My 57 ft Boat refurb

[Tony Brooks]

2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

BSS 3:3:2 states (extract) .

 

"Electrical cables must be installed clear of LPG and fuel pipes unless the cables are sheathed with a non conducting material."

 

I checked with the BSS the exact meaning of this and it was confirmed that a twin core cable with insulated cores and an overall PVC sheath could actually be attached to LPG pipes by (say) cable ties and would be fully compliant

 

 

Nothing I said countered what you wrote except the statement that single insulated cables are not allowed, they are, given sufficient separation. There is probably enough space to get a single core cable and gas pipe along the under gunwale board on many boats

[Alan de Enfield]

3 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Nothing I said countered what you wrote except the statement that single insulated cables are not allowed, they are, given sufficient separation. There is probably enough space to get a single core cable and gas pipe along the under gunwale board on many boats

 

You are correct - it was badly worded - When I said that double insulated are allowed to run along side LPG pipes,  I should have said that single insulated wires are not allowed to run alongside the LPG pipes, rather than just single wires are "not allowed"

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, system 4-50 said:

And whilst I'm winging, why is it so hard to find the rulebook?  Its almost like they don't want you to find it.  Or has that changed?

Or pay a lot of money to read the rules that they have made that you should abide by. Bit like early religion where the bible was in a language that the man in the street couldn't understand but was expected to live by.

[Alan de Enfield]

1 hour ago, system 4-50 said:

And whilst I'm winging, why is it so hard to find the rulebook?  Its almost like they don't want you to find it.  Or has that changed?

 

When you search on the BSS website you won't find it under "Rule Book"

 

Search for :

 

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

4 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

When you search on the BSS website you won't find it under "Rule Book"

 

Search for :

 

 

 

To keep a boat compliant with the RCD/RCR if you do any work to it they , as I now understand it are not "the rules"

[Alan de Enfield]

12 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

To keep a boat compliant with the RCD/RCR if you do any work to it they , as I now understand it are not "the rules"

 

 

The question was about the BSS which lists criteria that must be met if you require a boat licence on their waterways. It is not a National 'legal' requirement and various other waterways are available for which is BSS is not required. 

 

Yes, being an Act of Parliament, the RCD/RCR is a very different 'beast'.

Edited March 21 by Alan de Enfield

[truckcab79]

Please don’t let another build thread get side-tracked with pointless pedantry.  
 

Perhaps it’s more obvious to others now as to why I said the best course of action is to get a copy and check for yourself.🙄

 

None of it is complicated. 

[Manxcat54]

I have worked my socks off this weekend, I suffer with serious arthritis and I have other stuff going on, so it's 10 minutes work then a sit down, my young helper was not available this weekend, but I think I did OK. I had the skin tank problem, but sucked the water out, I cleaned the swim as best I could and applied some vactan in some slightly rusty spots, I did my utmost to clean the engine bay steelwork above my head, which is a dauntless task, cobweb city! it's no use painting the floor when the roof is full of shit is it. I turned my attention to the engine wiring which was shabby, I have it worked out, and have made a drawing, I have a plan! then I removed all the rotten water hoses and cleaned the engine a bit. I then decided to do some more insulation, and I have put 2 battens up ready for my ceiling plywood, I am leaving a 200mm gap for wiring, which I will eventually cover with a central piece of wood and trim to make it all look pretty, I'm home and having my evening meal soon, then I will collapse, got to go working in the morning. Thanks for all who actually watch my slow progress.

[john.k]

I hired two skinny athletic young guys to do the engine swap in my boat ........I was the  foreman,they did the work ........I could never have done it myself ......but they could never have done it either ,without 100% supervision........the moment the phones come out,all forward movement stops.

[Manxcat54]

I got some friends in today and we got the boat totally stripped to bare metal, in fact they went over the top and got rid of the wooden lats I was saving for the bed, never mind at least it's clear now, just a bit of hoovering up.

[Manxcat54]

Today I brought a welding guy in to flame cut the dirty horrible pump out tank up into bits and get rid, it's been a burden for me moving on, I keep falling over the thing, and the final straw was when he was cutting I was fire watch, and suddenly there was a big flash and pop, and I got covered in Sh1t, thank god it's gone.

[truckcab79]

8 minutes ago, Manxcat54 said:

Today I brought a welding guy in to flame cut the dirty horrible pump out tank up into bits and get rid, it's been a burden for me moving on, I keep falling over the thing, and the final straw was when he was cutting I was fire watch, and suddenly there was a big flash and pop, and I got covered in Sh1t, thank god it's gone.

Must have been a nice job for him. 🤢 

[Manxcat54]

Yesterday I cleaned the engine bay out, what a painful job, my legs and back were killing me (at my age I don't bend so easily, but my mind thinks I can) but I managed to get down to bare metal, and as you can see I coated it with Vactan, it was still purple yesterday, however it is now dry and has turned black, tomorrow I am hoping to paint the area with Ronseal garage floor paint, I did have options, but opted for this, lets face it I will be in a wooden box before it wears.

[truckcab79]

Think the garage paint will be fine. Was in a chat with a few people on Facebook recently who had used garage floor paint for their final finish on their boat exteriors with very good results. 
 

Would love to paint our engine bay but it’s already coated with blacking so it’ll be getting more of the same.  
 

Looks like you’ve got loads of space to work on it in there.  👍

Edited March 31 by truckcab79

[cuthound]

16 hours ago, truckcab79 said:

Would love to paint our engine bay but it’s already coated with blacking so it’ll be getting more of the same.  

 

I feel your pain. What a ridiculous thing the previous owner did painting the engine bay with traditional bitumastic blacking as it is soluble in oil, so the first time you spill oil or get a diesel leak into the engine bay it will turn the blacking into a sticky mess.

[truckcab79]

1 minute ago, cuthound said:

 

I feel your pain. What a ridiculous thing the previous owner did painting the engine bay with traditional bitumastic blacking as it is soluble in oil, so the first time you spill oil or get a diesel leak into the engine bay it will turn the blacking into a sticky mess.

To be fair it’s all intact and done a lovely job of keeping it rust-free but the successive layers look rubbish and actually make it look like flaking rust when it’s the opposite. Too much work to take it off.  Might think again if we take the engine out.  

[Tracy D'arth]

2 hours ago, truckcab79 said:

To be fair it’s all intact and done a lovely job of keeping it rust-free but the successive layers look rubbish and actually make it look like flaking rust when it’s the opposite. Too much work to take it off.  Might think again if we take the engine out.  

Ah, corner cutting already!

I do agree though, much easier with the engine out and its a thankless job scraping off bitumen. I have always painted mine but next time, if ever, it will be epoxy.

[MtB]

I first discovered Danboline back in the 70s for bilge painting and in my experience it does a first class job of sticking to pretty much anything, including silicone sealant and oily steel. Despite what it says on the tin nowadays, no prep is required. Awesome stuff! 

 

Dunno about bitumen though....

 

 

 

 

[cuthound]

On 01/04/2024 at 21:10, MtB said:

I first discovered Danboline back in the 70s for bilge painting and in my experience it does a first class job of sticking to pretty much anything, including silicone sealant and oily steel. Despite what it says on the tin nowadays, no prep is required. Awesome stuff! 

 

Dunno about bitumen though....

 

 

 

 

 

I'd heard that Danboline is no longer as good as it used to be, just after I repainted my engine hole and lockers with it last year!

 

The original Danboline had lasted 16 years before speckles of rust broke through, so hopefully my repaint will last something similar and easily see me through the boating days left to me.

Edited April 3 by cuthound
spillung

[Tracy D'arth]

1 hour ago, cuthound said:

 

I'd heard that Danboline is no longer as good as it used to be, just after I repainted my engine hole and lockers with it last year!

 

The original Danboline had lasted 16 years before speckles of rust broke through, so hopefully my repaint will last something similar and easily see me through the boating days left to me.

I too have found it not as good as it was, but then I do go back a long way when paints had some body in them and you could not clean brushes in water!

[Manxcat54]

Update on the state of affairs, so after having the guy flame cut the old pump out toilet tank out, I spent 4 hrs shovelling you know what out of it (not nice) then I put some sawdust and flakes in (they were once for my chickens, but I got rid of the buggers) so they came in handy, I let them do the work, then today I used a tough scraper and got it virtually down to steel, just a sort of glaze left, but don't forget, this tank is an integral part of the hull, it was welded on all sides to the base plate, so in this area it will be 1/4" thick tank plus whatever the base plate is or was (I really should have checked that with my ultra sound before I painted) anyhow I have absolutely smothered it in red oxide, that can be let to dry for a day or so, then I can begin to clean the area up, get the base plate painted, new woods on the cross members, and then a bit of floor installed.

[Tracy D'arth]

1 minute ago, Manxcat54 said:

Update on the state of affairs, so after having the guy flame cut the old pump out toilet tank out, I spent 4 hrs shovelling you know what out of it (not nice) then I put some sawdust and flakes in (they were once for my chickens, but I got rid of the buggers) so they came in handy, I let them do the work, then today I used a tough scraper and got it virtually down to steel, just a sort of glaze left, but don't forget, this tank is an integral part of the hull, it was welded on all sides to the base plate, so in this area it will be 1/4" thick tank plus whatever the base plate is or was (I really should have checked that with my ultra sound before I painted) anyhow I have absolutely smothered it in red oxide, that can be let to dry for a day or so, then I can begin to clean the area up, get the base plate painted, new woods on the cross members, and then a bit of floor installed.

That area of baseplate will be the best pickled bit of steel in the boat!

[Alan de Enfield]

33 minutes ago, Manxcat54 said:

.......... in this area it will be 1/4" thick tank plus whatever the base plate is or was ...............

 

 

I'd be very surprised if the base of the tank was a seperate piece to the boat base plate.

 

Usually the base of the tank IS the boat base plate - are you sure that the little stubs of up-stand that have been left are not welded directly to the baseplate ?

[Manxcat54]

22 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

I'd be very surprised if the base of the tank was a seperate piece to the boat base plate.

 

Usually the base of the tank IS the boat base plate - are you sure that the little stubs of up-stand that have been left are not welded directly to the baseplate ?

They could well be, I was thinking it would be senseless to place a tank in and then do so much welding just to hold it, but in any case it's very thick steel in that spot, thew sides were shite (no pun) but the bottom was a sort of wax feel to it, anyhow it will see me out.

[Manxcat54]

It may look like nothing progressed, but believe me behind the scenes it has been busy, and my day to day job keeps getting in the way of the fun. I have now cleaned, painted, ballasted, insulated and bubble insulated four 2 ft bays, that is 2400 mm plus, and believe me that end of the boat was tough going, but I can put my hand on my heart and state that the base is 8.4mm at it's worst point, and will never rust from inside during my time on this planet, a bit more tomorrow. and whatever i try these pictures keep turning, can't the admin do something?