Maintenance backlog

It isn’t just BW who have a maintenance backlog, we have one too. I keep a list on board of all the various little jobs that need doing. So this weekend was dedicated to crossing some of them off the list.
First I decided that the still leaking calorifier needed to be completely taken out in order to effect a repair. There just isnt enough working space or visibility to do it in situ. So I drained the Eberspacher central heating system, partially drained the engine cooling system and drained the tank itself and took it out. Once it was out on the towpath I pressure tested it with a kit that friend Mike had lent me. With some soapy water we quickly identified the remaining pinholes. Rather than just soldering over these I covered the whole area with a piece of copper sheet I had bought from the Crazy Wire Company.
I carefully soldered all around the patch and allowed the solder to go up under the sheet by capillary feed. When it was cool we pressurised it again and repeated the soapy water test. All seemed to be good so I re-fitted the tank. One of the tank connections from the central heating wouldn’t stop leaking, so I took it off again and upon inpection it was clear that the rubber seal had perished. A quick trip to B&Q produced a new one and all was well.
We went on a short trip down to Wittington Horse bridge, winded, then up to wind again above Hyde lock. This was to run the tank up to operating temperature. I also ran the Eberspacher to test out that side of things. All seemed to be OK – no leaks.

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