Mowjo

Thanks for the info Folks,,, Regards Frank,,,

:-D Does anyone know where I can get hold of two 2ft x 3/4in lengths of Stainless steel tube, all my usual outlets only do 3mtr lengths, If possible near to Stalham or Lowestoft, I really need them by next weekend so any help on this is welcome,, Frank,,,

Thanks Stranger! more than enough to choose from there,,

Thanks Antares!

:-D Not sure if I've asked this one before, On my Freeman the oil pressure and water temp gauges are the mechanical type, both have seen better days so I'm replacing all the gauges and adding a rev counter, now I understand that the rev counter is easy to fit,, but how easy is it to change the oil and water ones to the electrical type, and is it worth it or should I just change them for new mechanical ones,

:-D Good old WD 40 removes these adhesive residues, just make sure you clean it off well or it will eat your new adhesive as well,, :-D

The one question no-one has asked Jonny! is what on earth are you running that warrants having a generator anyway, I have the two way change over switch on my boat, I use No1 position for the starting of the engine, No2 for the general domestics, I run a CD player, cabin lights, nav lights and a small portable television, the telly is on in the evening for about 5 hours, lights about the same, but as I spend all my time in the back deck and usualy don't go to bed until about 2am, the cd player is on all that time plus one small light, so far I have never run out of battery power, and always have No1 battery to start the engine, I have two 110 amp hour battery's on board, if it's to mainly run the heater, why not just fix the existing heating so you have heating on the move, and save up for a webo or eber, you can pick them up on e/bay quite cheaply, and i'm not sure but I think the old BT vans used to run one of the above heating systems as do some lorry's so it might be worth giving your local breakers yard a call to see how much they would charge for one, I hate to say it Jonny but from reading on another forum I honestly think you'd p*** a lot of people off if you have a genny running for any length of time,

Jonny! Jecklls at Oulton Broad have a big box of such offcuts outside the shop, or you could try your local Curtain/fabric shop, I bought some vinyl not long ago £6 a meter and it's 54inches wide, I made a couple of panels to fit on the cabin roof inside the windscreen, I got fed up being blinded by the sun hitting all that white bit,

Senator! thats just what I use, simple and effective and worth it's weight in gold, the only problem I have with it is when it's cold the tube goes as stiff as hell, so I'm trying to find something a bit more flexible to use, I got mine in Halfords for about £5.00 takes less than 5 minutes to empty my 25ltr Jerrycan,,,

Jonny! just one little fault with your idea, the drill either battery of mains give of sparks via the motor, and we all know pertol and sparks don't mix, might work ok with diesel though,,,

Senator! two post does that mean both leg seals have gone at £250 each, Glad to hear it's not too serious £250 is still a lot of money, but it could have cost you a lot more if you hadn't found out in time,,

Jim! at least mine is only a 15 gallon tank, I fill up at that Shell garage I don't trust or like Tesco's own, my boat definatly runs better on shell, my new Jerry leaks and stinks the car out, my Wifes face is a picture when I stick a Ciggie in my mouth and pretend I'm going to light up in the car with all those fumes, sheer panic comes to mind, but it's good fun driving back to Broadsedge with her and the dog hanging out the window because of the smell,,

:-D And to think I thought I had progressed, I gave up with the jerrycan and spout, not easy trying to get the spout in the fuel hole when the boat is bobbing about, went up-market and bought non return siphon tube for the jerrycan, but you still end up stinking of petrol when handling the tube,,, :-D

:-D Looks like you've got a lot of work on your hands there Barry! but it's a beautiful looking boat so I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end,,,

Cheers Brian! I was only looking at those last night and thought what a good Idea, You just saved me £59 for now, because now I don't have to order one until you've tried yours out,,

Thanks Pete! The bit I needed was the connection from the stop tap in the cabin to the back of the cooker, but useful information never the less, like you I don't like the idea of the rubber connection at the back of the cooker, they must be safe or they wouldn't get past the BSS, I just don't feel safe with it, so want the copper tube between the two, I always do all of my own gas fitting at home then get it certified by a Corgi man, which after reading your first post I now know I can now do on my boat, but your point about not over tightening compression joints is very important for any Gas or Plumbing work, It should be hand tight then given one complete turn with the spanner, a little tip I was taught is to do the nut up hand tight, then put a little line with a marker pen across the nut and fitting, that way as you tighten it up you can see when you've done one complete turn, the part about the sleeving is also very important, because if it isn't sleeved when going through a bulkhead, panel or wall, it will be failed by the Corgi man, and as I did that once, I can tell you it's no fun when you've just spent hours doing it only to have to take it all out again and re-do it, once again thanks for the Info Pete, hopefully it will also put anyones mind at rest thinking of doing their own Gas fitting on their boat,,

:-D Pete! you say you fitted your own oven and hob? Can I ask is it connected by a flexible hose from the shut off tap to the cooker or is it in copper tube, I'm about to change my two burner cooker for the oven and hob type, at present mines connected from the tap to the cooker on a flexible hose, I'm not a great lover of these hoses but it would be a lot simpler if I used the existing one, on the other hand I'd soon run it in copper tube as it's a short run and the cookers unlikely to be moved,,

And! Now Just an Idea but as most Normans were made for the Canals, how about trying a Canal boat chandlers to see if they make a ready made cage,,, :-D

Ok I take it all back seems it's common on Normans to fit the tanks outside, so heres a couple of photo's I found,, :-D

Looking at the back of Sues boat, I can't really see where you would have space to fit a cage, unless you use the small fuel tank, the other problem I see with that is access for filling Etc, personaly I don't like the idea of the tank on the outside, purely because if you have a small leak or fumes are escaping from the tank, all it takes is a spark or some idiot to throw a cigarette in that direction and you could have one hell of a bang, plus from the amount of times someone has hit the back of my boat while they are mooring it's very prone to damage, so I think you'd definatly need one of those large outboard guards, big enough to protect it, I know I'm not helping but there must be an easier and safer solution, we just havn't found it yet, the fitting of that box dosn't look original so I would imagine there is some provision inside the boat for a fuel tank, I'll keep checking I'm sure between us we will come up with the answer,, :-D

:-D Looks like the previous owner may have been scared of having a Petrol tank inside the boat, I always thought there was a space for the tank under the back bunk, and you primed the outboard with the bulb type thing, May seem obvious Sue but have you spoken to other Norman owners to see how theirs is set up, I presume that under the BSS it would have to be kept in a sealed box in the boat and have all the correct vents fitted, but that box is the first one I've seen like it, I found this piccy of a Norman tank hole, but if I remember isn't there someone on NBF that runs a Norman site??

I've had a few dealings with Stuart from UK Y.R and can't fault his prices or service, I'd certainly recommend him, he's even send stuff out to me before I've paid for it, my only problem was he dosn't do the rope I want in the lengths or diameters I need,,, :-D

:-D PKS your in luck, Just been looking at new ropes for my boat! so far this place has been the cheapest,,, http://www.marinesuperstore.com I also found this if it's of any help,,, Line diameter ready reckoner Boat length in meters 7.5---- 9.0---- 10.5---- 12.5---- 16.0---- 20.0 Rope diameter in mm 12mm 14mm -16mm --18mm - 20mm - 24mm Diameters given as an indication only and for sheltered waters and calm weather

Here you go Danny! full instructions, just a note though, when they mention chisel it's a little hard plastic gizmo made for the job, be very careful if you use a scraper or stanley blade one slip and you can do a lot of damage to your Gel-coat, if the vinyl has been on there a year or two the chances are it will be brittle and come off in small bits, personaly i'd spend an hour or two with a finger nail getting it off, if you do it very slowly once you get a corner up it may come off in whole letters,, http://www.harrisdecals.com/tips/howtoremove.asp

Ian, I think the Kit Kat wrapper is rated at 5amps, Bacofoil is 10amps, Benson & Hedges 4amps, and yes like you I've seen it done, Just in case anyone gets the Idea of trying it! DON'T! I once saw someones pride and joy burnt to a cinder because they couldn't be bothered to fit a proper working fuse,,,