summer/autumn 2011

September 10th 2011
I guess its about time I did a bit of updating to this website. I've done quite a bit of stuff to the boat since the last update and I'm not sure where, chronologically some of it should go. So some stuff may be in the wrong place but at least its in!

I still haven't got any other heating connected yet apart from the Alde gas boiler but then it hasn't been needed all summer. There has been a new alde_boiler

British Standard corncerning the installation of solid fuel boilers in narrowboats so I will try to fit it to this standard. They aren't mandatory (yet) but may be one day. I have a Brunel stove which was made to an earlier standard than that covered by BS 3611 so I have to put a 5" non combustible hearth underneath it.
At the moment the solid fuel stove is in the bedroom as I need all the space in the saloon for working.
I finally finished all the wiring (All I have planned at the moment- but who knows?) I've got a horn (Klaxon) wired in and the tunnel light is now wired in too. I had to learn how to use relays for these two to make it easier to wire in using lighter cable. I was pleased that they worked out ok. I wired in an isolating transformer into the engine room which is supposed to stop corrosion leeching metal from my boat to other boats. I don't pretend to understand this but have taken advice and this is supposed to be the best way of doing it.
I do have a little alteration still to make to my wiring.
I should interrupt here and mention that my boat passed its Boat Safety exam in the middle of July. Yaaaay! The Surveyor made me aware of something that I hadn't considered. I had put in mains electric for when working on the fit out. I put an entry plug at front and rear of the boat so that wherever I moor up, I can use a shorter cable to feed the boat. Both of these entry cables run to a changeover switch in the engine room so that its easy to change which end then feeds the consumer unit. This has a Residual Current Device (RCD trip) to protect me if anything untoward should happen like chopping through a cable with a jig saw. It would cut the current flow in less than a second. BUT he pointed out to me that the cable from the front entry plug and the rear entry plug are not at all protected until they reach the RCD in the consumer unit. So - if I cut through one of these cables with my jig saw, I'd get a bloody big shock!
The answer is to fit small consumer units containing an RCBO just inside the boat where the entry cables come in. This is a Residual Current Breaker with Overload protection. So there is only just the short connecting cable between the entry socket (Plug -because its actually male) and the RCBO box and that's well protected by conduit and pretty difficult to get at with a jigsaw anyway!

So...... I mentioned that I'd put my fold down bed in. I'd already put the wall between the bedroom and bathroom in and put the plumbing in for the shower shower_and_basin

valve within the wall. Once this was in I had a position to put the shower tray in. I had made the tray way back when building the shell ( From 6mm steel plate - heavyyyy) and have been humping it up and down the boat because its seemed to be in the way wherever it was put. Well it was finally put into position in the bathroom. I made a hatch in the floor and fitted the shower drain pump below it, adjacent to the tray. This was connected by a long hose to the waste outlet in the side of the boat with a tee. The other leg of the tee will accept the waste water from the wash basin.

I had a notion of an automatic switch to turn the shower drain pump on. Whenever I'd used the shower in a rented boat you had to stand in a couple of inches of rapidly cooling water during your shower until you pressed the button to activate the pump. Then you had to start drying but continually keep the button pressed to pump the water out. I bought a small PCB kit from Maplins which makes a time delay when operated. I bought a flow switch and fitted it in the cold water supply pipe to the shower valve. then wired this to a small relay on the PCB. This means that when I turn on the shower the pump starts automatically and then runs on for an extra two minutes after I turn off the water. This time is adjustable and I may have to change it to three minutes if the water doesn't drain right out of the tray. Time will tell. But I'm pleased with the way its working.

The next stage was to put the walls up at the other end of the bathroom. There is a central door from bath room to kitchen so these two panels are (almost ) the same size. Next to one of these walls I built a cupboard to house the fridge. The fridge is 240v, 12v or gas. I haven't connected the 12v up because its a battery killer. Gas is my preferred option. I'd fitted a gas

supply from the gas locker in the front of the boat with tees, strategically placed for hob, oven, water heater and fridge. I'd also fitted an ALDE bubble tester in the gas locker. I would recommend to any boat owner with gas on board to fit one of these. You can instantly and easily check for gas leaks on your boat. And you get your Boat safety exam a bit cheaper because it saves so much testing time.

Copy_of_fridge_under,_oven_over

So the fridge is at floor level and above this is the oven. I favour an eye level oven so that I don't have to bend over double to get dinner on. Between the fridge and oven will be a cutlery drawer and behind this drawer will be the gas isolating valves for fridge and oven. The gas supply to the water heater runs up and over the boat to the wall on the other side where the heater will be with another isolating valve. The water heater is fitted on the second wall. Between these first and second walls is a pull out larder. This is a vertical stack of 4 wire baskets on rollers. Handy for small spaces and also designed to avoid having to stoop (Coopy? for West Country viewers)) down to get a tin of beans out from the bottom of a dark cupboard.

Under the water heater is a small narrow cupboard with worktop over. This is for Pots, pans, crockery etc. Opposite this, on the other side, is the main kitchen area, with hob and sink. This matching worktop ends in an L shape with a breakfast bar. This worktop is over a cupboard that houses other kichen stuff, cleaning materials, etc. The water pump and accumulator tank is also under here, under a loose panel in

the floor of the cupboard. On the wall inside the cupboard above the floor is a changeover valve for water heater or calorifier. When the engine is running the calorifier will hold a tank full of hot water, heated almost for free. (As a by product of running the engine to move.)

Our club had planned a Bank Holiday cruise up to Cassiobury Park in Watford and back with a stopover and barbecue. As it turned out gearbox problems ( Not mine!) meant we only got as far as Rickmansworth and stopped overnight there. We came back on the Sunday instead of Monday. We did open the bar at Hillingdon Canal Club on the Sunday night so the weekend ended on a good note. But I digress. The reason I mentioned it was because I'd been trying to get the shower in a usable state before this trip. I had put a waterproof membrane on the walls and tiled it in the week previous to the bank holiday but only grouted usable_shower

the tiles on the day before the trip so couldn't actually use it until the Sunday morning. But when I did use it , it worked really well. The hot water came through in plentiful supply from the water heater and the shower drain pump pumped all the water out without me having to stand hold a button pushed in. I will have to alter the 'run on' time to 3 minutes though. And there is always that annoying little puddle that won't drain due to the angle of the boat. I have found a niggle in that when I turn on the gas igniter for the hob, the shower drain pump starts up. Must be a bit of feedback playing with the PCB. Its not a problem though as the Whale pump can safely run dry without damage.