Sunday 25 January 2009

Una Paloma Blanca

All the water used on a narrowboat has to be pumped from a tank. Open a tap - on comes the pump; close the tap - the pump goes off - simple! If the pump comes on unexpectedly it means you've left a tap dripping - or you have a leaking pipe! But what if the pump keeps coming on even when you've double checked the taps and the pipes? This was the situation on Starcross over Christmas - the pump cutting in for a few seconds every 15 minutes or so.

I'd decided it was probably a fault in the pump and "solved" the problem by taking the fuse out until I could get it looked at, but when Hilary came to visit she noticed something I hadn't - a "drip...drip....drip" coming from the kitchen area. It turned out that our Paloma water heater had sprung a leak - and one which had probably been there for some time judging by the corrosion on the bottom of the front cover! This design of heater is frowned upon nowadays by the Boat Safety Scheme and at the last check ours had failed a spillage test anyway so repair is not an option and I'll have to look for a replacement!

Still, like most boating problems, is easily overcome by the simple application of an appropriate amount of cash!

Oh, and if you are still wondering about the title of this post then you are younger than I am!

2 comments:

Lesley NB Caxton said...

Jim
Sadly you had me singing your title...so that excludes me from your younger readers then.
Starcross is looking rather fine I must say!

Anonymous said...

Hi Jim,
like Lesley, I too was singing the blinkin' thing!!
Thanks for leaving the info' on my blog regards the stoppage. We will be taking it very, very leisurely and having plenty of stops, so hoping it may be re opened by the time we arrive!
Very much enjoy your blog.
Regards,
Pav - NB Marmaduke.