Retirement and sailing.

[Frank Holden]

A further thought - re calorifiers.
Ours is -as is normal- in the garden shed and the tank was replaced in 2008 due to wastage in the copper .
The pressure relief thingo is at the base of the tank - both as built and on the new tank.
At sea we turn off the pressure pump and only use the foot pump. Also isolate one FW tank.
2016 - bilge alarm goes off - relief valve has failed 'open' and is happily gravitating our FW into the bilge.

There is now a 'riser' fitted to the relief valve which terminates just inside and aft of the garden shed lid.

 

[grumpy_o_g]

All the very best John and I hope we continue to hear from you for a long time yet, just with lots of annoying rum_pirate style pictures in the future. How does one correctly address a retired Padre?

Incidentally I can't believe no-one's said bodge tape (if they have ignore this).

 

[john_morris_uk]

A further thought - re calorifiers.
Ours is -as is normal- in the garden shed and the tank was replaced in 2008 due to wastage in the copper .
The pressure relief thingo is at the base of the tank - both as built and on the new tank.
At sea we turn off the pressure pump and only use the foot pump. Also isolate one FW tank.
2016 - bilge alarm goes off - relief valve has failed 'open' and is happily gravitating our FW into the bilge.

There is now a 'riser' fitted to the relief valve which terminates just inside and aft of the garden shed lid.

Some thought provoking comments. Our calorufuer is also buried in the bottom of the enormous cockpit locker Sealords are built with. (For the uninitiated, it’s so deep there are steps down into it. When it’s empty I can stand up in it with loads of headroom above and I’m 6’2”!)
Our calorifer is the original but has the pressure relief vent on the top. It’s one of the few items I haven’t refurbished or replaced and I’m about to install a generator above it! If it were to fail catastrophically one could lose a lot of fresh water very quickly. I haven’t previously worried as copper pipes and tanks seem to last forever in normal circumstances.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Some thought provoking comments. Our calorufuer is also buried in the bottom of the enormous cockpit locker Sealords are built with. (For the uninitiated, it’s so deep there are steps down into it. When it’s empty I can stand up in it with loads of headroom above and I’m 6’2”!)
Our calorifer is the original but has the pressure relief vent on the top. It’s one of the few items I haven’t refurbished or replaced and I’m about to install a generator above it! If it were to fail catastrophically one could lose a lot of fresh water very quickly. I have t worried as copper pipes and tanks seem to last forever in normal circumstances.

The only reason I had to change the calorifier on my last boat and fortunately it was located under the quarter berth was that the immersion heater failed and it was impossible to remove even after removing and using the correct spanner and suitable extension plus it wasn't well insulated. So you might give it some thought before you entomb it and make it inaccessible, not such a great expense in the grand scheme of things and yes I know it all mounts up but............

 

[Iliade]

All this torque about wrenches, what you do need is a club hammer and matching cold chisel. People do so much more damage when the hammer isn't big enough!

And a breaker bar so you aren't ever tempted to ruin the torque wrench:

US PRO 2072 1/2 Dr Power Breaker Bar 24", Chrome : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

Have fun!

 

[john_morris_uk]

All this torque about wrenches, what you do need is a club hammer and matching cold chisel. People do so much more damage when the hammer isn't big enough!

And a breaker bar so you aren't ever tempted to ruin the torque wrench:

US PRO 2072 1/2 Dr Power Breaker Bar 24", Chrome : Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

Have fun!

I’ve got a Makita ‘rattle gun’ that usually undoes most things given an appropriate socket. However it couldn’t shift some of the allen screws on my Aquadrive. My breaker bar (similar to the link) shifted them immediately…. Holding the shaft steady was a challenge and involved a small jemmy bar and some bolts in convenient holes.

 

[Frank Holden]

Some thought provoking comments. Our calorufuer is also buried in the bottom of the enormous cockpit locker Sealords are built with. (For the uninitiated, it’s so deep there are steps down into it. When it’s empty I can stand up in it with loads of headroom above and I’m 6’2”!)
Our calorifer is the original but has the pressure relief vent on the top. It’s one of the few items I haven’t refurbished or replaced and I’m about to install a generator above it! If it were to fail catastrophically one could lose a lot of fresh water very quickly. I have t worried as copper pipes and tanks seem to last forever in normal circumstances.

I must be starting to sound like a real prophet of doom here. Sorry.
Re the life of copper. My home in Australia is 40 yo and is currently having all the copper replaced . Plumber says there was a huge batch of dodgy copper piping on the market then and mine is one of many having massive pinhole problems. I suspect a cheap import. Maybe I lucked out with the calorifier as well
Calorifier is a vertical Cleghorn Waring, I see the horizontal ones have the valve on top. First took it out for repair in 2006 - too bad to fix by 2007 so Trafalgar flew a new one from UK to Pto Williams for me.
Other fun bits in there with it - pressure pump failed in 2006 - had a spare pump bit but they were no longer made so replaced the whole thing a few years later. Fun fact I discovered about that time - any spare part containing rubber will - if as old as the one you are replacing - fail in short order. Thinking Whale and Henderson diaphragms here.
Also the Eberspacher - replaced with new in about 17.
Last but not least the fridge gear.
Leaving aside the fact that the original as fitted was designed to keep english beer warm in winter....
The plate sprung a pinhole leak in 2008. Ushuaia fridge man said new plate would take a month to come from BA but he could make one - see pic of installation ( its brilliant!) - who would have thought you could make a living as a fridge engineer in southern Patagonia.
BD30 compressor failed in mid 201xs - bought a new BD50 in Australia - 'sorry we don't have any 30s in stock - we can do a 50 for the same price' and also a Carel thermostat.

That's it, I'll stop now.

 

[Tradewinds]

I must be starting to sound like a real prophet of doom here. Sorry.
Re the life of copper. My home in Australia is 40 yo and is currently having all the copper replaced . Plumber says there was a huge batch of dodgy copper piping on the market then and mine is one of many having massive pinhole problems. I suspect a cheap import. Maybe I lucked out with the calorifier as well
Calorifier is a vertical Cleghorn Waring, I see the horizontal ones have the valve on top. First took it out for repair in 2006 - too bad to fix by 2007 so Trafalgar flew a new one from UK to Pto Williams for me.
Other fun bits in there with it - pressure pump failed in 2006 - had a spare pump bit but they were no longer made so replaced the whole thing a few years later. Fun fact I discovered about that time - any spare part containing rubber will - if as old as the one you are replacing - fail in short order. Thinking Whale and Henderson diaphragms here.
Also the Eberspacher - replaced with new in about 17.
Last but not least the fridge gear.
Leaving aside the fact that the original as fitted was designed to keep english beer warm in winter....
The plate sprung a pinhole leak in 2008. Ushuaia fridge man said new plate would take a month to come from BA but he could make one - see pic of installation ( its brilliant!) - who would have thought you could make a living as a fridge engineer in southern Patagonia.
BD30 compressor failed in mid 201xs - bought a new BD50 in Australia - 'sorry we don't have any 30s in stock - we can do a 50 for the same price' and also a Carel thermostat.

That's it, I'll stop now.

It's amazing how much water from a pinhole in a copper pipe can produce (1980 installation). Is modern copper any better? In my case it was sea water (gulp).

 

[john_morris_uk]

Reading this puts one off boats!

Its the reality of boating I’m afraid. There’s always something to fix/improve. Even on a brand new boat in my experience.
Edit: Of course what is being described in this thread is a major refit. With light use and good maintenance, some boats last for many years without a refit. However, we’re taking our 36 year old boat on a major extended cruise and the preparations and checks we’re making aren’t unusual. The opening sentence above about the reality of boating is still true though.

 

[Iliade]

the original as fitted was designed to keep english beer warm in winter....

;0)

 

[mattonthesea]

Its the reality of boating I’m afraid. There’s always something to fix/improve. Even on a brand new boat in my experience.
Edit: Of course what is being described in this thread is a major refit. With light use and good maintenance, some boats last for many years without a refit. However, we’re taking our 36 year old boat on a major extended cruise and the preparations and checks we’re making aren’t unusual. The opening sentence above about the reality of boating is still true though.

I bought my first boat, to do a North Atlantic circuit, from an engineer who had owned her for 26 years. In a year I replaced the rigging and the water flexible tank. I had no idea how lucky I was until I bought my second boat!