Welder urgently required! (Macclesfield Canal)

[Twoboxes]

Hi 

I'm urgently trying to find a welder to come out to my boat please.

I've broken down on the Macclesfield canal. The skin tank at its base has developed a leak on the original weld.

Need it welding. I'm a cc liveaboard.

Thanks 

Dave NB inspired by nature 

[junior]

You could try Steve @ Tramway Wharf, but I don't think he'll be around until after Easter. 

[Stroudwater1]

Milliput can be useful  a stopgap. Friends son put some on his boats skin tank. It fixed it fine till he got round to  getting it welded (2 years later…)
 

 

[blackrose]

If you're having it welded it will need to be drained - at least if the leak is at the bottom.

 

I once fixed a small leak on a skin tank using JB Weld and it's been fine for 15 years. But I had to drain the tank, dry out the crack with a small gas blow torch and rough up the area with a wire brush and sandpaper before applying the JB Weld.

[Kingdom Isambard Brunel]

Kerridge Dry Dock, before Bollington, if he is still there, Ged, 07723 330860.  Its been a while. He can weld like a good 'un.

[Twoboxes]

4 hours ago, Kingdom Isambard Brunel said:

Kerridge Dry Dock, before Bollington, if he is still there, Ged, 07723 330860.  Its been a while. He can weld like a good 'un.

Called them and Jeds booked up for a year.

Thanks all. I've managed to get old of a wonderful chap called Mark who came out to take a look. He's coming back on  bank holiday Monday to do a temporary repair and hopefully last a a while till I can get it booked in on the next blacking in dry dock. Someone has also loaned me a generator so I get plenty of charge for my batteries. 

[Chris Watkeys]

Hi there, would you mind sharing Mark's details please? 

 

I am in fairly urgent need of a welder myself, I believe the water tank has cracked and emptied a few hundred litres into the cabin bilge. 

[blackrose]

On 18/04/2025 at 07:53, Stroudwater1 said:

Milliput can be useful  a stopgap. Friends son put some on his boats skin tank. It fixed it fine till he got round to  getting it welded (2 years later…)
 

 

 

Duplicate post 

Edited January 17 by blackrose

[Chris Watkeys]

Thanks very much indeed for replying. It's actually my fresh water tank at the bow, it must have cracked in the cold weather and dumped all the water into the cabin bilge. 

 

I'm sure the advice re: milliput / JB Weld still stands though - thanks for that. First job is to get the bolts off the water tank access panel in the well deck, I'm almost certain the bolts won't ever have been taken off and the boat is > 50 years old, so that will be fun!

[nicknorman]

Can you access the point where the pipe leaves the tank going to the pump? I would have thought that was a more likely source of leak. Could be wrong of course!

[Chris Watkeys]

Thanks Nick - I might be able to access it from inside the cabin, will check when I get back to the boat. 

 

On a separate note the plastic screw-on water filter attached to the pump (shurflo) had also cracked and fallen off but I'm pretty sure this wasn't the cause of all the water ending up in the cabin bilge (rather than an issue with the water tank which is my current theory), as I had turned off the power to the pump before leaving the boat for a couple of weeks. 

Edited January 17 by Chris Watkeys

[ditchcrawler]

10 minutes ago, Chris Watkeys said:

Thanks Nick - I might be able to access it from inside the cabin, will check when I get back to the boat. 

 

On a separate note the plastic screw-on water filter attached to the pump (shurflo) had also cracked and fallen off but I'm pretty sure this wasn't the cause of all the water ending up in the cabin bilge (rather than an issue with the water tank which is my current theory), as I had turned off the power to the pump before leaving the boat for a couple of weeks. 

If you turned the power to the pump off but not closed the outlet from the tank, then a cracked filter would happily empty your tank in a couple of weeks 

[Chris Watkeys]

Blimey, if that's the case I'd be very happy as it's obviously a quick fix. 

 

The only doubt I have is that above boards in the cabin between the front and the rear was dry, and all the water I was bailing out of the bedroom (at the rear of the boat) was basically overflowing from the small cabin bilge access right at the back. 

 

Given this, would you say there's still a chance it was just the cracked filter? 

Edited January 17 by Chris Watkeys

[ditchcrawler]

8 minutes ago, Chris Watkeys said:

Blimey, if that's the case I'd be very happy as it's obviously a quick fix. 

 

The only doubt I have is that above boards in the cabin between the front and the rear was dry, and all the water I was bailing out of the bedroom (at the rear of the boat) was basically overflowing from the small cabin bilge access right at the back. 

 

Given this, would you say there's still a chance it was just the cracked filter? 

If the cover was off the filter it would be like fully opening the drain tap on the tank. I take it. it's one of those clear plastic jobs mounted directly on the pump inlet

[agg221]

6 minutes ago, Chris Watkeys said:

Blimey, if that's the case I'd be very happy as it's obviously a quick fix. 

 

The only doubt I have is that above boards in the cabin between the front and the rear was dry, and all the water I was bailing out of the bedroom (at the rear of the boat) was basically overflowing from the small cabin bilge access right at the back. 

 

Given this, would you say there's still a chance it was just the cracked filter? 

Unless you have lifted a complete cross-section across the whole boat, somewhere between the filter and the definitely wet bit, and found that there is absolutely no damp area anywhere across the width then yes.

 

Most boats are slightly lower at the stern than the bow - yours is because otherwise regardless of where the water started it would have ended up either level across the whole boat length or at the lowest point, so it's reasonable to conclude that yours is low at the stern. If the water trickles through from somewhere, it gradually runs in that direction and, unless there is an obstruction that it has to pond to get over (not generally desirable as it means the area immediately uphill stays wet) then you can have a slight trickle for an extended period that gradually ends up with a big pool at the lowest end, leaving little trace of where it ran.

 

Alec

[Gybe Ho]

17 minutes ago, Chris Watkeys said:

Blimey, if that's the case I'd be very happy as it's obviously a quick fix. 

 

 

Given the relative costs involved I'd suggest it is worth eliminating the @ditchcrawler suggestion from your enquiries. Concurrent failures in the water system while you were away seem unlikely. Recent freezing weather further points to weather related cracking of the filter. Is the filter above the waterline and away from the warming effect of canal water?

 

There was a thread on CWDF discussing nocturnal gurling in a water system. One theory was that warm water contraction sucked water through the water pump even though the pump was switched off. Someone said the internals of a water pump are just rubber paddly whotits.

 

Edited January 17 by Gybe Ho

[Chris Watkeys]

Ditchcrawler - yes, it's a clear plastic filter mounted as you say. 

 

Alec - thanks very much for your reply and explanation also, much appreciated. 

 

I guess I'll fit a replacement filter, fill the tank up and see what happens! 

 

I bailed out at least a hundred litres and will be going back with my drill pump to get the remainder out of the bilge. 

 

Thanks again for your replies all, I have some hope now! 

[phantom_iv]

Assuming you fix the leak it's not uncommon for some of the water to get held up on it's journey sternward and get dislodged after the boat is moved around a bit, for example going for a decent cruise. So don't worry if you find a load more appears after moving the boat, its not necessary a new (or continuing) leak. It can take a while to get rid of all the water even after the source is patched up!

[agg221]

3 minutes ago, phantom_iv said:

Assuming you fix the leak it's not uncommon for some of the water to get held up on it's journey sternward and get dislodged after the boat is moved around a bit, for example going for a decent cruise. So don't worry if you find a load more appears after moving the boat, its not necessary a new (or continuing) leak. It can take a while to get rid of all the water even after the source is patched up!

In light of the above, depending on your use pattern (and options) it could be worth considering whether you can just use bottled water or a flexible carrier for a while? It won't cope with showers, but for drinking/cooking/flushing the toilet/washing up etc we find we can do a weekend with three 5l water bottles for the four of us if we are frugal. That way, you know the tank is empty so when further water stops appearing at the stern you can be confident that when you add some water to the tank, if it gets wet anywhere then you do still have a plumbing problem.

 

One other thought - I would check the level of water still in the tank, perhaps by dipping first and then if there is very little, by checking the fitting on the front. If the water is still up to the bottom of the fitting (bear in mind you won't know that by dipping because the tank base will be tilted) then you can be certain that the tank is not leaking from the base, and it's a good indicator that the fitting is likely to be where the water exited. If the tank has no remaining water then it must have drained from below the level of the fitting, so there has to be a leak.

 

Alec

[Russ T]

The early bayonet shurfo type strainers were notorious for either failing or coming loose. The plastic tabs would generally snap. Even if yours has worked loose,i would replace it with something better.

[nicknorman]

1 hour ago, Chris Watkeys said:

Thanks Nick - I might be able to access it from inside the cabin, will check when I get back to the boat. 

 

On a separate note the plastic screw-on water filter attached to the pump (shurflo) had also cracked and fallen off but I'm pretty sure this wasn't the cause of all the water ending up in the cabin bilge (rather than an issue with the water tank which is my current theory), as I had turned off the power to the pump before leaving the boat for a couple of weeks. 

The plastic filter is on the inlet to the pump, so if you didn’t turn off the water stopcock then when the filter cracked, all the water will come out of the tank.
For future reference, what I do on leaving the boat is to turn off the gate valve at the tank exit, then disconnect the pump inlet. I then run the pump (which sucks in air) and open the taps to push out as much water as possible. Because the lower you are in an unheated boat in winter the warmer it is (because the canal bottom never gets that cold) any water lying in the pipes at the bottom of the boat is unlikely to freeze badly and conversely things higher up eg shower hoses and valves are more prone to freezing. So I always disconnect the shower hose from the taps and drain it, push air through the shower valve etc..

Edited January 17 by nicknorman

[Arthur Marshall]

There's no stopcock on mine, the outlet goes straight to the pump. I can see a modification coming...

[Russ T]

5 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

The plastic filter is on the inlet to the pump,

The filter should be on the pump inlet. However, I once came across an installation where it was on the high pressure side. As a result, the strainer had failed.

[nicknorman]

6 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

There's no stopcock on mine, the outlet goes straight to the pump. I can see a modification coming...

I would suggest  waiting until the tank is empty before cutting into the pipe.

[Chris Watkeys]

This is the broken filter, and I've circled the screw fitting just below the pump.

 

The stopcock wasn't closed, which obviously I now regret!