I have a new 356 with an inverter and 2 shore power connections (main line and 2nd line for air conditioning/heat). When BOTH lines are plugged in and turned on there is a loud humming in the VHF radio and a lot of interference when I try to transmit. The radio works fine when out sailing and when the 2nd line is unplugged. The dealer says they have had this reported to them by other owners and it's the inverter/charger and nothing to worry about. Has anyone else noticed the same problem and is the dealer correct?
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Same Issue
I have two VHF's on my 40.5 and two antennas. One is on the radar tower. The cabling for it goes near the inverter. It buzzes when the inverter is on. I may switch to a heavier shielded cable, but am not sure it will make a difference. An electrical tech can probably install a filter. Good luck, Rick D.
I have two VHF's on my 40.5 and two antennas. One is on the radar tower. The cabling for it goes near the inverter. It buzzes when the inverter is on. I may switch to a heavier shielded cable, but am not sure it will make a difference. An electrical tech can probably install a filter. Good luck, Rick D.
Radio Interference
Dave, We did our walkthru on Friday, Dave pointed out that there have been radio interference problems when the boat is equipped with the combination battery charger and inverter. (We do not have the inverter). As you indicated the problem is only there when you are on shore power. He did say that Hunter is aware of the problem. On a different note we had several problems with our walkthru and initial sail. When we were looking over the refridgerator my wife noticed a 2 inch hole in the bottom side under the cold plate. Sure enough there was a 2 inch hole all the way thru to the locker under the bench seat. It appears that this is where the gas line and electrical could have gone thru except on our boat these lines enter on top of the cold plate. For a temp fix Dave filled the hole with expandable foam and he will glass over the inside when they do some of the gel coat touchup repairs. The other problem was with the engine. We left Mystic Shipyard and motored down the river. Along the way we did a lot of maneuvering (Forward and Astern) to get a feel for the boat. No problems and the boat did handle well. We sailed in Fishers Island Sound with the dealer for about an hour Saturday morning going over the rigging sails etc and all was fine until we started the engine to come in. The engine started fine and went into gear but when we advanced the throttle the engine would stall. We did this a few times and got the same results. Almost like the prop was fouled which it wasn't. We opened the engine compartment and did not see anything wrong. Tried it one final time and the engine worked fine. We could not repeat the problem. Fletcher to his credit would not let us take possesion of the boat and insisted that we motor back to Sailing Specialties where their diesel mechanic will test the engine out this week. Not too much of a problem as the weather is pretty wet again today. We did really enjoy the 1 hour sail. Boat performed great. By the way, have you or anyone else come up with a way to get the oil dipstick back in the engine? What a pain. Took us about 1/2 hour and finally had to remove the engine cover and feel our way around. All things considered we are very happy with the boat and the way it handles. Just need to work out a few bugs which we kind of expected. Regards Marc
Dave, We did our walkthru on Friday, Dave pointed out that there have been radio interference problems when the boat is equipped with the combination battery charger and inverter. (We do not have the inverter). As you indicated the problem is only there when you are on shore power. He did say that Hunter is aware of the problem. On a different note we had several problems with our walkthru and initial sail. When we were looking over the refridgerator my wife noticed a 2 inch hole in the bottom side under the cold plate. Sure enough there was a 2 inch hole all the way thru to the locker under the bench seat. It appears that this is where the gas line and electrical could have gone thru except on our boat these lines enter on top of the cold plate. For a temp fix Dave filled the hole with expandable foam and he will glass over the inside when they do some of the gel coat touchup repairs. The other problem was with the engine. We left Mystic Shipyard and motored down the river. Along the way we did a lot of maneuvering (Forward and Astern) to get a feel for the boat. No problems and the boat did handle well. We sailed in Fishers Island Sound with the dealer for about an hour Saturday morning going over the rigging sails etc and all was fine until we started the engine to come in. The engine started fine and went into gear but when we advanced the throttle the engine would stall. We did this a few times and got the same results. Almost like the prop was fouled which it wasn't. We opened the engine compartment and did not see anything wrong. Tried it one final time and the engine worked fine. We could not repeat the problem. Fletcher to his credit would not let us take possesion of the boat and insisted that we motor back to Sailing Specialties where their diesel mechanic will test the engine out this week. Not too much of a problem as the weather is pretty wet again today. We did really enjoy the 1 hour sail. Boat performed great. By the way, have you or anyone else come up with a way to get the oil dipstick back in the engine? What a pain. Took us about 1/2 hour and finally had to remove the engine cover and feel our way around. All things considered we are very happy with the boat and the way it handles. Just need to work out a few bugs which we kind of expected. Regards Marc
Dip Stick
Marc, Congrats on the new H356, you will enjoy it. I get the same humming noise in my VHF, seems from my earlier days that it tunes to 60Hz. Got to remember how to get rid of it. Dip Stick - I hold the stick in my left hand (since it would not work in the right) with the end just back from the index finger. Use the the index finger to probe around and find the hole, keeping your finger close the the hole, slide the stick down and into the hole. Don't worry I sometimes miss and so will you. Try again.... Winds today at Cobb Island hitting 32kts, did I stay in the slip. You bet. Jim S/V Java
Marc, Congrats on the new H356, you will enjoy it. I get the same humming noise in my VHF, seems from my earlier days that it tunes to 60Hz. Got to remember how to get rid of it. Dip Stick - I hold the stick in my left hand (since it would not work in the right) with the end just back from the index finger. Use the the index finger to probe around and find the hole, keeping your finger close the the hole, slide the stick down and into the hole. Don't worry I sometimes miss and so will you. Try again.... Winds today at Cobb Island hitting 32kts, did I stay in the slip. You bet. Jim S/V Java
A few problems
Marc, It's to bad we are on our comnputers and not sailing on a Sunday. Sorry to hear about your engine. Sheryl and I have given SIMPLI FI's engine a pretty good workout. Have had a couple of problems, minor leaks, and a problem with the chartplotter loosing the GPS signal. Smitty and Dave Bobbin have been great trying to taking of these issues. They have been coming up to NSY to take care of the problems. Only been out sailing twice and we are extremely pleased with the boat. When will this weather change? Speaking of engines I'm going to the Yanmar, one day basic diesle engine course in Middleborough, Mass. on June 9,. It was highly recommended by another 356 owner at NSY. By ther way, still planning the trip to the Cape Cod Canal and the Islands the begining of July. If you are interested, there is plenty of room it's a big ocean. David and Sheryl Slip D-42 @ NSY
Marc, It's to bad we are on our comnputers and not sailing on a Sunday. Sorry to hear about your engine. Sheryl and I have given SIMPLI FI's engine a pretty good workout. Have had a couple of problems, minor leaks, and a problem with the chartplotter loosing the GPS signal. Smitty and Dave Bobbin have been great trying to taking of these issues. They have been coming up to NSY to take care of the problems. Only been out sailing twice and we are extremely pleased with the boat. When will this weather change? Speaking of engines I'm going to the Yanmar, one day basic diesle engine course in Middleborough, Mass. on June 9,. It was highly recommended by another 356 owner at NSY. By ther way, still planning the trip to the Cape Cod Canal and the Islands the begining of July. If you are interested, there is plenty of room it's a big ocean. David and Sheryl Slip D-42 @ NSY
Possible fixes
The issue is electromagnetic interference produced when the inverter/charger is turned on. It produces "waves" that are being picked up by the coax and transmitted to the radio set. It's possible that the inverter is the culprit, as AC passes more conveniently than DC through the air. this is why your radio basically uses an AC wave to transmit. Trying not to get technical here.
2 possible fixes you can do yourself are to: 1)Check the routing of the coax where it passes near the inverter. It should be several feet away from the inverter or any cables connecting the inverter. 2) Check the coax itself. The connectors on both ends should be tight around the coax- with no "wiggle room." The connectors should be connected to metal. That is, the opposite connector should provide a source to ground. this allows any errant signal picked up by the connector to be dissipated, rather than absorbed into the radio. If you find this to be the problem, I recomend you have a qualified tech make the repair, as he will make sure your bonding and grounding are correct throughout your system. Good luck, and good hunting!
The issue is electromagnetic interference produced when the inverter/charger is turned on. It produces "waves" that are being picked up by the coax and transmitted to the radio set. It's possible that the inverter is the culprit, as AC passes more conveniently than DC through the air. this is why your radio basically uses an AC wave to transmit. Trying not to get technical here.
2 possible fixes you can do yourself are to: 1)Check the routing of the coax where it passes near the inverter. It should be several feet away from the inverter or any cables connecting the inverter. 2) Check the coax itself. The connectors on both ends should be tight around the coax- with no "wiggle room." The connectors should be connected to metal. That is, the opposite connector should provide a source to ground. this allows any errant signal picked up by the connector to be dissipated, rather than absorbed into the radio. If you find this to be the problem, I recomend you have a qualified tech make the repair, as he will make sure your bonding and grounding are correct throughout your system. Good luck, and good hunting!Good Luck and Dip Stick
Good Luck with your new boat. Hope they find the problem and a solution. Regarding the dip stick issue. I stand on the inside of the open engine cover (quite a trick) and use a small mirror. This normally works for me. Trying to reach over the cover into the blind spot was tough.
Good Luck with your new boat. Hope they find the problem and a solution. Regarding the dip stick issue. I stand on the inside of the open engine cover (quite a trick) and use a small mirror. This normally works for me. Trying to reach over the cover into the blind spot was tough.
Yanmar & Dip Stick
I have Hull # 7. I had a minor problem with the engine stalling. The timeing was off. After a minor adjustment everything was fine. As for the dip stick. I stand the the starboard side. Locate a cable/hose loop just infront of the dip stick hole with my left hand and return the stick with my right hand. Enjoy the 356. This is our second season with S/V Kailua and it's been great. BTW if you havent been to at least the one day diesel course it's a must. You won't regret it.
I have Hull # 7. I had a minor problem with the engine stalling. The timeing was off. After a minor adjustment everything was fine. As for the dip stick. I stand the the starboard side. Locate a cable/hose loop just infront of the dip stick hole with my left hand and return the stick with my right hand. Enjoy the 356. This is our second season with S/V Kailua and it's been great. BTW if you havent been to at least the one day diesel course it's a must. You won't regret it.
Yanmar dipstick access on the 356
I have been giving some thought to cutting an access panel at the base of the starboard companionway wall. One that would grant access to the dipstick and filter from the aft stateroom. I was going to call Hunter to determine if the parition is structural, and if it would handle an approx 12x14 inch hole. But the boat is brand-new and I don't want to cut it up just yet. Has anyone been brave enough to proceed with that plan? Paul
I have been giving some thought to cutting an access panel at the base of the starboard companionway wall. One that would grant access to the dipstick and filter from the aft stateroom. I was going to call Hunter to determine if the parition is structural, and if it would handle an approx 12x14 inch hole. But the boat is brand-new and I don't want to cut it up just yet. Has anyone been brave enough to proceed with that plan? Paul
VHF Radio Intererence
One of the electronic techinicans at work told be to try this. Set digital volt meter to read AC and place across the DC output of the charger. I should see very little AC voltage, in the millivolt range. Would you believe I'm seeing 28 volts which he said would indicate something wrong in the AC to DC conversion circuit. That was the first plact to check he said. You could get stray induction across all kinds of wires. Jim S/V Java
One of the electronic techinicans at work told be to try this. Set digital volt meter to read AC and place across the DC output of the charger. I should see very little AC voltage, in the millivolt range. Would you believe I'm seeing 28 volts which he said would indicate something wrong in the AC to DC conversion circuit. That was the first plact to check he said. You could get stray induction across all kinds of wires. Jim S/V Java
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