Recent content by Trundlebug

I'll give Windy a go, thanks for the recommendation. I wondered if it was just a weather forecasting site (like dozens of others) but it's the swell charts I'm after, so glad to hear there might be something suitable.

MagicSeaweed, My favourite App for weather forecasting and just as importantly, wave and swell prediction charts, has now sold out to a US surf App called Surfline. I tried to register with Surfline to try it, but I soon lost the will to live. Whereas MSW was useful for all sorts of people...

I fitted one of these to each engine around 8 years ago and as they were so cheap fitted another to monitor the engine bay. 12V-220V LCD Digital Temperature Controller Thermostat with Sensor STC-1000 | eBay These days you can even get one with dual display, effectively halving the price...

To apply the new name, get a plant sprayer and spray the area liberally with water. This enables you to move the new name around to position it correctly, before pressing down and squeezing the water out using a plastic spreader, (rather like a cross between a credit card and a spreader you get...

If it's any help I've recently (Nov 2020) rebuilt the circulation pump on my MD31a, which looks to be almost identical to yours. Don't be worried about the Keypart prices of £1000 for a new pump, or £400 for a repair kit, I rebuilt mine for less than £100. The bearings are readily available...

I'm amazed at some of the elaborate chemicals being suggested above. I cleaned mine this morning so was interested to read this thread. I just used a sink full of hot water with some floor cleaner (e.g. Flash) and a bottle brush that I use for cleaning the bird feeders. Took me nearly 10 minutes!

Keep them clean by using household wax polish like Pledge. Really cheap and works a treat.

I had exactly the same problem with our semi flexible panel. It was only a few years old and the plastic surface went milky, as said above the uv seems to get to the plastic outer. TBH I didn't try polishing it (i.e. compounding) as it was clear it was uv degradation and I didn't think much...

To get the best finish you need a metal polishing soap suitable for hard metals and a polishing mop. It's much easier if you polish with the prop removed, on a fixed pedestal or bench grinder fitted with mops instead of grinding wheels, but if you can't do this you can use a polishing mop on a...

Lots of talk in the Meeja about Hydrogen, and all this perception that it's environmentally friendly because "it burns to create just water". No-one has stopped to think about where the Hydrogen is coming from... The vast majority (87% I heard ) currently comes from oil, via cracking of methane...

The easiest solution above all else is to just replace the pipework when it gets scaled up. As you have to remove it to mechanically bash it anyway, save yourself a dirty job and just throw out the old one and replace it! For the sake of a few quid it's worth it

You're correct, no change until Dec 2020, after that who knows, it's still all TBA

I agree on the head gasket, always assemble dry without any sealant or lubrication. Hopefully it's not a regular maintenance item so the inconvenience of cleaning it when taken apart is just one of those things that has to be endured I'm afraid. On the threads I share the nominal concerns re...

When I had similar symptoms to those described above, I had an air lock in the calorifier coil. Need to blast through the coil with water from a hose or something of similar pressure, to absolutely ensure there is no air in the coil. Yes, I had hot supply and return hoses as well, didn't make...

I would have liked to fit ducting up to demist the windscreen but the physical layout of the boat prevented me doing that, at least in any kind of elegant or invisible way. So I had to resort to fitting electrical demisters, which are not quite as good but work well enough. I was surprised at...