New engine mounts fitted!

New engine mounts fitted without lifting the engine. Ada had an Aquadrive so left all connections in place and levered up engine and supported it on blocks whilst removing and replacing each mount in turn. Extracted the bolt and then took off the mounting retaining bolts. Getting to the underside to take off and then refix the mounting bolts was excruciating ... I needed to be about 150mm shorter and 20 kgs lighter to fold myself up and reach under the engine.
Took most of the day so not sure I'd do it again without lifting the engine as only the Aquadrive and the exhaust would need to be disconnected.
Took off the bed parts to remake the bed at home to create the extra storage under the bed ... and after that back to the plan to take off and test all the batteries before we set off mid June!

Disappointed readers!

19 readers for 'Introducing Ada' and only for 1 or 2 for each of the following post ... 17 readers must have been very disappointed to discover Ada is a narrowboat!

Ada's toilet had a 'heart attack'

With daughter having a fortieth birthday treat, we had care of granddaughter, N, for 2 nights. We had decided a short cruise in Ada would be a treat for her. All seemed well with the first dry weekend since March forecast until, at 8 o'clock on the first evening, the macerator toilet failed to empty! The motor was running, but not the normal sound, and only a small amount of water was being taken away. Could I have done anything plumbing in the new tank? No, so need to take out and strip the toilet ... at 8.30 at night.
The toilet was installed when the boat was new, 14 years ago, and has worked faultlessly ever since. Having it go wrong was always one of my concerns. Three connects to remove, electrical ... just a plug and socket, fresh water supply at the solenoid ... jubilee clip but a bit of a fiddle having been there for 14 years, and the 1 1/2" foul water discharge ... to remove it involved some leakage of foul water. What I found was the innards furred up and a valve in the discharge pipe blocked with debris that had broken away ... just like a heart attack! The innards were remarkably simply ... how is the high cost justified!
Massaging the rubber pipes and rinsing them removed the furring but he valve had to be scrapped. It seemed a delicate mechanism but its only function appeared to be preventing a small amount of water flowing back. Cleaned as best I could, reassembled and refitted by 1130 the toilet worked again but need to consider getting a replacement for that valve.
Back home a bit of online research revealed ... that domestic macerators furring up is a known problem but nothing in boating forums ... ordinary cleaning agents, that do not foam, can be used ... spare parts are very, very limited ... a phone call to Aquafax being the only source.
The remainder of the weekend was excellent with 2 sunny days and N returned to her parents in time for us all to have lunch at the Storyteller, Cheltenham, and for N afterwards her Sunday afternoon theatre club.

New tank fitted

The new tank is fitted and the bed put back together over it. I cut out a section of floor to determine if there had been any serious contamination. There was no contamination but I found the ballast included broken slabs. It was a clear statement in the build contract that it would be whole slabs only. As I now need to add some additional weight to this side of the boat I'll replace these with whole slabs.

The tank comes from Goodwin Plastics. I asked for quotes for 2 sizes of tank, this size and the same as the old one. Prices for the larger tank were the same but Goodwin was significantly cheaper for this size. After the tank was delivered I realised that I needed an addition 1" BSP female input for the level sensor. Goodwin supplied a 'patch' with the necessary fitting. Cutting a hole and fixing the 'patch seemed to go smoothly.

From the top the pipes are 1" breather, 1 1/2" pumpout and 1 1/2" input. These are connected from the tank with flexible hoses to hosetail fittings into 1 1/2" BSP 40mm domestic push fit fittings. The pipes from this point are solvent weld. The grey pipes are hot and cold water and central heating.

I asked for the f'ard tank side to be in 'natural' so that it should be possible to see the level of effluent in the tank. I estimate, for 2 onboard, 2 weeks between pumpouts ...

Next task will be replace the ballast and floor and then to remake the bed to give access to the extra storage space created from the smaller tank. When remaking the bed I will remake the 'slides' which have worked well to extend the cross bed across the passageway except the 10mm ply has not been strong enough ... 3 slats are 'cracked'.

Old holding tank gone

Cruised today, strong gusts and heavy rain, to Lowersmoor Wharf for the old tank to be taken out. The strong gusts of wind cause difficulties exiting and entering Diglis Marina while waiting for the swing bridge to be opened. However, turning and backing at Lowersmoor was without incident.
I had already stripped out the starboard side kitchen fittings so the tank was removed by turning it onto its end and then sliding it through the boat to the front doors, lifting and sliding it out and then the same over the side. It took 3 to do this, £60 plus £20 to the social fund was money well spent.
Back at our mooring I refitted the kitchen units and appliances and checked fitting and connecting the tank. Unfortunately the breather outlet is about 5mm too high so need to solve that problem. Also need to consider how to move ballast to compensate for the replacement tank being plastic and not steel. However, making the connections from the existing pipes to the new tank appears to be straight forward.

Ada needs a new holding tank!

Easter shakedown cruise proved more problematic than expected. First, there was a persistent fresh water leak from a push fit elbow close to the accumulator and then I found a leak from the holding tank. The holding tank is 122 x 102 x 36 cm and steel. Fitted when the boat was new it has rusted through and was leaking effluent. I eventually found a number of holes so no point in repairing it. I've order a new plastic tank, half the size to gain some extra storage space. The problem is now to get the old tank out as was put in before the boat was fitted out but first it needs a thorough pump out. This was done at Lowersmoor Wharf. During the pump out I was able to lift the tank and prop it up so that the content flowed to the outlet. Lowersmoor Wharf did a thorough job of rinsing the tank a few times so hopefully the worst is out.
I was hoping to get a quote for Lowersmoor wharf to lift it out and dispose of it after I have moved kitchen units to allow it to be moved through the boat but I've not had a call back with a quote. The next option is to cut it up onboard using a jigsaw ... further thought needed.

Easter shakedown cruise

Having rediscovered how to log into this account ....
Just managed to catch the end of the superb weather with a cruise up the Severn to the Droitwich Barge Canal and then onto the Junction Canal and the Worcester and Birmingham. Followed an excellent walk past Hanbury Hall and on to the Jenny Ring Craft Centre where we ejoyed tea and cakes before following different paths back. Cruised to Stoke Wharf and walked to the Queens Head for an average lunch.Walk up Tardebigge ... there were some hirers who would be cruising late to clear the flight. Broke my rule of never offering advice but to no effect ... all I was trying to do was to suggest sending a crew memeber to empty the next lock as the present one filled ... they couldn't becausethey only had 3 lock handles!
Returned to Worcester and home for a couple of nights before returning to cruise to the Sharpness Canal. The weather was now cold, cold cold! Shivering we arrived at Upton and decided to stop the night. Next morning the rev counter showed tick over revs but no more despite engine running faster. 4 hour very cold cruise to Gloucester guessing appropriate speed. Investigating the Alternator found the fan belt was fitted between the 2 crank shaft pulleys (one pully for each alternator). Fitting it properly seems to have solved the rev counter problem.