Hazardous Ghosts of PO's Past?

[rardiH36]

What potentially hazardous safety faults have you come across on your boat due to previous owners' (POs') mistakes or poor judgment with repairs/maintenance?

I stumbled on one yesterday, which unfolded as follows:

As I included in the "Love My Yanmar" thread last week, I recently forgot to open my raw water seacock and I also didn't listen/look for the signs of water coming out with the exhaust. First sign of trouble was the sight of steam due to the anti-freeze coolant venting out of the pressure cap and expansion tank. I got the engine shut down immediately. Aside from destroying the impeller, the engine seems to have escaped unscathed.

Yesterday I went to investigate why my engine overheat alarm didn't sound during the incident. Following the steps in my Yanmar service manual, touching the temperature switch wire to ground did light the warning lamp and activate the alarm buzzer. That left the high temp switch mounted in the engine block as suspect. When I removed it and cleaned the exterior surfaces, I noted "190 F" stamped on it. Because my engine was originally built for raw water cooling and only later retrofitted to heat exchanger/anti-freeze cooling, it is still is fitted with a <60c thermostat. Noticing the disparity, I checked the service manual spec. For my engine, Yanmar specifies a 60 C (140 F) over-heat switch.

On the positive side, I now know that my engine temp probably didn't get above 190 F, and so was below the level for serious damage. But if the engine had the correct temp alarm switch, I probably would have been alerted to the lack of raw cooling water much sooner!

The local Yanmar dealer had the correct 60c high temp alert switch in stock and advised me to install it. During my outing today, I felt better knowing that my alarm system is functional as designed.

 

[BobM]

Probably the biggest was that when I replaced the raw water intake hose, as suggested by my surveyor, I discovered that it was just about to fail. After I removed it I found that it was more than half cut through were it had contacted the top of the nipple on on the through-hull.

 

[Roger Long]

The wheel drive autopilot, probably the largest electrical load on my boat, was being driven by 22 ga Radio Shack wire, without a fuse and tapped directly into the bus bar. Connections were twists with masking tape. I can't believe the boat didn't burn up. The motor was dead, probably from electrical drop so the whole system joined the big pile beside the boat on the first day after she arrived on the truck.

 

[Tim R.]

How about these:

- A Marelon seacock that appeared to be working but just the handle was turning
- Numerous single rusted hose clamps on through hulls
- Collapsed raw water intake hoses
- Upper and intermediate shrouds twisted at the lower spreader on port side

 

[Stu Jackson]

There's maintenance and then there's "issues"! Hose clamps while a safety issue, is maintenance.

MY PO did almost all the right things for "upgrades" to his 1986 boat, like the engine wiring harness, but he neglected to do the alternator bracket upgrade which caused the alternator to slam into the oil filter and make one heckuva mess. M25 engine. The M25XP (1987) engine "fixed" that little problem which Universal never acknowledged as a design flaw. The old one is a casting, the new one is much better with a real arm and engine mount.

Anyone with an M25 engine who hasn't done this, and the wiring harness upgrade, be warned. They're not only on C34s, since many builders used these engines, right Dave?

We made a "little" list: http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,5078.0.html

 

[kloudie1]

Mine was a propane tank (10 #) in the lasarette.. no drains except into the cabin!! The Xantrex propane alarm was turned off because of too many false alarms !! The stove had been replaced with a propane unit .. there is no original proper propane locker on the 34; I have been thinking about where to put one for a few years.. meanwhile the bottle lives in the cockpit next to the pedistal.

 

[Bill Roosa]

water tank fill connected to shore power

While filling the aft water tank I noticed that there was a "tingle" like electricity while I was touching the hose to the fill fitting. Concerned, since the shore power inlet is right below the fill, I took off the panel and noticed a burn hole in the tank fill line. The burn came from the hot side of shore power due to corrosion on the fitting where the main hot that connects the shore power inlet to the boat AC electrical panel connects to the inlet fitting. Good thing I was not well grounded.
Don’t think the PO had anything to do with it but it is certainly something to check on 40.5s

 

[kendall]

My newest boat , I started sanding the hull for bottom paint, and noticed two pink spots. Figuring that someone had faired it with bondo I started probing it with a screwdriver to see how deep it was. After making a couple deep scratches and not finding the bottom, I put the screw driver against it and smacked the handle. Punched it right through. Both head through-hulls had been removed and 'repaired' with pure bondo, wasn't even kitty hair type, just the plain old pink stuff.

He said that his dad had rebuilt it, then sailed it for several years before bringing it home to sell. So I'm not sure how long the bondo was actually there.

Ken.

 

[druid]

OH, don't get me started! Off the top of my head:
- steering cable routed incorrectly (original Catalina)
- Retrofitted alternator, pulleys didn't line up (actually never killed a belt)
- Lamp cord used for AC wiring
- No breaker for the AC wiring
- Hot water hose routed past the shift cable - eventually wore through and was a BITCH to find where the leak was!

(BTW: the AC wiring issues were NOT picked up by the Surveyor)

That's all I can think of for now...
druid

 

[Benny]

Chances are you would have destroyed the impeller anyways from running dry. By the time the warning buzzer comes on the impeller is already likely to be toast. Make sure you dig out all the impeller pieces that you can as any remaining pieces could block the cooling passages when you least expect it.

 

[Jalepeno]

My CAL had a major over heating problem that was not detected by the prepurchase survey when I bought her in June 2007. Everything was OK during sea trials a couple of weeks earlier but that was at the normal lower RPM used to get into and out of a marina with only short full speed bursts. The Yanmar YSM-12 overheated during the first hour of motoring (no wind) on my solo delivery run from Sydney to West Vancouver, BC. I had a very tight time window to get to Active Pass (about one hour) on the flood tide and through it at the high slack between the BC ferries (large + fast = big wake) runs. There was no wind so I had to motor at a reasonable clip.
Steam started to come out of the exhaust and the high temperature alarm turned ON after about twenty minutes of motoring at the ¾ speed setting on (good to know it works). I then drifted nervously with the tide (too deep to anchor) towards a rocky shore while I let her cool. I used this quiet time to investigate, setup the anchor rode and call Sea Tow on my cell phone (not for a tow but to check availability). Later, at slack high tide it took two hours to motor back to the marina at just above idel-speed. It was now late Saturday afternoon and I had missed a daylight passage through Active Pass. I did (and still don’t) have much experience going through our Gulf Island passes where the current is typically about 5 to 10 knots during a tide change. Investigations at the dock determined that the overheating was caused by a combination of problems:
- Cooling water through-hull was restricted with debris and was cleaned.
- The cooling water pump impeller and belt were OK but were replaced.
- A small cooling water strainer was installed and all cooling hoses were replaced.
- The exhaust mixing elbow was found to be restricted and was replaced along with the exhaust L-R thread pipe nipple as it was seized to the mixing elbow, the exhaust manifold that was cracked causing a small exhaust leak as it was seized to the nipple, the exhaust manifold gasket and a cylinder head stud that broke when removing the exhaust manifold.

The exhaust work done by the local Yanmar mechanic (with my help) and I did all of the other work. After all of this work the Yanmar would still max out at 2400 RPM but full load speed should be 3000 RPM. This was enough work to let me motor sail to my homeport on a long 12-hour overnight solo motor-sail.

The total was about $500 for exhaust parts, $300 for labour, $100 for tools and $300 for two AGM batteries (killed the old ones during testing) at the Canadian Tire store, $100 for 3 nights dock fees, $200 reservation fee from Sea Tow, about $300 for plumbing fitting, hoses and misc. stuff like cell phone charges, beer (lots of beer) and a bit of food. The experience was priceless, for everything else there is VISA.

The installed propeller, Campbell Sailor 3-blade CS3LH13x9x1 (13” pitch x 9” dia), both too large and had too much pitch for the motor (YSM12, 10 shaft HP @ 1518 propeller RPM) and boat design (5000 lb, 22’-0” LWL, 9’-0” beam, 6.5 kts hull speed). Later I installed the spare Campbell Sailor 2-blade CS2LH12x8x1 propeller while the local Campbell Sailor shop re-machined the 3-blade propeller to CS3LH12x7x1 for a nominal $50 fee. That is the best $50 I ever spent on a boat. The full load speed now is 2960 RPM and reverse prop walk is a useful tool.

Sometime I have to tell what if feels like to drift sideways at 6 knots through Active Pass at night, but that is another story.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Sometime I have to tell what if feels like to drift sideways at 6 knots through Active Pass at night, but that is another story.

Great story and well written. I'm all ears, please do go on with it! Been in there with a small runabout when the two ferries were sailing by each other. Great place, right???.......

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

The Real Culprit is Probably the Boat Surveyor ......................

Just in the process of helping a friend to pack the shaft gland on his recently acquired "new to him" 1994 42' Catalina.

While packing the gland, I noticed that the 4" long heavy duty hose which connects the gland to the shaft log was soft, bloated, and spongy. Something I'd rather not see fail under load.

So ....................... haul the boat, remove the rusty shaft coupling or more likely saw the shaft coupling off, remove the rudder, remove the prop, replace the little rubber hose connection, replace the new shaft, and redo everything to put it back together.

That point here is that pleasure boat surveyors in Vancouver, B.C. are completely unregulated and most often incompetent. He missed many more items and the repair bills are climbing. Not an uncommon story.

I'd name the surveyor here but I'm sure he'd sue for sullying his good name.

It really is a case of "buyer beware" but don't bother with a marine survey here in Vancouver. You're really throwing your money down the drain.

 

[rardiH36]

For Benny

Chances are you would have destroyed the impeller anyways from running dry. By the time the warning buzzer comes on the impeller is already likely to be toast. Make sure you dig out all the impeller pieces that you can as any remaining pieces could block the cooling passages when you least expect it.

Benny:

Thanks. Undoubtedtly your are right about the impeller...would have gotten fried even at the lower temp alarm threshold. I have already taken the end cap off the heat exchanger to look for any rubber bits lodged up against the cooling tube orifices.

The difference between the correct (for my engine) 140F engine alarm switch vs the incorrect 190F switch is that the alarm would have gone off much sooner and maybe before the heat exchanger's radiator cap began to vent/spray. My cap is 7 psi compared to 12 psi as Yanmar has specified for the 180F version of my engine. The lower psi cap was probably a good thing as it was the back-up "alarm" before things got too far out of hand.

 

[Jalepeno]

Ralph,
I agree there are all sorts of marine surveyors out there, just as there are all sorts of car mechanics, doctors, lawyers and other trades. The best thing to do is to get a list of acceptable surveyors from your insurance company or you will end up having to get an insurance survey later. I've used the services of Jan De Groot for many years and have no complaints.

 

[Snotter]

It is just too easy to get what it takes to hang a shingle out and call yourself a surveyor. Here in North Alabama there just isn't that many surveyors to choose from. I'd have much better luck relying on my own abilities; however, banks and insurance companies would rather take the word of a surveyor, no matter what his credentials are. On a more positive note--American Modern Home just renewed my insurance. The cost for renewal: $815 and no survey. I've never ever made a claim on any of my boat policies. I hope I never have to.

 

[rpwillia]

Related Response

As I included in the "Love My Yanmar" thread last week, I recently forgot to open my raw water seacock and I also didn't listen/look for the signs of water coming out with the exhaust.

One habit I have gotten into on my boat is to hang the keys onto the raw water intake lever. Now I never forget to open the raw water sea cock.

 

[higgs]

For the most part my PO did me well, but he did convert the the boat to propane from natural gas. NCG does not need a vented locker. When the transition was made, a vent was drilled at the lower corner of the locker through the hull. On Stb tack though, this vent is submerged allowing water into the locker, which had holes in the floor for the CNG tank brackets. These holes allowed a lot of water in which ended up on the galley sole. The problem prompted the PO to spend nearly 1k having all port side thru hulls rebedded. I just sealed up the holes and don't use my stove on Stb tack. Nice to know my thru hulls have been recently rebedded.

 

[Dan Johnson]

When I bought the boat, my insurance surveyor found good old household Romex running from the AC panel to the ac unit, connected by plastic twist-ons!

Later I found the cigarette lighter wired directly to the a hot lead on the battery switch with no fusing or cut-off switch.

Both easily remedied!

 

[Mike Holibar]

Still live redundant wiring can be a real problem. Seawater on cable ends can create slow shorts, flattening the battery while dead shorts among loose cables can cause fires. I make a point of isolating or removing all redundant wiring before a delivery voyage.