Silencers and stuff

 A boat needs to be kept in good condition. This goes without saying but there are soe things that we do not examine often enough. The engine exhaust just goes out the back and disappears into the ether. Until the pipework of indeterminate age, but over 17 years, breaks and the exhaust goes into the engine bay and blackens everything in carbon!

We allowed friend to take the boat out for a few days. Of course we had an obligatory "water cruise" before the main event to familiarise the skipper to be with Sonflower and her foibles. One thing that puzzled me before that cruise was why the water tank was completely empty and the leisure battery was almost completely empty too. We decided to fill the tank, run the engine for a few hours and charge up the battery. Our friend, who has crewed for us before, could skipper the whole way. So, through the lift bridge and mooring at the water point. Taking on water, navigating down the lock, through narrows, round a bend under a bridge, winding the boat, navigating up through the lock and lift bridge to moor back on home mooring.  A succesfull four hour cruise and all seemed ok.   They went to Cropredy without incident. But on the return trip, three locks from home we received a phone call to say that the engine tone had changed and there was smoke coming form the engine bay. All indications were normal but the water level in the Cropredy pund was very low. I thought the boat may be labouring in the shallow water so I told her to slowly cruise back to home mooring where I met her and discovered the broken exhaust.

Last Friday I took Sonflower down to Tooley's Botyard where John could work on her and fit a new exhaust system. Unfortunately her engine bay is too cramped to upgrade to a hospital silencer so we have a new system of conventional variety.

This Friday we took her away from Tooley's and on a little trip down to Nell Bridge and back. When we got on her and turned on the battery isolator switch the water pump started running. There were no taps open so I had visions of a bilge full of water. However the bilge was dry as a bone. The engine bay bilge pup started and doischarged clean water into the canal. I opened the engine bay to check the stern gland and the greaser and found that there was no undue leakage formt eh sdern gland but there was a discharge from the clorifier releif valve which discharges into the engine bay bilge. We had found the reason for the empty water tank anmd the low batteries! Unfortunately exercising the relief valve to clear grot from the seat did not reseat it so we turned the water pump off except when we needed to fill a bowl or the kettle and filled eight litres of empty coke bottles with water for our drinking needs.

Nell Bridge and back went fine and brought the battery voltage back to 12v. Our only "problem" was very heavy showers that soaked us to the skin on the way back at Kings Sutton lock where there was a queue of three boats. It rained. We left Sonflower in town under Tom Rolt Bridge because it was tipping it down and took her back to home mooring 36 hours later to wait for more attention to the calorifier relief valve. 

                              Since last blog post:

 Water Run    2 LB, 2 Locks, 2 miles; 

 Cropredy and back  9m, 6 locks,   

 Nell Bridge and back  10m,  6 locks 2 LB                                                          12 hours total

Big Day

I could not post yesterday as things do not always go to plan!

On Tuesday we did go and do the PUMP OUT. Quite excited by the prospect we slipped away from our mooring before 8am and settled on the water point above the lock. Filling did not take as long as usual but the crew managed breakfast while we were there. Thence to the winding hole to turn and return to the mooring opposite the facilities below the lock at 9.20am. From here The Best Mate accompanied our son to the Spice Ball Leisure Centre to take part in "Mixed leisure" - badminton.

It was now 10.30 so I texted Nene Pilot to tell him where I was. I got a call in return informing me that our moorings had been enclosed in blue and white tape and had become a crime scene. A person had been found floating in the canal!

I went up to the moorings and spoke to the CPO who was taking names and information. She let me go on board Nene Pilot and they allowed us to move toward town which was away from the place of discovery. As we went along two CID officers passed us on the tow path. They did not give anything away as to the circumstances. The CPOs stopped Grey Hare and pulled them over onto my mooring to prevent their progress toward the turning point. "£25 a night" I quipped. "Put it on the police bill", they replied.

We turned Nene Pilot and then returned to the facilities to get on with the business of the day. The pump that they use is a petrol powered 2" water pump that was brought from ALDI. The hoses have seen some service and there were some leaks on the suction side that needed taping up to enable the pump to be effective and lift the waste water out if the tank.

However we did Nene Pilot first and I am glad we did. We sorted a lot of teething problems out on her and I got a good idea of what was needed when it came to our turn. Once it was pumping, the pump did its job. Getting it going was a little bit of a problem and priming was essential. One lesson that needed to be learned was not to remove the priming plug when the discharge pipe is full!

We completed our task and we worked up the lock to moor outside General Foods where we managed to beat last orders on the food at 2pm! The whole process had taken 4.1/2 hours. Lunch was welcome.

Nene Pilot called with the good news that the person found in the canal was alive and in hospital.

Even more frustration: The conclusion

We have a new water pump that seems to be working correctly now. It is a ShurFlo Junior with a shut off setting of 2bar. Hopefully all will be well for the full three years of the warranty.

We have received refunds for the mis-sold pressure switch assembly and the malfunctioning ShurFlo 3.0 pump.

Even more frustration part 2

I tried to fit the new pressure switch. I carefuly followed the instructions which said "do not remove the presure switch screws" but found that the pressure switch housing on the pump masked one of the screws that I had to remove so I had to remove the pressure switch screws to remove the switch to remove the body screws. Are you following me?

The instructions also said that if I was careful I wouldn't need to disturb the internals. I was very careful and removed the top body. Then came the surprise!


The internal sealing housing containing a rubber seal was sort of triangular in the new pump and circular in the old design (seen on the right). Those crafty Mexicans had made it so that you couldn't fit a yank pressure switch to a Mexican pump!

I now have issues with two supliers. One on winter holiday who supplied the pump that doesn't work and one a 40 minute drive away who supplied the part that doesn't fit.

I have put it all back together as it was except that I had cut the power cable from the switch to the motor!

Now I am seriously considering Tony's remote pressure switch idea.

Even more frustration

The water pump saga is not over!

The pump is not shutting off again and I am losing water through the relief valve at 3 bar pressure. To make sure that I had adjusted the pressure switch to minimum I removed the adjusting screw! Two turns back should have done the trick but not in this case.

The supplier of the pump is now on a winter break until March. So I rang up Tony, the fount of all knowledge on all things technical in a narrowboat. He loves to talk about these little problems and had a solution: ditch the pump pressure switch and get an independant switch from a reputable chandler. It should cost about £20. He recommended a Square D switch.

So I went to Midland Chandlers at Braunston. It is about a 40 minute drive from home mooring. I told the man what I wanted and he said that they had these switches for about £50 and I would need a fitting kit and tee piece in addition. He could not locate one on the shelves, however, (they are enlarging and re-arranging their store) but he did have what he felt was the real solution to my problem.

He told me that Midland Chandlers have about 150 Shurflo pumps ready to be returned to the manufacturer because of defective pressure switches! Since switching manufacture to Mexico the quality of the pumps has dropped remarkably and there is a whole batch of pressure switches that just do not work. My pump supplier had said that his wholesaler was Midland Chandlers! Could it be that he had part of this batch? I was told that they could not help me with my pump and were sympathetic but legally I had to go through my supplier. On the shelf were genuine Shurflo pressure switches from the previous incarnation of pumps, made in USA, and fully compatible with the pump I had installed. Cost £28.


This seemed the logical solution to get me through the winter. I can return the pump to my supplier, still under warranty, in the Spring.

Watch out for further instalments.

more Frustration

The pump saga is not over!

After an apparent success in re-fitting the Shurflo 3.0 water pump and returning a defective one (that would not work at all) to the supplier, the pump has now started to behave in the same way as ot doi when ot emptied my water tank into the canal. To remind you: it will not turn off because the 3 bar relief valve on the calorifier is lifting. I have tried re-setting the adjustable pressure switch. I am now assuming that the re-set pressure of the relief valve may be considerable less than 3 bar!

One reason why this is particularly frustrating is because getting to the pump is not exactly simple.

First one opens the under sink cupboard door fully and removes the vegetable rack:



Then move the storage box in the other cupboard to the left


Swivel it and take that out

revealing the trap door floor hatch

Which is removed to reveal the pump