Well it has been another hot day. Macy the cat has hardly moved at all and is just now starting to stir her stumps. I have run another load of washing to ensure just about everything is done whilst we are on the electric here. I also had my boiler suit to clean and it need a good hot wash to get it as clean as possible. Again I had every intention to start cleaning and then sanding down areas around the engine hole but when I opened up the board I realised that I would have to replace the bilge pump and secure the hose and power cables with wire ties.
By the time I had done that I thought I would refill the stern tube greaser as it was almost wound right down. I had bout a tub of waterproof grease when in Saxilby on the Witham but when I opened it up it looked very thick, even in this weather. I didn't think it would be a good idea to use it in the stern gland greaser as the delivery pipe is very thin and if it got blocked up it would be a devil to clear it.
Luckily the mechanic that seems to look after the hire boat fleet based here was working on several boats here and I noticed that in his barrow he had a big tub of Morris's Grease. I begged a couple of dollops to keep me going until I get to a chandlers to by the real thing. They use Dr Marine and they seem to be kept busy too. We also had somebody from RCR as a boat had parted the clutch cable and needed sorting.
Whilst I was down there I decided to check the level of oil in the gear box. The dip stick is integral with the nut on the top and it is almost impossible to see the level on the dip stick. I persevered and found that the level was at the lowest mark so topped it up. I have been buying my engine oil, which you can use in the gear box too, from Wilco as it was the cheapest I could find. As it has to be changed so frequently I figured that it wasn't worth spending top dollar. I noticed that oil has changed in Wilco's now. It was £12-95 for 5 ltr but has gone up to £15. It still seems to be much cheaper than else where. I was going to buy some here but as it is a relatively long way from the boat and as I have only just changed the oil I decided to put it off until I found one closer.
Another job I have to do is change the coolant/antifreeze in the engine. I had a look for a car parts place here in Market Harborough and walked round to them to by some ethelyne glycol based anitfreeze. The engine takes 7.5 ltr of coolant and the recommendation is to have concentrations of between 33 and 50%. I bought 3 ltr. But now I have read the manual I forgot that this may not include the calorifier. I will have to give the whole thing another two or three coats of looking at before I tackle that job now I think. Maybe it can be put off until we are close to another chandler so I can buy more coolant if I need it in a hurry. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but not having enough coolant to purge air blocks etc would not be a good idea just at the moment. Tomorrow will be taken up with a complete clean through the boat and doing the ironing so I hope it is cooler tomorrow night.
Our bilge pump is similar to this one.
Stern tube greaser. The body holds the grease. A copper pipe runs from the hole in the bottom to the stern glad bearing. You turn the handle on the top that screws the plunger down and pressurises the grease forcing it down the tube and into the bearing to prevent water getting into the engine hole.
Whilst I was down there I decided to check the level of oil in the gear box. The dip stick is integral with the nut on the top and it is almost impossible to see the level on the dip stick. I persevered and found that the level was at the lowest mark so topped it up. I have been buying my engine oil, which you can use in the gear box too, from Wilco as it was the cheapest I could find. As it has to be changed so frequently I figured that it wasn't worth spending top dollar. I noticed that oil has changed in Wilco's now. It was £12-95 for 5 ltr but has gone up to £15. It still seems to be much cheaper than else where. I was going to buy some here but as it is a relatively long way from the boat and as I have only just changed the oil I decided to put it off until I found one closer.
Another job I have to do is change the coolant/antifreeze in the engine. I had a look for a car parts place here in Market Harborough and walked round to them to by some ethelyne glycol based anitfreeze. The engine takes 7.5 ltr of coolant and the recommendation is to have concentrations of between 33 and 50%. I bought 3 ltr. But now I have read the manual I forgot that this may not include the calorifier. I will have to give the whole thing another two or three coats of looking at before I tackle that job now I think. Maybe it can be put off until we are close to another chandler so I can buy more coolant if I need it in a hurry. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but not having enough coolant to purge air blocks etc would not be a good idea just at the moment. Tomorrow will be taken up with a complete clean through the boat and doing the ironing so I hope it is cooler tomorrow night.
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