Applying a little baby rash ointment, such as Desitin has been known to slow the growth somewhat. but even in fresh water you're gonna get algae... so do a little research to find solutions. By the way, on a boat... it's called a "knotmeter"
Speedometer Paddle Wheel Stuck
- Thread starter SirMichael
- Start date
Yeah, I haven't gotten up to the boat for a few days to check out the "knotmeter". We've owned the boat for about 8 years, and I've never seen the "Blanking Plug" anywhere on the boat (I've done a LOT of maintenance over the years...). My only hope is that it's under the front access hatch under the V-berth, but I doubt it. In one of the videos that I saw on-line about the blanking plugs, a guy had a graduated foam plug that could be stuffed into the sensor tube temporarily, while working on the sensor. Finally found one at Truplug.com, $30.
I may try it sometime, but my only concern (for this season anyway, until I can get under the boat) is that when I refinished to bottom, that I may have sealed the sensor with a bit of epoxy/paint. Worst case, I can work on it on the hard, later this fall.
Unfortunately, our Minnesota sailing season will be abruptly shortened with that hard crust that grows on the water in November...
Again, thanks for the help guys!
Sir Michael
I may try it sometime, but my only concern (for this season anyway, until I can get under the boat) is that when I refinished to bottom, that I may have sealed the sensor with a bit of epoxy/paint. Worst case, I can work on it on the hard, later this fall.
Unfortunately, our Minnesota sailing season will be abruptly shortened with that hard crust that grows on the water in November...
Again, thanks for the help guys!
Sir Michael
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If there is one, I would think it would be next to the sensor or tied to it.
I climbed this learning curve this spring. When I went to prepare the boat for launch, I saw the fins which protect the paddlewheel from the sides had been mooshed by the sling of the travel lift last fall (not the first time that’s happened!). When I used my needle nosed pliers to restore it, I discovered the paddlewheel had broken and pieces fell out. As others have mentioned, a google search got me back in business. Here’s a link:
I honestly had no idea I could access to the paddlewheel (and depth finder transducer) from inside the boat. Better yet, the blank plugs were attached to the instruments with seizing wire so you couldn’t lose them. I ordered a replacement paddlewheel & pin online at Amazon for under $50.
I sail in saltwater and every season have had the paddlewheel stop working due to fouling. We would normally go over to one of the popular anchorages at some point after the water warmed up, and I’d don my snorkel & fins and go under to spin it a few times and get it working again. Luckily, this season I also found out I should treat both the paddlewheel and depth transducer with MDR Transducer Antifouling, which I did, and we’ve had (almost) no problem so far this season. (I did have one instance where it stopped working, but I cleared the problem by reversing direction for about 10 yards and whatever had stopped it came free.)
Moving forward, removing the paddlewheel is now on the to-do list at the end of the season so it doesn't get damaged by the travel lift. And if I get another instance of paddlewheel failure this season, I now know how to proceed without having to don snorkel & fins!
I honestly had no idea I could access to the paddlewheel (and depth finder transducer) from inside the boat. Better yet, the blank plugs were attached to the instruments with seizing wire so you couldn’t lose them. I ordered a replacement paddlewheel & pin online at Amazon for under $50.
I sail in saltwater and every season have had the paddlewheel stop working due to fouling. We would normally go over to one of the popular anchorages at some point after the water warmed up, and I’d don my snorkel & fins and go under to spin it a few times and get it working again. Luckily, this season I also found out I should treat both the paddlewheel and depth transducer with MDR Transducer Antifouling, which I did, and we’ve had (almost) no problem so far this season. (I did have one instance where it stopped working, but I cleared the problem by reversing direction for about 10 yards and whatever had stopped it came free.)
Moving forward, removing the paddlewheel is now on the to-do list at the end of the season so it doesn't get damaged by the travel lift. And if I get another instance of paddlewheel failure this season, I now know how to proceed without having to don snorkel & fins!
Do I understand you to say you've had the blanking plug all the time but didn't know how to use it ? OUCH, I'll bet that hurt after learning what it was for
. Live and learn.Were you able to find the part number at the end of the terminals as given in the Airmar instructions I show in post #25 ? There was no way I was about to dig into my readout to see if there was a vinyl tag with the part no.
Also, the Airmar shown in the video looks like an older model. My 1999 vintage Airmar (age of my boat) has a couple of rubber flaps which close over the open hole and limit the ingress of water.
@Ralph Johnson, not only did I not know I had a plug, but also I had no idea I could access those instruments from inside! The boards on the center line in the cabin sole have finger holes aft of the compression post to access the bilge, but the triangular piece forward of the post doesn’t have a finger hole, and I didn’t realize it was removable. When I was trying to figure out where to look in the cabin for access to the instruments, I used my ports as a frame of reference, and that’s when I realized I had to get forward of the post. All of these explorations were when we were on the hard, so if there had been no plugs, I still would have been able to effect a repair, but I was certainly gratified to see they were already there and I wouldn’t have to go shopping. Obviously, I now can also deal with issues when we are afloat, and I’ll easily be able to pull the paddlewheel before we go into the sling this fall… Hey, I’ve only been sailing her since 2017… (She’s also the first ”big boat” we’ve owned, the others being trailerable with none of these fancy gadgets!)
Regarding the paddlewheel kit, I merely did a Google based on the Raymarine model we have. It fit perfectly. Ska∂i is an ’07, so maybe it’s the same instrument as your ’99? FWIW, it’s now 25% cheaper than when I bought it… Doh! Anyway, here’s the link to the what I got:
Amazon.com
The video was just one of several I looked at to climb the learning curve. I supplied the link for OP as an exemplar
Regarding the paddlewheel kit, I merely did a Google based on the Raymarine model we have. It fit perfectly. Ska∂i is an ’07, so maybe it’s the same instrument as your ’99? FWIW, it’s now 25% cheaper than when I bought it… Doh! Anyway, here’s the link to the what I got:
Amazon.com
The video was just one of several I looked at to climb the learning curve. I supplied the link for OP as an exemplar
Your compartment probably looks something like this :
The one advertised in Amazon even goes back to my old Autohelm-Raytheon-ST30 given the appearance of the paddle wheel.
This is the biggest mistake you can make when a boat is out of the water. Sailboats are designed to rest on their keels ONLY with stands placed along the hulls for balance. Each stand will support no more than 10-15 lbs. The hulls will sustain damage if they are subject to excessive forces. You'll notice the same support on the boat on the left hand side of the video :
Looks like the yard missed the lecture on that one.
The one advertised in Amazon even goes back to my old Autohelm-Raytheon-ST30 given the appearance of the paddle wheel.
Talking about the learning curve, I don't know if you noticed the beginning of the video showing :
This is the biggest mistake you can make when a boat is out of the water. Sailboats are designed to rest on their keels ONLY with stands placed along the hulls for balance. Each stand will support no more than 10-15 lbs. The hulls will sustain damage if they are subject to excessive forces. You'll notice the same support on the boat on the left hand side of the video :
Looks like the yard missed the lecture on that one.
@RJ, I absolutely didn't see that. It's actually kinda hard to see with the shadows and low quality video. Good catch!
As I looked closer, the whole setup is super sketchy. The cribbing with holes in them? On top of oil drums? Sheesh!
Our yard observes best practice, thankfully.
As I looked closer, the whole setup is super sketchy. The cribbing with holes in them? On top of oil drums? Sheesh!
Our yard observes best practice, thankfully.
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The current in Lake Pepin is pretty minimal, especially when the lake level isn't super high like this past spring. We've gone out on windless evenings and drifted for an hour or two and have actually drifted upstream. Somewhere I read that it takes two weeks for water to get from the top of the lake to the bottom.
I'm on the same lake as the OP and we usually make it until mid to late September for it to foul after a mid May put in.