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Showing content with the highest reputation on 19/04/17 in all areas

  1. Sometimes it's difficult to get internet access on the boat. I have been away for 8 days bringing it down from Crick to Rickmansworth. Making it in one piece as it was my maiden voyage was more important to me than checking forums. The problem was resolved with a phone call so I didn't check back here until today. I am sorry you feel that because I didn't respond promptly that you are reluctant to help a new boater disappoints me as I was led to believe that boaters are a friendly helpful bunch. Obviously there are exceptions. I did meet someone on the cut that recognised me from my boat and previously posting questions about it. I am sure the majority of boaters are more friendly like he was than the few. I promise I won't ask you personally for any advice as I now know that unless I respond withing your accepted time slot it will give you the hump.
    4 points
  2. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  3. Tony brooks, I find your reply quite offensive, as someone who has a HND in engineering, a degree in vehicle engineering, is a fully qualified British marine electrical technician (BMET). Qualified welder (mig,tig and mma), qualified machinist and blacksmith, MCA Boatmaster, assessor and trainer and has worked on historic boat engines for over 20 years within my own successful company before retiring (and yes I do have the bits of paper to prove it). And the end of the day I was just hoping to offer someone a job (not a yard hand) as wood is an alien substance to me and that as a manager that's the trade we need help with. Well at least I tried. May be, judging by your post I shouldn't have bothered Andy B
    2 points
  4. You don't need a lot of training and qualifications for oil and filter changes, repacking the stern greaser, swapping batteries, replacing the morse cables especially if someone else does the final adjustment. I suspect with many modern boaters the above makes up much of the yard work. So without knowing the actual job and level of supervision I think you are being a bit harsh. I know in the original post the op referred to an engineer, but unfortunately in this country the person that installs washing machines is now an engineer, which I no longer get upset about - I am a qualified engineer, and so many times I have been asked when telling people that I am an engineer "do you like doing a dirty job then?".
    2 points
  5. And some wonder why when we pay for a "professional" to do a job and we get a sub-standard job. Notice no qualifications asked for so presumably the RCR chap who is a truck driver but does a bot of repair work on the side (from another topic) will do as long as he is a carpenter as well.
    2 points
  6. I go on my boat to get away from TV and internet.
    2 points
  7. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  8. Hi all My narrow boat has the ? Hopper windows, ie the small top windows that pivot inward. With age they have bedded lower so I presume the rubber the window pane rests on has worn and now only just fasten closed when the swivel locks are turned into position. Please could I be advised on where I can get new rubber strip or a fix to raise the glass panes so they fasten shut properly.
    1 point
  9. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  10. I would suggest you take a holiday on a dog friendly hire boat before you jump into buying one. book the holiday late season or in winter if you can, then you may get a taste of what real life living on a boat is with muddy towpaths, running out of diesel/water/gas/room in pump out tank etc .
    1 point
  11. Andy, don't get disheartened, hopefully someone suitable will see the advert and come along. I have no doubt given your skills and your marinas reputation, you will find someone suitable. Pedant should be listed under the Avatars of some of the posters on here along with gender and pints drunk at banters.
    1 point
  12. I know a chap who has all the skills you ask for. He says his trade is 'shipwright'.
    1 point
  13. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  14. Looking at it another way, with the catalogues in front of me and 40 years with my head in this stuff it would be pretty churlish not to wouldn't it. The drawings for these things are generic and rarely complete. There will be a cutaway in the side of the thing for cables, maybe there is an appropriate grommet, I will check. I am on the solent coast. I could probably get it delivered direct to you for eight squids.
    1 point
  15. I think this might be the manual. It suggests that it is adjustable. https://www.victronenergy.com/Manuals/atlas combi/atlas combi uni/Ac10001e.PDF
    1 point
  16. The last couple of pictures show 5 mugs on that ex-sunken boat. I'd certainly think carefully before paying good money to be the sixth!
    1 point
  17. Glad to help, the registration postcode is just identifying the constituency that you will be voting in. Thanks for adding the link, I don't find attaching stuff always goes to plan!
    1 point
  18. Ahhh thanks BWM, I'll go and give that a try, I didn't realise I could have it sent to my sister's address without registering there. Will have some fun now trying to download it on my phone & print the forms without a printer! Cheers for the advice. Edit; form was easy to find with your advice thanks, I was using the on line application when I should have been using the paper form. Link in case it's useful for anyone else; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/voter-registration-forms-paper-versions It's towards the bottom of the list. Thanks again.
    1 point
  19. I gave a tow to a boat for an hour on Sunday, whose electrical system appeared to have died completely. When I noticed his jacket read "University of Cambridge Engineering Department" I did have a bit of a tease....
    1 point
  20. Grey black smoke is usually an over fuelling problem, oil smoke would be blue. I would be looking at the injectors. Maybe simply a blocked or collapsed air filter. Try removing the air filter and running the engine.
    1 point
  21. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  22. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  23. Does your gearbox have a reduction box fitted to it ? If so, a badly worn chain and sprockets could be the source of the noises. I think that some Wortham Blake (although it might have been 'Watermota' - it was a long time ago!) reverse gears were supplied with duplex or triplex chain reduction boxes instead of the more usual pinion and reduction wheel set-up. It is easy enough to establish whether it is a chain or a gear equipped box - just check the rotation of the reduction box output shaft/half coupling - if it is rotating in the same hand as the engine crankshaft in ahead gear, then you have got a chain equipped reduction gear.
    1 point
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  25. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  26. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  27. I suspect that many, if not most, people working on the cut have no formal qualifications in boat maintenance. I would feel happier giving work to somebody who had years of experience of fixing boats than somebody with a formal automotive qualification and no boat experience. And just what qualification should a boat "engineer" have? Able to service and do basic repairs on engines and gearboxes, boat plumbing skills, 12 volt and 240 electrics (but 240v done differently to domestic) and woodwork skills....and hand brushing enamel paint. Maybe an enterprising university will provide a degree course. As for the abuse of the word "engineer", language evolves and engineer now means "anybody who works with their hands on any sort of machinery". And technician now means a more specialist engineer. I am a professional engineer but I no longer get upset by this, It ain't gonna change. ......................Dave
    1 point
  28. But - the term is unknown / unused on lumpy water, so unless she was an 'inland waterway' 'skipper' she wouldn't be aware of it.
    1 point
  29. The add does say they want a person with " a good background in narrowboat repairs and maintenance but with a leaning towards woodwork/carpentry". It looks to me as if they are looking for a "Jack of all trades" and we know how that saying goes. Despite the title the add does not even mention "engineer". I do not feel I was impolite, however I may well have touched upon a raw nerve. So you would be happy for a welder to work on your boat electrics or a carpenter to rebuild your engine? Specify the phrase "repairing narrowboats". Assuming the OP is not looking for a Jack of all trades then as the add stands he will have a lot more weeding out of candidates than he need. Actually I read the add as being for not much more than a yard hand.
    1 point
  30. This is unfair. The ad acknowledges that people can be good without formal qualifications. No indication is given of the testing of the applicant's abilities so it is not possible to make a judgement on whether they would guarantee a good recruit.
    1 point
  31. Well, yes you could, but ideally batteries require recharging daily if they've been discharged. If you're away from the boat then obviously you're not discharging the batteries and they don't require a daily charge but if you're on the boat and discharging the batteries at night then they should be recharged each morning. Gel batteries are somewhat more tolerant of this 'rule' than lead acid batteries but require quite different charging characteristics. I'll come to that later. Yes The only advantage bearing in mind your usage as you explained earlier in the thread is that Gel batteries are somewhat more tolerant of being left in a discharged state for a day or two. But with their total capacity being only 60% of 4 new Trojans you'll be needing to charge them up daily anyway. As I said earlier in this thread, for marine use Deep Cycle Traction Batteries are best, followed by Semi-Traction (like T105s), followed by Gel. Whatever you fit must be charged correctly for long life. Gel batteries require an entirely different charging curve to conventional lead-acid so it is essential that you have set your Victron charger to the 'Gel' setting for when you're on shore power. Gel batteries also do not like to be charged for extended periods at absorption voltages once they are fully charged, so if you cruise for extended periods it may be advisable to fit an alternator controller which will monitor the batteries and reduce the alternator output when the batteries are full. It would help to know what voltage your alternator charges at. Speaking of monitoring the batteries, what battery monitor do you have? Voltage? Current? Ah counter?
    1 point
  32. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  33. You are from Ellesmere Port? Well i'm not too sure what pleasure you get from gloating but whatever turns you on.....
    1 point
  34. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  35. Are you advertising for and Engineer or a Technician?
    1 point
  36. The wiring looks good. Hard to tell from the picture, but make sure that they can't move around, or be knocked over. A boat safety scheme requirement and sensible too. This might involve a bit of woodwork. Always something to consider when changing to different sizes and/or numbers of batteries. A third battery would need another short red and black link wire, with the red wire to the boat going to one end battery and the black wire to the other end battery of the three. Three batteries are fine, provided they are of the same construction type. Jen
    1 point
  37. Well, back on topic and an update to our battery saga. We had a wonderful four days on the cut over the Easter weekend. However, at one point we pulled in to a chandlers to get our stern greaser sorted out, and at this juncture my other half decided to have the batteries replaced at the same time (they had been playing up a bit the previous evening, and followers of this thread will know that two of our bank of four 6v batteries had been disconnected from the circuit). I regret having agreed to this now, because the chandlers didn't stock 6v batteries so we ended up with two 12v batteries as shown in the picture. These are Leoch GTP-12150s, and are pretty good quality (and expensive) units, but i had mistakenly underestimated the capacity of the Trojans from memory, which are considerably superior. We therefore now have a mere 300 Ah capacity compared with 500 if we'd gone for four T-105s. Well, i guess we're stuck with them now, and will just have to manage our power consumption a bit more carefully. I guess there are some disadvantages in having really high capacity batteries in that they would require more engine running to get them fully charged and keep them above 50%..... Anyway, the main reason for posting the picture is to ask whether this is the optimum wiring configuration for two batteries in parallel, since the wiring diagrams i've looked at show the positive and negative feeds to the circuit coming off the same battery. Also, can another be added to this circuit, or do they have to be connected up in multiples of two?
    1 point
  38. I presume your response was "And?"
    1 point
  39. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  40. Three cheers for Sir Nibble. How many posters on this forum are so helpful (even though, I know, many are).
    1 point
  41. Eggs-actly, plus, the walking about on your boat may just rock his boat and affect his signal. Give him the choice "utch up a bit or let me tie up alongside and walk over your boat to take the dog out - your choice !!!"
    1 point
  42. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  43. Yer welcome If I had a bit more time and didn't have Man Flu I'd have offered to make it.
    1 point
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  45. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
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  48. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
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