A little help and advice please

[Dave painter]

Hello , may I ask for a little help and advice regarding my 1989 shadow 26 cruiser or even a suggestion as to where I can get some help , I have recently acquired the boat as a semi sort of live aboard and maybe an opportunity to bring together a slightly fragmented family , I cannot as yet afford the obvious choice of a traditional narrow boat but am content that what I have is in reasonable order and will be cost effective to maintain for now , I have experience of various narrow beam cruisers but some of the systems on this boat are confusing me , 

the jabsco toilet does not seem to flush I have followed the pipes to a couple of valves but cannot figure what position they should be in , there is also an orange electric square switch by the loo which other than an electric motor running can see no purpose to this switch there is also a wall mounted lever behind the driver seat which logic tells me is involved in the toilet but I cannot see how ,

there are also a pair of Volvo penta up down switches below the throttles that I have no idea what they do they are not the trim and tilt switches which are above the throttles and there is a press button beneath these which again does nothing and is not the horn , also when I trim the stern drives to a central position the very quickly drop back to the lowest position , is this a hydraulic issue ? Does something need bleeding or priming ? I see no evidence of a leak ! 

on a recent river trip the hot water system stated working and stayed hot for days but having left the boat for five days I cannot get hot water again 

i have added a couple of pics below of the confusing levers and switches 

if anyone has advice or experience of these systems Or this type of boat I will happily accept advice or pay for someone's time to show me what to do .

The boat is moored at Upton upon Severn marina near Tewkesbury

thanks for reading and allowing me access to this site 

Dave 

[Tony Brooks]

Are you aware that the hot water may well be heated by the engine so no engine running for at least an hour under power then you are not likely to get hot water. There might or might not be another water heating system a swell but less likely on that type of boat.

If the boat was well built AND if the toilet is typical for that type of boat it may draw water from the river for flushing. Is there a valve on the sea inlet that feeds the flush pump? If so is it open, Ideally it would have been turned off when the bat was unoccupied.

No idea abut the switches but at a guess I would suggest navigation lights and riding/mast head light. Sometimes a bilge pump is controlled by a push button switch but that is more usual on hire boats. One switch may be for a bilge blower.

[X Alan W]

Was there not an owners manual on the boat? Is the company that built the boat still in business ? an E mail phone call to them if they are may get answers to your queries

[Alan de Enfield]

This cruiser was a radical design in its day offering a wide beam for her length together with a large perspex sliding door to the cabin. The open plan cabin is famed for comfortable seating which folds down into berthing.2 versions of the boat were made. The offshore version had 2 larger petrol engines on outdrives and ths river boat version featured a modification to the hull to allow the installation of a shaft driven single Volvo diesel engine. There was also an option of hard top or a full canopy version. The first era of craft were fitted out by Victoria marine in warsash. Shadow cruisers in Norfolk took over and were producing there version up to the mid 2000,s

You say "throttles" (plural) so I guess it is the offshore variant.

Has it been modified does it still have twin petrol engines ?

If it is the offshore variant you may be better off asking on a 'lumpy-water' forum.

 

 

Shadow-26_1.pdf

[croftie]

Are the extra up/down for trim tabs?

[Naughty Cal]

1 hour ago, croftie said:

Are the extra up/down for trim tabs?

My thoughts exactly. They will do bugger all at river speeds anyway so don't worry about them.

The legs drooping is indicative of leaking trim ram oil seals. Depending on the model of the rams and drives you may be able to get seal kits or it could be replacement rams.

[Dave painter]

thank you for the replies and helping to solve the mystery of the trim tabs , yes this is the twin engine petrol version and seems to have one 80 gal fuel tank . the hot water system did heat from the engine I now realise and there is also an immersion tank 240v but that does not seem to be working so will test and repair. I have ordered a complete handle assembly for the toilet but am still unsure as to the valve positions but will take some pics once I have the pump handle assembly fitted this week .

has anyone any clues as to what the first pic is ?it turns left and right and has pipes going into the back it looks like a valve of some kind but the pipes are hidden behind panelling so cannot as yet trace them.

may thanks to those offering advice it is very helpful and reassuring , and thanks to the operators of the site for providing such an excellent reference point

[Chewbacka]

If it was a saltwater boat the toilet may be one where it can discharge it's contents directly into the sea - allowed off shore - or when inland into a small holding tank, there should be a change over valve to direct the output.  It may take it's flushing water from the canal/sea rather from the onboard water tank, in which case there should be a sea cock to close off the supply when leaving the boat, is this open?

Why doesn't it flush?  If manual, then possibly no water, if electric then again possibly no water supply or the holding tank is full and it has a float switch to prevent overflow into the canal/river.  I think you need to remove some covers to work out what you have.

[Graham Davis]

2 hours ago, Dave painter said:

thank you for the replies and helping to solve the mystery of the trim tabs , yes this is the twin engine petrol version and seems to have one 80 gal fuel tank . the hot water system did heat from the engine I now realise and there is also an immersion tank 240v but that does not seem to be working so will test and repair. I have ordered a complete handle assembly for the toilet but am still unsure as to the valve positions but will take some pics once I have the pump handle assembly fitted this week .

has anyone any clues as to what the first pic is ?it turns left and right and has pipes going into the back it looks like a valve of some kind but the pipes are hidden behind panelling so cannot as yet trace them.

may thanks to those offering advice it is very helpful and reassuring , and thanks to the operators of the site for providing such an excellent reference point

That will only work when you are moored and connected to a 240v shore supply.