mbird

Hi Mark I did um and ah about the glow-pin. I believe they are meant to be replaced every third service according the Eberspacher, and at £90 I thought I'd try to eek out another year from it With regard the priming of the fuel line. That was something I was going to research. What is the best way to do it?

I'm not sure if its actually illegal on the Broads, but it certainly is on other inland waterways like the Thames. Converting to a holding tank isn't a particularly big job (no pun intended) just requiring a diverter valve, tank and pump-out fitting. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So the first planned maintenance job for this winter now the boat is on the hard was to give the Ebersplutter a de-coke. I do not know when it was done last, and whilst the unit is running fine, I'd rather prevent than cure on something as important as the heating! I have never done one of these before, so after reading the thread on another forum and also the section on the Le Tonkinois Varnish website http://www.letonkinoisvarnish.co.uk/Eberspacher_Intro_1.html felt sufficiently armed to have a go. I must stress this is only how I did it, and not necessarily the correct way! I ordered a D4 service kit from Butler Technik for around £18, which basically consists of a new fan gasket, burner gasket, glow pin screen and fuel filter shown in the picture below. First job is to remove the plastic casing. This is very simple, as the top section simply has two catches at one end then lifts off. The bottom section simply slips off once the rubber seal is removed from the bottom of the unit around the combustion inlet and exhaust tubes. Next job is to remove the wiring plugs from the ECU, 3 on one side and one on the other side. There is a single Torx screw requiring a T25 driver bit holding the ECU in position, and once removed the plastic prongs on the other side of the ECU can be squeezed together allowing the whole unit to be lifted off. Once the ECU is clear, undoing 4 Philips screws allows the fan unit to be removed. Whilst the gasket still looked in good condition, I understand Eberspacher say this should always be replaced to prevent the risk of carbon monoxide leaking into them warm heating air. Not something I'm going to chance! Removing the rubber grommet allows you to see the glow pin. With the fan assembly removed, the glow pin can be undone with a 12mm spanner and removed. Our one was nice and clean and needed no more than a wipe over with a rag. With the glow pin removed, the 4 Torx screws holding the burner in place can be undone using a T20 driver bit, and the whole burner removed. The gasket will be in pieces if its anything like mine! This now gives a clear view of the inside of the heat exchanger. As you can see from the photo below, there was some carbon build-up but I don't think it was too bad. I started off with a toothbrush to remove the worst of the loose carbon (Sue won't be please as it was hers!) and then got a screw driver and some emery paper into the grooves. I was very careful not to damage the fins, and so didn't get rid of all of the carbon, but certainly most of it was very easily removed. I have heard of people boiling the heatexchanger in caustic soda, but when looking at soda crystals in Tesco, they state to avoid contact with aluminium, so I wasn't going down that route! You can see from the second picture below how much carbon came out, so I was quite happy that the job was worthwhile doing. Here's the cleaned heat exchanger with the new burner gasket in position. The last job prior to re-assembly was to remove the old glow pin screen to replace it. This is a fine mesh tube that sits in the hole the glow-pin screws into. It's a bit of a swine to get out, and I had to basically pry it away from the surrounding hole, and then hook it out with a bent wire. I'll try to get some much smaller fine-nosed pliers the next time I do this, as there must be a better way. You can see the screen in-situ below in the first shot. A comparison between the old and new shows the old one was looking a bit clogged, and the final shot shows the new screen pushed into position with the supplied insertion tool. Re-assembly is simply a reverse of the disassembly procedure. I will pop the unit back on the boat in a week or two to test it, and at the same time change the filter in the fuel pump. Fingers crossed that's all the attention it will need for another year. An hour and a half's work and £18 on parts isn't much to keep warm!

Just been tipped the wink that my first boat, Tranquil Breeze is up for sale. She still looks as good as when I sold her nearly 4 years ago. I'm a bit miffed that the description says the refurbishment was done by the present owners, when it was my blood, sweat and tears in actual fact!! Oh, and she's also a 1978 model, not 1980's as they state....

We weren't going to bother this year either, but blagged some free tickets, so will pop down next Sunday. I'm not expecting much, but for the cost of some petrol, it'll be a day out looking and shiny bits at the very least. After visiting Southampton for the first time last Sepatember, I think anything LIBS could do would be a dissappointment.

Sounds like the plans for the pub will certainly help get people there. It is the only watering hole between the Surlingham Ferry and Norwich, so should be a good place to stop. I hope the chandlery does keep going Rich. It was certainly looking promising the last time I was down. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Best I try to be there then John! Mark & Sue - Secret Lady - stern or side - Friday - Sunday with leccy

They have been putting in the farm roads for a while now, and an awful lot of tree-felling has been done over the past few months. The signs they have erected say it should be open Winter 2014. It is going to be so much better when it is open for those that use that route regularly, but also I should think for the village of Elveden to get the vast volume of traffic out of it. I'm glad I don't have to travel that route very often nowadays though, while they do the main works!

Blimey, that shifts!!!

Hi Branden Of course it depends how good the individual is at DIY. Personally I do everything myself that I am comfortable with, but when we had a major engine failure last year on the way back from the Thames, I got a proper mechanic to do the work, as that was outside my field of experience. The boat we have has had some slightly iffy DIY done on it in the past, that we have since discovered and put right. Simple rule of thumb is "if in doubt, ask" and if still in doubt, get someone who knows what they are doing to help!

Blimey John, that's 21 boats! Must be one of the biggest meets so far I reckon

I did pop a few up, but thankfully it all came off 30/11. We did manage to raise over £650 in the end though!

It had plenty of downsides last year John! Happy new year Alan! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

beats the "naughty step" threat anytime!!!

Sorry to hear this Baz, I hope you have a quick and easy sale.

Yes John, out on the hard for her annual dry-out and maintenance. No more boating till Easter now

Best wishes all! Secret Lady was safely lifted today, so 2013 going ok so far

We've had BT infinity in Lingwood for 3 months now! I signed up as soon as it was announced and now get speeds in excess of 40mps with no problem at all. We have also gone for the YouView TV from BT (£4/month tied in for 12 months - but the Humax box is free which normally retails at £299) and I have to say it is excellent. We used to try to watch iPlayer etc through the PS3 but with speeds of about 2mbs it proved almost impossible. Now we happily get HD telly streamed no problem at all, and what's more, the BT Infinity was no more expensive than the normal Broadband we previously had.

I thought Le Boat were trying to break into the Southern broads, but I guess it wasn't a favoured starting base for may hirers...

A late addition, and my Mum and Dad are joining us too! Secret Lady; Mark & Sue; 4 adult / 0 child Happy Jax 3; Lou, Col, Jay and Connor; 3 adult /1 child Delfino; Phil & Jeanette; 2 adult / 0 child Job Done; Luke & Claire; 2 adult / 0 child Lollipop; David & Debs; 2 adult / 0 child (no mooring needed) Escape II; Keith & Carole; 2 adult / 0 child Rum Lady; Sarah-Jane & John; 2 adult / o child (no mooring needed) Clandestine; Ian, Heather & Rachie; 2 adult / 1 child Bequia; Mark & Trudi; 2 adult / 2 child Aquafrolic; Andy & Karen; 2 adult /0 child Escape; Gav & Annie; 2 adult / 1 child

It certainly was! We popped down to the marina to bling up Secret Lady in readiness for our New Years Eve jaunt to Coldham Hall (tickets are still available- shameless plug !) Nearly fell in putting fairy lights around the guard rails, but it has to be done!! Not a breath of wind down there which is really unusual for Reedham!!

Having spoken to Natalie again at Coldham, she has told me that people can pay for their tickets in advance over the phone (their number is in my previous post), or I will collect the money on their behalf when we get there on New Year's Eve. If you do pay direct, can you drop me a PM so I can mark you as paid on the list. £18 per adult, £8 per child. Many thanks!

Tickets now reserved! I have spoken to George at Coldham Hall and reserved 21 adult and 4 child tickets for New Years Eve, along with 8 mooring spaces. Those attending can either pay Coldham Hall in advance, or on the night (I'm not collecting the money this year). If there are any extra tickets needed, there are some still available. If anyone cannot attend after all, please let Coldham Hall know (01508 538366) as this event has been a sell-out each year. We're looking forward to a good party!!!

Secret Lady; Mark & Sue; 2 adult / 0 child Happy Jax 3; Lou, Col, Jay and Connor; 3 adult /1 child Delfino; Phil & Jeanette; 2 adult / 0 child Job Done; Luke & Claire; 2 adult / 0 child Lollipop; David & Debs; 2 adult / 0 child (no mooring needed) Escape II; Keith & Carole; 2 adult / 0 child Rum Lady; Sarah-Jane & John; 2 adult / o child (no mooring needed) Clandestine; Ian, Heather & Rachie; 2 adult / 1 child Bequia; Mark & Trudi; 2 adult / 2 child Aquafrolic; Andy & Karen; 2 adult /0 child FINAL CALL FOR NEW YEAR'S EVE I'll be letting Coldham haver the numbers tomorrow, so if you wish to join us, please get your names on the list pronto!!

Very sad news indeed, he was always such a friendly chap.