mbird

That's the slight niggle I have with ours Luke. I am taking on board Ian's (Senators) advice and have ordered some outdrive oil, so when she is out for a couple of days next weekend, I am going to check that out just incase, even though supposedly it was all done in July. I know the engine oil is pretty clean, so I'm sure that was changed, but the air filters look pretty dirty so I doubt a proper service was done. Glad you are learning techie stuff, and I think you are ahead of me on these engines now, but things like changing impellors and fuel filters are must to know how to do if venturing to sea IMHO. Just out of interest, when the fuel filters were changed, was it an easy operation to bleed the system? I know how it should be done in theory, but I just wondered how the mechanic did it in practice?

That was my first impression too Col. Take away the patio etc that's there now and I reckon thats a dead ringer.

Nah, It's a bit of a mouthful Clive. Apparently you can shorten it to "Sick Gem" to be down with the kids

I'd rather you were infront Leroy Any takers for a crew position with me chaps and chapesses? (Don't worry, there will be separate cabin accomodation for any crew !)

Oh you silly, silly boy. Wood chip is so last century!

Ha ha Thanks for the advice David. Next stop B&Q for a drop of Polycell then!

David, I have purchased some Oxalic acid from eBay now (1kg £8.80) and they recommend 250g dissolved in 1.5 litres of warm water for GRP cleaning. WOuld you agree with this or go a bit stronger? Also, with regard the wallpaper paste, is there not a danger of this drying onto the hull and being a git to remove?

Solo not me Jonny, I need company!

Careful Frank, David will be along to berate your use of household cleaners and migrating plasticisers. You should have seen the whoopin I got for using Cillit Bang a couple of weeks ago. I've still got the bruises!

I don't think I'm going to have time Ian, as I only have 2 days in the slings and I'll probably need most of that trying to get the old transducer out before I seal in the new one. I do intend to at least check the oil and see if there is any emulsion on the dipstick though. I checked on the price of the outdrive oil on Keyparts website and nearly fell off my chair! £65 for 5 litres must be a blooy joke!!!!! No wonder Brundall Marine Centre don't use genuine Volvo oil! Both outdrives were serviced last summer (according to the paperwork I got with the boat) so I would hope everything is okay as it hasn't really been anywhere since then.

Hi All As we are having an unscheduled lift friday next week, and the boat is being held in the slings (on keel blocks) for us over the weekend so we can sort the depth transducer, I'm going to put Sharon and my Dad to work giving the hul la quick spruce up. It is fairly clean with only a bit of much around the water line and a few black streaks. I don't want to compound polish it, but wondered if anyone can recommend a good polish to use with an orbital polisher that does quite a quick job (as we only have 2 days before she's back in the water).

That looks very tempting, but it's not during school holidays is it? With both kids and SWMBO ties to school holiday times I think it'll have to be a no, unless I can find a temporary replacement crew!

Do I take it "sick" is more youth speak I don't get? In my day, "sick" meant awful, but I can't believe Jonny would describe any boat like that

That is Lucky, Lucky (if you see what I mean) . Intermittent electrical faults are a nightmare to trace, but at least now you know you aren't going mad

I agree entirely with Gordon, Colin. I think I paid less than 20 quid for a B&Q own brand digital multimeter, and it is one of the most invaluable tools you can have (for electrics anyway!). Without it this weekend I wouldn't have been able to tell by charger was cream-crackered and buggering up the operation of a solenoid. With regard to you question re charging though, it's impossible to tell without looking, as it could be that they are indeed both charged from the alternator all the time.

Sorry Andy, mines a through hull.

Now stop it you lot before you even start "Please miss, can I have some KY jelly, it's for me boat, honest" "Yeah, right, sonny!"

Sikaflex 291 purchased from Norfolk Marine this afternoon! Yeah, and then scratch my **** Jimbo!

That's the same type I used to borrow from DRL to test ours, Colin.

It was a Draper electronic type jobbie that BW used to test mine, and the two cream-crackered ones were only showing about 30Ah (from 95 Ah batteries), even though they have been on charge indefinately. Hi Ian, Yes it is 3 stage and suitable for all lead acid types (sealed and un-sealed).

I think most lead-acid and gel batteries use the same chargers. There is another type, though, which I think are called something like AGM (though I've probably got that wrong) that are supposed to be very good, but more like £200 each. I think they do need a different sort of charger.

I recently bought the chartplotting software from Imray to use on my laptop with a gps dongle, as it was a much cheaper option than buying a dedicated plotter at the moment. One of the reasons I went for the Imray software instead of one of the competitiors was simply because the charts on it are raster versions of their paper ones. This means when I am looking at the paper charts, and compare it to what is on the screen, they are identical, so no danger of leaving a layer off!

Batteries, humph This weekend I fitted the new battery linking solenoid, and I won't bore you with the details, but in doing so also discovered my battery charger is knackered, as it no longer isolates the outputs to the two banks. I also took all three batteries to Brian Wards for testing, and was told (as I expected) that two out of the three were shot. It also turns out that all three batteries were cranking type, not deep cycle, so that has probably help kill them off. I ended up having to buy a new battery charger (got a very good deal though) and two 110ah deep cycle batteries for £68 each. I'm sure I could maybe have saved a pound or two elsewhere, but I have always found Brian Wards to be very helpful and knowledgable, and am happy to pay a little more for that help.

SIkaflex was what immediately sprung to mind Perry, but I had been warned against this for transducers as it makes removal in the future extremely difficult. Is that not right?

Aaaargh! This depth sounder problem WILL get sorted . I tried to solve the issue by crawling half under one of the engines to get to the broken wire, only to find the wire was not broken, only the outer insulation damaged. I decided to cut the wire anyway and reconnect temporarily with a junction block, but this still didn't work. I did notice, however, a lot of corrosion on the shield wire, so my best guess is that water has penetrated down the damaged insulation and into the transducer itself. To stop going around in circles, I have booked a 2 day stint in the slings in a couple of weeks, and am going to fit a new transducer AND and new display unit. At least that was I know it's going to be fixed The hard bit now is going to be getting the old transducer out of the hull after 15 years. Methinks my trusty angle grinder will see some action...... Out of interest, what type of sealant would you guys recommend for this sort of below waterline application?