Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 18/06/17 in all areas

  1. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  2. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  3. 2 points
  4. Generally these will be on 'old' narrowboats (1970 / 80s) and will potentially have a lot of other problems as well. It is generally a 'bad' thing because it is almost impossible to seal the GRP top against the Steel 'bottom' and you will have leaks pretty much every time it rains. The different rates of expansion of 'plastic & steel' means that whatever seal you do today may well be 'cracked' by tomorrows sunshine (- when the steel gets hot and expands). They will be expensive to try and maintain (and almost impossible to get water tight), and several owners I know have 'bitten the bullet' and had the top cut off and a new steel one fabricated. If you are looking to buy one (because it is cheap) then my advice would be save up a bit longer and get a 100% steel NB.
    2 points
  5. In this country it would only be useful for two or three days in a typical summer. I reckon a small bilge pump sucking water from the cut and a spray nozzle to coat the roof would work well and be very cheap. Many boaters have a spare bilge pump anyway. Lots of heat removed as the water evaporates. It would encourage algae growth, but I could cope with that. Must admit weekends like this I start planning to repaint the boat white! Jen
    2 points
  6. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  7. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  8. If you stick an ecofan on the top of the upturned bucket the ice cubes will last twice as long.
    1 point
  9. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  10. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  11. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  12. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  13. Here's a cheap and simple PSW inverter design that used PWM: http://www.instructables.com/id/Adaptable-24vDC220vAC-Pure-Sinewave-Inverter-1/
    1 point
  14. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  15. In the 1980's some telephone exchanges were cooled by circulating chilled water through ceiling mounted radiators and raining the cold air between the equipment racks, so you idea is viable. However most telephone exchanges, and and an increasing number of data centres now use "free cooling", which is basically big fans forcing air at ambient tempersture from outside the building past the equipment at a high velocity. Both systems cool well, but it is much cheaper to buy a big fan and force lost of air through your boat than installing heat exchangers, pumps, pipes and radiators. It also has the advantage that air leaks are less messy than water leaks.
    1 point
  16. Whatpub.com confirms that the Swan is closed. I didn't rate it highly when I visited 2 years ago - part was closed off. (See link earlier)
    1 point
  17. I'm not really sure that helps much since if you are introducing contaminants into the environment in the hope that microbes are going to eat them, they will accumulate further up the food chain since larger animals eat smaller animals, eat plankton,eat microbes,(bird eat worms, eat decaying matter and microbes etc.) spendid way of poisoning the environment I would suggest. As an example of contaminated soil, a dog that I used to have would step up onto our lawn an urinate as soon as he got there (always in the same place). Whilst he was alive he managed to kill all plant growth there so we had a permanent bald patch. The dog had now been dead for 9 years, the bald patch remains, since urine contains urea supposedly a fertilizer I would expect that contaminated oil would make something more of a mess. To be honest it's pretty cheapskate to pour used oil away by this means when, for a small cost, it can be properly dealt with. If you do that you are no longer in the position of being able to criticise anyone leaves their dog sh*t on the towpath since, provided it's not already wrapped in a plastic bag awaiting the dog sh*t fairy it will decompose over time, isn't that much the same?
    1 point
  18. Purely opinion but I would suggest it comes down to quantity and location, the occasional litre or two would be unlikely to cause a serious issue, as soil bacterial would likely deal with the base oil. As long as the oil was held in the soil and not washed into a water course and the soil had a high organic percentage, meaning sand/silt heavy soils weren't used, allowing time for the bacteria to work Dumping large quantities could (?) Overwhelm the bacteria But its not just about the base oil, modern oils contain all sorts of additives and waste oil contains all sorts of unpleasantness and even if these compounds are broken down, what is left behind?
    1 point
  19. Only after it has hauled them to the Keel and Peeled them for a Meal!
    1 point
  20. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  21. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  22. Why wouldn't you ?
    1 point
  23. When we did this offshore the blasters would spend all day blasting off the old paint, muck,corrosion etc. Next morning they would quickly blast it again to remove the ginger "rust" that had occurred over night. then if the steel temperature, air temperature and dew point were all OK the "Paint Inspector" would let them apply the first coat of paint with airless spray. While they were painting the "paint Inspector" would measure the wet film thickness of the paint and also keep checking weather conditions. The paint Inspector was not employed by the painting contractor.
    1 point
  24. But - it is the ultimate in re-cycling. Put it back where it came from - 'Ashes to ashes, dust to dust'
    1 point
  25. 'Industrial' painting is a skilled job - and I would consider this a skilled job. If you are doing it yourself with no experience of these type of coatings then make sure you research them well. Read the instructions you get with the coatings and follow them to the letter. This isnt the sort of thing you do having thrown away the manual. Given your location and conditions, here are some of my thoughts. Coatings to protect steel work in 2 ways. One is to stop water and air getting to the metal surface. The second is to add something to passivate the surface ie zinc or lead. The first is done with a good barrier coating (ie epoxy with or without coal tar). It is strong enough to not crack etc....but it has to be applied to a 'perfect' surface. If not then with age, the bond between the coating and steel will start to fail and then if there is a slight crack allowing water/air in to the substrate, then that water will then force the coating/steel bond apart causing rust to spread. Good adhesion is therefore paramount. You have quoted a 4 hour window which I would agree with after which time the blasted steel will develop a rust bloom which will shorten the life of the coating. You therefore need to get the first coat on quickly. The second coat is not so important for adhesion as it should stick to the first - if you follow the instructions on the can. This says it is not a one person job. Assuming it is a 2 pack system, have one person mixing and two people applying. That way you can keep up with the blasting. The next important thing is curing. 2 pack paints cure by the reaction of the 2 parts via a chemical reaction. To get full performance you need 'full' curing. That will not happen unless the temp is higher than 15deg C. Do it on a warm day! Temperature is also important to make sure the surface is ok. You have to be 3-4 deg above the dew point, otherwise the 'clean' metal surface will have condensation on it which will reduce the adhesion and hence reduce lifetime. Dew point is measured by a wet and dry thermometer. At a pinch you can get away with a weather forecast but in practise paint it no earlier than late morning or preferably in the afternoon when the ambient temp should be much higher than the dew point. Do it on a dry day. Linked to curing is thickness. These coatings contain solvents and are designed to be put on at a specific thickness. If too thick then solvent can be trapped which will reduce cure and lead to shorter lifetime. Too much sunshine (or wind) can cause solvents to evaporate too quickly and so cause crocodiling on the surface of the coating which again is bad. Watch out if one side of the boat is in full sun and the other in full shade. Painting the underside will be a real pig. Potentially cold and damp, limited access to get the thickness right. If it was me I would get a professional to do it. If you have to do it yourself, find a few others to help, use an easy to apply primer - one that can be applied easily, and if possible use the belt and braces approach of a passivating primer followed by 2 pack top coats - AND FOLLOW THE MANUFACTURERS INSTRUCTIONS TO THE LETTER. As shown in posts above, others have been able to do this themselves but it is not easy to get 10 year performance unless these coatings are applied properly.
    1 point
  26. If a flanged plug they need to be quite a strong interferance fit, needing quite strong but gentle and careful square knocking in. If its the contact lens type, convex, concave, which ever side you look at it, they push in by hand up against a ridge and then you thump the centre of them to expand them. Hylomar is fine.
    1 point
  27. The concept is fine - execution is quite another matter. I installed air to air conditioning into a computer room in the 70's. There were three units each rated at 3Kw and I think the effective cooling was about 1Kw each. To make the idea work you need a "heat pump" to pump the heat from within the -whatever- to the outside. You'd need a lot of 'leccy to power that. Pouring water over the roof doesn't work either - been there - it just made the cabin more humid. Now if not cruising, we use a number of large computer fans and sit near them...
    1 point
  28. I don't want to labour the point but what Debdale offer is NOT Zinger. Zinger is a PAINT that can and has been DIY applied. You do not seem to have grasped this. You can apply Zinger yourself. It is very unlikely that you can HOT ZINC SPRAY (as done at Debdale) yourself because of getting hold of the kit.
    1 point
  29. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  30. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  31. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  32. Give us a call on Monday. 01926 356400. We support a.lot of concerned Lister owners. You will probably get Sue on the phone. She will help you Richard
    1 point
  33. ... and require every outlet selling takeaways and snacks that are served in any form of packaging to provide a litter bin outside their premises - the shop to be responsible for emptying the bin and managing the waste. Of course much of the waste will be packaging from other shops, but it should be even stevens at the end of the day.
    1 point
  34. Not being of the Rosie & Jim persuasion I found some of that pretty embarrassing, especially the song about gongoozlers getting in the way...
    1 point
  35. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  36. Strange how perceptions of the same post can differ. I read the OP as asking if, as a mooring holder, she could utilise the land abutting up to the towpath - it appears that others reading took her post to be a 'moan' at people who had already claimed the land.
    1 point
  37. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  38. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  39. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  40. I have the Hyundai HY3000sei and I am very happy with it. It easily runs every thing we need including the washing machine and battery chargers at the same time. it has an eco mode so it runs slow under light loads and increases the revs when demands are high, this is noticeable when the heater in the washing machine kicks in or we use the immersion heater. The electric start is great although you need to pump the fuel primer 20-30 times before it will start. The remote start is pointless unless the genny has been recently run, as the petrol will, over time, drain or evaporate and you will need to pump the primer before using the remote. Also the battery will go flat if you leave the switch on the genny for the remote operation switched on for any length of time; you will then need to pull start it. So this is pretty much a gimmick. The only real draw backs are its size, bigger than the Honda, and it's weight. It is a hefty lump to lift on and off the boat. Before buying I would recommend that you find one in a shop or spot one on the bank and tell them you are interested and want to see if you can easily lift it. it may be a suitcase generator but it is more of a suitcase with a body in it. you can also buy them with a gas conversion kit fitted or buy the kit seperately if this is something you were looking for.
    1 point
  41. It could be a Thames lighter, so won't be very heavy
    1 point
  42. It must be very effective then cos I never got hit by any.
    1 point
  43. Oops I didn't realise that was a no no. I've been doing that for years.
    1 point
  44. Using a generator to heat water using an immersion heater is horribly inefficient -- a diesel gen is typically about 25% efficient, a petrol one less than 20%. When burning the fuel to heat the water directly (Eberspacher/Webasto etc) typically more than 80% of the heat ends up in the water, so 4x more efficient than using a generator -- which means 4x lower fuel cost. Also a 4kW heater is cheaper than a 2kW generator, and usually quieter, and can be permanently fitted inside the engine compartment...
    1 point
  45. Yes you will. Unfortunately and its a damn shame they no longer have a uk supplier. The kit is superb. My boat had it fitted from new by the owner who built the boat for his own use, he owned a large hire fleet of narrowboats so specced the boat well for himself. When he sold me the boat he told me that he could no longer get them and was having to use victron or mastervolt. Victron and mastervolt are good but this is better in the many ways it can be set up. I am hoping it doesnt go boobs up but if it does I will research the possibilty of importing one.
    1 point
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.