Topics

While I was replacing the Bilge Pump wiring, I had to look around at the back of the Electrical Control Panel (while on my knees inboard of the Nav Table) and I noticed this disaster waiting to happen.

It looks like it is attached to the bus bar that is attached to the inside of the hull. I forgot about it while doing the wiring upgrade, but just saw it in my google photos.

Is it standard?

I mentioned in another post that a PO had installed a 2nd Manual Bilge Pump.

Here's some pics of the Pump location.
The hoses run from the Aft Bilge (adjacent to the Hot Water tank area) to the pump and from the pump to the Aft locker where it 'T's into the existing Manual Pump hose.

1st Pic shows the mounting screws on the aft face of the shower seat

Remaining pics show the pump install.

Yes! I'm going to clean up that area when I pull the boat out in December for a Butt job.

I have just been given a Spinnaker, possibly originally intended for a C36.

The Foot appears to be 27' and the Leaches (do we call them leaches?) are 45'

It's symmetrical, and seems in pretty good shape, a couple of patches less than 3" square each.

We have the Spinnaker Crane at the mast head with spin halyard. We have outer tracks on each side and I have a selection of blocks and lines that I could use but only a 12' whisker pole, no spinnaker pole.

I'm considering using the sail as a Cruising Spinnaker and am guessing I'll have to cut it down.

Eximius is a Tall Rig Fin Keel Mk 1.

Any suggestions (and you know I've spent hours already scanning the archives here  )

Paul

[W]

I'm installing a Bilge Pump Counter and had to look carefully at the wiring for the Bilge Pump System



Rugly!

The existing wiring is a hodge podge of colors, sizes, butt connectors, twisted wire connections covered in household/auto electrical tape. Wow, That's Fantastic

So, I'm ripping it all out and starting over.

Here's my new Wiring diagram and schematic.

Plan is to install a new terminal block (bilge pump bus bar) to reduce the number of crimps in the system. The only butt connections will be at the Float Switch and the Pump, all wires will be single run, all terminals and the 4 butt joints will be crimped with heat shrink, the butts will be further covered in heat shrink - belt & braces.

Any Gotchas?

I was working up the mast and as I descended, I noticed that the Port side Lower Shroud Mast connecting plate is missing 2 rivets, at the 11 o-clock and 4 o-clock positions.

By inspection I do not believe the rivets were ever installed. The plate shows no sign of movement and I can see what appears to be pilot holes in the mast behind the plate.

I plane to fix that with Pop Rivets, just looking for advice on the type of rivet, any anti corrosion application, advice etc.

Thanks.

Paul

I have just installed a SensaTank Tank Monitoring System on Eximius.

Yesterday I installed the Midships tank sensors - works great although I have not drained the tank to see if it correctly indicates the water level (E - 1/4 - 1/2 - 3/4 - F) it's currently Full and displays that.

I also installed the Holding tank sensors, but that's not working correctly, although the tank is empty (confirmed by looking through the vent in the top of the tank) the display shows 3/4 full.

3 possible causes:
.. Faulty Sensors: I am tempted to discount that as the display shows E if the sensors are disconnected and it shows Full if the sensors are shorted.

.. Tank thickness is > 10mm the limit described in the Sensatank documentation

.. Tank has a build up of crud on the inside where the sensors are located.

When I opened the vent in the top of the tank and shone a flashlight down there, I could see the tank was practically empty (the tank bottom is sloped down to the inboard side of the tank and I could just see a liquid edge) however, I could also see an almost crystalline covering of the bottom of the tank, so I'm guessing that similar crud may be on the side of the tank where the sensors are located.

I doubt the tank has ever been cleaned as there is no access panel installed.


So question: Does anyone know the thickness of the Holding tank in the Mk 1 (1987).

Thanks.

Paul

BTW - I installed a new holding tank vent stanchion and vent hose a few weeks ago, we have used fresh water, not salt water, to flush the loo for almost the past year and we pump out frequently. I mention this because there was NO SMELL when I removed the vent elbow from the tank to peer inside. 

We have a Harken Cruising 1 Furler on Eximius.

The Jib (& main) were removed for prep of Hurricane Irma, While putting the Jib back on the furler, I noticed that the sheets did not wrap around the sail when the Jib was fully furled - ie. The furling line was fully unwound off of the furler drum.

This is the first time we have ever had the furler line fully unwound, I have to assume that during the removal/replacement process, the furler had turned a couple of extra turns.

While attempting to add a couple of turns on the drum by rotating the furler, the furler seemed to jump around the drum. On inspection, I found that one of the tabs on the lower flange had broken. I carefully wound a couple of turns onto the drum and secured the furler by tying a line from the tack to the pulpit tubing. (I always tie that line after every trip to prevent the furler drum rotating.)

Once home I looked for the furler manual online. It has a warning that there should always be a minimum of 2 turns of the furler line on the furler drum.

Called Harken (didn't have to press 1, got straight through to a live person - sweet) They connected me to a rep and we confirmed the furler model and the part number, a quick transfer to their orders department and the new flange pieces (a pair) was on order.  Total cost of replacement with shipping & tax was $39.

The best part of this was the service by Harken. I'd give them an 11.

So if you have a Harken Furler - Ensure that there are at least 2 full turns of the furling line on the drum when the sail is fully unfurled.

Paul

The subject says it all, but here's the details.

Garmin GPSMap 741xs, Garmin GMR 18HD Radar, Garmin gWind Wireless Masthead Wind Transducer, Garmin GND 10 Black Box Bridge, Garmin Depth,Speed,Temp Transducer, Garmin NMEA 2000 Network.

When changing from Fwd to Astern (throttle down to idle, pause, shift to other gear, throttle backup) the GPS (not the gWind) will shut down (and it reports that it shut down in the System history)

It seems to happen when the engine goes down to minimum RPM during the gear shift. But it's not easy to reproduce. Normally when making a gear change my mind is focused elsewhere other than on the GPS, so we only notice it after completing the gear change, perhaps not for several seconds/minutes.

My thoughts: Possible Alternator external Regulator is creating the issue. I have a spare and intend to wire it in this week. It's a long shot.

Intermittent faults are the worst to locate.

Paul

Stu wrote this in another thread regarding water heater replacement.

Don't know if you've seen this:

http://c34.org/hot-water-heater-plumbing-galley-sink-drain-replacement/

Same screw issues.  Looooong screwdriver worked.

That link goes to a tech article that Stu wrote a while ago showing how he replaced the Galley Sink Drain plumbing - one our 'Gotta Do' items as ours frequently drains into the cutlery draw beneath the Galley Sinks.

But our's has an additional hose in the drain system. That hose is T'd into the Drain hose and has a Rubber stopper in the other end. It appears to be for a Grey Water Tank, but I don't see how any sized tank could fit under the Sinks or under the 3 Drawer unit.

Does anyone else have a grey water tank?

Paul

Just thought I would share this in case anyone has any 'Oh, Don't do that's

Our AC outflow eased to a dribble just a week after cleaning out the pipes & AC unit with Barnacle Buster.

The only parts not cleaned were the Inlet Thru Hull & the Outflow Thru Hull, the later is above the water line, but it still carries those little barnacles.

To clean out the Thru Hull, I used an 18" long piece of drain snake, the flexible steel coiled stuff. I just cut the length off of my house drain snake.

It fits really well into the Thru Hull and the sides are sufficiently abrasive to clear it.

To clean out the Thru Hull, I simple remove the hose with the Valve Off, poke the snake down the thru hull till I can feel the Ball of the valve. Then cup my hand around the opening to minimize the water that will come up the Thru Hull and open the Valve, a couple of up and down movements does the trick. Pull the snake out and close the valve. I probably got about a pint or so of water in the boat during the process.

I had used a 4 1/2" Angle grinder (HF) to cut off the piece of snake and made a handle from some heavy duty tape. I may make a Rubber piece to reduce the water flow, but it's hardly worth it.

Paul

Finally got around to puling the leaking port aft chainplate.
The plates were 'sealed' using a bucket of silicone caulking, spread around the two bolts and washers and around the plate over the chainplate tab that sticks out of the deck. Over time, the silicone has shrunk and we noticed a leak in the cabin.

Ran a temp line and released the turnbuckle (after soaking it in a paper towel with PB Blaster for a couple of weeks). Removed the chainplate, cleaned it up, just a little surface corrosion that I have treated. So, cleaned up plates look good and I plan to reinstall it tomorrow.

Reading the search results for rebedding chainplates, I keep seeing references to only apply bedding at the top side of the deck, not the underside so that any leaks are noticed in the cabin.

The ply side holes in the deck have been sealed by a PO and they still look in great shape.

The rectangular plate that goes over the chainplate tab that sticks out of the deck has about a 3/32" gap between it and the tab all the way around.

Yes, I have read Mainesail's bedding article, excellent! But I don't see how to seal the tab through the deck hole when the gap between the tab and the plate is so large.

I could not find a link to a tech article specifically covering this issue. Would appreciate a good link 

Paul

We keep Eximius at a Dock in a residential area, there are trees on the property and they drop lots of 'Stuff' such as seeds, flowers and bits of hair like bark (they're varieties of palm trees) and this flotsam clogs the deck scupper, so we end up with dirty water laying on either side of the scuppers. After a heavy rain (and this is South Florida) it's even worse.

Even though we visit the boat several times a week, it only takes a day for grot to build up and we have to rinse / scrub the area near the scuppers.

Our boat is not the cleanest of boats top sides, we know it needs work, but the scuppers getting blocked every week is a pain. Yes we get the black marks on the sides below them.

I was thinking of expanding the scuppers, they look to be about 3/8" right now and wondered if it would be reasonable to drill them out and line the insides with GFP to water proof the toe rail.

There are several articles on putting tubes into the scuppers to move the pour point further from the boat, but our problem is water not being able to drain when the block.

Ideas?

Paul

[EACH!]

The old lifeline turnbuckles broke when I was trying to remove them in order to replace the Stanchions that were damaged when I fell onto the port side lifeline.

After reading a gazillion topics about lifelines, choices, vinyl covered, steel, dyneema, turnbuckles, and more, I decided to replace our Vinyl Covered Steel Lifelines with 1/4" Amsteel 8600lb. average tensile strength.

Some of the things I considered:
.. What about Fenders hanging off the Dyneema line? Well, I no have not secured a fender to the top life line in ages because I'm worried about bending the stanchions. I now secure the fenders to the base of the stanchions.
.. What about chafing? This is an issue with the Dyneema, but it's so strong, that it will have to chafe a lot before I would be concerned - And as Stu says, the lifeline is just to show where the edge of the boat is located. It's not to provide a grab rail.
.. What about splicing the Dyneema? Turns out it's a whole lot easier than splicing double braid line and simple tools that don't require heavy duty stainless steel crimping.
.. What about UV? The Dyneema that I purchased has a UV coating - and it's so much easier to replace that the low cost and ease of replacement eliminates that concern.
.. How to connect a Pelican hook to ease opening and closing the lifelines on either side of the cockpit.


The process that I used:

Used a HF 4.5" Angle grinder to cut off the old seized lifelines & turnbuckles. That's 8 lines! Port & Stbd aft upper & lower lines & pelican hooks, Port & Stbd Main lifelines, upper and lower.

Following many You-Tube videos, I spliced a thimble onto one end of each line and temporarily secured that to the pulpit (upper lower port & stbd main lines) and to the aft pulpit (upper lower port & stbd main lines) with a long length of lashing line.

For the main lines I ran them through the stanchions all the way aft and through the aft most stanchion and marked the line where it came out of the stanchion.

Then releasing the lashings that pulpit, I spliced a thimble onto aft end of each line and redid the lashing to pull the splice into the holes of the aft-most stanchion.
Now the aft most thimble is tight up against the stanchion.

Next I threaded each of the forward end of the aft lines through a new pelican hook. I used the lashing line to whip the end of the Dyneema to create a binding that would not pass through the threaded tube of the Pelican hook, but small enough that it would allow the pelican hook to close. That worked well, but when a friend leaned heavily on the lifeline, that binding came out of the pelican hook.

So I then replaced the lashing line with Stainless Steel Locking wire and that will not slip through the Pelican hook.

Cost:
10 Thimbles (only needed 6) $12.95
98' of 2mm Lashing line $33.20
200' of Amsteel 8600lb. average tensile strength (1/4" x 100 ft. Hank, Black) $86.00 EACH!
4 Pelican hooks (marinepart depot) $48.00

Total Cost $268180 plus shipping (but most of it was from Amazon prime)

Correction: The 1/4" Amsteel was $86 for a 100' hank.

I'm really pleased with the results. I did change the design slightly, moving the Pelican hooks to the forward end of the aft lines, now the lines drape nicely over the aft pulpit frame when they are open and it's easy to close them. The Pelican hooks attach to the Thimbles on the aft end of the main lifelines. It works very well. I am left with quite a bit of the Amsteel line, so I'm making several things using that. A spliced loop to attach my new Anchor Snubber to the Chain, Lanyard to secure our Winchrite cordless winch handle to eliminate the risk of it falling overboard if it jerks to a stop, and as many Soft Shackles as I could ever need.

Paul

During our 10 day trip to Bahamas (Bimini), fellow sailors noted that we were ejecting a nasty flush of black goop out of our exhaust when we made a rapid increase in RPMs.
I have seen this on other boats and my interpretation of the cause is that the injectors are probably in need of service / replacement.

So, assuming (I know, I know!) that the problem could be the injectors, and I do not know if they have ever been serviced or replaced in the boat's 30 year history, then I should pull the injectors out and get them tested.

Step 1 is to remove the injectors.

I have seen the breakdown of the injector components elsewhere but do not know if any of the components are 'One Use Only' such as washers etc.

I believe that the process goes something like this (please comment)

• Work on a cold engine
• Lay out rags to capture any fuel spillage
• Remove the 2 fuel connectors between the 3 banjos
• Remove the supply tube to the aft most (#1 or #3?) injector
• Remove the tube from #3 or #1(Foremost) injector to the bleed screw
• Loosen and remove the injector pump tubes to each injector
• Loosen and remove the injectors
• Cover each hole as it is opened to prevent anything dropping into it

Is it that easy? (Ha!)

Here's an older pic of the injectors...

Replacing the Alternator on Eximius, purchased 100Amp Alt from Mainesail (thanks Rod)

Here's my wiring concept - just passing by you critics for your valued response before I disconnect the old Blamar 

(I don't show the Fuses, Shunts, etc.)

Paul

Replacing the 1 1/2" Fuel Fill hose (from deck fill plate to fuel tank)

The tank has some kind of dried up brown guck on the Fuel Fill pipe and I'm wondering if that's standard, and if so, which type of dope/sealer/guck I should use.

TIA.

Paul

Couldn't find anything in search results, but here's an oddball question.

There could be a scenario where we needed to start the engine but find the solenoid has failed, totally.

Any chance we could start the engine with a pull line around one of the engine pulleys (especially as ours has 3 double pulleys)

I figure that the engine needs to get to about 300rpm to get up and running.
That's around 2.5 revs in a 1/2 second pull.

Of course, it might require Hercules to turn it over!

Just wondered if anyone had ever tried it?

Paul

[FIRST]

Pulling the boat out in a couple of weeks and looking to take up the slack in the rudder tube using the Catalina Direct Kit

Trying to figure out how to drop the rudder.

Did a search, best result was this one http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,3645.msg20188.html#msg20188

I also read the post about using film to take up the slack.

We have the 1987 Fin Keel Tall Rig #463 and the same rudder as the third FIRST pic in this image


According to that image, we need about 36" clearance from the bottom of the rudder to the ground in order to drop the rudder.

Elsewhere I read that someone had to dig a hole 8" but more useful would be the distance from the bottom of the rudder to the bottom of the keel.

I'm guessing that I'll have to support the bottom of the rudder and then...
.. remove the emergency tiller thing at the top of the rudder (remove bolt in cockpit)
.. ease the tension bolts on the steering quadrnt
.. remove the bolt(s) from the steering quadrant
.. lower the rudder.

That all sound about right?

TIA

Paul

I have spent hours reading/watching anything I can about the alignment on our M25-XP engine.

Copying images from Mainesail's site http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/universal_alternator_bracket&page=1

The engine does have the critical alternator upgrade.

The manifold bolts are longer as on Mainsail's site.

The Alternator Bracket is positioned fully aft (at least I think it's fully aft, as no slot is visible in front of the mounting bolts but the slot is visible aft of the bolts)

There are no shims

When viewed from above with the lower steps in place as a reference beam, the belt appears to be at an angle to the beam.

Mainesail's image looks like this:

My situation is the opposite! The belt is angle aft from the alternator to the coolant pump. ie. Looking down at the belt, more of the belt is visible astern of the lower steps near the coolant pump pulley compared to the visible belt at the alternator pulle.

All three of the pulleys (main shaft, coolant pump and alternator) are of the billet machined type, not pressed steel.

Any ideas on how I can move the Alternator Aft in order to improve the alignment (and thus reduce the belt dust)

Thanks.

Paul

I'm planning on a haul out and building a list of projects that are best done on the hard. I'll be taking the boat to a DIY yard locally. Two weeks will cost a total of about $800 for haul, pressure wash, block, tool rental and splash. Then there is just the cost of materials - they insist that any below the waterline materials are purchased from them, no big deal.

Biggest project is to refinish the deck.
We have white deck with grey non-skid that looks like a kind of rubber finish with diamond pattern about 3/16" sides. The cockpit and coamings have that a very fine embedded non-slip finish that appears to be gel coat patterned (the pattern is maybe 1/16" criss cross)
The entire cockpit surface is white, none of the grey non-skid on the coamings, seats, or cockpit sole.

I also want to rebed the chain plates on deck and the stanchions, but want to avoid pulling the mast if I can ($$$$$$$ $500 minimum plus)

Objective: To ensure the deck is water tight - there are to many hairline cracks in the gel coat and in the non-skid - particularly on the coach roof. The port anchor locker lid non-skid looks awful, as though it has worn away and been repaired by pouring Cap't Tolley's over it.

I'm researching on what method to use for the refinishing. So far I have watched videos for deck refinishing projects that use 2 part epoxy, 1 part polyurethane, 2 part water based primers and a dozen more. Petite, Skid no more, Tuff Coat and the list is growing.

So, I'm hoping that someone has done something like this to their C34 and can post (or link) to some good, relevant, articles that can head me in the right direction - Paying someone to do this is out of the budget! (My buddy had his boat refinished, hull & deck & teak - $52,000, more than I have paid for the boat and first years upgrades!)

TIA.

Paul

So it looks as though I need to clean out the fuel tank.

We have about 18gallons on board right now so I plan on burning that off over the next 10 days. Just replaced the 2mic Racor fuel filter and can see particulate in the bowl with fuel flow.

? - Does the fuel tank have baffles inside?

Paul

During routine engine inspection, I noticed these two things but have no clue what they are and cannot find them in the Universal Manuals.

Paul

There's sediment in our Fuel Water Separator (Racor) using R12S 2mic filters.

I have not changed the fuel filter since installing the new filter unit 6 months ago.

It may be time to clean out the fuel tank, but for now I need to replace the filter.

The process requires that I 'prime' the filter by filling with fuel before screwing it back on the filter housing.

I'm wondering how others do that!

Should I keep a small bottle of diesel fuel onboard that I can use to prime the filter, or should I install a primer pump, or even a simple bleed off the main fuel line before the filter unit.

What do you guys do?

Paul

Has anyone got the working diagram of a connection from a Garmin GPS with NMEA 2000 and Raymarine Wheelpilot (ST6002) NMEA 0183

I have followed the manuals for both devices but cannot get Wind data to the Raymarine to enable Auto Tack

Thanks.

paul

Just a heads up - If you haven't serviced your winches recently - then consider it's time.

We've owned Eximius for 20 months and done a lot of work on her while trying to get out and enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Just over a week ago, I decided to bite the bullet and get down to service the Jib Sheet Winches.

They were pretty horrid inside, but no obvious wear and tear. So after a good cleaning and lubrication as per Lewmar's instructions, they're back in service and no longer squeak, grate, grind, or growl when we're using them.

Next I set to on the Main Halyard Winch (Stbd Cabin top) - not quite so lucky here. The Stainless Steel inner shaft had warped to the point that it took an hour to remove it from the winch.

After cleaning everything, it would not reinsert! Inspecting it with a mag glass, I realized that the splines had deformed and so left vertical grooves inside the brass (or is it bronze) winch mounting.

I realized that I was probably going to have to replace the winch and so risked taking a dremel to the stainless steel splines. It worked a treat, but I'll be looking out for a replacement winch when the budget allows.

I may have been able to avoid this excessive service by servicing them sooner. I have no idea when they were last serviced.

They are now in my Seasonal Service list.

Paul

In my project list is 'Install Cabin Dinning Table lighting'

I'm thinking of adding an LED overhead light mounted on the deckhead above the dinning table - don't want to go to a swinging oil lantern 

My plan is to run a strip of teak or starboard on the underside of the 'beam' that is the width of the cabin abeam the mast. Then down to the side teak rail and then to cabin lighting supply.

I presume that the 'beam' is solid and so the only option is to surface mount the wires???

Paul

[But:]

This weekend, the fuse on my West Marine Air pump for the dink had blown - not sure when.

Dug around my spares and did not have an 8amp fuse. Really needing to pump the dink, so I made a fuse from 3 strands of tinned copper wire. My thoughts were that they would melt before anything else overheated. Worked fine, I'll get a couple of new fuses this week.

But: That's when I realized that there is no circuit breaker for the 12v outlets! We have a total of 3 outlets - 2 at the nav station and 1 in the aft berth. Don't know if any of them are original.

My plan is to install a 10amp 12v circuit breaker in the electrical panel and wire all of the outlets to that CB. I'm also going to add 12v outlets/USB charging points in the V-Berth and by the cabin dinning table.

My Question: Did the boat originally have 12v outlets and did the boat originally have a Circuit breaker for those outlets?

Thanks.

Paul

While replacing the engine stop cable, I took a dozen plus pics from inside the the aft locker.
They show that each of the thru hulls have plywood backing plates  (more like washers ) about 1/4" thick. And they appear to be breaking down / drying out.

Most certainly they're original.

They're all above the water line.

Replace?

Paul

Just spent (too long) a while reading posts about Tether Padeye locations prior to installing them on Eximius.

Not wanting to restart the well worn argument (sorry ' Chat ' ) about whether to install / use Tether Padeyes, I'm just looking at where makes best sense.

Earlier this year we encountered a brief storm during which we donned our Foulies and both of us, in the cockpit, hooked our tethers to the boat, it was a nasty storm with winds excess of 50kts, but we did not have an easy to use Padeye to hook too.

As skipper, I set the rules on my boat and one of them is "If we are not tied to something; Anchor, Mooring, Another Boat, or Dock, then everyone must be wearing their PFD in the cockpit" and "If we are on the Ocean (our normal sailing area) anyone going on deck must be attached to the Jacklines" - I read my rules which are on a laminated card to any new crew before we untie (and email them ever since someone came onboard ill prepared by my standards).

So, having gotten past that, I'm considering installing two Padeyes on the side of the Port Side Cockpit Seat one aft and the other forward, ie. the backing plates will be inside the port cockpit locker.

Any Gotcha's you can think of regarding the location choice?

Thanks.

Paul

We have hairline cracks near the joints on deck (between cabin and side decks etc.)

Despite trying the hairline crack majic compound, I'm not impressed as much as when I see boats that have done the deck paint.

There's no sign of deck damage, looks more like 30 year old stress.

Has anyone got experience of and would it be effective to spray a gel coat in the area of the cracks to prevent water intrusion?

Paul

Bit the bullet and replaced our Solar Vents - Marinco Nicro 4" Vent & Fan.

Looks to be a much better product than the original broken units (head & aft berth) but, at nealy $180 (pick up at store when we needed them) the pair cost more than a home Microwave cooker!

See blog for details: http://www.sailingeximius.com/2016/10/time-to-vent.html

Paul

The PO had removed the Teak at aft end of the cabin sliding 'lid' and the brows on either side as well as the hand rails on each side of the cabin top by the winches (not the hand rails along the top of the cabin windows)

Here's a link https://goo.gl/photos/AebbVkspH8UYrtVU6

Not sure how much to ship them but anyone wants them, just pay the shipping.

Paul

Any suggestions on the best way to vent the aft berth?

We have AC on the boat but the aft berth does not enjoy much of the benefit.

So I'm looking for options to vent the aft berth.

Some ideas so far:
.. Install a fan in the lower aft berth door panel.
.. Install a blower fan inline tube from the aft berth into the head (blowing from the berth)
.. Install a fan in the bulkhead between the galley and the aft berth (just below the windows)
.. Install a fan to blow from the aft berth in one of the access holes in the bulkhead at the foot of the berth (are those two holes standard?)

Any suggestions, would really like to get some cool air into the aft berth.

Paul

When I did all of the work on our Engine Electrical / Exhaust System, the drive belt was very suspect so I replaced it with one that was a spare when we purchased the boat a year ago.

There were 4 spare belts, each a different size/brand/type.

The only one that fit was a Napa Premium XL 25-7405
It is a V belt with the notches in the inside.
Here's a link to it on the Napa Site https://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/p/NBG259348M/

It Fits! but is it the correct belt type?

Paul

When I could not find a replacement for the filter in our Air Filter on our M25-XP engine, I did some search on the forum and found Ken's post about the K & N Adapter, I found this page
http://www.knfilters.com/filteraccess.aspx?pkid=3745734&rw=3

Right now, I'm using a pair of cutouts from a sheet of AC/Furnace filter inside our original Air Filter and a nylon Elbow into the top of the Air Filter housing. Not too convinced it's the best route and looking for a replacement Air Filter. At least I found the Adapter (Scroll down the page shown in that link)

Paul

Last time we filled the Midships tank, Peggy was below looking at the tank and I was up top managing the water flow into the fill cap. She called out to stop filling because the tank was 'blowing up'

So today we checked it out and found the problem.

The midships tank Vent line passed up on the aft side of the bulkhead at the front of the galley and disappears into the deck area right below the stanchion up top.

But the stanchion does not have a vent (unlike the vent hole in the Port Side stanchion for the holding tank vent)

I can feel the 3 nuts holding down the stbd stanchion and the vent hose in the middle of them.

This is one of those WTH moments!

I'm not prepared to remove and replace the stanchion and wondered if it would be acceptable to run a new vent hose from the tank under the galley into the space beneath the aft berth and then up to T into the existing vent for the Aft tank (the vent is visible in the cockpit on the stbd side just aft of the wheel.)

Paul

We decided that with all the other work in progress on the Engine (Hump Hose, Riser, New Mounts, Total new Engine Harness) we would add the re-attachment of the water heater to the engine.

The old hoses are totally suspect, not even sure that they are correct type or size.

My understanding is that the hose from the heater should be 5/8" nylon reinforced to a reducer then 3/8" from the reducer to the Engine thermostat.

Any recommendations on brand/supplier/correct size/type ???

Paul

Despite taking plenty of pics before I removed the engine (and the raw water hoses), I'm not certain which of the pump nipples is the inlet or outlet.

I 'think' the top nipple is the Raw Water Inlet ie. From the Raw Water Filter to the Pump, but is it????

(I'm replacing all of the Raw Water Hoses)



Paul

I added a page to my blog titled A Bit Of Kudos.

It has been the highest read page since posting.

http://www.sailingeximius.com/2016/08/a-bit-of-kudos.html

I hope that it will lead to more visitors here.

Paul

During the Riser replacement project, I was able to dig into the engine electrical connection, this may explain a few things!

This block was beneath a plastic 'umbrella' that was screwed to the underside of the engine compartment just above the hole in the port side bulkhead where the hoses pass from the Head to the Engine Bay.

My initial thoughts are:
.. Seriously!
.. Definitely signs of sparking / heating / corrosion

Anyone know if there is a standard color coding that seems to apply to this thing?

Paul

Eximius had a broken Depth Transducer when we purchased her and I removed the old transducer and replaced it with a Garmin Transducer Plug while the boat was on the hard after the Survey. There's a secondary depth system, an Echo Depth Sounder that has an Inside hull transducer (bowl o wax) that works great. And there is a Speed transducer in the Bow but that gave up a couple of months ago (keeps getting stuck)

When I upgraded the electronics with a NMEA 2000 network, Wireless Masthead Wind Transducer, the kit came with the DST800 transducer. It's ready to connect to the NMEA 2000, just needed to be inserted into a through hull.

I have heard from several members and some say 'wait till you haul out' and others say 'just pull the old plug out and put the new one in quickly, not a lot of water) and I had considered waiting till the next haul out.

Then yesterday's job of replacing the Exhaust Riser to Muffler hose with a Hump Hose went so quick that I had time on my hands and decided to pull the plug.

I had a spare plug at hand, unscrewed the securing cap from the through hull in the head cupboard and pulled the plug. The water does rush in pretty quick, but I doubt that I got much more than a pint of water ingress. Then I checked the removed plug with the new through hull that came with the kit and confirmed it was a tight fit. Lubed up the new transducer and pulled the plug again and inserted the new transducer. Took all of 5 minutes from decision to all done.

Just to make sure it was working, I connected the DST800 to the NMEA 2000 network, flashed up the GPS and WoooHoo! I got depth & water temp (boat tide to dock so no speed  )

Knowing that it was working ok, I wire locked the transducer in place and ran the cable behind the head cabinets just under the countertop, then through existing holes in the hanging locker, and into the area at the back of the electrical panel, then reconnected it to the NMEA 2000 network. Flashed up the GPS and still working fine. Last step was to tie wrap the cables in place and ensure they passed through anti chafe tubing where they passed through the holes in the fiberglass.

You gotta love NMEA 2000!

Paul

We're anticipating needing an engine rebuild here in Broward County Florida.

Anyone got a referral for a shop that does Universal M25-XP engines down in this area????

Paul

We get about 1.25" of water with black particulate in the bilge after a 45 minute motor (ie. typically during the trip from the Ocean to the slip)

Today we pumped it out, about 1.75 gallons.

It's black, but does not appear to be particularly oily.

We dried out the bilge and did an initial clean up.
Also wiped down the sides of the aqua lift muffler plastic tank.

Then ran the engine at low to not so low revs for about 10 minutes.

No sign of the water leak from viewing under the aft berth or the head cupboard.

Plan is to check paper towel strips by the Aqua lift during the next trip.

Any suggestions to finding this leak much appreciated.

There is no One Hump tube just a regular exhaust tube from the riser to the aqualift.
No sign of water leak from the exhaust tube at the thru hull in the aft locker.

Paul

Just installed our new Garhaer Traveler - WOW!

During the upgrade, Peggy assisted by sliding the new Garhauer traveler glide onto the old Traveler bar.

I held the delivery bar in place and Peggy slide the new glide onto the the old bar. Having been unable to move the traveler with any ease over the past year, despite lubricating the glide and the sheaves, the new glide slid with so much ease that it virtually floated across the bar.

Today I completed the install. I had custom ordered the traveler to include turning blocks so that the control lines could be led aft alongside the other sail control lines, to the cockpit.

The new traveler is simply amazing! It's a breeze to operate from the cockpit, in fact the lines are long enough to be controlled from the helm.

Thanks to the other forum members that suggested the turning block rather than have the line run through additional holes in the dodger.

Here's a link to my blog showing the upgrade.
http://www.sailingeximius.com/2016/05/new-traveller-done.html

We're going to test it out on the water tomorrow, Sunday, during a day sail in preparation for participation in a race next weekend.

Paul

New House Batteries!

Pretty sure our old house batteries (4x6v Golf Cart Batteries) are fried.

Not sure what this item is, obviously some kind of sensor, but is it for the regulator or is it a temp sensor.

I'm going to the boat on Friday and will compare the wiring diagram with the real world.

Paul

Moving along with the running rigging upgrades.
Now have 8 lines lead back to the cockpit and can put in / take out 2 reefs

Next is the traveller upgrade. Read a ton of posts on the subject, so I'm going to call Garhauer on Monday.

Best pic I found showing the result is this one. (IMHO)



That 3 sheave block on the traveller looks nothing like our setup, I presume that is not part of the traveller upgrade kit??

Paul

(We're a Tall Rig Fin Keel with a 5' 7" draft.)

I checked out a shallow slip today, it's about 4'4" at low tide (not quite spring tide) but is in a great location for us for a whole bunch of reasons.

But the 4'4" depth below the mast means the boat will be in the mud by over a foot, twice a day! It also means we would not be able to get into or out of the slip for a at least 2 hours either side of low tide.

The low tide restraint is not so great as we already have a 1.5 hour restriction in our current slip, I could live with the extra half hour limitation.

There's a C36 a couple of slips down, and it was stuck in the mud when I took soundings today at low tide, to my knowledge, the C36 has used that slip for well over a year.

So, my questions. Anyone currently or previously experiencing a similar situation? Any chance of keel damage? Is this a 'Don't do it' or 'You'll be ok' situation?

Thanks.

Paul

For the first time, this weekend we ran our Honda 2000i generator to power the boat's 110v AC.

We were able to run our 16000 btu Air Conditioner just fine, but running (on it's own) the Water heater would pop the Overload circuit on the Honda.

So I'm wondering if we can get a smaller water heater element, perhaps in the 750Watt range.

Any ideas? (The water heater element is pretty new) We're not worried about the time to heat the water, so I figure that a smaller element will draw less power, it will take longer to heat the water, but that's not a problem.

No, we don't have the engine - water heater connections, that will come later.

Paul

There's quite a bit of black dust near the front of the alternator. I wiped it off of the sound/heat proofing on the aft face of the lower steps.

I'm guessing it's from either the Alternator Belt which looks in pretty good shape, or it's from the alternator brushes.

Any suggestions.

Paul

Long story - just trying to get all the facts on deck.

Went down to the boat to do an oil change, so needed to run the engine for a few minutes.

Here's my engine start routine:
. Check all Thru hulls are open
. Check Dipstick oil level.
. Engine in Neutral
. Throttle at minimum
. Engine Master switch on Electrical Panel in Closed position (6o-clock)
. Key switch On
. Hold Blower Switch down for 30 seconds
. Release Blower Switch
. Press in on Glow Plug button for 15 seconds.
. Release Glow Plug switch
. Press Start Switch - Normally Engine starts without fail.

But it did not start that day.

I had 50% tank of fuel according to my (newish) fuel guage, as I  had just put in 5 gallons from a portable tank.

I have never had to hold the start button in for 5 seconds, let alone be concerned about back flooding the engine.

So I left the engine to sit quiet for a few minutes and tried again, no luck.



All of the reading I have done on this site lead me to believe that it was either a fuel issue or an air in the line issue.

Next I opened the drain screw at the bottom of the Racor fuel filter (yes, it's Filter - Pump - Engine Filter routing)
No fuel came out! Tightened the drain screw.

Ah ha! Is it the fuel pump?

I opened the bottom cover of the fuel pump and no fuel came out! Replaced the lower cover.

Getting somewhere.

Next I disconnected the fuel output line from the Pump and replaced it with a spare hose long enough to reach into a can on the head floor.

Turned off the Engine master switch and turned on the Engine key switch.

Back in the cabin, I turned on the Engine master and could hear the fuel pump clicking and after a few seconds, fuel came out into the can. Turned off Engine Master switch.

Removed temporary hose and replaced engine hose to the fuel pump.

Now I needed to bleed the engine, and this is something I have feared as previously mentioned, but from all I have read here, the engine is self bleeding!

So all I needed to do was let the fuel pump tick over for a while.

I let it tick over for 10 minutes, and it settled down to a rapid click.

Back into the cockpit and pressed down on the start button and Varoom! Started like there was never a problem.

Ok, now to think this through...

I'm wondering if the problem is in the fuel take up tube in the fuel tank.

If the take up tube is not near the bottom of the tank, then it will suck air at some point even though the tank has fuel.

So, perhaps on my last trip out, we were actually close to running out of fuel when we got back to the slip.
When I tried to start the engine, perhaps there was no fuel in the line!

But it gets complicated just a bit!

Next day, engine started right away as normal. And I added another 5 gallons of diesel to the tank.

But the next day, after a really cold spell (remember this is South Florida - Everything is relative) with the temps dropping down into the 50s, the engine would not start!
So, I let the fuel pump run for a while and tried again, no luck! Dang! We're scheduled to be the first boat to peel off from the 3 boat raft up.

Then I figured, perhaps the engine is really cold and 15 seconds of glow plug heating is not enough.

I held the glow plug switch in for about 45 seconds. Then start - Varooom! beautiful.

Perhaps the second event was due to nothing more than the unusually cold conditions.

Next step is to empty the aft berth, remove the bulkhead adjacent to the fuel tank and pull out the fuel take up line.

Thoughts?

Paul