Cooling System Issues | Basin Plumbing | Narrowboat Conversion | BOATLIFE 

Thank you! Yeah seeing as we’ll be the ones living on it we wanted to make it feel not too much like a boat but more like a home. As beautiful as some of the more traditional boats are lined in stained pine cladding it’s not something we would have

Thank you! Yes there’s definitely days where we doubt what we’ve taken on for sure!

Thanks Dave a few of you have advised against it will look into solvent I think!

😂

We’re just trying to keep the system as simple as possible, less wiring etc and if the saniflow froze over etc. Will look into using solvent with shallow traps as a few of you have advised against the flexi, although the blue pipe is smooth on the inside.

Thanks so much! Ah that’s great advice, hadn’t thought of letting it breath. Will take a look at this!

That’s very kind thank you! End is nearly in sight!

Thank you very much!

Thanks Bill!

Thank you! We’re looking to incorporate traps into the system, we’ve had a few comments suggesting against not having one so thanks for the advice

Great tips thank you!

The backfilling issue was why we wanted to go with two separate outlets, one for the bath which is pumped out automatically by a whale gulper IC and then let gravity work it’s magic to keep things simpler for the basin and sink. Judging by people’s thoughts on flexi wastes we’ll be fitting solvent weld now!

@@ItsOhJoe As said Joe, if your pumping anyway gives you the option to lower everything, even your bath, and tank it if needs be with some diverter valves on the outlet, if you use the underfloor over worrying about the waterline level. If you go solvent weld of any size make sure you have plenty of cleaning eye tees you can easily get at, preferably on every bend.

Thanks yeah a few of you have recommended against the flexi - any benefit from pushfit vs solvent?

Thank you!

Ah that’s very kind thank you!

Thanks so much!

This is very true for boats. Ours was painted green under the gunwales and looked so dark, so we painted it a light grey. We also painted the red pine above the gunwales white to make it even brighter. Looks fab now

Thank you Penney. There’s not a massive amount of green that will be exposed, half of that wall will be behind kitchen units so that will break it up a bit. With the light wooden floor and white ceiling we think it’ll work - hopefully! 😂

Yeah especially now the walls are up it’s a real challenge! The blue pipe is smooth on the inside but may look into using solvent throughout now as looks like a few people have had issues with the flexi wastes

Thank you!

Will re-look into it a few of you have suggested against it so appreciate the advice,

That makes sense! Thank you

Wow this video’s a bit of a throwback. That sums up the build pretty well though.

@@ItsOhJoe I've had much fun with your venture. Though you may not be professionals you get full marks for the work you have done. I've seen most of your videos and they are good - even your coffee making 🙂. I wish we had the same canals in Australia.

@@lesharrison6479 about as far from professionals as you can get 😂 appreciate that!

Thanks so much!

On further inspection, it doesn't look like a crack, maybe paint or a marker.. Anyway, good call on moving the temp sensor.

Good call might as well replace them all while your at it 👍 just for the peace of mind

Good call we’ve got a piece that will fit!

Thanks Paul, much appreciated mate!

We changed the thermostat and that seemed to fix it but now with the leak in the elbow I think it’s letting air in and causing an air lock. The boat originally had a colorifier but we have removed the old header tank for that and capped off where it connected. The engine isn’t original which doesn’t help suss out where the pipes should or shouldn’t go!

Thank you! We had a nice few days off together and seen some friends so really enjoyed the break!

😂😂

Going to re-look at using solvent instead, had that blue pipe lying around hence giving it a go. Ref hearth we’ve got an upstand to fit which allows you to bring the dimensions of the hearth down

Thanks so much!

😂 thanks Keith

Thanks so much Keith!

Thanks so much!

Thanks so much! And you yourself!

Thanks Peter!

Definitely! Thank you

Thank you! That was our thoughts

Thank you and yourself!

The gulper would take two inlets but I was worried about backfilling of the bath if you let the basin waste drain. We were also looking to connect the bow deck up to the gulper with the bath (that would be both inlets taken up)

Thank you!

Thank you yeah we think it’ll work well!

Thanks Bill!

It’s held up for quite a few hours unfortunately it’s pushed into a really awkward position as the thermostat housing isn’t quite right! We’ve got some new pipe to fit once the cooling system goes back together

Thank you!

😂😂 thank you!

Well spotted she very nearly did!

I’m trying to grow it into something spectacular but it’s a slow process with some bad stages on the way.

Thank you and yourself!

Yeah we were surprised when we were told. It’s advisable to use eco washing products etc

Thank you!

Thank you and yourself!

Thank you!

Thank you very much!

Ouch!

Thank you, yes have heard of that happening! It sounds like the pipes aren’t in the right places by someone else’s comment so going to have a look!

@@ItsOhJoe cool.. they should take the cold supply from the bottom of the tank.. and obvs make sure it's not airlocked. Common issue ..does the tank have an air bleed at the top?

@@sillius_soddus_ cheers! Yeah both tanks have an air bleed at the top. But yeah cold is currently being fed from the top of the tank, and the two tanks are connected by both bottom outlets. Once we’ve got the elbow welded up I’ll look into swapping the cold feed around like you mentioned

Usually too impatient to let it cool properly! 😂 drinking it black doesn’t help either

Happy new year

Thanks John! So that thermostat housing was a bodge by a previous owner, the thermostat isn’t normally located in the bend someone had just drilled and stuck it in there! Hence the inline one as there doesn’t appear anywhere else I could make one work. We tried a new thermostat housing on an older video but it was the wrong angle so didn’t line up. It’s a bit of a minefield working on a 40 year old boat 😂

If it is a bmc 1.5 diesel the correct thermostat housing (with the correct angle) is available from Lansing Marine at a reasonable price. Your existing housing may have a part no on it, such as BL4. The standard car version does not fit correctly as you found out because the spout is angled away from the engine.

@@eleanordeboat4191 ah thank you will get one on order!

Thanks!

Thank you and you!

I was thinking about this the other day. It’s a word we used when converting our van (from van to camper) and just carried it over, but you’re right this was already a boat you could live on. It’s more of a boat renovation than conversion I guess.

Forgot about that, we’ve got some in the plumbing box!

😂😂 thanks Rolf

Thanks Terry! Yeah we try to show the real side of doing a boat up, especially for people who haven’t done it before we’d hate to paint this glamorous idea of how it goes well all the time! Ah that’s very kind that would be great our email is danniandjoetravel@gmail.com thank you!

So the lowest point is still the exit through the bulkhead fitting, so unless you fired a hose pipe down the basin it’s unlikely to rise all the way back up through the sink outlet. I did toy with the idea of a non return valve but thought it was a weak point for debris to build up in the future

Thank you!

Thanks for your comment, not at all on sucking eggs I’ve always struggled to understand these cooling systems! Have you got an email address I could send a couple photos of our system over to you to double check on where the pipes should run? As this is how the pipes were rigged up by who we bought the boat off but the engine isn’t original and the calorifier has been removed so it’s a bit of a minefield on what belongs where!

Will have a look! Only worry was keeping it as low as possible for the pump to prime if we ever run out

Yeah a few of you have suggested against no traps so will have a re-think!

So we’re living at Joe’s parents house at the minute. The boat will be our main home for the foreseeable!

It’ll be our main accommodation but we have plans to travel quite a bit still so boat may be left in a marina for a month or two at a time throughout various times of the year

That is an option 🙂

@@ItsOhJoe Happy 2022 to you both You have access to very useful information from other Narrowboat vlogers Namely .... Well Deck Diaries Project Narrowboat Cruising the Cut

Thanks for the comment, do you have an email address I could send some photos across of the system? I’ve never really understood the cooling systems on these boats and not one seems to be the same. This did have a calorifier fitted historically but it’s been removed from the system

@@ItsOhJoe Hi sorry it's took so long to get back to you but I have watched every vlog you have done on the boat and you have two skin tanks one each side and all the pipe connections are at the top so without speaking to the person that fitted the skin tanks or actually being there to investigate I cannot be sure if it is piped up correctly pictures will not help. So two questions Q1 have you ever used this boat without it overheating(if the answer is yes then the boat was originally working correctly and it is probably something you have done) Q2 have you altered the position of any of the four pipes that go to the tops of the two skin tanks(if the answer is yes then that's the problem put them back as it was and try again) Don't be fooled by the fact all four pipe connections are at the tops of the tanks there should be internal pipes to get the water from the bottom that is why you don't alter the pipes around they must go on in a certain order to work properly. The fact it use to have a calorifier will not make any difference as long as the pipes are either connected together and are lower then the engine or are blocked off

​@@bigKDL Thanks for getting back to us! On our first journey of any real length it did overheat, that turned out to be a seized thermostat (rusted completely). We removed the thermostat whilst waiting for a new one to arrive and it seemed to stay cool (although at this point we didn't have a temp gauge setup!). Since being in the marina we installed a temp gauge (although sender appears to be in the wrong place - in the cold feed) - so now i'm hoping it's the leak in the elbow of the skin tank allowing air in and causing an airlock. This is being fixed soon and then i'll be able to put the temp sender in the right place - then leave it running and watch it get up to temperature. Also yeah the pipes have all been fitted to where they were fitted when we bought the boat.

@@ItsOhJoe thanks for the reply when your man turns up to weld that elbow there should be a long pipe down to the bottom of that tank to pick up the colder water so he should be able to check that for you also the pipe across the boat between the two tanks should be as straight and level as you can make it

Thank you!

It’s dried quite nicely, definitely growing on me!

@@ItsOhJoe a rolling stone gathers no moss……..😂😂😂

@@edthegooner4173 😂😂

Don’t think we have a heat exchanger just two skin tanks? I really don’t know much about narrowboat cooling systems so any advice welcome!

@@ItsOhJoe The rubber dilly at 2:04 marked Bowman 3419, if you remove that you will be able to see. Was the engine original fitment?

@@johnglover9935 I’ve had it removed and nothing inside! No I’m not sure what engine was in here before and to be honest I’m not sure if the engine has been home marinised or from factory but would assume it’s been done at home

@@ItsOhJoe That is correct for your setup. If it had been used in a sea going boat it would have had a tube stack in there. Was concerned someone had re-purposed the engine and left it in there.

@@johnglover9935 ah okay thank you!

Will have a look cheers!

@@ItsOhJoe As you see it Joe as if your pumping one you may as well pump them all which won't which won't matter about the water line level in regards to heights of anything. Plus give you the option to tank grey water by a few valves if the regs. change about grey water discharge or your in a marina. I maybe wrong as I have never used a Vevor but most others take care of any back feed, as nearly all have two inlets and if in the floor like your larders, say under your bed maybe, I doubt you would have one anyway. Looking at your video it looks like Danni will need a hop up to use the basin, which you could then obviously drop everything in height and would only need one hole though the side for the lot. As you see it matey.

Thanks for watching! 😂

Thanks Jon!

It does get surprisingly warm but with a grate and a bed of ash we’ve not had any problems so far