It appears the water being trapped on the outboard side of the port engine bed was coming from some loose fittings in the potable water line.
The water heater sits on a little platform in the engine room.
It appears that the bilge pump hoses used to be routed under this platform. For some reason the hoses are now routed awkwardly next to the water heater. Need to reroute them under the platform.
Successfully tested the newly plumbed anchor wash down system. Changing the operating procedures to leave the wash down's thru-hull, which is located next to the engine's raw water thru-hull closed. It will need to be opened before using the wash down pump.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Raw Water Flow Rate at Idle RPM is 3 GPM
Replaced the port dinghy davit's magnetic cut-out switch. Ironic as it may seem the old switch was crushed by the magnet--the same magnet that supposed to stop the winch when it comes in proximity to the switch. Bottom line, nothing is more effective than a vigilant operator.
Repaired the dinghy's port fuel tank tie-down; one of the screws had pulled out of the fiberglass floor. Ran the Onan and turned it off and on several times (after a long layoff the impeller is more likely to fail the second time the Onan is run). Measured the cooling water flow rate at the expected 3 gpm.
Repaired the dinghy's port fuel tank tie-down; one of the screws had pulled out of the fiberglass floor. Ran the Onan and turned it off and on several times (after a long layoff the impeller is more likely to fail the second time the Onan is run). Measured the cooling water flow rate at the expected 3 gpm.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Bad Fireboy Propane Sensor
The Fireboy S2-A, mounted in the galley and used to turn on/off the propane and warn of gas leaks, has a bad sensor. The bilge mounted MS-2 sensor has been false alarming a lot. Today it quit working totally. Need a new sensor.
About 1/2 gallon of rusty water in the mid-bilge. I need to find a way to drain the water trapped around the ballast. Unless I think of something else, an exploratory hole perpendicular to the bilge may uncover something.
About 1/2 gallon of rusty water in the mid-bilge. I need to find a way to drain the water trapped around the ballast. Unless I think of something else, an exploratory hole perpendicular to the bilge may uncover something.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Bow Thruster Fries Battery Switch...Oops
The Cummins heat exchanger was leaking a little from it's aft-facing inspection plate. This is the same plate I'd removed several days ago to see if there were zinc bits inside the heat exchanger. Tightening the plate's attachment bolt took care of the problem.
The battery switch being used to isolate the thruster/windlass couldn't handle the bow thruster's current draw—we need a new switch that can handle at least 425A. In the mean time one of the switche's studs is connecting together the battery and the thruster/windlass power line.
The battery switch being used to isolate the thruster/windlass couldn't handle the bow thruster's current draw—we need a new switch that can handle at least 425A. In the mean time one of the switche's studs is connecting together the battery and the thruster/windlass power line.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Tools Down!
Cleaned the bilges. Put several coats of Cetol on the dinghy oars. TSP'd the salon walls, companionway hatch interior, and the Tommy door. Removed the wood mounts in the pilothouse that supported Peter Newman's writing table. Updated the Garmin MFDs to software V7.5. And, finally, after six weeks we put all the tools away!
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Draining the Airsep's P-Trap
For the record, all of the following occurred after opening Christmas presents.
Washed the decks with Oxy.
One more bung came off during the scrubbing which leaves three that need to be repaired. Put a new impeller in the Cummins. The old impeller was in good shape.
Drained oil out of the AirSep's p-trap. Need to add this task to the Periodic Maintenance List. It probably should be checked every six months.
The dinghy tube repair seems to be holding. Yea! The repair methodology was different this time in that (1) toluene was used to scrub the patched area; (2) three coats of contact adhesive were applied with a paintbrush; and (3) the tube wasn't inflated for 24 hours.
Washed the decks with Oxy.
One more bung came off during the scrubbing which leaves three that need to be repaired. Put a new impeller in the Cummins. The old impeller was in good shape.
Drained oil out of the AirSep's p-trap. Need to add this task to the Periodic Maintenance List. It probably should be checked every six months.
The dinghy tube repair seems to be holding. Yea! The repair methodology was different this time in that (1) toluene was used to scrub the patched area; (2) three coats of contact adhesive were applied with a paintbrush; and (3) the tube wasn't inflated for 24 hours.
Monday, December 24, 2012
Silicone Caulk that Doesn't Set--Not Good
In the immortal words of John McEnroe—"YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!" Some of the GE Silicone II used on the three starboard side salon windows didn't harden. Fortunately only the most aft window had to be redone. For the purposes of full disclosure the silicone used was beyond its expiration date, and yes, I did know it. But everyone knows that caulk goes bad by hardening in the tube. Guess I'll have to modify that heuristic:old latex and polyurethane caulks harden in the tube; old silicone may never harden.
Since I was already playing with the windows today, I reversed the opening direction of the salon's port center window. Now the sliding pane is the most forward pane and slides aft to open. This was done to better accommodate the air conditioner's exhaust hose.
There's some unexplained rust-brown water in the forward and mid bilge. In a newly painted forward bilge (the bilge from the bow to the engine room bulkhead) a little brown water worked itself up through several hairline cracks in the bilge's bottom. Wipe the water away and several hours later a little more appears. The same colored water, but in greater volume, is in the mid bilge (the bilge aft of the engine room bulkhead extending to the dam under the refrigerator). The aft bilge has nothing but clear water in it. I suspect that the water has been in proximity to the iron ballast--thus the rust brown color. Like the bulwarks, it doesn't surprise me that water got into the ballast's sealed space. The question now is, how to get it out. With the hopes of draining it I drilled two two 3/8" exploratory holes in the keel. Both went through about an inch of fiberglass before hitting dry metal. Rather than continue guessing where the water may be, the next test hole will be down through one of the hairline cracks.
Cleaned the dinghy. Sanded and epoxied the dinghy's oars. Nylon tied the dinghy's gas line and sounder wires together. Filled the dink with air. The new patch appears to be holding. Gallons of water were drained from the dink's bilge. I suspect that it's rain water that found it's way below deck. When not using the dink for extended periods it would be best to remove the plug (it's the plug on the outside of the dink and low on the transom).
With the davits' falls all the way down to the dink, I could see an alarming amount of wire deformation on the port davit. The deformation was just below the turning block. This is also about where the starboard davit's wire broke. I'll bet this length of wire is usually just off the winch drum when the dink hits the water. It's then getting crushed each time the dink is raised. We need to replace the wire soonest.
Replaced the pencil zinc in the Cummins' heat exchanger. Removed the heat exchanger's end cap to make sure that none of the old zinc was blocking the tubes. Cleaned the end cap put a new o-ring around it's retaining bolt.
Removed and re-bedded the two studs which connect the Diver's Dream Zinc to Nellie's bonding wires. Ground a slot in the port forward fuel tank's cap to receive a deck key. Didn't like the result--it's still too hard to open. A proper solution is to remove each tank's inspection plate and replace the 2" caps and receivers with real diesel deck plates. It'll have to wait until we get Nellie to Maryland.
Since I was already playing with the windows today, I reversed the opening direction of the salon's port center window. Now the sliding pane is the most forward pane and slides aft to open. This was done to better accommodate the air conditioner's exhaust hose.
There's some unexplained rust-brown water in the forward and mid bilge. In a newly painted forward bilge (the bilge from the bow to the engine room bulkhead) a little brown water worked itself up through several hairline cracks in the bilge's bottom. Wipe the water away and several hours later a little more appears. The same colored water, but in greater volume, is in the mid bilge (the bilge aft of the engine room bulkhead extending to the dam under the refrigerator). The aft bilge has nothing but clear water in it. I suspect that the water has been in proximity to the iron ballast--thus the rust brown color. Like the bulwarks, it doesn't surprise me that water got into the ballast's sealed space. The question now is, how to get it out. With the hopes of draining it I drilled two two 3/8" exploratory holes in the keel. Both went through about an inch of fiberglass before hitting dry metal. Rather than continue guessing where the water may be, the next test hole will be down through one of the hairline cracks.
Cleaned the dinghy. Sanded and epoxied the dinghy's oars. Nylon tied the dinghy's gas line and sounder wires together. Filled the dink with air. The new patch appears to be holding. Gallons of water were drained from the dink's bilge. I suspect that it's rain water that found it's way below deck. When not using the dink for extended periods it would be best to remove the plug (it's the plug on the outside of the dink and low on the transom).
With the davits' falls all the way down to the dink, I could see an alarming amount of wire deformation on the port davit. The deformation was just below the turning block. This is also about where the starboard davit's wire broke. I'll bet this length of wire is usually just off the winch drum when the dink hits the water. It's then getting crushed each time the dink is raised. We need to replace the wire soonest.
Replaced the pencil zinc in the Cummins' heat exchanger. Removed the heat exchanger's end cap to make sure that none of the old zinc was blocking the tubes. Cleaned the end cap put a new o-ring around it's retaining bolt.
Removed and re-bedded the two studs which connect the Diver's Dream Zinc to Nellie's bonding wires. Ground a slot in the port forward fuel tank's cap to receive a deck key. Didn't like the result--it's still too hard to open. A proper solution is to remove each tank's inspection plate and replace the 2" caps and receivers with real diesel deck plates. It'll have to wait until we get Nellie to Maryland.
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