What have you fettled for the boat today?

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

Think I’ve just fixed another oil leak, does that count as fettling?

I’m pleased with myself any way 😁

[Hudds Lad]

28 minutes ago, Goliath said:

Think I’ve just fixed another oil leak, does that count as fettling?

I’m pleased with myself any way 😁

Depends, which ‘oil wer leakin? Lug ‘oil, plug ‘oil or arse ‘oil? sithee  

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

On 28/02/2023 at 16:55, Hudds Lad said:

Depends, which ‘oil wer leakin? Lug ‘oil, plug ‘oil or arse ‘oil? sithee  

I think I spoke too soon. 
It’s back…

 

🤬

[Hudds Lad]

I started on a half table top for the dinette last week, about 2ft square, to use just one desmo leg rather than the two.

Am repurposing parts of a pine desk/bed thing i salvaged when my neighbour was chucking it.

So far i’ve made the top and machined some edging that will give it a similar profile to the existing table and woodwork.

Just spent the last couple of hours sanding all the old varnish off the parts i’ve made and am now waiting for my hands to stop vibrating  

I’ll take some pics when i mitre the trims and start glueing it up.

[Hudds Lad]

Still waiting for some long sash clamps to arrive so made a bit to go under the desmo socket.

 

 

[Hudds Lad]

Finished article in situ, worked out well for just two of us to sit at. It’s not perfect (should have double checked table saw for square) and I think I would possibly rout the profile after assembly if doing again. It’ll do until I can find some white oak at a Yorkshire price  

 

 

[magnetman]

Nice. 4 weeks seems a long time. 

[GUMPY]

Today I have fettled a memory stick containing all the manuals, diagrams, pictures etc for Loddon.

There is a paper copy of much of it but the mem-stick is the definitive reference.

[David Mack]

11 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

It’ll do until I can find some white oak at a Yorkshire price  

White American Oak from Yorkshire. Not the cheapest (their European oak is cheaper)  but it's lovely stuff and comes planed exactly to the stated dimensions. They will also do other sizes to order if you contact them.

https://www.britishhardwoods.co.uk/planed-timber-american-white-oak-wood.html

 

[Hudds Lad]

1 hour ago, magnetman said:

Nice. 4 weeks seems a long time. 

I'm no joiner, just a tinkerer, the odd half hour or hour when i could. Also it had been finished a week before we got to the boat to take a pic.

 

1 hour ago, David Mack said:

White American Oak from Yorkshire. Not the cheapest (their European oak is cheaper)  but it's lovely stuff and comes planed exactly to the stated dimensions. They will also do other sizes to order if you contact them.

https://www.britishhardwoods.co.uk/planed-timber-american-white-oak-wood.html

 

That's a pound a metre dearer than my local timber yard  

 

I have a mate who works for a firm who make bespoke oak staircases and things, think it's time we went for a pint (if he's buying)  

[Ianws]

8 hours ago, Loddon said:

Today I have fettled a memory stick containing all the manuals, diagrams, pictures etc for Loddon.

There is a paper copy of much of it but the mem-stick is the definitive reference.

Back up the memory stick. I've had a few decent branded ones that have just given up the ghost  

[MtB]

1 minute ago, Ianws said:

Back up the memory stick. I've had a few decent branded ones that have just given up the ghost  

 

Seconded.

 

Also, if you simply can't remember where you put it you're equally stuffed. DAMHIK.

 

Nowadays everything I have lives in the iCloud. Apple tends not to lose my stuff yet but I accept there is still a small risk.

 

 

 

 

[GUMPY]

7 hours ago, Ianws said:

Back up the memory stick. I've had a few decent branded ones that have just given up the ghost  

It's also in my Dropbox and on the harddrive of my laptop. This is really just a convenient way to pass all the info on to a new owner when the boat is sold rather than for my benefit.

7 hours ago, MtB said:

Nowadays everything I have lives in the iCloud. Apple tends not to lose my stuff yet but I accept there is still a small risk.

 

I use Dropbox and Google Drive, multiple copies of everything.

 

And access from anywhere and any device

[Neil TNC]

21 hours ago, Loddon said:

Today I have fettled a memory stick containing all the manuals, diagrams, pictures etc for Loddon.

There is a paper copy of much of it but the mem-stick is the definitive reference.

Graham Thomas had a similar memory stick for Barge Maurice A, my memory has been purged of the bloody thing. (once a narrowboater, always a narrowboater)

[Momac]

My Flojet domestic  water pump has been playing up a bit. It's been failing to cut out intermittently and becoming worse with time.

On inspection this afternoon the filter on the water tank side has  quite a few flakes of what looked like limescale in it. A good clean out and new O ring seals on the filter had no benefit.

So opening up the pump there was a little limescale crud .  Nothing that looked like it should cause an issue.

I manually worked the pressure switch a few times .  It seemed okay.

On re-assembly the pump now seems to be working and cutting out as it should. Maybe my manual working of the pressure switch  did the trick.

Not the first time I have had this pump apart but its been a while since the last occasion. Anyhow it seems the effort of a good clean out was worth it .

 

[Naughty Cal]

In the last few days the van has been for its MOT, full service and cam belt and water pump change.

 

Almost reminded me of boat sized bills 

[Hudds Lad]

2 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

In the last few days the van has been for its MOT, full service and cam belt and water pump change.

 

Almost reminded me of boat sized bills 

You could swap it for one of these (pic) and fit it out for living rather than passengers, best of both worlds?  

On second thoughts, i suppose you’d have two licences to pay so may not be that economic  

 

[IanD]

6 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

You could swap it for one of these (pic) and fit it out for living rather than passengers, best of both worlds?  

On second thoughts, i suppose you’d have two licences to pay so may not be that economic  

 

 

Would be handy on shallow canals though, put offroad tyres on and you'd never get stuck in the mud... 😉

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

In the last few days the van has been for its MOT, full service and cam belt and water pump change.

 

Almost reminded me of boat sized bills 

 

Whats the cam belt change interval on those engines?

[magnetman]

An amphib campervan would in theory be wicked. The obvious problem being that it is primarily designed as a road vehicle so things like overnight mooring would be out of the question I suspect. 

 

Not looked into it but in the design specs there is probably a maximum amount of time it can be in the water for and a specific amount of time it needs to be kept on land to dry off. 

 

I think the way to do this would be to just forget about going on roads. Who wants to go on roads anyway ? 

 

 

[Momac]

39 minutes ago, M_JG said:

 

Whats the cam belt change interval on those engines?

I’m guessing there are time related recommendations , like  every 5 years regardless of mileage .

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, MartynG said:

I’m guessing there are time related recommendations , like  every 5 years regardless of mileage .

 

Indeed. Ours is ten years. But I won't be pushing it thar far if we still have it then.

[Naughty Cal]

38 minutes ago, M_JG said:

 

Indeed. Ours is ten years. But I won't be pushing it thar far if we still have it then.

Its 120k miles or 4 years for heavy use, 5 years for "normal" use. Usually every 5 years on a motorhome, they don't tend to rack up stupidly high mileage. 

 

Our is/was 4.5 years old at change. Not strictly due until October but the van was MOTed 6 months early when we bought it so we have now brought all of the servicing back to April as well to keep it altogether. It had done just under 21k miles when changed. 

 

We saw the belt, tensioners and pump that came off and although in good condition there were signs of wear and use on them. We definitely won't be stretching it beyond 5 years when it is due again, assuming we till have this van by then.