well as ftting under the front deck, and hit upon what I hope will be the perfect solution: A loft water tank. These are designed to fit through a loft hatch and this one is the largest I can find that will fit through the door as well af fitting nicely under the front deck. the plan is to use two tanks (probably with separate fillers) that will be plumbed together to provide one "reservoir" of water that the pump can provide pressurised water from. I'm aware I'll need additional pipe joins and therefore more potential leak points but I should only need to add one T to join the two tanks to provide one feed to the pump and one additional filler (though this might not be required). Is this type of tank a feasable option for a narrowboat and are there any major pitfalls with a double-tank configuration that I might not have thought of? Thanks in advance!

Hi, We have a water tank which holds 550 litres. Having had a water gauge that initially did not work properly, we just kept it topped up. Guy came Thursday last week and recalibrated the gauge. It was filled to the brim on Thursday, didn't use any water on Friday or most of Saturday, then used as normal (4 washing machine lots, 5 showers(although we are not standing for ages in shower) and usual tea and cooking usage. the gauge showed empty yesterday and we did not believe it and have called the guy back The tank has just run empty. It may be that we are underestimating just how much water we do use. We have no leaks. Either we are using much more than we thought or the tank is not as big as we have been led to believe. Surely we cant use 550 litres in 3.5 days. any suggestions or advice?

Hello everyone, I'm hoping someone can help me with a calorifier problem i have. Let me start by saying we bought the boat (1993 50ft widebeam) from a third party who knew nothing about the boat and could only show us it running so this has all been a bit of a learning curve, overcoming problem by problem. The boat has a calorifier fitted approximately 1meter from the engine, but we only seem to have hot water when the engine has been running and the boat moving, and even this is only after 3+ hours. running the engine at idle moored up produces nothing. I have bled the air from the system by running the engine to hot and removing coolant filler cap as well as loosening the fittings for water into the calorifier from engine and return to the engine from calorifier whilst engine was running and hot which revealed there was some air in there. each of these actions were done in turn rather than all at once. coolant is approx 30% antifreeze. Because of the length of time it takes to warm up, I believe the water is heating through thermal conductivity of the water in the system as opposed to circulating round the system. The boat used to have a siren/alarm which screamed out from the instrument panel when the ignition was switched on, which we thought was normal until I had our alternator reconditioned as it wasnt producing any power for the batteries and then the alarm stopped and hasnt been back Additionally, on the instrument panel there is a "charge" "oil" and "water" light. Charge light goes out once engine is on and slight throttle applied as I presume it has now been excited. Oil light is never on, but the water light is always on, ignition on and engine on. there is also a single very thin electicial cable with a female spade elctrical connector on top of the engine, coming from the engine where the water/coolant leaves the engine to flow through the pipe to the calorifier. I have no idea where or what to connect to this cable. Can anyone advise what they think may be the problem or what my next course of action should be before contacting an engineer (and paying dearly for it). I will take photos shortly and try to upload within 24 hours. Could it be the thermostat? circulation pump? faulty electrical connection? Thanks for your help

We have installed 500W of solar (with another 250W panel to be fitted). We have an MPPT charge controller (MorningStar TS-60) and these sunny days, it takes no time to fill our batteries, especially as our fridge is out of action. I'm wondering if there's a straightforward (inexpensive) way to divert the excess power to our immersion heater to heat the water tank? I think it's a 1kw immersion heater. We have a 1kw inverter also. I guess a more low powered immersion heater would be needed?

I'm currently fitting out a 64ft narrowboat and have reached the point of fitting out the plumbing. I'm concentrating on the fresh water system, of which im adopting a very similar (if not identical) structure to C-Warm's schematic drawing...(see image link below) http://www.tnorrismarine.co.uk/images/cal1.JPG This system on paper looks pretty straight forward to me, I've sourced most of the parts yet connecting them together is a mystery to me. I'll be using push fit Hep2O which is relatively basic to fit, my concern lies more with installing the main components like the calorifier, water pump, accumulator tank, shower, valves etc... Has anyone installed a fresh water system and can guide me in the right direction? P.s - I'm very new to boating and unfamiliar with plumbing 'know how', hence theoretic or jargon related advice won't really help me, im much more apt at learning in a practical and visual method, I would be truly grateful if you could cater to that medium of information, regardless any help would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hello, I live on a 45FT narrowboat, and few days ago my domestic water system started to play up. First it just bursted out with water when i opened tap then went on as usual, but since yesterday i keep loosing pressure after running taps for a while, and then i loose all pressure but the pump keeps running. It looks like it can output only certain amount of water then it fails. I have a flojet R4305 - 500 installed, i put some photos of model and arrangement here> https://www.dropbox.com/sh/f5wpaxhxsli0kok/uvBnpvbWbb I was trying to air the system using this trick i have found on anther forum> "Folks should get in the habit of turning off the water pressure and then opening one of the faucets to bleed the air out when they leave the boat to take the pressure off the pump diaphragm, then shut the faucet. When you return, and turn the pressure switch on again, the pump will run for a very short time." ...but it resulted extreme amount of bubbling noise in the system otherwise yielded no results, apart of having water for a while (plus some rust today!) then loosing all pressure again. so now i keep turning of the pump circuits to keep the pump from buzzing forever (it keeps coming back if i turn electricity on). It somehow fixes system for a little while, i have running water, the pump turns itself off when turning taps off(with a kind of odd delay), but then i loose pressure again. Please let me know if you have any idea how to fix it. Thanks Zsolt

Hi all, Am wondering if anyone knows of any mooring spots around the Waltham Abbey area on the Lee that have road access please? Need to refit our electrics and find an accessible point where we'll be able to stay for a while on a winter mooring. Ideally need to be near a water point but can probably work around this. Thanks! Emma

So, as you may know, I have a new boat! New boat - new surprises.... Yesterday was our first day on board and we spent it removing sodden rotten furniture and flooring from the aft cabin. It started by lifting the mattress, few spots of mould on the ply below. So, with the mattress removed to the well deck I lifted the ply, more mould in the drawers below that. Drawers were stuck solid (when we viewed the boat I took them to be painted shut - doh! Learning experience) they were MDF, and had expanded to fill their holes completely... Quickly after this I was screwing and sawing and using my trusty adjustable spanner (hammer) to get as far in to the mess as I could and see what was going on. When I reached what was left of the floor beneath it all I found water, bubbling up between the pieces of composite board that weren't turned to soil. We removed enough scrap wood (soil) to completely fill the back of my estate car (and weigh heavily on it's suspension) and we pumped about 15 bucket loads of water out of them there bilges. Along the way I was of course hunting for the source of the water. It didn't seem to be in the bathroom or kitchen (from surface looking at least, and all pipe work was reasonably easy to view, either running exposed or at the back of kitchen cupboards. I couldn't see right behind the bath, but it looked dry at least... Chief culprit seemed likely to be the water tank, which runs across the boat immediately forward of the engine (it's a trad stern, which had a fixed crossbed, and no access to the engine room) But, upon excavation nothing seemed to be leaking from the water tank either. However, I removed some of the panels in the wall between what was the bedroom (now closer resembles a green house, with hydroponic system in place on the floor) and the engine bay, to try and get to the back of the water tank, I found myself looking straight down at the engine. I had expected (mostly from reading on this forum) to find a metal bulkhead separating the engine and cabin bilges, which I had assumed to be 2' or 3' high (probably running up to the forward end of the floor boards which are places over the engine....) However, what I found was a 20cm lip, forming the edge of the engine oil drip tray (and the same height as the steel forming this tray on the other three sides of the engine, and running off to each side of the boat. So, I think I found where the water was coming in. The boat has a manually switched bilge pump in the engine bay, and the survey suggested that the stern gland is not in top condition. The previous owners were less than responsible, and he actually admitted to me that he only started the engine once in the four years they owned the boat - given this, I doubt they pumped out the bilges, or even checked them, very often if at all. Now, I am not just writing all of this to relay my tale to you all, (though that is part of the reason, and I hope you are enjoying it), I would like some advice on how best to proceed. Current situation: Floor completely removed for about 10' forward of engine bay "bulkhead". All floor that I have now reached is good - I am unable to proceed just digging with an adjustable spanner, proper tools like a saw will be required to go further. There is a logical stop point on the far side of the bathroom, about 3' further along the boat, I will cut floor to here, and hopefully find everything forward of this point is OK. Floor in living area has decent wood laminate on top. I do not want to remove this if I don't have to. Floor in kitchen has a kitchen on top. As above don't want to remove if I don't have to. One section below sofa in living area allows for inspection to under floor level (not bilges) and reveals no sign of rot. I will cut or drill here to gain access to bilge to aid with assessment. I may be able to gain access to bilge in small locker below the well deck. All the bilges that I have opened so far (in the aft end of the boat) were full of water. They are unsurprisingly very dirty and rusty. I intend to clean, rust treat (owatrol?) and paint, before applying new floor (marine ply?) with insulation and damp membrane. With my current course of action I wont be able to access the bilges forward of the bathroom (middle of boat). While I am fairly confident that the floor here is OK, the bilges will have been wet, and there will almost certainly be rust going on... I am in the process of sourcing a dehumidifier I can take with me back to the boat on Wednesday. I will be on board full time working on this (and hopefully get as far as fitting some sort of bed!) for a week and a half following. What I'd like to know: Best way to clean back rust. Best way treat the steel. Which paint to use in the bilges. How far should I go? How to insulate under the floor. What about a damp proof membrane? What about best construction methods? - batten on top of steel 'rib'? Glue/self tapped? I know there have been posts before, but I just hunted around and couldn't find much which covered most of the above, please feel free to point me to other threads, or just tell me what keywords you think I should be searching. Many thanks! BTW: The irony of my boats name has not escaped me.

Hi. I've recently started a new blog on wordpress.com and have had great success with it. I've had around 200 views in the first few days of the blog, but am now struggling for material to write about. The blog is called Canal Works and Nature, the URL is - http://www.canalworksnature.wordpress.com . I would be ever so greatful if anyone could give me a few ideas on what to write about, or any opinions on the stuff I have already began. Cheers

I was trying to find a recent post about someone wanting to repaint the inside of their water tank, but slow internet today has caused me to give up. Anyway, a separate post might be more appropriate as what I am thinking of doing is turning my bow locker into a water tank. It has two tiny drain holes that would need welding up, (they are only 2-3cm above the water line btw) and I expect I could fit a screw down access plate with filler hole, under the lift up hatch (so keeping the appearance). Interestingly, the locker seems to have its floor at exactly water level, so I wonder if it means a bow thruster could be easily added underneath the portion towards the well deck? I digress. I could use the special paint on the inside of the locker. That or fit one of those bladder things. Ideally I'd fit a ss tank into the locker but it would waste a lot of capacity unless it was a special shape - though I could at least insulate it then. Getting it in through the hatch would be interesting. Pros and cons of this? I'm concerned about freezing in winter, and also wondering whether it would connect to the ss tank I have or if I would use a pump when the main tank is low, to transfer it through. My ss tank is I believe, 500l, the extra capacity could give me another 400 or 500l I reckon. I really need extra water for when I want to stay at a spot for the full 14 days without having to go into miser mode. Thoughts?

Since coating my fresh water tank with potable bitumen I have a brown contamination in the water. I have filled and emptied the tank many times and still have a residual brown tinge and an earthy smell especially from the hot side. I collected a sample and left it to settle, see picture. From an existing topic on water tank coating someone suggested an algae had formed. I put a water sterilizing tablet in the glass of sludge and it just made the sludge float. I am draining the tank down soon for winter. Can anyone suggest what I should do to sterilize the whole system.

Just wanted to share with you all one little victory today Finally fired up my washing machine. No leaks, nothing blew up. The machine ran well off the Victron inverter. It's a Bosch WFF2000 - I couldn't find details of its water/power consumption but it didn't seem to greedy according to my water gauge. I did have a problem with the power early on - the voltage to the inverter dropped to under 11v and a red light warned me of low voltage. This was with the engine idling, so I increased revs but to no avail - seemed for a moment as though I'd knackered the alternators output. But after switching off the machine, letting the batteries get a bit of charge then resuming the wash cycle at higher engine revs, things went ok. Just a question of learning how things like to be treated. I wonder why the alternator output dropped right off then came back though. Hopefully just a normal safety feature but it should be good for 175a which is ... a lot. (couple kw?) Maybe trying to supply the machine and the hungry batteries was just too much for it - I'll start with higher revs and/or better charged batteries next time, now I know. Still good though! Clean underwear

Hi, Just about to make a hole in the side of the boat. Looking at my other skin fittings, one is maybe less than 10" above the water line (well below the rubbing strake) one is above the rubbing strake. I'm plumbing a washing machine - read something about the hose needing to be higher than the top of the drum but not sure if its relevant in this case as no domestic waste to draw back old water from or anything like that. I'm tempted to make the whole a bit above the rubbing strake which is nice and high from the water outside... anyone know what's best?

Hi My water pump started playing up. That is, the flow was irregular and, as I have a Rinnai instant water heater, that meant taking a shower was either dodging the over-hot water or dodging the freezing cold water! Tonight, I removed the pump, took it apart, cleaned it up and re-installed it. But now it won't turn off! I recognise that there is a bit of an air-lock going on and I've had all taps open to try to release it. But that hasn't worked. I also think I understand that it will switch off when the back pressure is sufficient - have I got that right? But, I've left it running for a good 5 minutes or so, to allow the pressure to build up and it still doesn't turn off. Do I need to leave it running for longer or is my pump ready for the scrap heap? A new pump is only about £50 and I'm happy to pay that, but what if I have the same problem with the new one? Can anyone advise please? Cheers, Adam

Hey guys, I'm stuck! I have a Liverpool Boat from 2005 with an Isuzu Marine 35. I am so confused, I've been looking for the agglomerator for months, every now and again I go and take another look. It doesn't seem to be on the primary or secondary fuel filter and I can't see a tap or bolt that would be for this either. The filters are solid, no catch on the bottom. Could someone possibly tell me what I am missing. I'm not great with engines and I'm scared to mess this up. Cheers, Jamie