Rabbit hole

Jan 17, 2013
439
Catalina 310 St. Simons Island, GA
Good Luck @Cat 310 #1 in GA are you on your original fuel tank and Hot Water Tank? I assumed that is what HWH is. My tank seems fine, checked it last Friday, but did notice some rust on the bottom of my hot water tank edge and the drain was leaking a few drops, so I tighten the handle up and it seemed to help.
Yes this is the original HMH and fuel tank. Epoxy repair seems to be holding but it is taking a long time to get all the diesel out of the bilge. Still showing up 2 days after the repair. Keep checking the tank and it looks like there is no more leakage.
 

BillyK

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Jan 24, 2010
502
Catalina 310 Ocean City, NJ
Yes this is the original HMH and fuel tank. Epoxy repair seems to be holding but it is taking a long time to get all the diesel out of the bilge. Still showing up 2 days after the repair. Keep checking the tank and it looks like there is no more leakage.
i noticed that the diesel found its way inside of some of the fiberglass places that overlap. its so thin it wicks its way into the fiber.. and it takes time for it to work its way through the fiber and out the other end of the fiberglass tabbing. toss in the dirt that builds up in the area under the engine that cannot be reached. it's a sponge for the fuel.
 

BillyK

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Jan 24, 2010
502
Catalina 310 Ocean City, NJ
Amazing to see that area without the fuel tank. Mine isn't anywhere near that clean. Is your HW tank in the 2nd picture? If so, what size and make?
The hot water tank is in the dumpster. Yeah.. i spent around 4-5 hours cleaning this area out since this is a one time deal with full access like this. at some point in the future i'll replace the HW tank.. at this point i have too much left to do before its time to get in the water.
 

BillyK

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Jan 24, 2010
502
Catalina 310 Ocean City, NJ
Boat yard opened up this past weekend so i was able to get in and get some work done..

Installed the fuel tank and ran the fuel lines!

IMG_4379.jpg


I did follow the recommendation to lift the tank off the base.. i installed several strips of starboard to keep the tank out of any water that might drip and run down to the drain i drilled.

60703895414__9AA51181-4A58-4F1F-AF6A-768388181A44.jpg


i then treated the entire outside of the tank with CorrosionX HD.

Long list of things got done and some things were added as well.
Finished Dripless PSS install and alignment
replaced the raw water impeller - i really hate this design..
found that the bilge pump isn't working and found a few more engine hoses that need replacing.. so the rabbit hole continues to deepen.. but i am making progress.
 

BillyK

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Jan 24, 2010
502
Catalina 310 Ocean City, NJ
Is that the original Sherwood pump? I hated it, too. The new Oberdorfer is so much better!
Yes! i replaced it with the Oberdorfer in my last boat (Catalina 30).. i will do the same with this one, next winter at this point now since i've done the impeller already. Which ever design engineer came up with this should be forced to travel the world and change the impellers for free for everyone. They should be ashamed of themselves..
 
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Apr 5, 2009
2,774
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
Have you given any more thought to adding LFP batteries? On my C30 Mk-2 I only have room in the battery box for one 4D or two group 31 batteries which is not near enough for hydronic heat and refrigeration. I am looking at (8) 200 AH aluminum cased cells that will give me 400 AH with 320 AH usable at 80% DOC rather than the 210 AH with 105 usable at 50% DOC i currently have.
 
Apr 5, 2009
2,774
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
Yep R&D damper... Piece of junk. What Damper did you order? With these light flywheel weight odd cylinder count diesel engines, don't idel them for long periods of time...i.e. to charge your battery bank. This creates the maximum torsional vibration and works the damper plate.
I had not previously heard of this issue. Can you check for this wear by putting the tranny in gear and gently rotating the output flange for slop?
 
Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
Have you given any more thought to adding LFP batteries? On my C30 Mk-2 I only have room in the battery box for one 4D or two group 31 batteries which is not near enough for hydronic heat and refrigeration. I am looking at (8) 200 AH aluminum cased cells that will give me 400 AH with 320 AH usable at 80% DOC rather than the 210 AH with 105 usable at 50% DOC i currently have.
Personally I wouldn't choose aluminum case for a boat. Too much potential for corrosion.
 
Apr 5, 2009
2,774
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
Personally I wouldn't choose aluminum case for a boat. Too much potential for corrosion.
The reason for aluminum cased cells is a size consideration. I have enough room for (8) 200AH cells with aluminum cases but the same amperage will not fit with plastics. I have never heard anyone comment on corrosion issues with aluminum cased cells. Have you run across that? What is the issue. The battery compartment in a C30 is in a very dry location.
 
Nov 18, 2010
2,441
Catalina 310 Hingham, MA
The reason for aluminum cased cells is a size consideration. I have enough room for (8) 200AH cells with aluminum cases but the same amperage will not fit with plastics. I have never heard anyone comment on corrosion issues with aluminum cased cells. Have you run across that? What is the issue. The battery compartment in a C30 is in a very dry location.
It has been discussed multiple times in the FB groups. Not only are they aluminum cases but they put a plastic heat shrink on them and it traps moisture around the aluminum.

The reality is that many of these uses on boats is too new to know if a concern will turn into a real world problem. But the aluminum case are cheaper than the plastic for a reason.

By the way, there are lots of options for placement of batteries on a C30. Many don't even include fiberglass work. Remember you don't have to limit yourself to the battery box. Mine are there now because of time constraints when I installed them. I may move them now since I have nothing but time but that's down on the list.
 
Dec 25, 2008
1,580
catalina 310 Elk River
I had not previously heard of this issue. Can you check for this wear by putting the tranny in gear and gently rotating the output flange for slop?
You have a C30 so not sure they used that damper. My boat is the C310 Hull #83 M25XPB w/Hurth Z50. The tranny could have some play as well, would be difficult to distinguish between the two. The tell tale is the sound while idling. If you hear a clanking sound that is a pretty good indicator of slop in the interface between the damper collar and the input spline of the tranny.
 

BillyK

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Jan 24, 2010
502
Catalina 310 Ocean City, NJ
I had not previously heard of this issue. Can you check for this wear by putting the tranny in gear and gently rotating the output flange for slop?
The transmission will have some play in it.. my damper was so bad that i had a half inch of rotational movement with the trans in gear (i use reverse since it should have less wear).. now that i had the trans rebuilt and the damper replaced i have about 1/8th inch of movement... not sure if that would translate to other boats.. but if there is a lot of play to the point where it makes you think something isnt right.. i think its worth investigating. i've had two sailboats and 100% of them had the damper fail between 500-1000 hours of running. 1990 catalina 30 and now a 2014 catalina 310.
 
Apr 5, 2009
2,774
Catalina '88 C30 tr/bs Oak Harbor, WA
The transmission will have some play in it.. my damper was so bad that i had a half inch of rotational movement with the trans in gear (i use reverse since it should have less wear).. now that i had the trans rebuilt and the damper replaced i have about 1/8th inch of movement... not sure if that would translate to other boats.. but if there is a lot of play to the point where it makes you think something isnt right.. i think its worth investigating. i've had two sailboats and 100% of them had the damper fail between 500-1000 hours of running. 1990 catalina 30 and now a 2014 catalina 310.
Thanks for the info. It is probably worth checking out given that I have about 2000 hours on it. I don't do much (none) idling. I do not start the engine until I am ready to untie the lines. I start, untie the lines and pull out. I keep the revs at 1100 until the water is up to temp which is just about the time I clear the break water. I shut off as soon as I get the lines on because it has had plenty of time to cool down during the run through the marina. I have a diesel motorhome and the ECM tracks the idle time and I am at 1% total with 25.000 miles. It is never a good thing to idle a diesel. They like load.
 
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BillyK

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Jan 24, 2010
502
Catalina 310 Ocean City, NJ
I dont understand the idling issue and how it can affect the damper. with the trans in neutral and the engine at idle, there can't be a lot of forces being imparted into the damper itself. its bolted to the flywheel and has a free spooling trans.. there's zero load. i can see where if you go in and out of gear and higher than idle RPMs will cause the damage... which i believe is one of the main purposes of the damper.. to dampen the slam of in and out of gear.. considering the impact of that, vs a free spooling transmission, i can't imagine idle is causing damage.. unless your idle is rocking the boat its so rough..