Messages

I do enjoy a good boat project, especially when you start seeing things come together.

I notice your boat is the same year as mine. I had to replace the fresh water pump last year as it wouldn't hold pressure anymore. I probably could have rebuilt the pump side, but the electric motor itself was fairly rusty, so I just replaced it.

If your pump is the original, that's probably not a bad item to have in the spare parts bin.

Rob

One thing on the head faucet / shower is there is an on/off push button on the faucet wand (If that's the right term). At the end of the wand is a lever to go from stream to shower, at the base of the wand is little push button that turns it on / off.

So you can get your hot / cold temperature correct, soak up, and then use the push button on the wand to turn off the water supply to soap, etc. 

You may have already been aware of this, but thought I'd mention it just in case, it's pretty hidden down there.

I have a 16k unit, though it's an older unit. It does blow pretty cold air. It's adequate in the summers of NC, but I wouldn't say it would freeze you out of the cabin. If the sun is shining on the deck, you can feel the heat radiating from the ceiling when you're down below. I made some deck shades that help dramatically.

Rob. 

Thanks Alex. Turns out my issue was that at some point in the boats past, a whole separate 30amp service was added for the 16K Aircon. I normally run a splitter on the shore power cord and plug both outlets on the stern of the boat into a single 30amp service on the dock.

Somewhere in the AirCon circuit, they must have tied the neutral into the main circuit neutral and that was tripping the Multiplus. Once I flipped the breaker off for the AirCon circuit, the MP was happy, though it does buzz ever so slightly.

Since I know the Aircon and the main circuit run fine off 30 amps, I'm considering merging those 2 circuits so the AirCon comes after the MP in the main circuit. That way when I run on the Honda 2200i, the MP can help boost the start for the AirCon.

Thanks,
Rob

Thanks for the feedback Alex. I do have a the shore power coming straight to the MP from the shore power breaker, though there is a galavanic isolator on the ground.  Do you have the ability to bypass the MP and connect the AC in to the AC out in your setup? Not sure if that's a worthwhile addition or not.

For the startup, start with the relay open. Is there an indication the MP has synced?

Thanks,
Rob.

Have any of you folks that installed a Multiplus had issues with them tripping breakers? I just installed the MP 12/3000 and it works fine in inverter mode. When I plug the shore power in and turn the MP to either on or charge, the "Main On" LED flashes for a few seconds and then the breaker on the dock trips.  So either it's pulling more than 30 amps or there's something going on with a ground fault.  Curious if anyone had anything similar, maybe the way the Catalina AC system is wired causes issues, ie the neutral and ground are tied together? Not sure why those issues might not present themselves prior to the MP install.

And oddly, it doesn't trip the 30 amp breaker on the boat, though maybe that has a different GFI setup.

I only had a few minutes to try it last weekend after running the wiring, so I'll be back down this weekend investigating. Any suggestions on things to look for?

Thanks,
Rob

Has anyone rebedded the outboard genoa track on a Mkii?  Words of advice? This looks to be a challenging project as that track on the port side runs from inside the locker, through the head and behind the electrical panel as well.

I had water coming out from under the Corian counter above the toilet paper door after sailing last week.  I've pulled the mirror cabinet off and it does look like the a number of the nuts behind the hull liner flange have leaked.  I assume those bolts go up through the genoa track.

Looking up at the nuts, it looks like they are pushed tight against the hull liner flange, so I couldn't get a socket on them. I could maybe get a pair of vice gripes on them and back the bolts out from the top.

The track sits on top of a hump that runs all along the gunnel. Does anyone know what is inside that hump? Is it a wood block? Hollow? Filled with epoxy?

Thanks
Rob

Thanks for the write up! Something I'll be looking at doing soon, so the part numbers are a big help.

Rob

Andy, my oil level came up to the middle of the "282", so maybe slightly more than 1/2 inch from the bottom of the dipstick. The serial numbers seem to be the low/full range, so I'm a little on the low side of middle. It's about time for the fall season maintenance, so it will get changed here soon.

Rob.

Hi Andy,
As a follow on, my dipstick is also 17.5" long and the number on the dipstick matches what you have. 16282-36411. I looked in my owners manual and the oil capacity is listed as 5.5 quarts, so a bit less than you have if you added 6.5 quarts. Still, better than 4 quarts.  I looked through my logs and I didn't write down how much oil I put in.  I do remember last time needing to get another quart to add but it could be that I expected 4 and needed 5. I'll have to pay attention next time I change it.

Rob.

Andy,
   My boat is 1390, so 4 boats before yours. I have the same setup as you. My oil dipstick is on the top and I have to slightly pull back the hot water hose to get to it. I've never paid attention to the bottom of the tube, but I'm sure it's the same as yours down the port side of the engine.  I also do not have a door along the starboard side aft cabin for engine access like I've seen on other Mkiis. If I'm understanding this thread correctly, that's where the later MKiis have to check the oil. I have to go under the stairs.

I'm hoping to get down to the boat this weekend, I can measure the dipstick if so.

Rob. 

I replaced that propeller shaft hose last year. On the mkii at least, the prop shaft tube fiberglassed into the hull appears to be only fiberglass, albeit pretty strong fiberglass. Mine sticks out from the hull maybe 3 inches, enough to get 2 normal hose clamps on and not much more.

I agree with Alex in comparing your two pictures, it looks like the hose has moved forward a bit. I'd take both the hose clamps off on the hull side and see if I couldn't push the whole thing aft.

And I can not say what the fiberous goop is. It almost looks like seaweed, but my guess is that if that's the original hose from 1986, with all the motion of the engine and prop shaft, it's probably due to be replaced and you're seeing some of the hose internals mixed with water.  But that's a guess.

Unfortunately that hose is not easy to replace. When is your next haul out?

We did some small dings using the matching gelcoat that Catalina Direct sells. It's pretty expensive for what you get, but the match was great. With a little buffing you can't tell where we did.   If you're looking at having the whole boat painted, it might be worth spending the $50 first and seeing what you can do with that little bit they sell.

In my investigation on a similar project, it appears that Catalina glues the headliner to the deck with something like thickened epoxy and the wires were just laid in the glue at construction time. Makes for a stiff deck but impossible to cleanly replace the wires.

I think the best suggestion was to run the wires down a support arm to the cockpit coaming. That would bring the wires in aft of the head in the port locker or behind the diesel tank.