Kelpie

[Jennifer McM]

3 minutes ago, haggis said:

We haven't mentioned that bit yet ?. 

Parts arrived this morning and were fitted and all was looking and sounding great BUT the alternator was not charging the batteries and it was getting hot. Just as well we didn't ask for the genny to be uplifted today! 

Rcr are sending over some alternators for iain to fit one and I have everything crossed that all will then be well. 

Just to add to our problems, iains elderly mother was taken to hospital this morning with what sounds like a stroke. We will go home as soon as we can but we have to get to park farm marina then retrieve our car from Streethay. 

And this was going to be a longer trip than we have managed this year ?

Haggis 

Oh it never rains but pours! These things never come at a good time. Good luck, hope all turns out much better.

[cuthound]

1 hour ago, haggis said:

We haven't mentioned that bit yet ?. 

Parts arrived this morning and were fitted and all was looking and sounding great BUT the alternator was not charging the batteries and it was getting hot. Just as well we didn't ask for the genny to be uplifted today! 

Rcr are sending over some alternators for iain to fit one and I have everything crossed that all will then be well. 

Just to add to our problems, iains elderly mother was taken to hospital this morning with what sounds like a stroke. We will go home as soon as we can but we have to get to park farm marina then retrieve our car from Streethay. 

And this was going to be a longer trip than we have managed this year ?

Haggis 

 

Hi Haggis and Iain,

 

If it helps I could pick you up from your current location or Park Farm Marina and drive you to Streethay tomorrow, or Friday (not Thursday as my car is booked in for a service & MoT).

 

If you want my help, PM me with your requirements.

 

[haggis]

5 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

Hi Haggis and Iain,

 

If it helps I could pick you up from your current location or Park Farm Marina and drive you to Streethay tomorrow, or Friday (not Thursday as my car is booked in for a service & MoT).

 

If you want my help, PM me with your requirements.

 

Hi Cuthound that is extremely kind of you, thank you. I will send you a pm. We had thought of retrieving the car while we have been here but decided to stick to our original plan of iain going from park farm marina to Streethay by two trains and bringing the car up. Doing it from here involved trains to Lichfield and then train back to kidsgrove and he wanted to be here if an engineers was coming to the boat. That was before his mum went into hospital when we had stacks of time. I think our plan now is to head for park farm when we get the boat fixed and retrieve the car then depending on the situation at home go home or have another few days cruising. Iains brother is going up from Kent this weekend which buys us a bit of time. Decisions, decisions! 

But what a wonderful offer to make, cuthound 

Haggis 

[cuthound]

6 minutes ago, haggis said:

Hi Cuthound that is extremely kind of you, thank you. I will send you a pm. We had thought of retrieving the car while we have been here but decided to stick to our original plan of iain going from park farm marina to Streethay by two trains and bringing the car up. Doing it from here involved trains to Lichfield and then train back to kidsgrove and he wanted to be here if an engineers was coming to the boat. That was before his mum went into hospital when we had stacks of time. I think our plan now is to head for park farm when we get the boat fixed and retrieve the car then depending on the situation at home go home or have another few days cruising. Iains brother is going up from Kent this weekend which buys us a bit of time. Decisions, decisions! 

But what a wonderful offer to make, cuthound 

Haggis 

 

Glad you seem to have it sorted. If anything changes, just ask and I'll do my best to help. 

[nicknorman]

Sorry, just caught up with this thread. It’s always bad when one’s boat breaks down but in a tunnel! Doubly bad. And then with a family crisis -triply bad. Let’s hope you get it fully sorted ASAP.

[haggis]

10 hours ago, nicknorman said:

Sorry, just caught up with this thread. It’s always bad when one’s boat breaks down but in a tunnel! Doubly bad. And then with a family crisis -triply bad. Let’s hope you get it fully sorted ASAP.

Thanks Nick. Awaiting the rcr guy with alternators. If all is well we will get genny collected and pull back to the water point if the boat which has been moored on it since yesterday afternoon moves ?. Having been here since Friday kelpie has an itchy prop! 

Haggis 

[haggis]

This is becoming a boat hospital. The boat on the water point is also awaiting rcr 

Haggis 

[nicknorman]

17 minutes ago, haggis said:

This is becoming a boat hospital. The boat on the water point is also awaiting rcr 

Haggis 

Well they could still move off the water point surely?

[mrsmelly]

Just now, nicknorman said:

Well they could still move off the water point surely?

Im pleased you said that, it was also my thoughts. I have never stayed on a watter point even when broken down, it simply aint on. We once dragged our old boat away into some nettle ridden crappy ground along side  to get off the waterpoint.

[haggis]

They couldn't pull back as we were behind them and there was another water point in front then othe bridge to the lock. Mind you they didn't have an engine problem when they moored in front of us yesterday ?. They're might have moved now on as rcr got their's engine running. 

We are on our way as iain fitted one of the alternator s the guy brought.  going to moor at rode heath for a iain to give things a check over and have a bite to eat 

Haggis 

 

 

Edited October 10, 2018 by haggis

[Cheshire cat]

Good luck! I was thinking of you today whilst doing my painting. As a Beta owner I'd be interested in the cause of your predicament once Iain has gathered his thoughts.

[BruceinSanity]

6 hours ago, haggis said:

They couldn't pull back as we were behind them and there was another water point in front then othe bridge to the lock. Mind you they didn't have an engine problem when they moored in front of us yesterday ?. They're might have moved now on as rcr got their's engine running. 

We are on our way as iain fitted one of the alternator s the guy brought.  going to moor at rode heath for a iain to give things a check over and have a bite to eat 

Haggis 

 

 

That’s good news. Like Cheshire C, I’d be interested to hear the final diagnosis.

[Iain_S]

4 hours ago, Cheshire cat said:

Good luck! I was thinking of you today whilst doing my painting. As a Beta owner I'd be interested in the cause of your predicament once Iain has gathered his thoughts.

OK : the initial overheating is a bit of a mystery. I thought we were doing approximate cruising r.p.m., 1500 or so. Ann says she thought the engine was working hard. Maybe prop fouling? The first thing I was aware of was steam issuing from the engine boards. Must confess I didn't look at the temp gauge until later

 

While moored at Red Bull,  a pressure test of the cooling system revealed a couple of minor leaks, but these could have been result rather than cause. Most of the hose clips were tightened a fair bit while investigating and inspecting the engine. I don't think leaks were the cause of the overheat, though. 

 

The major problem, I have to admit, was pilot error. When steam was apparent, I should have engaged tickover reverse and gone back to the tunnel entrance. My mistake was thinking that it would be just as easy to carry on.  Still, hindsight is always 20/20!

 

Bottom line is that the engine got very hot. It would appear that the alternator loom insulation softened, and allowed a short to develop against the after end of the heater plug connection bar. ( The nut on No.4 heater plug had a bit of copper stuck to it when I took it off for cleaning. Also, the bolt into the cylinder head which secures the clip around the main engine loom had copper on one face.)

 

We are now mobile again. Yesterday, all was going well until we (me and Chris, the RCR bod) found that the domestic alternator wouldn't fire up, unless shorted from B+ to D+, when it gave reduced output, and got very hot very quickly. Both Chris and I had thought it was OK, after jury rigging it before delivery of new loom.

Today, I picked an Iskra from the assortment on offer, and it's doing well. Only problem is I'm going to have to reverse engineer Chris's mods to the alternator loom, done to fit our old one

 

Only outstanding  problem is that the temp. gauge is U/S, due to the sender being open circuit.

 

Got to say that RCR have been really good, after a bit of initial confusion over the weekend. Chris, in particular, came out on his day off to sort out the ordering of parts, and to fit them.

 

[nicknorman]

So no aural alarm when the overheating started? Perhaps it would be a good idea check out the alarm system once you have fixed the sender?

[haggis]

The overheating alarm was going off good style when I went to the back and what was emerging from every opening from the engine area was like a very fine dust and they whole boat quickly got full of it to the extent that visibility was about three feet at the front of the cabin with the doors open. This was perhaps the sound proofing on the underside of the engine board reacting to the heat. I was never so glad to see anyone than when a boat appeared from behind and pushed us out. We were trying to progress by poling at that point. 

It was interesting on chatting to the tunnel keeper later to hear that when he gets the emergency horn signal from a boater and responds he then has to summon a couple of guys to drive the work boat in and they could be anything from five minutes to an hour away. 

It was an experience I never want to repeat - and we still have to get the bill from rcrs sister company. 

Haggis