ETS Jess

I have a Bubble and asked the same question last year. If you open the glass door and have a good look at the insides, you'll see the fire box is totally different than that of a solid fuel (have a Google) Say you could somehow modify it, solid fuel burns much hotter, the fittings and flue of your bubble may not be able to take that heat as it's not what its designed to do. The bubble is easy once you know how, it's less maintenance than solid fuel, you fill the tank, light it and leave it on tick over all winter, solid fuel you have to keep an eye on a lot, keep it stoaked, empty the dust pan etc and if it's running your Rads too, you have to manage the temperature so the radiator water doesn't boil over. If it does, you have to keep the water topped up else you're at risk of your pipes exploding and throwing boiling water on you and guests. (I love the real fire of a solid fuel stove too, i'm not dissing it!) The bubble works by dripping diesel into the pot. Diesel isn't the easiest thing to light, you need to get it warm and the rising fumes are what burn. Remove the "stones" and the top "pot" (the one made of mesh) Turn the fuel on, up to 5 or 6 on the dial. There is a stick on the side of the stove. Twist that round and round and back and forth (don't pull it out!) and after a few seconds, you'll see fuel entering the stove. I use a "fire clicker" (Yes, these are all technical terms) you know, like a lighter on a stick. Hold the flame near the fuel and it will light eventually. If you can't wait, snap a bit off a "Fire lighter block" and light that. Drop it in and reassemble the stove. If you're still having trouble, it might need a bloody good clean. This is what i do: Close the fuel pipe. Somewhere on the side of the "mechanism" at the back, there's a little round/triangle shape plate. That's the fuel filter. Put a tray under it and remove. I soak it in washing up liquid, clean a rinse really well. Pop it back in. Put a dust sheet down all around the the stove feet. Put on rubber gloves and a dust mask. If you have the "real fire effect" stones in, take them out and gently clean them with a stiff paint brush. Take the two "pots" out and clean them too. Remove the metal piece under the flue (i'm not sure what its called but it's across the top of the inside of your stove. Give it a wiggle, it will come off.) Clean that. Put a bowl inside the stove under the chimney, shut the door and then get on the roof with a chimney brush and give it a really thorough brush all the way down (if you don't have access to one, a broom handle with a wire brush gaffa taped to to it will do, you just have to rotate it as you sweep up and down.) Your chimney on the roof will come off, it might need unscrewing, but it will come off, so remove it so you're only dealing with the flue. Have a cuppa while the dust settles, then open the door and remove the bowl of dust. Next, i use the brush adapter on the vacuum and scrub/vac all the soot out from the sides and all the nooks and crannies. Clean the vacuum filters after, i can just put mine in the sink with washing up liquid and remove the soot out of the vacuum cone by tapping it (do this outside). Sound like a faff but it's a 10 minute job. Reassemble Stove (I have never used the fire with the "Stones" in, it makes no difference other than a "real fire effect" -less faff to light the fire if they're already out.) You will might need to get air out of the fuel pipe. There is (apparently, but i can't find mine) a pump on the back of the stove mechanism to do such a job. Now, I'm a Brummie and rough as a bear's arse, so i turn the fuel on to 3 or 4, put a J-cloth over the fuel tank breather pipe and blow down it. The cloth catches the moisture in your breath and stop you getting diesel on your lips (yum). But i obviously can't advise you to do that. Whole job takes half an hour, and i only do it twice a year, once before winter and once after. Hope that helps Jess

My boat is a (domestic) Hancock & Lane, i was told she was built in '79 but the info CRT have on her state she's a '74 build. I've never seen a H&L working boat, so i don't know if the "tell tale" features of domestic H&L's would apply, but the handrails and the front of the bow pictured above are similar (although they're pretty standard Norfolk rails) Without a regular cabin i guess the curved top sides (where they meet the welldeck) weren't necessary

Thank you all very much, Alan_Fincher - I think i should be ok then, my partners father is an electrical engineer and yesterday he popped over to have a look at the current set up and is helping me re-design the 12v system. He's hoping to get some wire, i'm not sure what it is called, but it's the familiar black and red multi-core (?) cable, but they come together, enclosed in a black sheath, so that should be the "double-insulated" part covered. I'll also have new water pipe and new copper gas pipe, both services will be simplified with less angles and connections. I'll get round to writing a build blog and supply more details, the kitchen refit has evolved into a whole boat re-vamp, seems like the sensible time to do it seeing as i have access to more of the boat than usual. Thanks again all Jess

Thanks Paul, Yes, it will be good to simplify it. As it stands, Gas comes in on the port side, angle down to a "T" to the Oven then angle up, angle over-head and angle down to the starboard side, angle and then a "T" to the boiler and a last angle to the hob. Will replace with new straight run in the starboard, "T" to the oven, "T" to the hob and an angle to the boiler. -BSS depending!

As it stands, i have a copper gas pipe running along side a 240v arctic cable and the boat passed her BSS with flying colours earlier in the year. So does this mean that there is absolutely no point in BSS exams? I have emailed BSS headquarters for their definitive answer but no one is in the office until next week. Thank you for taking the time to research that.

I posted here as i know the community has a lot of experience and experts such a BSS examiners are regulars here. If discrepancies such as your example are the norm, then i guess asking a "random selection of people" for advice such as "check the BSS guidelines" is what i do need to rely on. Thanks.

Hi all Kitchen refit is going well, I am changing my existing kitchen layout from a both sides "walk through" format to an "L" shape on the Port side. At the moment, I have 12v/240v/Gas under the gunnel on the Starboard side and 12v/240v/Water under the gunnel on the Port. Is there any reason why i can't have gas, water and electric all under the same gunnel? i'll leave a 12v and 240v loom under the starboard too. Any advice for doing this? Do the lines need to be isolated from each other? thank you! Jess

Thanks both

Hello all, I'm revamping the boat, which will include addressing the internal hull steel. My water tank seal failed and the boat ended up flooding (no damage done, just very humid for a while!) I'm also refitting the kitchen, changing the current layout from both sides of the galley to all down the port side - that will result in all of the "living areas" being on the port side, and therefor all of the weight. So, i'll be removing the floor boards and ballast (one hull bulkhead at a time), removing what looks like roofing felt and then scraping the flaking blacking off. I'll Fertan and repaint and refit ballast and.... felt.... Questions! What do you recommend i paint the steel with? i'm not keen on the idea of bitumen. is Bilge paint the way to go? Zink Oxide? Raddle Red? Do i only replace the ballast on the starboard side? Will this balance out the over all weight or is this not a good idea? Thank you for any suggestions! Jess

Lady Muck, if I change my user name, will my current one show up on my profiles "username history"? thanks all jess I can't see how to change my display name

Hi, is there a way to stop individual users from contacting me/ seeing my posts? Thanks, Jess

Voted

This is the bow of my 1979 Hancock and Lane, (best pic I have at the moment) - your front bow is stubby enough to be a H&L but other than that they're totally different, even if the gas locker was a later addition - that said, I've never seen a hancock and lane older than '79 - mine might be a "new" style?

Mine went boom not so long ago, Acid EVERYWHERE. I didn't have any bi-carb and the only thing I had enough of to cover the whole engine room was Cement which is alkali and worked a dream! Bear in mind it was an emergency and too late to get to the shops. I assumed it was a dead cell in my battery too, however think about why the cell is dead - turns out I had a faulty charger, which had killed the cell. So I definitely suggest getting the charger checked. Here's a link to my post if it is any help to you - http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=67670 Jess

Thanks Phil, I'm still interested to get a wide view across the network - I hope to travel continuously eventually, its all useful info for me. It's been a big help so far, thanks all