Rabbit hole

[BillyK]

Continuing with the theme of rabbit hole.. Noticed the forward hatch has a leak so this weekend i removed it and re-bedded it.. the PO decided it was a good idea to try and patch it by smearing silicone around the edges.. i found that using a nylon wire wheel was really effective at removing it. i used a full 10oz of UV4000 to seal it back up upon reinstallation. only problem now is the plastic beauty cover inside is cracked and showing signs of age... so i need to repair or replace it.

Also the bilge pump float that i replaced in the fall failed already.. i'm so tired of these cheap switches.. for something that can save a boat, i don't understand how these companies get away with such garbage.. i ordered and installed a water witch this weekend which is non-mechanical and shouldn't suffer the same failure modes of these plastic floats.

i am happy to say that all of the work done on the engine and driveline turned out well. Everything is much smoother now and quieter.

The new dodger and Bimini has been installed..

also the new Zarcor Doors are on as well

What will go in next is my constant bilge vent. It's an IP67 ignition protected Fan sandwiched between two 3D printed adapters i designed.. on my prior boat i had a similar setup. i run it at around 100-150 CFM year round pulling the air out of the bilge around midship. This gets rid of just about all bilge/holding tank smell inside the boat.

 

[Will Gilmore]

also the new Zarcor Doors are on as well

What happens if someone with a Phillips head screwdriver wants to break into that hatch?

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[DaveJ]

I'm enjoying your upgrades, dodger/bimini look fabulous. Thanks for the posts.

Cheers
dj

 

[BillyK]

What happens if someone with a Phillips head screwdriver wants to break into that hatch?

-Will (Dragonfly)

then they get in... it's no different than what was on there before with the companionway boards. just now, there's a pair of doors on there. It comes this way from the factory.

 

[DArcy]

What will go in next is my constant bilge vent. It's an IP67 ignition protected Fan sandwiched between two 3D printed adapters i designed.. on my prior boat i had a similar setup. i run it at around 100-150 CFM year round pulling the air out of the bilge around midship. This gets rid of just about all bilge/holding tank smell inside the boat.

That is a great idea. Is the fan 12V or 115VAC? The obvious choice is 12V but then you would need to remember to turn it off when away from the dock. 115VAC would shut off when away from shore power. Presumably while you are aboard you don't need the vent.
I assume it draws air from the bilge. Where is your vent?

 

[BillyK]

That is a great idea. Is the fan 12V or 115VAC? The obvious choice is 12V but then you would need to remember to turn it off when away from the dock. 115VAC would shut off when away from shore power. Presumably while you are aboard you don't need the vent.
I assume it draws air from the bilge. Where is your vent?

12V but i have a sealed DC step down converter bringing it down to 9V, it pulls a half an amp. in my prior boat i just left it on all the time. Last night i installed the vent on the aft starboard side bulkhead in the rear compartment and wired it to an unused breaker. I'm having it exhaust out of the starboard side stern vent and i'm pulling air from the port side just under the head.

i really don't like that the engine blower uses the port side stern vent while the engine exhaust is coming out of the starboard side of the boat.. to me, with the blower running, i would think it could create a slight draw into the starboard side aft vent and bring fumes into the boat.. either way, this new setup will prevent that.

everyone always says that ventilation is the key to a good smelling boat... this is my way of forcing that.. my thought is that if i can create a lower pressure in the overall bilge than is in the cabin, the bilge air will never make its way into the cabin to stink it up.. and the movement of air from drawing it out constantly should reduce mold and other stink buildup.

 

[paulj]

My hatch brackets came with two different types of screw heads.


paulj

 

[BillyK]

My hatch brackets came with two different types of screw heads.
paulj

Yeah, mine were all just Philips.. the security screws really are not secure anymore since you can buy the drivers to them just about anywhere at this point.

 

[DArcy]

If someone really wants in, they would likely whip out bolt cutters before the screw driver. Much quicker.

 

[BillyK]

bilge de-stink blower installed and running..

i've run the vent hose up to just under the head to draw from as close to midship as possible. when i lift the hatch in the forward birth floor slightly i can hear the air being drawn in.. so it is effectively pulling air from the entire bilge. i'm expecting a very clean smelling boat when i return to it next.

 

[rpwillia]

I had to replace the input shaft on the trans.. luckily there was a bloke on the boards here that had a trans that he no longer needed and sold it to me. So the trans got rebuilt with the new input shaft and a box of spare trans parts in the basement now.

Bad shaft
View attachment 177863

Good shaft
View attachment 177864

The title of this thread is very appropriate.. ... This past weekend i had to replace the hose the went from the raw water pump to the heat exchanger.. it is routed between the alternator and the block, goes past the starter and under wires and then over the engine mount and into the exchanger. i'm calling this satan's hose.. i had to remove the alternator and the face of the damn sherwood pump again to get this hose routed. a 2 foot hose took 3 hours to replace correctly.

I just replaced all of my raw water hoses as well as most of the coolant hoses. They were all a Royal PITA. But, I think I solved the leak so all is good.

 

[BillyK]

Last night i pulled out the loud and low powered engine blower and installed the new system i designed.. this fan moves 300 CFM. Also installed new vent hoses as well. This blower is essentially silent aside from the sound of the air coming out of the vent.

 

[JRT]

What a nice install @BillyK I haven't really ever understood the need for the blower, no funky smells and we just day sail for a few hours.

 

[Tom J]

i really don't like that the engine blower uses the port side stern vent while the engine exhaust is coming out of the starboard side of the boat.. to me, with the blower running, i would think it could create a slight draw into the starboard side aft vent and bring fumes into the boat.

I've never run the blower with the engine running. Turn on the blower for a minute or so before cranking the engine, then shut the blower off. Yes, it's noisy, but it doesn't run very long.

 

[Will Gilmore]

Last night i pulled out the loud and low powered engine blower and installed the new system i designed.. this fan moves 300 CFM. Also installed new vent hoses as well. This blower is essentially silent aside from the sound of the air coming out of the vent.
View attachment 179434View attachment 179435

I hope you vented that out the transom. Give yourself a little extra push on calm days. Of course, no race committee would allow its use during a race.

-Will (Dragonfly)

 

[DArcy]

@BillyK what material did you print the fan to hose adapters with?

I bought some PETG for printing boat parts but I'm having some challenges with bed adhesion. I have one fan adapter printing now so we will see how it turns out. I have mostly printed in PLA which is pretty straight forward. I do have some ABS but I haven't put on a glass bed yet so haven't tried it.

 

[BillyK]

What a nice install @BillyK I haven't really ever understood the need for the blower, no funky smells and we just day sail for a few hours.

I find it helps

@BillyK what material did you print the fan to hose adapters with?

I bought some PETG for printing boat parts but I'm having some challenges with bed adhesion. I have one fan adapter printing now so we will see how it turns out. I have mostly printed in PLA which is pretty straight forward. I do have some ABS but I haven't put on a glass bed yet so haven't tried it.

i printed these two with PETG and i'm not going to use it again. I just have a few rolls that i want to use up at this point and be done with the stuff. its too hard to keep it from warping if you dont have a heated enclosure for the printer overall. i've had a lot of good luck just using plain ole PLA. Our prior boat had several large parts printed that lived in the bilge for 5-6 years just fine before i sold it. i even had a bracket for the oil drain tube bolted to the block that was printed out of HT PLA that was fine for years also.

i do want to experiment with the UV stable PLA now and start printing mounts for solar lights. i've used painted pla for this in the past and it worked out just fine.

right now i'm sitting down to design a mount for the new speakers i picked up for inside.. i'll probably print them using wood filled PLA so i can sand and stain it to match the interior.

 

[DArcy]

I can see what you mean about warping. I'm also having some trouble with stringing.

But it cleaned up ok so I'll try the other side in PETG. I found some tips which might help.

I'm looking forward to seeing your speaker mounts. I've never tried printing with wood.

 

[BillyK]

Looks like you are printing too hot.. reduce the temp by 10c

 

[BillyK]

So more of the Rabbit hole here.. today i investigated why i'm not getting an alarm prior to engine start. Turns out that the PO broke a tab on the oil pressure switch and hard wired the two connectors together. i corrected this and will get a replacement switch tomorrow to make it right. however, even with the connector disconnected, i'm still not getting an alarm.. and my Tach is acting a little funny and showing either the correct RPM or about 500 RPM above actual. today i replaced the connector block behind the engine panel to make sure there were good connections.. but alas, the problem persists.. i'll have to check the back of the alternator tomorrow for connectivity for the Tach.. i'm thinking there must be a bad ground somewhere since i have no buzzer and the tach is acting funny. i'll jumper the alarm to see if that's the culprit tomorrow too..

eventually i'll recover all the issues the PO seems to have either worked around, or ignored.