Here's a short extract of some spectacular footage take last month.
Wednesday, 25 February 2015
Monday, 9 February 2015
Climate control
Now Peggy is safely tucked up in bed in her new home, I am concentrating on making the transition from her former one as comfortable as possible.
This is the enclosure in which she is sitting.
It's assembled from 50 mm foil-backed insulation panels screwed to a timber frame, and it is very close-fitting to the boat. Air humidified to 85% (relative humidity) is fed in though ducts on the port side (we're using a Defensor PH28A humidifier). Self-closing vents on the starboard side allow the release of excess pressure from the sealed enclosure. Because of this positive pressure we've not needed to worry about sealing every joint in the enclosure, though we could always do so if I think the enclosure isn't maintaining the desired level of humidity. For now it seems the efficiency of the enclosure is very high, because the humidifier appears only to have deployed once. Peggy herself of course presents 1.5 tonnes of humidity-buffering material containing 17-20% water, so perhaps it's not surprising we're not putting the machinery under too much stress! The conditions inside and outside the enclosure are monitored continually with Eltek GD10 radio sensors. I'm also recording the wall and floor temperatures using GD21 sensors with thermocouple probes, and there are flood sensors surrounding the humidifier in case it springs a leak. All the data is fed to a networked logger that is accessible over the internet. By these means I hope to make the management of humidity and it's eventual reduction as tightly controlled and energy efficient as possible.
Plant and equipment supplied by Novatron Scientific Ltd. (UK).
This is the enclosure in which she is sitting.
It's assembled from 50 mm foil-backed insulation panels screwed to a timber frame, and it is very close-fitting to the boat. Air humidified to 85% (relative humidity) is fed in though ducts on the port side (we're using a Defensor PH28A humidifier). Self-closing vents on the starboard side allow the release of excess pressure from the sealed enclosure. Because of this positive pressure we've not needed to worry about sealing every joint in the enclosure, though we could always do so if I think the enclosure isn't maintaining the desired level of humidity. For now it seems the efficiency of the enclosure is very high, because the humidifier appears only to have deployed once. Peggy herself of course presents 1.5 tonnes of humidity-buffering material containing 17-20% water, so perhaps it's not surprising we're not putting the machinery under too much stress! The conditions inside and outside the enclosure are monitored continually with Eltek GD10 radio sensors. I'm also recording the wall and floor temperatures using GD21 sensors with thermocouple probes, and there are flood sensors surrounding the humidifier in case it springs a leak. All the data is fed to a networked logger that is accessible over the internet. By these means I hope to make the management of humidity and it's eventual reduction as tightly controlled and energy efficient as possible.
Plant and equipment supplied by Novatron Scientific Ltd. (UK).
Monday, 2 February 2015
Big sister
I spotted this on the BBC website this morning, featuring an interview with Andrew Baines whom I met lately in Belfast. Though the scale is very different, the problems are similar.
HMS Victory is 'slowly rotting away from the inside' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-30926084.
Success at last!
Well, we finally did it! Six years in the planning, three days in execution. Everything went very smoothly and, since pictures speak louder than words, I make no apology for the following...
 |
| Setting out the rail lines |
 |
| Removing the 1950 concrete threshold |
 |
| Welding the central rail |
 |
| Cutting steel for rail extensions |
 |
| Testing Geoff Mitchell's jockey-wheels |
 |
| Peggy emerging from the cellar with inches to spare |
 |
| Free at last! |
 |
| Laying out the steels for the lifting cradle |
 |
| MNH staff building the lifting cradle... |
 |
| ... and working into the night to complete it. |
 |
| Ready for lift off, complete with masts and spars |
 |
| A great lift by Mann Crane Ltd, Isle of Man |
 |
| Into Bridge Street |
 |
| Along the street to the waiting truck |
 |
| Loaded for transport |
 |
| In the new conservation facility |
 |
| Building a climate-controlled enclosure for temporary storage |
 |
| Boxed-up safely |
 |
| L-R: Geoff Mitchell, Kevin Kinnin, CW, Colin Cowie. |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)