JohnB

Please consider carefully the removal of the lithium battery. That is probably the best way of supporting a decent inverter and using 240v cooking appliances. One can replace the energy much better in a shorter time than lead acid. I am, in fact considering adding lithium to our set up to be able to make more use of mains cooking equipment when traveling -We think it better to have a more resilient alternative system to the diesel cooker. Please ask if you need more advice... John & Kathy

We have had one of these Oven/Hob units on our boat for about 16 Years. And we really do like its function BUT there are issues with its design and serviceability. We don't live aboard but do travel for months at a time and Kathy takes cooking very seriously. At present we also have an induction hob and are considering bringing the air fryer and/or Remoska for use when long term traveling. I won't at this point go into the detail of how I have tried to sort out better functioning but if you can cope with the servicing and have a secondary facility it "should" be OK. John

I used Foamalux ( foamed PVC, comes in sheet form and many colours) for the deck head lining in our shower cubicle. It has served well for a good few years. We used it at work for casings etc. for experimental scientific equipment. The material will warp round nicely (maybe a bit of heat) to make excellent linings for the port holes. Hope that helps John

In order to put another D3.152 back in... You are so right, they are a lovely engine and it has taken us over most of the inland system BUT The existing engine seems to have had some "questionable maintenance", maybe a training unit, before we got it and it now needs a thorough overhaul. Anyways I have a newer engine which will be a better bet when it's been through the workshop. I "just" have to get the details sorted so there are no nasty issues when I do the swap away from home!

Err... do you think one of those would fit in along with the engine or should I use that instead.

Thank you both. It will fit, the timing cover will clear and stripped down nothing else sticks out. I am only contemplating this as I shall have to move off our home mooring to a less convenient boatyard to do the work. and the likely slot will be during the cold bit of winter...

I am organsing the swap of the engine in our traditional engined narrow boat. It could go in through the roof BUT for convenience I would like to "part" it through the 18" wide Doors/hatches. I wonder if it is feasible to handle the basic unit manually.... Does any one have an idea of the weight of a D3.152 without Flywheel,bell-housing and other removable ancillary bits? Thank you John

Our current quite mature engine has served us well but is going to need a serious rebuild very soon and we don't want to be doing that when we should be travelling..... Sooo. We have an ex forklift engine to overhaul and then do a direct swap with our present unit. We are also doing the "tweaks" to make it properly suitable for marine use. The 3HD46 (the marine version of the D3.152) was fitted with a manifold cooler and, at this point in process we could add this into the build.... Given that we have had no issues with the existing set up (an expansion box hung from the roof of the engine room with a flex coupling onto the exhaust manifold) I am trying to decide on what is to be gained from the necessary extra modifications. Does anyone have any observations or advice please ?

The Nene has been "silly" for the last fortnight, the stretch above Orton is well up and there is only 5ft or so clear under the gate at Alwalton lock! It seems that they have been clearing the upper reaches to make room for this band of weather.

Yes it came on just after we left Wansford station mooring and were passing through the next lock, but there was no chance of passing Alwalton as the weir below was chucking it out many feet into the air! and there is a right big whirlpool over the shallows. and it's still on a week later:-( There are two of us still stuck here --- Not sure how we will cope if this coming weather dumps a lot of water.

Thank you all Based on advice from EA we headed down to Northampton yesterday afternoon and the river was completely calm. Anyhow we made fine progress today and sure enough the SSA came off as we were travelling. I presume the bits of tree at the bridge were the cause for the closure but I know four boat have threaded their way through. I think the conditions for boating today have been among the most pleasant we have had on the Nene.

Does anybody on the river have any idea what the flow rate and levels are really like at present on the the Nene. We (and another boat) are hoping to get down to Northampton and along the river very soon. There is a SSA on at the moment but the levels and flood warnings on the catchment maps show green. What are our chances of getting through?

Our D3.152 oil pressure reading behaves in a similar way. The only spec. for oil pressure I can find is 30psi at 1000rpm .... We have both a gauge and pressure switch on our engine and slowing down after a good run the oil warning light flickers for a short while when the revs drop right down; but the gauge shows about 10-15 psi . A slight speed up and let the revs drop back and the light goes off! We do tend to run our engine quite slowly compared to how they would have been run for "real work" and I do notice that hire boats using this engine tend to be run much faster than ours especially at tickover. ( 1400rpm will move us at 7mph on the Great Ouse so we only use a slightly fast tickover on the canals ) For what its worth the oil pressure is being read, I think, from the camshaft feed and that has a cut out in the shaft which causes pulses in pressure switch readings but I assume the (electrical) gauge sender must damp these pulses . Our engine was purchased "marinised". I think from a sold-off ex ministry pump. We did have considerable oil dilution from leaking seals on the fuel injection pump which caused a real drop in oil pressure.

Best I can do for the moment, Hope that will explain.... The picture here was taken when we moved the hull from the builders and the engine was just bolted down for transit. This is the rear Stbd. mount - its part of our gearbox housing, the other feet are similar but different ;-) The finger points to the engine bolt which is now fitted from the top as described by the sketch.