Fitout "good ideas"

[Ex- Member]

View of clamp showing thumbscrew

 

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View of clamp showing hinge (and my 8mm stud welded on)

 

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Definitely a handy type clamp for fixing stuff, Sre these the ones you got from a Plumbcentre? Or if you know their correct name maybe fleabay might have some. I can think of some uses already

[Grace and Favour]

Definitely a handy type clamp for fixing stuff, Sre these the ones you got from a Plumbcentre? Or if you know their correct name maybe fleabay might have some. I can think of some uses already

 

Definitely from Plumb Center (how can one forget the name of a business when the silly so n so's can't even spell it correctly in the UK!)

 

I have stored in the deepest recesses of my spare parts drawers a number of these in different sizes, suitable for my pushbike, my sack truck, my tiller arm etc etc

[Ex- Member]

What to do when rained off

Bloody weather is preventing me finishing off some boat outside jobs. So I end up pottering around our van back workshop LOL

Anyway Searching through some shelving I found a couple of computer fans I bought as a job lot and have used in the boat floor to cool behind the fridge and air under bed and one in the compost loo.

Now on the boat whilst on dry land I use a 240 volt fan to keep cool. Lynn likes it hotter than me so I tend run it quite a lot to keep cool, but a big fan causes a draught and Lynn can often feel it. We also have a 12v car/van 6 inch fan which is ok but a bit noisy clunky operation and cumbersome.

Now these comp fans are 0.35 amps so I wired it up to see how much air it blew and was really surprised, in fact it gives the clunky old car fan a good run for it’s money in the air flow stakes and it's much quieter. So then I thought I would rig it somehow as a portable fan to use on the boat.

30 minutes later a bit of tinkering & soldering I came up with this.






Really simple light and manoeuvrable, I recall paying about 50p each for the fans, the outer casing is simply Ethafoam which is basically a dense kind of packing material but is also handy for all sorts of things and can be used both as sound and heat insulation. Very east to cut & work with too. I made up a 12v ext lead so I can put it almost everywhere utilising the various12v sockets around the boat.

 

You could set it in almost anything though some nice hardwood possibly. and a bit of tinkering by someone clever with electrics could possibly achieve a variable speed.

 

I think the 12x can fan might become redundant.

Cool!

Edited May 14, 2013 by Julynian

[cyclic]

Carrying on from your post, I'll share how computer fans have been utilised on my boat.

My galley has 2 mushroom vents above it, one in the centre and one to the side, pretty much above the hob.

That one has a comp fan in the roof void (such as it is) directing the flow from the galley out thro the mushroom. It was there when I bought the boat, and connected to one of the lighting units near the cooker.

I was amazed a how much grease and grunge had accumulated around the fan in the roof void, so I modified the outflow with a plastic "Big Soup" pot with the bottom cut off. This now directs the greasy air straight out through the mushroom. I've also put a push switch adjacent to the fan so that it doesn't have to run when the light is switched on and I'm not cooking.

 

There's also a comp fan in loo/shower mushroom vent. Obviously when the shower curtain is closed the steam can't escape, so the. shower enclosure is connected to the main mushroom vent by a pipe-also in the roof void--adopting that "filter pump" principle ( if my schoolboy physics has been remembered correctly) so when the light is switched on and the fan runs, it also sucks the steam out of the shower enclosure. Very effectively.

 

I found the packet of another fan, and the rated airflow is 33CFM +-10% and the rated current is 160mA (0.16 A). So you don't have to worry about excessive batty drain.

 

These fans are ideal size for this application, and I wouldn't do without the one in the galley.

[Ex- Member]

Carrying on from your post, I'll share how computer fans have been utilised on my boat.

My galley has 2 mushroom vents above it, one in the centre and one to the side, pretty much above the hob.

That one has a comp fan in the roof void (such as it is) directing the flow from the galley out thro the mushroom. It was there when I bought the boat, and connected to one of the lighting units near the cooker.

I was amazed a how much grease and grunge had accumulated around the fan in the roof void, so I modified the outflow with a plastic "Big Soup" pot with the bottom cut off. This now directs the greasy air straight out through the mushroom. I've also put a push switch adjacent to the fan so that it doesn't have to run when the light is switched on and I'm not cooking.

 

There's also a comp fan in loo/shower mushroom vent. Obviously when the shower curtain is closed the steam can't escape, so the. shower enclosure is connected to the main mushroom vent by a pipe-also in the roof void--adopting that "filter pump" principle ( if my schoolboy physics has been remembered correctly) so when the light is switched on and the fan runs, it also sucks the steam out of the shower enclosure. Very effectively.

 

I found the packet of another fan, and the rated airflow is 33CFM +-10% and the rated current is 160mA (0.16 A). So you don't have to worry about excessive batty drain.

 

These fans are ideal size for this application, and I wouldn't do without the one in the galley.

 

some good ideas for locating fans, we're fortunate in having a large 5f/t pigeon hatch directly above the galley, each side opens and they suck out cooking vapours very well. I might do the bathroom one though, our mushroom vent was a bit central so I created a box section conduit so it would draw from the actual shower cubical through the gap over the glass doors. As I've extended the length the mushroom has to draw air, a fan would compensate nicely.

[pquinn]

Carrying on from your post, I'll share how computer fans have been utilised on my boat.

My galley has 2 mushroom vents above it, one in the centre and one to the side, pretty much above the hob.

That one has a comp fan in the roof void (such as it is) directing the flow from the galley out thro the mushroom. It was there when I bought the boat, and connected to one of the lighting units near the cooker.

I was amazed a how much grease and grunge had accumulated around the fan in the roof void, so I modified the outflow with a plastic "Big Soup" pot with the bottom cut off. This now directs the greasy air straight out through the mushroom. I've also put a push switch adjacent to the fan so that it doesn't have to run when the light is switched on and I'm not cooking.

 

There's also a comp fan in loo/shower mushroom vent. Obviously when the shower curtain is closed the steam can't escape, so the. shower enclosure is connected to the main mushroom vent by a pipe-also in the roof void--adopting that "filter pump" principle ( if my schoolboy physics has been remembered correctly) so when the light is switched on and the fan runs, it also sucks the steam out of the shower enclosure. Very effectively.

 

I found the packet of another fan, and the rated airflow is 33CFM +-10% and the rated current is 160mA (0.16 A). So you don't have to worry about excessive batty drain.

 

These fans are ideal size for this application, and I wouldn't do without the one in the galley.

this sounds like what i need also.can you expand on the "big soup" idea.i have also read that where somebody use a big pop bottle just not sure why.would you not be giving the steam a better chance to condensate by making its exit route smaller?

[woodjam]

MMM WE ARE JUST MOVING ON OUR PROJECT ABOVE NOTED.

tHE IDEA WAS TO RENT OUR House out as we move in.

The gitters might have started.

sugestion of not renting the house out straight away.

 

Ideas do not use mdf when it gets wet and it will you have to replace it ummm expensive.

Make the living room as light as possible.

big windows and roof lights.

Led lights.

[Ex- Member]

Thought this might be the right place for this.

 

Lynn does NOT like stuff strewn on the boat roof LOL even the solar panels, but I'm getting away with that as they allow for a hair drier LOL

 

Anyway I noted we had lots of items that were quite long and thinish, and noted many plumbers vans with tubes for storing & transporting pipework.

 

So I thought of something similar. Finding a decent size tube though is tricky. In the end I went for 160mm plastic Terracotta drainage pipe, this generally comes in 100mm / 4" for regular household drainage. As luck would have it I visited a local builders merchant and they had a load of 3m lengths of the stuff. Some of the pipes had turned Grey and I managed to get a good discount and paid just over £20 each inc v.a.t

 

Lynn didn't like the colour though so they were painted Grey as we thought the plastic might go wobbly if in a dark colour in the heat.

 

Anyway pipes back at the depot and work begins.

 

 

We had half a sheet of 12mm ply left over from the gang planks project, so I cut to shape 4 frames for the tubes then bonded them together with Gorilla Glue to make a pair of 24mm thick frames. Each frame needed 5 holes, 4 for the tubes and a bigger central hole to hold The Whirly gig washing line which is a bigger diameter than the tubes.

 

 

These were all routed out with a small Bosch router and painted with several coats of decking stain left over from the gang plank project. The routered circular off cuts were used as stop ends and glued inside the end of each tube. Proper end caps will be purchased for the removable fronts.

 

With pipes now painted and frame stands ready it was back to the boat to assemble. All went together eventually, a couple of holes a bit tight, we'll just need to seal around all the frame holes & pipes with some clear Stixal to completely weatherproof the ply. The front caps are just standard stop ends with the inner edge polished so it slips on and off the pipe easily. The S/S knobs are just some stuff left over from the boat build.

 

 

 

The tubes hold as follows.

 

Whirly gig drier

9 f/t span sun umbrella.

Telescopic aerial pole.

2 fishing rods & reels

broom & mop handles.

Large Fishing Keep Net

 

Costs

Tubes £41.00

End caps £20 inc delivery

1/2 sheet Ext ply £15.00

 

Basically everything else was in the workshop so total cost just under £80.00

Edited September 2, 2013 by Julynian

[pquinn]

nice job.

[Ex- Member]

Thanks pquinn!

[Bettie Boo]

Thought this might be the right place for this.

 

Lynn does NOT like stuff strewn on the boat roof LOL even the solar panels, but I'm getting away with that as they allow for a hair drier LOL

 

Anyway I noted we had lots of items that were quite long and thinish, and noted many plumbers vans with tubes for storing & transporting pipework.

 

So I thought of something similar. Finding a decent size tube though is tricky. In the end I went for 160mm plastic Terracotta drainage pipe, this generally comes in 100mm / 4" for regular household drainage. As luck would have it I visited a local builders merchant and they had a load of 3m lengths of the stuff. Some of the pipes had turned Grey and I managed to get a good discount and paid just over £20 each inc v.a.t

 

Lynn didn't like the colour though so they were painted Grey as we thought the plastic might go wobbly if in a dark colour in the heat.

 

Anyway pipes back at the depot and work begins.

 

 

We had half a sheet of 12mm ply left over from the gang planks project, so I cut to shape 4 frames for the tubes then bonded them together with Gorilla Glue to make a pair of 24mm thick frames. Each frame needed 5 holes, 4 for the tubes and a bigger central hole to hold The Whirly gig washing line which is a bigger diameter than the tubes.

 

 

These were all routed out with a small Bosch router and painted with several coats of decking stain left over from the gang plank project. The routered circular off cuts were used as stop ends and glued inside the end of each tube. Proper end caps will be purchased for the removable fronts.

 

With pipes now painted and frame stands ready it was back to the boat to assemble. All went together eventually, a couple of holes a bit tight, we'll just need to seal around all the frame holes & pipes with some clear Stixal to completely weatherproof the ply. The front caps are just standard stop ends with the inner edge polished so it slips on and off the pipe easily. The S/S knobs are just some stuff left over from the boat build.

 

 

 

The tubes hold as follows.

 

Whirly gig drier

9 f/t span sun umbrella.

Telescopic aerial pole.

2 fishing rods & reels

broom & mop handles.

Large Fishing Keep Net

 

Costs

Tubes £41.00

End caps £20 inc delivery

1/2 sheet Ext ply £15.00

 

Basically everything else was in the workshop so total cost just under £80.00

As we are planning to be CCer's & I don't want an unsightly (to me) roof, but appreciate we will need to stow some items on it; this is the Best idea I've come across. You should Paten this Julynian!!

 

So glad I took the time to read through the 6 or 7 useless pages of banter, arguing and sarcasm before reaching it - goes to show reading the entire thread is well worth it sometimes

 

B~

[Ex- Member]

As we are planning to be CCer's & I don't want an unsightly (to me) roof, but appreciate we will need to stow some items on it; this is the Best idea I've come across. You should Paten this Julynian!!

 

So glad I took the time to read through the 6 or 7 useless pages of banter, arguing and sarcasm before reaching it - goes to show reading the entire thread is well worth it sometimes

 

B~

 

Cheers Bettie Boo

 

It does work really well and is waterproof, gets some interesting comments too, someone thought it was a solar water heater, some joke they like the rocket launcher

[Sierra2]

Engine raw water cooling, hull inlet valve:

 

After hearing a horror story about a seized engine I would recommend fitting a mini magnet switch to the lever of the shut off tap in the hull. Wired to a buzzer & flashing LED through a relay and powered by the ignition switch, this should remind you that the tap is off before you start the engine and risk causing damage.

 

Chaz

[KarlosMacronius]

Having spent the weekend swearing at the previous owner of our boat as I tried to lift the floor (which then meant i had to remove the built in bed, then the rear wall which meant removing the port side wall, which meant disconecting the calorifier and dismantling the wardrobe which made the ceiling fall down!) I would suggest the best idea is to make any work you do future proof so someones else (or your future self!) can remove elements like wall panels and floor panels easily and piece by piece to avoid a smalll job turning into a much, much bigger job...

 

So DONT do things like drill a hole through a piece of fitted furniture then run 50 feet or 240v cable through it because theres no easy way to get rid of that piece of wood! if you must cut a notch.

[Ex- Member]

Partial up cycling

 

What with the warmer weather on the way we wanted to get some portable cooling fans sorted. Problem is there isn't much in the way of decent 12v stuff. It's usually cheap plastic rubbish or better build materials but so noisy. I bought a Chrome one last year and It's just too loud having tried it recently. There are also some ridiculously priced fans too.

 

With this in mind I was looking at lager sized computer fans on ebay. I've used several 100mm fans in the floor and under the fridge but done so in pairs so was looking for something bigger.

 

I came across some at 140mm just over 5" the seller did a deal for 3 fans for the price of two as well, as he only had one super silent when I ordered 2, so he compensated 2 for 1 on the silent.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151206369636?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

 

I've also access to lots of decent sized quality off cut hard woods and ply woods totally free of charge, so we thought up some design ideas using some ply wood I had recently picked up, it was Lynn though that actually came up with this particular sandwiched design.

 

It's basically 19mm ply squares just over 6" with appropriate size hole routered out for the fan circumference, two of these ply blocks then sandwich the fan after I paired them up drilled through 4 holes lining up with the fans fixing holes then ran through some 5mm studding. I had loads of 5mm polished S/S castle nuts left over from another project so used these either side to tighten in the fan.

 

 

I have some in line switches ordered that will fit neatly in the slotted edge, and some slim 2 core black power lead.

 

 

These fans of course aren't as powerful as 240v fans, but they are dead quiet, and if their within 10 f/t you get a reasonable breeze through them, obviously the more powerful the closer you get.

 

The super silent one is a slower fan and air flow though, we'll use it on the bubble stove next winter to waft some heat around. It's also ideal if you want a fan through the night as it really is silent.

 

The basic silent ones are really quiet too, you would struggle to hear it when it's quiet let alone with tv or radio on.

 

The fans switch & flex cost around £7.00 per unit, wood was free and fittings I already had. Plus a couple of hours playing with wood.

 

Much better than the bog standard on offer IMO

Edited May 6, 2014 by Julynian

[bargemast]

They're looking good, and you're so lucky to have a free supply of plywood and even hard wood off cuts, nice to see it's well used.

 

Peter.

[Sierra2]

Could work with any boat but would suit smaller open top craft with a noisy outboard engine, while listing to music.

 

If using a car type stereo for music in the wheelhouse/helm, wire the bilge pump(s) alarm feed in to the 'mute' cable on the back of the stereo used to turn the music off when a call is received on handsfree kit.

 

 

Chaz

[Steve-H71]

I am about to start a refit. I am planning on having keel coolers. While the old floor is up I will rearrange some of the ballast as best I can. Fit a wooden frame and lay a rubber mat in the bottom. I will have about 5 inches under the floor, I will fit hinged trap doors with 1 inch insulation on the back to help keep it cool. Picture visitors faces when you open this hatch and it's full with bottles of wine . . . 

[Steve-H71]

I will also be fitting a couple of vent into the floor at the front of the cabin, il fit a fan at the back and draw air through the bilge, that should help with any condensation. It will vent into the engine bay so the draw of the engine will also pull air through. I will fit closing vents and a switch for the fan so I can keep the warm air in when it's cold.

[Robster]

On 20/07/2007 at 16:33, -Jack- said:

Now here's a thought - I wonder if you can 'bump start' a boat

Oh my - I'm away over Easter and cannot wait to wind my 15 year old son up with this.....If you happen to see a bloke with a broken leg steering a boat whilst laughing uncontrollably while a teenager tries to pull it along with a rope - give credit to Jack for the idea!

[Tom766]

Andy Woods..."good lad",

 

Yep I traded up from a pretentious bore to a great new gal'. We have literally just bought our first narrowboat and she loves it!!!

[Zanussi]

On 10/29/2004 at 09:56, stuart said:

If doing a fit out, always add a few extra "spare" cable runs down the length of the boat. Useful if you need to replace a wire or have a new gadget to wire up. Just tuck them up into the conduit/panels out the way.

Amen to that! Just re-wired my boat from scratch and to my dismay had to go back and run more cables for unforeseen add ons I later realised I could not live without: fuel level sender, gangway light when coming home from pub, USB socket to allow phone on navigate map when in unfamiliar territory, an additional bilge pump in the bow, map light in the cockpit. As a general rule of thumb pick the most difficult places to run power too and run cable there while the decks and bulkheads are stripped.

 

[Allthatjaz]

On 25/10/2007 at 13:10, robpw said:

How elaborate do you want your electrics?

 

Keep a good schematic of electrics and mark each cable well

at various point along the length.

 

Make your cable runs twice the size that you first thought of

and leave one cable spare to act a draw string. Include

access points in each cabin.

 

Keep mains and battery cable well apart and clearly marked.

 

Think carefully about auto and manual switching of split charge system

and 240ac hookup.

 

Provide a ring main, just as important as on dry land!

 

Fit suitable Residual Current Device/s.

 

Read up specs on available inverters. You don't really want those

cheaper square waves if your fond of digital devices like Sat tv

and computer screens. Pure sine is best but of course with every

degree of arc comes a greater cost.

 

 

robpw

Good advice. I'll add to that... make friends with a good electrician because it should be a qualified electrician doing this stuff. 

[WotEver]

1 hour ago, Allthatjaz said:

Good advice.

Not all of it. The ring main isn’t for starters. 

 

1 hour ago, Allthatjaz said:

it should be a qualified electrician doing this stuff. 

Not at all. Why do you think this?

 

Quite besides the fact that it’s an 11 year old post that you’re commenting on. 

[Phil Ambrose]

2 hours ago, WotEver said:

Not all of it. The ring main isn’t for starters. 

 

Not at all. Why do you think this?

 

Quite besides the fact that it’s an 11 year old post that you’re commenting on. 

Or to give it it's correct title.. a Zombie Thread 

Phil