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For those of us that don't normally carry a plumber's snake as standard gear, I found that the air hose from my dinghy foot pump fit perfectly into the disconnected strainer hose as described in the above link.  A hard couple of pumps blew out the clog.  I discovered this while overheated in a busy shipping channel in fog.  Emergency averted.   

Your mileage may vary, of course.

Julian

Saw this as a chance to boost pressure, which I always found a bit weak.  Maybe overkill, but there you go...

Stu,

Spoke this morning with the chandlery owner and got a much better understanding of water system design and pump technology.  He's very plugged in to tech advances among pump mfgrs, and is quite aware of issues with the Jabsco diagnostic sensing system.  His experience is that while the Jabsco pump itself is good quality, the relatively new sensor technology and threshold settings (to sense and respond to anomalies) have had significant issues. He gave specifics he's seen that are similar to those on the web. His experience is that the "Mark 2" (his name) has significantly adjusted voltage, pressure, and other thresholds that alleviate the "false positives" that created many problems.  While too early to assess L/T reliability, he feels the fundamental problems have been alleviated.   I don't believe I'm just getting a sell job.  He had a healthy skepticism of the competitive feature arms race among pump suppliers.

I go to this length not because I'm advocating anything, but  because (as an ex-marketing guy) I understand how a few anecdotal negative reviews can affect consumer choice.  My contribution to "net neutrality".

I'll probably go with this pump primarily on his experience and trust that his company will stand behind the product.  If that's a bad decision, this forum will be the first to know!

Well, that certainly does give me pause...

The owner of our local chandlery (who I respect) has has sold many of them, without substantive problems.  Feels the Jabsco is a reasonable price/quality tradeoff. Says Jabsco has worked hard on improving reliability. I'll circle back with him; he carries other brands and sells to the commercial fishing industry, who surely wouldn't put up with unreliable equipment.

Deep diving in Google brought up problems with the voltage and pressure sensing features of the fancy diagnostic system.  Sometimes technology just gets in the way.

I preferred the Jabsco unit because it would be simple to replace without moving plumbing, etc. 

Julian

My Jabsco 31750 fresh water pressure pump just gave up the ghost after 8 years of weak but reliable service.  The Jabsco distributor says this model is being phased out, and is recommending an upgraded model that is meant to replace it.
 
The dimensions and pressure specs are beefier.  I think I could deal with the dimensional differences, and like the idea of improvement in pressure, but want to make sure my system can handle it without additional regulation, accumulator tank, etc.  Anyone have experience in boosting pressure in the water lines and hot water tank?

New model is # 42755-0092.  Differences:

Flow rate:          5.0 gpm vs. 3.7 gpm
Constant pressure   40 psi vs. 25 ppm
Cut-off pressure:       60psi vs. 40 psi
Electrical:         Current wiring ok; claims lower power consumption

Thanks,

Julian

I also found the replacement in Canada online thru Aircraft Spruce.  Shipping is more than the part, however.  Will check if my local supplier for diesel systems has it in stock (long shot).  Otherwise, I may forego it completely.  My 10 micron Racor is only 12 inches away.

Julian

The fuel line on my 2005 MkII has a pesky leak in the in-line fuel filter into the fuel lift pump.  This issue was reported in an earlier post

http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,2913.0.html

and describes my situation perfectly.  There was much discussion around the need for the filter.  Seems to me to be a "belt and suspenders" reactive solution from Universal to protect themselves from owners who don't practice good hygiene with filtering upstream.

Any experience with MkII's without this filter?  It provides 2 additional couplings subject to leakage, plus having an inherently weak seam (where my leak occurred).  Will be a bit of a hassle to track down and install, and I'm not sure it is worth the effort.

Julian

Good ideas, Ron.  There's surprisingly no lock washer on the mounts, so a second lock nut would prevent a re-occurrence.  FYI, one lag bolt was in fact  loose; everything snug now.

A quick followup:

Turns out my two forward motor mounts were loose.  There are two 24 MM nuts above and below the engine bracket on each mount;I assume the lower nut backed off a half turn or so.  I tightened the lower nuts (upwards) which completely solved the vibration.  In gear, the alignment seems ok, but I may have it aligned  eventually to be sure.  But I'm happy now.

Comments here motivated me to also change, for the first time, both fuel filters and bleed the system.  Was surprisingly easy, especially compared to my prior 320, which was always a nightmare.  The self bleeding system makes this very straightforward.

Thanks for the advice.

This is very helpful, and reinforces my suspicion that a possible cause may be  water in the fuel or an air leak.  Condensation is a problem here in the NW, and I'll check.  I have also had seepage of diesel as well, and going a long period without running may have introduced air in the line.  Good ideas. I'll add to my list. Thanks.

Julian

Yesterday, when cranking the engine on Tenaya, I experienced a quite noisy shaking when the engine is in Neutral below approx. 1500 RPM.  (Same in gear, obviously).   3 weeks since last startup, which was fine.  No exhaust smoke, proper cooling water circulation, etc.  Can't honestly say the engine was vibrating excessively, but the noise scared the hell out of my wife.

From prior posts, I suspect the motor mounts, which I'll check more closely this weekend.  A couple of questions before I poke around:

Is motor mount failure rare on an 8 year engine?  Any other likely culprit?  FYI, it's a 2005 Mk II with M-35B engine.  Since it occurs in neutral, I'm assuming the shaft linkage, etc. is not the cause.  Would injectors or water in the fuel cause this?  Engine revs fine at higher RPM. 

Will a worn mount be readily apparent?  What should I look for?

Thanks.

Julian

Tony,

This helps immensely.  I will call Forespar tomorrow.  Per description, "The lower base is epoxied to the tube."  I wondered why it was so easy to pull out the entire pedestal from the base-- the epoxy seal evidently failed, creating the wobble.

Dad, the looseness was at the fixed base, not at the telescoping shaft.

Thanks, guys.

Hmm... having said that, there's some advantage to be able to pull out the table and get it out of the way when needed to work, etc.  Maybe Forespar has a way to elim the looseness without permanently epoxying the tube in.

Not the biggest issue, but annoying.  The pedestal of the dining table on my MkII has sufficient play inside the collar affixed to the sole to cause annoying wobble.  When I pull out the pedestal assembly, it appears that there is a gasket that should secure the fluted pedestal to the mount.  Mine is worn, causing excessive play. 

This can't be unique; is there a source for replacements or a easy fix for this?

Julian

As others have stated, I used vinyl letters with a coat of vanish applied.  Placed on inner hull inside port lazzarette, so is readily accessible in the cockpit if required to produce it.  Haven't had any situation where officialdom has tested its appropriateness, but I consider it meeting the specs.

Interesting perspectives.  Two points don't make a trend, but I've had 2 Xantrex 20+ chargers in other boats; both worked flawlessly (one replacing an older ProMariner).  I'd now need a 40A Truecharge2, and had understood it was highly rated by Practical Sailor (altho heard of this 2nd hand).  Maybe not...

I have the Xantrex unit, altho can return if I wish. Frankly, I'd probably go forward with it, but I do like that the ProNautic P has a 30A version, enough power for me while allowing "plug & play" without the hassle of upgrading wiring.  However the dimensions listed in their materials are inconsistent; the "larger" spec won't fit the location under the sink without surgery.

I'll confirm dimensions tomorrow. It is interesting to note that Xantrex certainly has a more "friendly" look and feel in their materials for us civilians.  Power of marketing.