Paladin

I'm really too polite to say what we call people like you round here

That's a very interesting site. Thank you. First thing in the morning, there are vapour trails high above my house and I've been trying to find out where the planes might be going. At the moment, I'm tracking one en route from Manchester to Turkey. By going into the 'Settings' page and changing the filters, you can see what type of plane each symbol represents, its height, speed, course etc. Oh dear, will I ever get any work done

Swordfish wrote That wasn't your boat, by any chance.

Then what, pray, was the purpose of the opening post?

Is this just another attempt to get a BA bashing thread going? That the toll is zero is not really any different from what happend with the road tax. Courtesy of wikipedia "Various classes and uses of vehicle are provided with a tax disk without charge. These include: electrically propelled vehicles, vehicles constructed before 1973, trams, vehicles which cannot convey people, police vehicles, fire engines, ambulances and health service vehicles, mine rescue vehicles, lifeboat vehicles, certain road construction and maintenance vehicles, vehicles for disabled people, certain agricultural and land maintenance vehicles, road gritters and snow ploughs, vehicles undergoing statutory tests, vehicles imported by members of foreign armed forces, and crown vehicles." As has been said, if tax or toll was payable, we'd end up paying for it anyway.

This cutting was posted in another forum about 4 years ago. At that time, the incident was said to have been in 1978 or 1979.

Or is this a still from the original PG Tips advert - before they realised the monkey was funnier

WOW! A skyboarding sea eagle. Whatever next?

Without seeing the exact wording of the 3-year warranty, I won't make any comment on that side of it, but is the pressure switch a replaceable item or is it integral, thus rendering the pump a total write-off? The Sale of Goods Act 1979, amended in 1994, says that when you buy goods they must fit the description, be of satisfactory quality - which includes lasting a reasonable length of time - and be fit for their purpose. If goods aren't of satisfactory quality you're entitled to compensation, which is normally the cost of repairs or replacement. The manufacturer's guarantee is in addition to these rights, not instead of them. The JabscoShop Terms & Conditions actually state this. I would have expected a water pump to last more than 18 months or so. The pump (not a Jabsco) in my current boat is ancient and the one in my previous boat (which I had for 8 years) was already fitted when I bought the boat and was still running perfectly when I sold it. The vendor, not the manufacturer, is responsible, but it might be worth approaching Jabsco on the point of how long do they expect their product to last (notwithstanding the 3-year warranty) and if they think the xxx months that this pump lasted is representative of the reliability of their products. It might add weight to your argument if you have kept a log of the days on which you have used your boat in that time. Although the pump was fitted, for example, 18 months ago, it might have only been used during a total of two or three weeks in that time. Hardly long enough for the pressure switch to wear out, I would have thought.

The angle of the photo of the arm makes it difficult to see, but it looks like there is about 1/4" gap between the holding nut and the wiper arm socket. Undoing the nut just by that amount might loosen the unit sufficiently to give you the wiggle room you need. But I suggest you lever off the socket as far as you can first, 'cos it's a tight fit! Doing that will also give you a bit more room to loosen the nut further. If you can get the socket far enough off the spline, you should be able to screw the nut right off the thread and wiggle to your hearts content.

I've now had the cover plate off the body unit to see if there is a way to disconnect the spline from the drive and withdraw it forwards and, sorry, there isn't.

OK, I've now got my old motor on my desk. In your photos it looks like there is a nut on the spline just behind the wiper arm and two nuts on the inside. My fitting only had one nut on the outside and one nut tight against the body on the inside, which wasn't moved during the installation. So it looks like you've got an extra nut (on the inside) which, presumably, is tight up against the big round spacer. Can that nut be wound towards the body, so giving a bit of wiggle room? And can you get into the nut on the outside and wind that out towards the wiper arm, so loosening the fixing? What is that big fat spacer made of? Could it be that it was made in two halves and fitted round the long threaded bolt that connects the spline to the motor, AFTER the wiper arm was fitted, glued together and then the inner nut tightened up onto it?

Incidentally, I notice that the end of the wiper blade hits the window surround. You may be able to get a longer arm, I don't know, but did you know that the sweeping arc of the wiper is adjustable? By taking out the 4 screws that hold the back of the unit on, you can access the drive wheels and change the position of a linkage which alters the sweeping arc. I've got the instructions somewhere, if you need them. But DON'T touch the locked screw on the side of the unit. Don't ask me why not, but, on a new unit, it invalidates the guarantee if you do!

I have just replaced an identical motor on my boat (with a new vesion of the same). Yes, it is a splined fitting, but there is a spring running down the arm to hold the arm to the windscreen. The tension created by the spring makes it difficult to just pull or prise the arm off the spline, as the socket gets wedged on the spline. I managed it by holding the arm away from the windscreen to try to equalise the pressure round the spline and worked my way round the socket, little by little, using a broad bladed screwdriver as a lever. It helps to have three hands for this. From your photos, it does look as if there is just about room to get the arm off without dropping the motor.

You could try AcidWash80. This is an industrial de-scaler. Please note it is NOT suitable for stainless steel. I believe the Rangers use it for cleaning the hulls of their patrol boats. It's excellent for cleaning the muck from the waterline. I've used it for several years now, and there is no sign of any damage to gel coat or paint work. It is quite strong hydrochloric acid and can be diluted to whatever strength you want. Readily available from Hugh Crane's in Acle. It's not expensive and MUCH better than oxalic acid (Y-10 and the like). You'll find their website here http://www.cloverchem.co.uk/uk/products/toilet_acid_wash80_uk.htm

I'm terribly sorry, Poppy. I hope that you and flanaguff will forgive my mis-attribution With the news that fuel prices are falling (at some supermarkets anyway) I'm going to try to sell my full tank of fuel, that I recently purchased at a higher price, on Ebay - some mug will buy it, then I can top-up again at the new lower price. Who thought that putting fuel in your car could one day become as risky as buying stock and shares?

There is an "Ideas for the Site" forum and perhaps there is a case for a thread to discuss what it is that members want from the site. I have no objection to lively debates, provided they are conducted in a civilised manner. Calling for innocent (in the eyes of the law, if not flanaguff) individuals to be hanged,for example, is hardly civilised. It is a matter for the site owner, in discussion with the mods, what level of moderation should be applied, keeping in mind the type of poster they wish to attract and keep. I acknowledge that I am a guest in their "house". I pay nothing to be here and will treat other "guests", and expect to be treated, with respect. I will stay or go, depending on whether I enjoy my time here. On this particular thread, I was expecting to read "crazy price of diesel" related posts, not inflamatory, offensive and totally party political orientated diatribes that had little or nothing to do with the subject of the original post or The Broads. I'm not trying to turn this forum into anything - it existed before I came and it will exist after I leave. I am simply expressing my view in, I hope, a civilised manner - sorry if you find that too "old Pally". I note you haven't made a call for the forum not to be turned into a highly-charged political arena where extreme forms of abusive behaviour are welcomed - perhaps you would welcome that, though. Oh, I nearly forgot, the topic - my local Tesco has a policy (I think it was a planning condition) that they do not undercut the prices at local, independent filling stations. Do other supermarkets have similar policies and does this make it easier for Shell, BP etc to keep the prices artificially high.)

What a lovely, gentle post this is. Thank you, r.b... I have been trying to think how to ask flanaguff to go elsewhere without incurring the wrath of the mods by my language and you have done it perfectly. It probably won't have any effect though, because I seriously doubt that those posts are "deep felt", but are couched deliberately in such inflammatory terms so as to stir the icky stuff. The moderators on this forum give an extraordinary amount of leeway to this type of behaviour. In other forums I visit, he would have been named and shamed as a TROLL a long time ago and banned for his intemperate and offensive language. It is a fact of life that practically every forum will suffer from trolls from time to time. I have witness forums ruined by such behaviour when it has been allowed to continue unchecked, as those who find such conduct offensive leave to go to other friendlier environments. Mods please note. ...and to bring this thread back on topic, I note the price of oil has fallen. Has anyone noticed the price of diesel coming down yet?

In my experience, many of these so-called sailors only do the easy bits...when the going gets tough e.g. tacking into an adverse tide, they very quickly resort to the "smellie" mode and use their engines, often leaving the sails up to give the illusion of "proper" sailing and expecting motor boats to get out of their way. As an ex-flappy, I don't fall for that one. With acknowledgement of your attempt at humour, your last sentence is actually incorrect. If you would take a look at the navigation byelaws you will see there are a number of occasions when the reverse is true. If you go out on the water under sail, believing that everything under power has to get out of your way, you obviously like living dangerously.

Did I read somewhere that this was a family-friendly forum? Oh, sorry, perhaps it was a different forum I was looking at.