Buried in the “I soo Love My Yanmar” thread about a month ago was talk about how not to forget to open the raw water engine seacock. But a life long brain flaw of mine is that when I’m doing something simple/routine, my thoughts can be anywhere but focused on the task. Even with some sort of system, I can still mess up. I needed something more reliable than me myself.
The cure for me was to mount a momentary-on push button switch on the raw water seacock in a manner that the button would become depressed (= on) when the seacock handle is in the shut position. The alarm buzzer in my 1980 Yanmar instrument panel has an unused terminal. Wiring this to the seacock switch created a circuit for a "Seacock Not Open" alarm. When starting the engine, if the alarm buzzer doesn't go off in its usual two/three seconds, the first thing to do shut is off the engine and recollect that I didn’t open the engine seacock.
The attached pictures are of the switch setup at the seacock. The marlon valve handle is hollow so I was able to epoxy an SS extension bolt into it very securely. I filed smooth the threads on the side that contacts the switch’s chrome button. Also is a picture of how the valve handle looks when the cover over the area is in place and part of the pvc pipe that I use to reach down to the valve from above. The other side of the pipe has a T-fitting.
This alarm circuit might not be the most elegant solution, but its working. It won’t tell me if the raw water flow is blocked for some reason, but I figure blockage will be a fairly rare occurrence compared to me forgetting to open the seacock. The push button switch I used has a rather stiff spring so it’s a good thing that the seacock ball in the valve fits tight and offers resistance through the handle. If I were to do it again I would find a switch with a softer return spring.
One suggestion in the "Love My Yanmar" thread (from Roger Long) which I contemplated for a good while was the Aqualarm water flow safety kit (available on this site’s store for a reasonable ~$64 http://shop.sailboatowners.com/google/custom.htm?vp=140933). In retrospect, I could have installed the Aqualarm kit easier and faster than my DIY solution.
As a related aside: When I went to the Yanmar distributor to buy a new rubber impeller to replace the one I destroyed because of an unopened seacock, the staff mentioned that they have been suggesting that its better not to close it, particularly if the boat is used by different people/partners. Rational is that the frequency of a leak somewhere in the raw water circuit causing a boat to fill with water is less than the frequency of forgetting to open the seacock and getting into trouble by having an engine fail (not to mention the cost of engine repairs).
The cure for me was to mount a momentary-on push button switch on the raw water seacock in a manner that the button would become depressed (= on) when the seacock handle is in the shut position. The alarm buzzer in my 1980 Yanmar instrument panel has an unused terminal. Wiring this to the seacock switch created a circuit for a "Seacock Not Open" alarm. When starting the engine, if the alarm buzzer doesn't go off in its usual two/three seconds, the first thing to do shut is off the engine and recollect that I didn’t open the engine seacock.
The attached pictures are of the switch setup at the seacock. The marlon valve handle is hollow so I was able to epoxy an SS extension bolt into it very securely. I filed smooth the threads on the side that contacts the switch’s chrome button. Also is a picture of how the valve handle looks when the cover over the area is in place and part of the pvc pipe that I use to reach down to the valve from above. The other side of the pipe has a T-fitting.
This alarm circuit might not be the most elegant solution, but its working. It won’t tell me if the raw water flow is blocked for some reason, but I figure blockage will be a fairly rare occurrence compared to me forgetting to open the seacock. The push button switch I used has a rather stiff spring so it’s a good thing that the seacock ball in the valve fits tight and offers resistance through the handle. If I were to do it again I would find a switch with a softer return spring.
One suggestion in the "Love My Yanmar" thread (from Roger Long) which I contemplated for a good while was the Aqualarm water flow safety kit (available on this site’s store for a reasonable ~$64 http://shop.sailboatowners.com/google/custom.htm?vp=140933). In retrospect, I could have installed the Aqualarm kit easier and faster than my DIY solution.
As a related aside: When I went to the Yanmar distributor to buy a new rubber impeller to replace the one I destroyed because of an unopened seacock, the staff mentioned that they have been suggesting that its better not to close it, particularly if the boat is used by different people/partners. Rational is that the frequency of a leak somewhere in the raw water circuit causing a boat to fill with water is less than the frequency of forgetting to open the seacock and getting into trouble by having an engine fail (not to mention the cost of engine repairs).
