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Messages - Braxton

#16
Main Message Board / Re: Put your boat on the MAP!
February 24, 2017, 08:04:29 AM
Quote from: Sue Clancy on February 24, 2017, 07:02:08 AM
I have put something in place to display the word "hidden" instead of the email address of the person.  I am still asking for the email as this is needed to let everyone self manage there own info.

Thank you  :D
#17
Main Message Board / Re: Put your boat on the MAP!
February 23, 2017, 10:10:49 AM
Quote from: Sue Clancy on February 23, 2017, 04:17:50 AM
With the new website design we consolidated several older member databases into a new tool. We no longer use this boat on the map link. We now have the owner database here

http://c34.org/owner-database/

Sue,

Sorry that my first contribution to this thread is a criticism but...

It looks like we are exposing people's email addresses to the broader internet.    That info should be obfuscated until someone is logged in with a validated account.

We're doing people a big disservice by exposing their email address like that.
#18
Quote from: cmainprize on February 04, 2017, 04:06:32 PM
We did a cutlass bearing, federal coupling, and Feathering  J prop upgrade 4 years ago.  In hindsight I should have done the shaft at the same time.  Not sure what boats are able to get the shaft past the rudder, but I can tell you on my fin keel MK11 it was not going to happen.  The extra 1/4 of play I got by pushing out the bearing first made it closer but still a long way from "sliding past"  I read the articles first saying it could be done as well!  I would like to hear from a MK11 boat that made it work.  The worst part about dropping the rudder is digging the hole.  If you are on pavement your kinda screwed.  Once you dig a hole deep enough to clear the rudder shaft, it's a 30 minute job to drop the rudder.  Gives you a good reason to do a full steering system inspection while you are jammed into the aft lockers.

Cheers,

CM

We just had them lift the boat with the travel lift.   It was well worth the 100 bucks or so that he charged for it.   He had the boat in the air for all of 2 minutes.   You just have to make sure you have the steering quadrant loose enough and positioned in such a way that you will be able to slide the rudder back up.     In the end it was pretty easy peasy lemon squeezey.
#19
Main Message Board / Re: Catalina 425
January 27, 2017, 01:24:26 PM
What's with the two different battery switches?
#20
Main Message Board / Re: Catalina 425
January 27, 2017, 08:07:40 AM
Quote from: Stu Jackson on January 26, 2017, 08:50:21 PM
Quote from: Braxton on January 26, 2017, 07:17:51 PM

1.   That advice runs contrary to the general ethos of most people who frequent this board.

2.   On the plus side, the common rail engines do run remarkably quietly.    I wish we could get the best of both worlds some how.

1.  Not necessarily, Braxton.  Seems we are a bunch of DIY-ers, and if you can't work on a common rail engine, then: doh   :cry4` :shock:.  Not so great, eh?

2.  Quiet?  I mentioned some time ago that I can feel my engine so much through the cockpit floor such that I know when the coupling throws a bolt!  Then I go fix it.  :D  I'd rather have noise I can fix than quiet that I can't.  How about you?  :D

1.    I think were saying the same thing, sorry if I was unclear.  Since we are all DIY-ers then the advice to not work on you fuel system makes them not so great for us.

2.   I'm currently on a series of noise abatement quests on my boat right now.    Over the years loose fittings, miss alignments, bad bearings, bad storage solutions, etc. have created quite the cacophony when my engine runs.   Combine that with the standard clackity-clack of a 30 year old mechanically injected diesel and it can be quite loud.   I have found that the more I can tame the racket the engine makes the more likely I am to get the family out on the boat with me :-).      There are certainly plenty of times that I would choose a diesel that sounds like a gas engine over what I have now.   From what I know about you, you'd get you senses attuned to a different engine quickly enough.

#21
Main Message Board / Re: Catalina 425
January 26, 2017, 07:17:51 PM
When I took Nigel Calder's diesel engine class his advise for do it yourself types for working on common rail fuel systems was simple.   Don't do it, not ever.   The worry was the because they operate at such higher pressures the old mechanical injection systems that the consequences of doing something wrong can be quite severe and possibly dangerous.

That advice runs contrary to the general ethos of most people who frequent this board.

On the plus side, the common rail engines do run remarkably quietly.    I wish we could get the best of both worlds some how.
#22
I think we may be splitting hairs.   I stand by my statement, removing the rudder is the standard way, an alternative way is to press out the bearing out and slide the shaft out past the rudder.    I wasn't able to test whether this would have been possible on my boat because of my coupling and propeller hub being seized to the shaft.   But when doing a crude test once everything was apart it did not appear that mine would have fit past the rudder.

Bill, if you do go with Noah's recommendation to remove the bearing and try and slide the shaft past the rudder then KWKloeber has a nifty tool to press the bearing off and on with the shaft installed.   Other people have made their own and there are expensive professional tools available, but KWKloeber's is nice and easy to use and the price he charges to rent it is low enough that you won't notice it once it's swallowed up by the rest of the expenses.
#23
I just finished a similar project, I needed to replace my cutless bearing and while I had everything apart I had a new SS shaft built.

A few thoughts, first off, I have a Federal flexible coupling that I ended up not using.    I'd love to recoup some of my money.   If you end up going that way I'll sell it to you at a discount.   You'll save some money and I'll get some money back.   Let me know if you are interested.

First I'm going to have to take the fifth for A19 vs. A22.   I know we talked about it, I know I harrumphed a lot and tried to be knowledgeable in the conversation but I would have to go back and look at my invoice to refresh my memory on which we chose.

I used Tacoma Propeller.     They will do business through the mail and if you end up not going local I would highly recommend them.  However, I do second Roc's recommendation of going local.   The shaft is a custom made part that no one is going to want to take back.    It's worth it to have someone you can talk to face to face about the project and make sure that you are getting exactly what you need.

I am dubious about your plan to use the old coupling to do the alignment for the new shaft.   When I went to remove my old coupling the bolts holding the coupling to the shaft sheared off very easily.   (The bolts attaching the coupling to the transmission were fine).   I was ultimately unable to remove the coupling from the shaft.   To remove the shaft from the boat I ended cutting it into three parts (15 minutes of not hard manual labor with a hacksaw).   Once the shaft was out of the boat I could have drilled out the holes and had Tacoma propeller press it off the shaft but there seemed little point in going through with that.   The upshot is that my coupling would have been in no shape to reliably do the alignment, your mileage may vary and you may do better then me but I wouldn't count on it.

In the end I went with a split coupling on the recommendation of some local gurus who were helping me out.    To badly paraphrase their reasoning, if you do your alignment properly then the flexible is just adding unneeded complexity and the split coupling allows for easier disassembly when the inevitable future maintenance needs to be done.   Many highly respected people here recommend the flexible couplings (especially the Federal's)  but I was happy enough with the results I had with the split that I've fallen into the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" camp and I'm not planning on redoing it at this point.     I have added a new seasonal maintenance check of having to look and make sure the bolts on the split coupling are tight, but that takes all of 2 minutes so I'm not to worried about that.

When Tacoma Propeller built the shaft they had my prop hub (a 3 blade flex-o-fold that they had to press off the old shaft), the new coupling, and the shaft so that they could do all the lapping and fitting that was needed.     It is possible to do that yourself but in my case I decided to leave it to the experts.

A few other thoughts.    The standard way to do all of this is to remove the rudder so that you can slide your old shaft out.    It is worth testing the bolts that hold the steering quadrant together to see if you are going to be able to get them out easily.   If they are seized up now you may want to put some PB Blaster or similar product on them to make removal easier.   This is also a good time to figure out if you have the ability to climb into the lazarette or the endurance standing on your head to take the quadrant apart.   While you are down there check all the parts on the quadrant, when you are putting things back together is the time to replace them so that you don't have to do this all a second time.



#24
mainesail took a lot of wind out of my sails by covering a lot of the points I was going to make.

But a few other thoughts.   

Most importantly, make sure that you are a prepared and active consumer.   Did you check reviews, did you compare rates, did you get recommendations?   If you are unsatisfied with the work did you take your business elsewhere next time?   Like any business in the boating world there are scrupulous and unscrupulous people, lazy and hard working people, good people and bad people.   Make sure you are supporting the good ones and avoiding the bad ones.   Get recommendations, give recommendations, be active in your boating community so that you have the contacts to do this.    I know in a lot of locations this can be hard as their isn't a lot of competition in the area but do your best.

To increase that level of competition find a DIY yard that allows contractors in.   Then you are not at the mercy of the yard that hauled your boat out.   You can also bring in the best contractor for the work you need done.   Make sure you are using the right contractor.   Your diesel mechanic may or may not be the best guy to do an engine and shaft alignment, the guy who does your rigging is probably not the guy to paint your bottom, etc.

Find a contractor that will be accommodating and helpful with letting you do a lot of the work.    I just finished a project that had 24+ hours of labor in it.   I only used a contractor for 3 1/2 hours of some of the trickier stuff.   The rest I did myself.   It saved me money, educated me on the workings of my boat, and gave me the piece of mind that for the important stuff I had someone more experienced then me doing it.

If you find someone good at $85 an hour that is fully licensed, bonded, insured, etc.   Use them and don't complain about it.   At least around here that's a pretty good rate.   To mainesail's point, compare that to your auto mechanic and you won't feel so bad.

For some work like getting your bottom painted consider using someone who will give you a fixed bid.   This obviously does not work for a lot of repair type stuff on a boat because as we all know once you start tearing into a boat all sorts of unexpected things come up but for routine stuff it can work well.    The you don't have to worry about their work rate.   You can just let them do what they do knowing that you have a set price already.

#25
Main Message Board / Re: Lithium Ion battery upgrade
October 17, 2016, 01:41:34 PM
I have a decent level of fear of them because of their volatility during charging.

I tried a quick web search to see if I was being paranoid or if my fear is justified and I didn't find anything new enough that I thought it was relevant to the fast moving world of battery technology.

At the very least I would have someone who has extensive experience with them give your charging systems the once over and make sure that you won't be running them to hot during the charging cycle.
#26
Something wrong in the rebuild?  That combined with the overfill may be the culprit.   But I think we're still in the realm of speculation until you test the compression.
#27
I would try doing a compression test on that cylinder.
#28
So there is a lot of speculation in this :)

The low oil pressure and oil coming out of the breather tube would point to you having oil pooling up at the top of the engine in the oil gallery and not it not draining back down.   This could have a multitude of causes.  Two of the more obvious ones are that you could be getting severe blow by on a ring causing the engine compression to pressurize the oil pan and push oil upwards, or you could have a clogged drain out of the oil gallery.   The reason I asked about the oil being forced out of the breather tube and it changing to the dip stick tube is this would point to one or the other of these.   

So a few disclaimers:

1) if I misunderstood you about the oil still coming out of the breather tube then all this is moot.
2) I seem to diagnose oil pooling in the oil gallery all the time and I have never ever been right, not once, not even close :)   So i'm probably off base once again.
#29
So a few more questions:

1) Are you pumping raw water ok? (I'm guessing you are but given the smoke out the exhaust I thought I should ask)
2) What is your coolant level at?   Are you having to top it off to keep it where it should be?
3) If you examine the oil from the dipstick, does it seem to have the appropriate viscosity?   Does it smell like diesel at all?
4) With the engine running, if you pull the dipstick does the little bit of oil that was coming out of the breather tube stop coming out?    Does it now start coming out of the dipstick tube?


#30
I am assuming the white smoke is from the exhaust, is that correct or is it coming out of the engine itself somewhere?