Diesel Stolen

[granddad]

My policy is lock everything when boat is unattended. Remove locks for inspection. There are many tealeafs about. Edited to add: I had my diesel nicked a few years ago.

 

 

Streethay wharf at lichfield do a £70 lockable bar over the filler - try to get over it - 30 years ago it happened to our cars now its our boats. I must get a lock for the gas.

ken

[matty40s]

believe me, it's still happening to cars, on a bigger scale, however, siphoning isn't used anymore.

The tealeafs just drill through tanks and catch what comes out, leaving a very expensive replacement fuel tank cost.

and for those who like to defend Leicester canals security, this is currently the nations highest car problem, so how long before they realise that all those boats passing through the Soar navigation contain 3 times as much diesel as one of their target tanks...

 

 

edited to add, and if they still drill your fuel tank, ..........................................

Edited April 25, 2010 by matty40s

[luctor et emergo]

believe me, it's still happening to cars, on a bigger scale, however, siphoning isn't used anymore.

The tealeafs just drill through tanks and catch what comes out, leaving a very expensive replacement fuel tank cost.

and for those who like to defend Leicester canals security, this is currently the nations highest car problem, so how long before they realise that all those boats passing through the Soar navigation contain 3 times as much diesel as one of their target tanks...

 

 

edited to add, and if they still drill your fuel tank, ..........................................

 

 

This is a very valid point. HGV tanks are fitted on the outside of the vehicle, and must be the easiest fuel tanks to get at. In the olden days many trucks would simply rely on a twist on filler cap, but in recent years the theft of fuel increased so much, that today heavy duty anti-syphoning devices in the filler neck are common place. But if the thiefs are determmined to get your fuel, they will. there have been instances where the thiefs simply punch a hole in the side of the tank, and catch the fuel as it runs out. That not only leaves the cost of the stolen fuel, it also means a replacement fuel tank, and the down time for the vehicle whilst a new tank is sourced and fitted.

 

Better to have a small amount stolen, than to have to buy a new tank as wel.

 

I will not be using the two large tanks that are fitted in the boat that I am buying. I will fit a small day tank in the engine room, and bring a jerrycan of diesel with me when I use the boat.

[cotswoldsman]

50 litre of fuel to get from rufford to llangollen , seems very little .

 

I was working on 45 hours cruising roughly at 1 litre per hour then added on a bit to get to 50 litres ok maybe even 75 litres that still means I am missing 150 litres.....

[nb Innisfree]

Hi..

 

My rear deck is also the top of the tank...so I cannot weld/ screw onto it.

I had an ordinary 1 1/2 inch pipe stop end as a fuel cap...so I got a mate to weld a shackle loop to the top and then I can put a short chain through that and then padlocks onto one of the deck loops.

Obviously someone could saw the chain...but it stops opportunists.

I'll take a photo when I'm back at the boat.

 

Bob

 

This was our solution, made with a sheet of brass, hole saw, angle grinder and drill.

 

Padlock is just out of shot to the right of picture.

 

Edited April 29, 2010 by nb Innisfree

[Grace and Favour]

This was our solution, made with a sheet of brass, hole saw, angle grinder and drill.

 

Padlock is just out of shot to the right of picture.

 

 

That's rather natty, Squire - - and I take it the fixing bolts are under the hasp

Did you use Stainless bolts? (wouldn't steel react with the brass - or am I barking (up the wrong tree?))

[Chertsey]

Ex-working boats with engine room six inch diameter lockable caps don't usually have this problem - is this the price of progress?

 

Derek

Chertsey had an external filler fitted. Very robust, very nice. I'm taking it off.

 

Not sure if you're allowed fillers inside the engine room on new boats? It would be one way of getting round the (potential) problem.

[MoominPapa]

Not sure if you're allowed fillers inside the engine room on new boats? It would be one way of getting round the (potential) problem.

Absolutely not. Any spillage has to go into the cut, not the bilges. There is an exemption for "historic (i.e. bone fide ex-working boat) diesel-engined narrowboats". Why anyone would have any other sort of boat is, of course, a mystery

 

MP.

 

Edited to add: this is BSS rules we're talking about, in case it's not clear.

Edited April 29, 2010 by MoominPapa

[Hairy-Neil]

Ex-working boats with engine room six inch diameter lockable caps don't usually have this problem - is this the price of progress?

 

Derek

 

IIRC, Nuneaton's were 5".

 

When I got involved with NBT the tanks were 'capped' with rags tied on by rope, (but then, the leak off was total loss into the bilge....) When the BSC came in for historic boats I had a right game finding some 5 inch BSP (obsolete) fittings from which to make some caps....

[Derek R.]

IIRC, Nuneaton's were 5".

 

When I got involved with NBT the tanks were 'capped' with rags tied on by rope, (but then, the leak off was total loss into the bilge....) When the BSC came in for historic boats I had a right game finding some 5 inch BSP (obsolete) fittings from which to make some caps....

 

I'm sure you are right at 5", just grasped a number that seemed to fit from memory without measuring.

Yes, now fuel is spilled into the canal rather than captured in an engine room bilge for disposal. But then internal layouts are many and varied for modern boats.

 

Derek

 

Edited to say: needing to 'mark' the fuel filler for a BSS, I spent a pleasant hour or two chiselling with hammer and punch "FUEL OIL" into both caps. Only to be told it was unacceptable - had to be the word DIESEL. Tch! Rolls eyes.

Edited April 29, 2010 by Derek R.

[Chertsey]

IIRC, Nuneaton's were 5".

 

When I got involved with NBT the tanks were 'capped' with rags tied on by rope, (but then, the leak off was total loss into the bilge....) When the BSC came in for historic boats I had a right game finding some 5 inch BSP (obsolete) fittings from which to make some caps....

I'm going to have to do that... so if anyone knows where to look...

[nb Innisfree]

That's rather natty, Squire - - and I take it the fixing bolts are under the hasp

Did you use Stainless bolts? (wouldn't steel react with the brass - or am I barking (up the wrong tree?))

 

Brass, ok I think, hope.

[magnetman]

 

At first glance that picture looks like some sort of strange weedhatch surrounded by oily bilge water I thought someone had flooded the engine bay or something.

 

 

 

 

 

Chertsey had an external filler fitted. Very robust, very nice. I'm taking it off.

 

Not sure if you're allowed fillers inside the engine room on new boats? It would be one way of getting round the (potential) problem.

 

You can fit fillers inside the engine room and pass the BSS.

 

Floor tanks, vertical filler pipes and the filler cap mounted in a dish which drains overboard via a slot under the side doors. I had a narrow boat with this arrangement which passed several BSS tests (using 3 different examiners ) it just has to be designed right with the right sort of tanks.

[Mitch - Soma]

An alternative view - are you sure 200 odd litres was put into the tank in the first place? I have a diesel fire and a 600 litre tank. Figured I had about 50 litres in the tank, was on my secured moorings and didn't go anywhere - definitely no "theft " from the tank. Put in 160 litres - all the supplier had - this is then over two hundred. At maximum clout on the fire I use 12 litres a day, so at least 14 days worth. Didn't go anywhere, didn't run the engine, and ran out of diesel in 4 day's. "Theft" wasn't from the tank - it wasn't put in in the first place! I just paid for it............

[Ewart Hodgson]

Many years ago, most of the cruisers moored at the Watchouse Cruising Club (Bridgewater Canal) were broken into. When the police finally caught the culprits, they were boaters (whose boat was full of purloined goods). It does leave a particularly bad taste in the mouth when that happens.

[luctor et emergo]

An alternative view - are you sure 200 odd litres was put into the tank in the first place? I have a diesel fire and a 600 litre tank. Figured I had about 50 litres in the tank, was on my secured moorings and didn't go anywhere - definitely no "theft " from the tank. Put in 160 litres - all the supplier had - this is then over two hundred. At maximum clout on the fire I use 12 litres a day, so at least 14 days worth. Didn't go anywhere, didn't run the engine, and ran out of diesel in 4 day's. "Theft" wasn't from the tank - it wasn't put in in the first place! I just paid for it............

 

 

That is a very good point, and one of the reasons why I will be using 20 liter jerrycans to refil.

 

 

How often do you check when the pump at the marina was last calibrated?

And if they use an old pump, do you check that they actually reset the counter to zero before they fill your tank?

 

practicallity not withstanding, I would prefer to use diesel from a (large) land based retailer. You pay a little bit more, but at least you know that your diesel is clean, and that the pump is regularly calibrated. And if you have any sort of diesel heater, you are better of using white diesel anyway.

[cotswoldsman]

An alternative view - are you sure 200 odd litres was put into the tank in the first place? I have a diesel fire and a 600 litre tank. Figured I had about 50 litres in the tank, was on my secured moorings and didn't go anywhere - definitely no "theft " from the tank. Put in 160 litres - all the supplier had - this is then over two hundred. At maximum clout on the fire I use 12 litres a day, so at least 14 days worth. Didn't go anywhere, didn't run the engine, and ran out of diesel in 4 day's. "Theft" wasn't from the tank - it wasn't put in in the first place! I just paid for it............

 

I filled it myself and it was full to the top. I only use coal for heating.

[Hairy-Neil]

practicallity not withstanding, I would prefer to use diesel from a (large) land based retailer. You pay a little bit more, but at least you know that your diesel is clean....

 

You have a short memory, even the big boys screw up.......

 

Clicky

[alan_fincher]

And if they use an old pump, do you check that they actually reset the counter to zero before they fill your tank?

It's not unusual to fill your own tank, then go and tell them what you put in.

 

I have no reason to doubt that I have ever seriously been sold short on any purchase of canal-side diesel I have ever made, and if they fill, I'll be watching the pump.

 

If you dip your tank before you fill, even with something uncalibrated, you can usually guess fairly accurately the sort of litres it's going to take.

 

Are canal-side retailers exempt from calibrating their pumps, then ? Are they not potentially liable to a spot check by the authorities ? (Serious question - I don't know whether the same rules apply as for garage forecourts).

 

I also don't think I've ever been sold sub-standard fuel.

[Keeping Up]

I also don't think I've ever been sold sub-standard fuel.

Once when I filled up form a marina close to my mooring, I got about a gallon of water with my 30 gallons of diesel. I think it must have been just enough to reach the pickup pipe so the engine ran but was erratic as the boat rocked, and refused to start the next day.

 

On the original topic, a couple of years ago we had a jerrycan's-worth of diesel stolen from our tank overnight while we were asleep on board. I noticed that the filler cap wasn't secure and by coincidence I had dipped the tank the night before so I knew exactly how much had been taken. Since then we've had a locking cap.

[BlueStringPudding]

Cheeky Bro got a a new lockable diesel cap fitted at Aynho a couple of weeks ago, having had sneaky blighters swipe £80 worth of diesel from his tank.

[Grace and Favour]

Cheeky Bro got a a new lockable diesel cap fitted at Aynho a couple of weeks ago, having had sneaky blighters swipe £80 worth of diesel from his tank.

 

Here's hoping he doesn't have his new lockable diesel cap stolen next time!

[Alway Swilby]

Are canal-side retailers exempt from calibrating their pumps, then ? Are they not potentially liable to a spot check by the authorities ? (Serious question - I don't know whether the same rules apply as for garage forecourts).

 

 

We filled up at a hire base in Stone last Wednesday (5th May) and they had been checked by the Trading Standards the day before. The sheet showed 20 litres purchased by them. There was a sticker on the pump saying it had been calibrated the day before.