Aft berth leak

[Ron Hill]

Guys : Just want to alert those that have a MKI 1987 and later (with an aft water tank) that the idler cover has screws that some are of Different lengths!!!!!  The longer screws go up into the overhead while the shorter screws go in to the aft vertical teak panel!!!  I wrote that screw length debacle up, in the Mainsheet tech notes

I've known C34owners to use the longer screw into the aft panel, have the screw go thru the teak and puncture the aft water tank !!!

Not sure if that also applies to the MKIIs or not?  (Just be careful)

Just always be alert when you take things apart to note if the screws/bolts are of different lengths!!   

A few thoughts

[KWKloeber]

YIKES!!
On my 30 one teak plywood/Formica bulkhead between the saloon and head is attached with screws and finishing washers. I couldn't imagine why a CTY tech would have "wasted" three finish washers under the screw head. Luckily I put 3 and 3 together and got 6, and also noticed the very very tip of the thread had been ground down, and realized if I didn't I'd have driven them through to the laminate side of the panel.  They used the shortest screw they could have 

Also, CTY sometimes used a cushion between two parts to eliminate squeaking when things invariably move under stress.
Not sure if that pertains to the subject cover?

[glennd3]

Good points, I have not taken notice of screw lengths as I have been going through my "refit".

YIKES!!
On my 30 one teak plywood/Formica bulkhead between the saloon and head is attached with screws and finishing washers. I couldn't imagine why a CTY tech would have "wasted" three finish washers under the screw head. Luckily I put 3 and 3 together and got 6, and also noticed the very very tip of the thread had been ground down, and realized if I didn't I'd have driven them through to the laminate side of the panel.  They used the shortest screw they could have 

Also, CTY sometimes used a cushion between two parts to eliminate squeaking when things invariably move under stress.
Not sure if that pertains to the subject cover?

[junaido]

Looks like this with the cover off. I tightened the small 4 nuts and that reduced the leak considerably. There is still a little bit of water drip along the wires though. As for the pulley cotter pins, they looked OK to me. What is the deal with the SS pins? Isn't mixing metals problematic in a marine environment?

[junaido]

Source of leaks

[Noah]

Mixing metals there is only slightly problematic. They are not exposed to lots of saltwater, they can be installed with Tefgel or similar and they can be inspected easily. The bulletin from Edson indicated they should be replaced with stainless due to better wear. However when i replaced mine the old bronze ones looked almost brand new! The stainless pins are expensive, about $60 I recall.

[Ron Hill]

juna : As Noah mentioned the SS pins have less wear.

However, if you have taken off that cover and periodically(every couple of years) sprayed some Super Lub w/teflon on the moving parts - the bronze/brass pins will last forever!!  After all there isn't that much movement of those wheels!!

Aa few thoughts

[lazybone]

My boat has "always" had 1/4 wide strip of sticky-back foam tape on the doghouse where it mates to bulkhead. Why? Who knows? But I never bothered to remove it.  And, I have unscrewed it more times than I would like to count! Each time removing it and that bulkhead was going to be my "last time"!

Love the term "doghouse".
No idea it was a cover over the steering stuff.
I always thought it was a locker that sat on the stern deck.

[wingman]

Love the term "doghouse".
No idea it was a cover over the steering stuff.
I always thought it was a locker that sat on the stern deck.

I crewed on a 125' schooner in a previous life, and on that boat the doghouse was a structure on the stern deck over the companionway. It was large enough for 2 or 3 of us on the "dog watch" to hang out in and smoke cigarettes out of the weather (like I said, a previous life!! ).

Back on leak topic. I've been trying to trace the source of fresh water pooling in the aft cabin stbd bilge near the raw water through hull. My first thought was the port lights on that side, but maybe I need to look at the pedestal...

[Noah]

On the MK I there is not a raw water thru-hull in the aft cabin starboard. What is it for?

[wingman]

On the MK I there is not a raw water thru-hull in the aft cabin starboard. What is it for?

It's the engine raw water inlet.

[Noah]

Interesting. On the MkI it is on the Portside under the sink, along with the head thru-hulls.