New exhaust hose installed on my '88 today.... exhaust hose FLIX

[horsemel]

Thanks Phil.  I would have waited for a time Melinda was along, but I thought I would take the afternoon and do the job.  never entered my mind that I could get in a jam like that one.  Won't happen again I can tell you that.  Also, thanks for the offer to help. 

[efhughes3]

I replaced mine by myself last summer and I don't recommend it.  It isn't a hard or complicated job, but I am 6'1" and 200 lbs.  I was head first in the stern locker removing the hose from the thru hull.  I slipped further down in than I intended and because of my propane tank set-up it took me 45 minutes to extricate myself.  Nobody around to hear me yelling.  Just a word to the wise.

I suppose it is subject to one's ability. It is always good to have someone at least in shouting distance if doing semi-heavy work in case of trouble or injury. I'm a klutz, amd know this all too well. I remember replacing sanitation hose to a holding tank years ago-the knife slipped and got an artery in my leg. I made it onto the dock when neighbors called an ambulance. After getting patched up and getting back to my boat, the blood sprayed all over the cabin looked like an axe murder occurred there.

Other than having to crawl in and out of the port cockpit locker to pull/feed the hose through the bulkheads, the exhaust replacement wasn't outside the range of a one person project. A second person to feed the hose through the bulkheads wouldve made it easier, no doubt.

But, as I mentioned, the hardest part was getting the hose off the thru-hull at the transom. Nothing else to do but a one person tug of war or wrestling match there. Unless, you were to pull the propane locker and crawl down there.

[Ron Hill]

Guys : I get such a "kick" out of reading the happenings on this message board !!

The sad fact is that there are detailed articles WRITTEN with PHOTOs on how to do most of the tasks on a C34.  They are in the Mainsheet tech notes or on this web site.

Believe me that you can do most by yourself, but you can do most - 5 times faster with another pair of hands!! 

This advice is from someone that has done most jobs and is going into my 26th year of working on my C34 !!
 
A thought

[efhughes3]

Well, I'm not sure what entertainment value is here. Like I said before, nothing jumped out of the tech notes search on the spread sheet using the term exhaust hose, that pertained to the actual replacement thereof. Another check of the Tech Wiki reveals nothing either. So, I felt it appropriate to post my experience.

Sometimes, when MY schedule allows me the time to do a project, a second set of hands may not be readily available. I can drop an engine and transmission out of my Porsche by myself-rebuild it to a fairly high powered spec, and reinstall. Running an exhaust hose on a C34 is a walk in the park.

This project was pretty straight forward, I don't know what pics or a writeup would show that couldn't be figured out on the spot. Basic task: Remove old hose, route new hose and cut to length. Connect both ends.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of projects I'll need help on, and see what others have done. I just simply posted my experience here-it might help someone decide that they can or can't do it themselves.

Guys : I get such a "kick" out of reading the happenings on this message board !!

The sad fact is that there are detailed articles WRITTEN with PHOTOs on how to do most of the tasks on a C34.  They are in the Mainsheet tech notes or on this web site.

Believe me that you can do most by yourself, but you can do most - 5 times faster with another pair of hands!! 

This advice is from someone that has done most jobs and is going into my 26th year of working on my C34 !!
 
A thought

[Stu Jackson]

Ed, Ron's exhaust hose replacement article hasn't been posted to the Tech Notes Online (yet), so we could say "You're both right!"   

[efhughes3]

Thanks Stu. It is also my opinion that forums work well with continuos contribution. That is to say, different people might do the same jobs a bit differently. Then when the next person comes along and searches, they get more than one viewpoint.

I'm into Porsche 911's pretty seriously, and have been on numerous automotive forums for years and seen this many times over.

[Ralph Masters]

Thanks for the advie on this subject to all who contributed.  I am going to do the job my self since the boat yard estimated 600 bucks labor plus parts to do it durning haul out.  That is a bit excessive I would have to say.
17 feet it is then.

Ralph

[efhughes3]

Yikes, $600 plus materials is outrageous, IMO.

[scotty]

Thanks Ed for the post. 
It reminded me that when I replaced the electrical connection on my boat, I got stuck in the port lazarette.  I climbed in, sliding on my back, a little more, a little more....  When it was time to slip back out - I just couldn't wiggle out.  I tried to turn onto my belly, but that didn't work out.  I could have called the harbor master's office (I had my cell phone) but I really didn't want to do that (pride goeth...) finally I just gutted it out and wiggled out sweaty and scraped up.  So yeah, I got a bit of a laugh thinking about it - although it wasn't to funny at the time (actually it was pretty funny at the time, just a little painful too).  So today I was talking to my brother who is going to trace a fresh water leak on his Catalina 36.  I reminded him to have somebody onboard in case he got stuck like we did!  Your post helped my brother to (hopefully) avoid being another lazarette victim.

So yes, some of these posts refer to items that have been around for years, and yes, it's a really good idea to explore the site to find out all the really good ideas that are here.  It is also good to have the current thoughts and the fresh perspectives of people doing it for the first time(s), as well as the input from people who have been around for a while.  Thanks to all of you.

[Ron Hill]

Ralph & Scotty : When I did mine I paid my helper $50 for that 1 hour of work and it was all done.
 
I did pay for the new hose and the wire-ties!!  A thought

[Stu Jackson]

I'm just starting on this wonderful effort!  

Got the port side aft cabin panel off, still haven't wiggled it out of the aft cabin.

Just re-read Ron's excellent Nov. 2010 hard copy of Mainsheet.  Nice job, and thanks for that.

I'll keep you posted how it goes, this is gonna take some time and I have to pace it with the   recuperation of my son's right wrist.  Don't ask...skateboarding, but at least he's a sailor too!  

Given the half dozen or so screws and how tight that panel is in there, have any of you given any thought to fixing up a simple way to keep the panel up without reinserting all the screws, like maybe battens?  Sometimes I just leave half the screws out!  

It appears there is no need to remove the aft panel.  My PO did a really dumb thing, I just discovered (after 13 years!):  He "cleverly" placed a U-bolt through the cockpit floor just in front of the binnacle for use to clip a harness to.  Unfortunately, the bolts come down in the front piece of the cover over the idler pins and sheaves!!!  A few scant inches forward and it wouldn't be an issue to simply unscrew the idler wheel cover.  Drats!!! 

[efhughes3]

I was able to do all of this without removing any of the cabin panels? All of it was done via access to the lazarette, the port cockpit locker amd under the lav vanity.

[Ron Hill]

Guys : As Ed mentioned you can change that exhaust hose without removing the post side panel.

The task is just that much easier/faster if you do remove it.

With that panel off you can make sure that the new exhaust hose is not touching the back side of the toilet paper box - that's VERY important or the hose will chafe.

A though

[Corrected chaff to chafe.  Too tired to replace throughout Ron's numerous posts!    -  Stu]

[Stu Jackson]

Status report:

Got both of the ends off today.  Using Ed's advice, since I, too, couldn't get the hose off the thru hull at the back of the boat, I started sawing away at the hose to cut it and try his approach.  I was down INSIDE the lazarette (three or five times, oh joy! ), with not a whole lot of room to work in down in the hole!  I refused to try going in head first, thanks to your warnings.  After a few unsuccessful attempts at getting through the material, I tried pulling up on the hose and, voila, off she came!  Magic!    I attribute that to the vibrations from the saw hitting the wire in the hose.  Who knows???  That thru hull, thank goodness, is NOT barbed.  Anyway, thanks for all the pointers, so far, so good.  Pictures to follow.

[efhughes3]

Final score:
Stu 1 Hose 0