Polystyrene insulation

[ditchcrawler]

10 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

Suffolk-ing long way that.

Yes they wern't best pleased by it

[Dr Bob]

10 hours ago, Dave Hill said:

Hi dmr

Thanks for the reply. 

Your comment about the Morso Squirrel is interesting, as our survey showed that it was cracked & needs replacing. 

If you were to have a new one installed, what would be your preference?

PS: Sorry if my question is misplaced & off topic (I can re-post in the appropriate section if required) 

 

We had exactly the same problem when we bought our boat, a cracked Squirrel. We fitted a welded steel one instead as they dont crack. Quite a bit cheaper and it doesnt matter how fast you heat it up. Squirrels are better stoves (more controllable) but they do crack. Ours had. Yours had. After one winter of 24/7 on the stove, I think in the same position I would go for a Squirrel next time (and hope it didnt crack) but the steel one has been good enough.

[rusty69]

10 hours ago, Dave Hill said:

Your comment about the Morso Squirrel is interesting, as our survey showed that it was cracked & needs replacing. 

If you were to have a new one installed, what would be your preference?

Our squirrel back plate came apart from the stove due to an internal lug failure. It had given us 18 years of service and was replaced with another squirrel. 

It probably could have been repaired. 

[Dave Hill]

Thank you for your replies,

I feel reassured once more. 

[ditchcrawler]

5 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

We had exactly the same problem when we bought our boat, a cracked Squirrel. We fitted a welded steel one instead as they dont crack. Quite a bit cheaper and it doesnt matter how fast you heat it up. Squirrels are better stoves (more controllable) but they do crack. Ours had. Yours had. After one winter of 24/7 on the stove, I think in the same position I would go for a Squirrel next time (and hope it didnt crack) but the steel one has been good enough.

We had one fall to bits on our share boat and our present boat has a Midland Chandlers boatmans cabin range and that cracked as well. I still cant work out why I replaced the bloody useless thing

[The Gravy Boater]

I've had a full survey done on a 12 year old boat where the insulation type was not listed... guess what it turned out to be?  Yup, you guessed it...

 

I thought builders had stoped using polystyrene years ago as I've rarely seen it listed on a boat built after 2000, but apparently not.

 

This thread has dispelled some of the myths I'd heard about polystyrene, so thanks for that. 

 

If I go ahead with the purchase I might look at slowly replacing the stuff over time, starting with the galley as that is the most likely thing I'd change first and the biggest fire risk.

[OldGoat]

When I built my boat aeons ago there was little choice, hence I bit the bullet and used polystyrene. HOWEVER I ordered it with a fire restant coating and tested a sample on a bonfire first.

It would only burn, nay smoulder when I put it into the heart of a well alight fire. Given that any decent boat is going to / should have reasonably thick linings - then to my mind the poly is the last thing to catch fire.

It's all a matter of design and quality.

 

Not that the above is any real help....

[The Gravy Boater]

17 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

When I built my boat aeons ago there was little choice, hence I bit the bullet and used polystyrene. HOWEVER I ordered it with a fire restant coating and tested a sample on a bonfire first.

It would only burn, nay smoulder when I put it into the heart of a well alight fire. Given that any decent boat is going to / should have reasonably thick linings - then to my mind the poly is the last thing to catch fire.

It's all a matter of design and quality.

 

Not that the above is any real help....

I'll take whatever reassurance I can get.  I'm waiting to see the extent to which the seller will rectify the other stuff on the survey before I make a decision.  The polystyrene is not necessarily a deal breaker, especially as I was likely to do a rolling refit anyway over time using more modern materials.  Part of the problem is that the boat has a lot of fitted furniture, cupboards etc. which is amazing for storage but not so great for getting a handle on the quality of the fit nearer the hull.  Creates a similar issue with bilge access... but nothing a few months of Reg Prescott DIY cannot fix...