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Mold mold and more mold 😱


wibbly wobbler

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2 hours ago, Cheese said:

With calm conditions at present it can be difficult to properly ventilate a boat when stationary.  How often do you move?  Cruising, even for a short distance, can be quite effective at clearing out damp.

I have not taken it out for months. I was going to take it out on the day I discovered the mold (discovered it while checking my levels) and thought better of it, thinking heating the engine up in the cold weather would only create more damp afterwards. 

3 minutes ago, MtB said:

Does. this boat have a solid fuel stove?

 

Are you keeping it alight?

It has a diesal stove that I put on every night when I get in from work. Unfortunately I couldn't get it to work for a while so that didn't help.

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15 hours ago, MtB said:

i've only briefly scanned the thread but no-one has asked if you have a solid fuel stove. If you have, LIGHT IT and keep it going 24/7 until the warm weather arrives.

 

This is probably all that is required. The flue will draw plenty of fresh air in to ventilate, and the heat will dry out the dampness. virtually all liveaboard boaters keep the stove alight all winter.If you don't, this could well be the cause of the problem 

It came with a diesel stove which I put on when I get in from work and leave on until I go to work the following day but I cannot leave it on 24/7 as I work full time. I might try leaving it on 24/7 on my days off, but I fear the mold might have spread to far already.

10 hours ago, john.k said:

Id be a bit careful with bleach ,as its got a similar action to concentrated salt water......in other words,spilt bleach will rust the crap out of your steel hull......Vinegar may be just as bad.

That's what I'm concerned about, plus I don't want anything harmful to end up in the canal.

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9 minutes ago, wibbly wobbler said:

I have not taken it out for months. I was going to take it out on the day I discovered the mold (discovered it while checking my levels) and thought better of it, thinking heating the engine up in the cold weather would only create more damp afterwards. 

It has a diesal stove that I put on every night when I get in from work. Unfortunately I couldn't get it to work for a while so that didn't help.

 

Subject to what Tracy said about checking the flue is clear (which it almost certainly will be on a diesel stove), I suggest keeping it running 24/7. 

 

There must be something seriously wrong I reckon with this boat. None of mine get wet like yours seems to if I leave them unheated, unless perhaps for months at a time.

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4 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Check the flues and seals on your diesel stove, any fumes venting into the boat will cause bad condensation. You may not see or smell them, but they will contain water vapour.

Ok, thank you. I think I need to get it looked at anyway because it is coking up after every use which I'm pretty sure is not meant to happen.

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2 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Subject to what Tracy said about checking the flue is clear (which it almost certainly will be on a diesel stove), I suggest keeping it running 24/7. 

 

There must be something seriously wrong I reckon with this boat. None of mine get wet like yours seems to if I leave them unheated, unless perhaps for months at a time.

The woman I bought it off had left it unattended for about a year and a half, I don't know if that had anything to do with it. Either that or I'm doing something seriously wrong . I'm beginning to think that I'm way out of my depth and possibly made a really bad decision. 

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11 minutes ago, wibbly wobbler said:

Ok, thank you. I think I need to get it looked at anyway because it is coking up after every use which I'm pretty sure is not meant to happen.

If it is "coking up" it is not burning properly and will be producing dangerous fumes. It must burn with a blue flame, never yellow. This could be the root of your problem along with poor sealing.  

You may need a longer chimney to make the flue pull better, at the moment it could be suffering from inversion of the products in the flue due to insufficient draught.   Dangerous.

Edited by Tracy D'arth
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1 hour ago, wibbly wobbler said:

Ok, thank you. I think I need to get it looked at anyway because it is coking up after every use which I'm pretty sure is not meant to happen.

 

If you are on Facebook apply to join tne Refleks Diesel Stove group. They offer excellent advice on Refleks and other oil drip stoves, amd will probably be able to resolve your coking up problems by showing how to clean the stove and if necessary set up the regulator.

Edited by cuthound
To remove a letter masquerading as a space.
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Having a couples tenanted houses where tenants do not ventilate when drying washing indoors etc and being called in to deal with the ensuing black mould, I can recommend HG Mould Remover. We've tried several. 

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Heating-cooling-heating-cooling-heating-cooling and so on will cause condensation

What you are doing is possibly the worst thing you could do.

If a boat stays cold all the time it will be fine

If a boat stays warm all the time it will be fine.

I used to leave my diesel heater (Kabola Old Dutch) on all the time in the winter.

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3 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

If you are on Facebook apply to join tne Refleks Diesel Stove group. They offer excellent advice on Refleks and other oil drip stoves, amd will probably be able to resolve your coking up problems by showing how to clean the stove and if necessary set up the regulator.

Is it a Refleks though?

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3 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

If you are on Facebook apply to join tne Refleks Diesel Stove group. They offer excellent advice on Refleks and other oil drip stoves, amd will probably be able to resolve your coking up problems by showing how to clean the stove and if necessary set up the 

I deactivated my Facebook last year to keep my sanity.  I have previously emailed the manufacturer and they have been very helpful, I didn't want to keep bugging them but it might be a good idea, thank you.

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2 hours ago, Jim Riley said:

Having a couples tenanted houses where tenants do not ventilate when drying washing indoors etc and being called in to deal with the ensuing black mould, I can recommend HG Mould Remover. We've tried several. 

I will have a look at that, thank you.

55 minutes ago, Loddon said:

 

Heating-cooling-heating-cooling-heating-cooling and so on will cause condensation

What you are doing is possibly the worst thing you could do.

If a boat stays cold all the time it will be fine

If a boat stays warm all the time it will be fine.

I used to leave my diesel heater (Kabola Old Dutch) on all the time in the winter.

Unfortunately I have to go to work and do not want to leave the stove on for long periods of time unattended. I have oil filled radiators on timers to try to stop the temperature dropping too much.

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5 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

If it is "coking up" it is not burning properly and will be producing dangerous fumes. It must burn with a blue flame, never yellow. This could be the root of your problem along with poor sealing.  

You may need a longer chimney to make the flue pull better, at the moment it could be suffering from inversion of the products in the flue due to insufficient draught.   Dangerous.

Oh you're joking 🤦‍♀️ I really do need to get someone to look at it.  The flame is blue once it gets going, it's only really yellow briefly on start up and when I wake up in the morning (I thought that was because it was on too high a heat as the outside temperature had risen). I've been soo ingrossed in trying to sort the mold I haven't really paid much mind to the stove, just grateful it's working. I'm sure the woman said there was a longer spare chimney attachment, I will try to find it and see if that makes a difference. Thank you soo much for your help, greatly appreciated. 

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2 minutes ago, wibbly wobbler said:

Oh you're joking 🤦‍♀️ I really do need to get someone to look at it.  The flame is blue once it gets going, it's only really yellow briefly on start up and when I wake up in the morning (I thought that was because it was on too high a heat as the outside temperature had risen). I've been soo ingrossed in trying to sort the mold I haven't really paid much mind to the stove, just grateful it's working. I'm sure the woman said there was a longer spare chimney attachment, I will try to find it and see if that makes a difference. Thank you soo much for your help, greatly appreciated. 

 

Yellow flame = bad, blue flame = good! 

 

I seem to remember they start off yellow when cold and first lit, but I've never owned own myself to have a good fiddle with.

 

Chances are the chimney extension she mentioned is actually needed, or it would not have been made. Fish it out and bung it on! 

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52 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Yellow flame = bad, blue flame = good! 

 

I seem to remember they start off yellow when cold and first lit, but I've never owned own myself to have a good fiddle with.

 

Chances are the chimney extension she mentioned is actually needed, or it would not have been made. Fish it out and bung it on! 

I will definitely fish it out and swap it when I get back, and need to pay more attention to the flame and try leaving it on for longer periods. Thank you 😊

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11 hours ago, wibbly wobbler said:

Oh you're joking 🤦‍♀️ I really do need to get someone to look at it.  The flame is blue once it gets going, it's only really yellow briefly on start up and when I wake up in the morning (I thought that was because it was on too high a heat as the outside temperature had risen). I've been soo ingrossed in trying to sort the mold I haven't really paid much mind to the stove, just grateful it's working. I'm sure the woman said there was a longer spare chimney attachment, I will try to find it and see if that makes a difference. Thank you soo much for your help, greatly appreciated. 

 

If the flame is primarily blue once it has been on for 10-15 minutes then the stove is working properly. Due to the short flues on narrowboat it is not usually possible to get them to burn blue on the highest settings. That said the boat would be uncomfortably hot on the highest settings. I find mine keeps a 60 foot boat comfortably warm on settings 1-2 during a typical British winter.

 

Providing it has a flame failure device (red button that you have to press in for a minute whilst lighting it) and the surrounding area doesn't get too hot they can be safely left on for long periods. They need cleaning every 500 hours of operation, so once a fortnight if left on continuously.

 

Turning it on and off a lot will decrease the time between cleanings.

 

 

Edited by cuthound
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