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Messages - jmnpe

#106
Hi Roc,

One thing you may want to check that can have a negative effect on the life of your A/C compressor is the line voltage of your 120v AC power feed. If the voltage gets fairly low ( <105 v or so ) the compressor will run much hotter and will experience premature failure. The telltale signs are the normal push-on spade connectors used to connect power to the compressor unit itself: if you have been experiencing significant low line voltage, the spade terminals on the compressor will be discolored and/or charred looking. In bad cases the wire may also be discolored for an inch or so away from the rear of the terminals. Your Vector unit may be new and smart enough that it has automatic shutdown for low voltage, but units like the Mermaid units won't have such a shutdown feature.

For a couple of years on our previous C34, we were on the end of an old dock with lots of power users between us and the shore, and in the summer months it was not uncommon to have line voltage drop to 100 v or even lower when our unit kicked on. I replaced spade terminals and feed wire at the compressor twice before the whole compressor finally failed. Shortly after that we moved to a new, better wired dock and had no more problems.

I would hate to see you replace a compressor only to have it happen again.

Good luck.

John
#107
Hi Michael,

Check all the connections between the water temp sensor and the indicator, including the ground connection of your temp indicator. A higher than normal series resistance ( i.e. - "bad connection" ) in the temp sensor circuit will cause your temp indicator to read higher than normal.

Sounds like your temperature is really close to normal, so this would be the first thing to check.

John
#108
Main Message Board / Re: St4000 Display
June 05, 2007, 04:21:33 PM
Hi Ken,

Sorry to hear about "the bath".... A lot of the circuitry in the unit is small surface mounted components, and once water gets in there while power is applied, things tend to go bad pretty quickly with conductive paths forming across very closely spaced integrated circuit leads. Raymarine may can fix it, but techs usually won't repair water damaged equipment because it's too hard to guarantee continued performance.

Some companies offer "flat rate" repair, which usually means you get either a new ( if you are lucky...) or repaired warranty exchange unit. The good news is that that will get you a working unit for less money than buying a new one at retail.

Good luck.

John
#109
Bill,

My 1988 C34 has a PHII that was installed by a PO. My previous Stamas 44 boat also had a pair of PHIIs, and they are very trouble-free for the money. They are affectionately referred to by people inside Raritan as the "Fred Flintstone" toilet, but they work quite well and they are pretty easy to overhaul. The pump handle sticks out a little farther, but you can always leave the cotter pin out of the pump handle and remove it when not in use. I always just leave the handle in the UP position when it's not in use and it's not in the way on the C34.

I don't think installing one in place of the Jabsco is much of a problem, and you will like it better than the Jabsco, at least in my opinion.

John
#110
Main Message Board / Re: Galvanic Isolator Question
November 16, 2006, 10:56:17 PM
Bernd,

Next thing to check is your shore power connection on the marina side of things. I appears that some percentage of marina wiring was performed by very old monkeys using a broken screw driver and a bent pair of pliars............ Make sure that some "genius" didn't tie the neutral and ground wires together inside the box, or even worse, have the neutral and line wires reversed.

Never assume anything in a marina...........

John
#111
Main Message Board / Re: Battery replacement
November 16, 2006, 10:48:48 PM
Paul,

The basic rule of thumb on flooded batteries is that once the plates have been exposed to the air and allowed to dry out for anything over about 24 hours, the dried sections of the plates are destroyed, as least in terms of being useful as a battery. When you have only one of several batteries on a given charger suddenly start using abnormally high amounts of water, especially to the point of being completely dried out, you have most likely had a shorted cell develop in the "dried" battery. Since you then only have 5 cells charging at a charge voltage appropriate for 6 cells, each of the remaining 5 cells is being seriously over-charged, which then leads to serious gassing and subsequent "cooking".

The structure of most flooded batteries allows for rather predictable formation of shorted cells later in the useful life of the battery. Gel cells are only somewhat improved in this regard, but AGM (also known as "starved electrolyte") batteries in general are not susceptable to shorted cells by virtue of the ever-present glass mat separators between each plate. In the case of Lifeline AGM batteries, shorted cells are impossible to have without some external event, such as driving a nail into the battery and through the plates. Bullets can also work............

As already noted in this thread, golf car batteries are indeed the best battery energy bargain available due to their massive production rates and their beefy design which allows them to give good service in terribly brutal applications. For flooded golf cart batteries, the Trojan T105 is the standard by which all others are judged. However, the price of lead has driven all lead acid battery prices through the roof, with one notable exception: Sam's Club. They apparently have a long term fixed price contract on most of their lead acid batteries that someone has probably been shot for out there in Battery Land. As a result, while Trojan has had raised the price of T105 batteries at least 8 times in the last 2 years, the Sam's Club golf cart battery continues to be sold for $49.95, the same price it has been for at least 5 years or longer. While the Sam's battery is certainly no T105, they are servicable and approximately half the price of a T105. Many of the folks in this group have used the Sam's battery with acceptable results.

Personally, I hate the smell, safety issues, and maintenance requirements of flooded batteries on a boat. I also don't remember to change my smoke detector batteries once a year, clean leaves out of gutters before the next fall season, or get all of the clocks in the house reset to/from Daylight Savings Time all at once.............. People like me (and some of you... you know who you are.........) are not good candidates for getting good long term performance out of flooded batteries. Therefore, I use only quality AGM batteries for the zero maintenence, no gassing of hydrogen,  no acid to smell or spill,  superior performance, and superior long term reliability. In the deep cycle AGM world, the Lifeline  brand is the Gold Standard by which all others are judged.

The choice of what is a "good" or "the best" battery for you and your boat is a compromise, and there is no universal "right" answer. Ultimately, "you pays your money and you takes your choice". Any choice is OK if it allows you to have fun with your boat!

Hope this helps a little.

John
#112
Main Message Board / Re: Galvanic Isolator Question
November 15, 2006, 09:31:33 PM
Galvanic isolators have diodes in them, but it is a pair of them in parallel and back-to-back. There is no polarity sensitivity associated with their connection between the ship's ground and the shore power ground.

John
#113
Main Message Board / Re: Second Bilge Pump
October 04, 2006, 07:39:58 AM
A little more fuel for the fire...

In the 8 years of owning a Stamas 44 ketch, I got to see some fairly heavy duty usage of the bilge pump systems. First of all, the head from the bilge to the outlet was on the order of 7 feet, and both the bilge and the gray water ( which included condensate from 32,000 btu of A/C ) collections were actively pumped out through one way valves. Additionally, the showers drained into the bilge, so during 3 or 4 years of living aboard 5 days a week everything got a good workout. Statistically, I replaced bilge switches (Rule) more often than pumps (also Rule). I never replaced a one way valve, and never had one leak.

For long distance security, I would now feel more comfortable with the "automatic" pumps rather than switches plus pumps as long as you have either a charger on most of the time or have a relatively large battery bank to work from. A helpful boat neighbor with an idea of were your bootstripe should be is priceless, too.
#114
Rick, Austin is squeaky clean pollution wise compared to Houston or the entire DFW metroplex..... Enjoy it.

Many of my boat buddies in the Houston area ( the petro-chemical capitol of the world where you can see and smell the pollution...) regularly soak their lines of all flavors for about 24 hours in a Woolite/water solution in a big container. Then, in the final "rinse" cycle, they add a little fabric softener and let them sit for several hours. Clean and soft!

At some point, most people I know stopped using the washing machine after they tore up the transmission when the lines got terminally jammed under the agitator.

John
#115
One possible consideration of the 180 versus 160 degree callouts is that the "typical" application for the industrial version ( i.e. - tractor ) of this engine is in non-cowled or loosely cowled compartments with the radiator fan moving lots of air out of the minimal engine compartment. In the C34 application, we don't get nearly as much air moved out of the compartment, and at least down here in Texas summers that nice "cool" 104 degree intake air doesn't help moderate the temperature in the engine compartment very much.

Only speculation on my part.....

John
#116
Main Message Board / Re: CNG Tank refills
October 02, 2006, 06:47:33 AM
For those in other areas looking for CNG fillups, go to http://www.cleanenergyfuels.com/stations/stations.html. There is a listing by states/areas with locations and of payment means accepted. You will likely need to provide your own adapter to the standard vehicle-type connector.

John
#117
Main Message Board / Re: Solved water under V-Berth Leak
September 18, 2006, 10:26:07 PM
From the Obscure Thoughts Department: I pondered the lack of a V berth compartment limber hole in our previous C34, but finally decided that it may have been that way by design. In the original factory configuration with no cutout in the V berth's aft bulkhead lower than the drawer, the aft V berth bulkhead serves as a crash bulkhead that will limit the amount of water that can enter the hull by limiting the amount of water that can accumulate in that compartment if the hull at the bow is breached below the waterline to that level equal to the height of the waterline at the bow. The breach could be something as simple as having the speed transducer out pop out while you are underway, or hitting a submerged object. If a new cutout has been made more than about 8 or 10 inches below the original drawer cutout, the water level in that compartment can get high enough to come over the top of the bulkhead and into the rest of the boat.

Our current C34 has a 12K btu evaporator/fan module with a large return air grill below the drawer, so we obviously have no crash bulkhead function anymore. I'm not going to loose any sleep over it...

John
#118
Stu,

The thermostat can "stop working" either way: stuck open or stuck closed. If it sticks open, the engine has to work hard to get up to temperature.

My previous experience with getting a bubble of air in the water heater engine coolant loop out were, as previously advertised, a real PIA. The engine looked full of coolant, and the temperature was good, but no hot water flow through the engine coolant loop to the water heater ( hence, no hot water...). I finally tried reving the engine pretty fast a series of times in neutral, and there was finally a big "blupe!" out of the open radiator cap, and it was good after that. I also had to do the same thing on the Stamas 44 when I replaced the water heater, so it must be a fairly common occurance.

John
#119
Main Message Board / Re: Fridge failure Adler Barbour
September 10, 2006, 07:48:14 PM
Stu,

Glad you found your root problem, even if was the circuitous route. On our previous '91 C34 and on the current '88 C34, I always start with the assumption that any electrical problems have a high probability of being solved at the electrical panel, or more specifically, on the back side of the electrical panel. The combination of bare, stiff, copper wire with short leads and poorly crimped push-on spade terminals with no strain relief just makes an awful combination. I am currently in the process of investigating several alternatives for a complete replacement of the distribution panel in Otra Vez. Needless to say, there will be no push-on spade terminals handling anything but signal level power, and all of the breakers will magnetic rather than thermal.

For troubleshooting in general, particularly with C34 electrical problems, I have to constantly keep reminding myself to never overlook the simplest thing that could be wrong, because it is often exactly what's wrong. Remember that "assume" spells "ass-u-me".

Enjoy your cold beer.

John
#120
Main Message Board / Re: Throttle Creep
September 01, 2006, 09:24:12 AM
I just went through the process of trying to tighten the "friction" bolt on the throttle shaft under the compass mounting bracket. The compass mounting bracket had 2 of 4 bolts that wouldn't budge due to galvanic corrosion ( another project for another day...), so I had to work around the bracket. After several failed methods of getting to the nut, I finally discovered that an open end 7/19 wrench would easily drop down through the bracket grid vertically right to the top of the nut. If you have to turn it far, you'll have to reposition the wrench a few time, but it's no biggie. Just turn it like a screw driver... Whole thing was so easy I was embarrassed I didn't think of it immediately.

John