Wipers

Wiper Motor Wiring, 1/6/2008

We had a beautiful day on Sunday, temps in the 50's, so I got a little work done on the boat.

The shrink wrap zipper door arrived Friday, so I put that on to gain access to the inside of the boat. Piece of cake -- tape it on, unzip, cut a hole in the shrink wrap. The inside of the boat seemed in fine shape, no condensation or mildew problems.

I went to work immediately on the windshield wiper situation. Over the summer, I bought replacement motors which appear identical to the old motors, but when I connected them up, they didn't turn on. I bench tested them with a 12-volt battery, and they work fine like that, so I knew it was a wiring problem on the boat. Both the old and new motors have an identical set of connections:

1. "s": switched wire, runs to the switch at the helm
2. "-": the ground wire
3. "+": always-on wire, so the motor can self-park after the switch is turned off

Simple, yet the new motors didn't work. Some investigating with a multimeter revealed the problem: in the original wiring, the "s" connection ran through a switch to the ground, rather than to the positive feed. Sure enough, the owner's manual has it diagrammed exactly that way. I'm not an electrician, so I don't really understand why it would be wired that way.

No matter, I just rewired according to the instructions with the new motor. It was a fairly straightforward change: reroute the wire from the switched terminal to the positive feed instead of the ground bus. Now the positive feed comes off the fuse panel and splits to the "s" and "+" terminals, and the ground wire simply runs directly from the ground bus to the "-" terminal. I attempted a Visio diagram (below) of the change, so I can update the owner's manual to show the new configuration.


I attached one of the new motors, and it now works exactly like it should. In the spring, when I can access the bow of the boat again (under shrinkwrap now), I'll finish installing the motors in the windshield frame.

Corrosion Protection

Oops, forgot one:

• Galvanic Isolator. When the boat is connected to shore power (as ours always is), stray current flows through the AC ground and the DC bonding system. This current can really cause the zinc anodes to dissolve away quickly. An isolator blocks low voltage in the green AC ground wire, but passes higher voltages through if there's an electrical fault.
  

Shrinkage

I visited the boat yesterday, intending mainly just to check on it after a full unattended month. I had hoped the shrink wrap would be finished (with a zippered access door), so I could climb aboard and make sure there were no moisture problems inside. Shrink wrap sometimes results in condensation, which can lead to mildew and other problems.

The shrink wrap is done, and appears well-ventilated, but they didn't include an access door. I'm not sure if I forgot to request one, or if they missed it on the work order. No big deal, I'll add one myself. It will be cheaper that way anyway: I just ordered one from Dr. Shrink for $14.00.

I had also hoped to do a quick assessment of what I will need in order to complete some winter projects, but I guess I will have to wait until the zipper door arrives. As always, I have a list of projects a mile long. Some are important and will be done before spring launch. Some are just "nice-to-have" and can wait indefinitely if need be. On my project list, roughly in priority order:

• Wiper motors. This is at the top of the list because, after last season, I consider it an important safety item. On several occasions (mainly head seas), visibility from the lower helm was seriously impaired by the broken port wiper. The starboard wiper, while functional, wasn't completely reliable either.
• Electronics wiring. The GPS and VHF radio connections are not complete, which means our DSC capability is limited. Plus, although our GPS runs fine on it's rechargeable batteries, a constant connection to the on board batteries will be helpful in keeping it charged.
• Impeller. I have no idea when the raw water impeller was last done. We've had the boat two seasons, so it's probably past due.
• Exterior teak. The swim platform desperately needs refinishing. I think it will require complete sanding and three or four coats of Cetol Light. The remaining teak (the cabin door, flybridge steps, and flybridge seat) are in good shape, and just need a maintenance coat or two.
  
• Bottom paint. As you can see in the picture below, the old paint is in decent condition, but it has worn worn off in some areas. A new coat or two in the spring should keep the bottom in good shape over the next season.
• Starting battery. I initially purchased a single group 27 deep-cycle battery for the house, and group 27 dual-purpose for a starting battery. I've since concluded that this configuration is woefully inadequate. I plan to combine the two existing batteries for the house needs, and add a single group 31 for a new starting battery.
• Battery charger outlet. Our battery charger currently plugs in to an outlet outside the port bench, and the cord gets in the way. I want to add an outlet inside the bench.
• Backup bilge pump. One could argue that this should be higher on the list. We have a single bilge pump. If it ever fails, or if we have a catastrophic leak, we'll need a high-capacity backup.
  
• Rebed windshield. Our center windshield leaks, so it needs to be removed and rebedded. Might be a major project, so I'm not sure it will get done this year.
  
• Anchor roller. My back would thank me, but again, I'm not sure this will get done this year.
  
• Chafe guards. Some of our lines are chafing where they run through chocks or around cleats.
  
• Replace life jackets. Some of our life jackets still say "Cuanna", the boat's prior name.
  
• Dri-dek for anchor locker. I want put down dri-dek panels in the anchor locker to protect the surface from the anchor, chain, etc.
  
• Galley water filter. A water filter might improve the taste enough that we can skip the gallon jugs of drinking water.
  
• Toilet paper holder. Inside the vanity in the head, where it won't get wet from showers.
  
• Drink holders. For the flybridge.
  
• FM antenna. Mostly we listen to our iRiver Clix anyway, but we have a nice new stereo, so it seems like it should have an antenna!
  

See what I mean? I always have an endless list. Anyway, the boat is shrinkwrapped. Boats look gigantic when out of the water, don't they?

Ready For Winter

Winterization, 11/25/2007

I was distracted by responsibilities at home last weekend, so I hadn't yet finished winterizing. I returned on Sunday with my father and Anthony (visiting for the holiday) for a quick cruise and to complete the remaining tasks. They were a big help, providing extra hands along the way.

I borrowed an oil change pump (a Jabsco flat tank, just like mine) from a friend at work. After a quick cruise, we set it to work while finishing off a few other tasks. I cleaned the sea water strainer, drained the raw water from the heat exchanger, and pulled the engine zincs. For the most part, the zincs were in good shape (better than 50% remaining), but they're inexpensive and a PITA to reach, so I changed them anyway before putting them back.

Good news: the oil change went fairly easily. Once I was reasonably sure that all of the oil was out of the engine, I moved the pump to the transmission oil and let it work there while I changed the main oil filter. Last time I changed the filter, I made quite a mess. This time, I took a layered approach: I set down an oil absorbent cloth, spread an opened trash bag over that, set a foil tray in the bag, and wrapped a 1-gallon ziploc around the filter while unscrewing it. The ziploc caught most of the oil, and the bit that I missed spilled fairly neatly into the foil pan. When it finished dripping, I installed the new filter and simply picked up the trash bag, letting the filter and foil pan fall right inside. Barely any spilled, so a few shop towels cleaned it right up.

After refilling the oil in the engine and transmission, I sucked 6 gallons of pink RV antifreeze through the raw water side, and then we called it a day.

One And... Not Done

Winterization, 11/11/2007

We set out today to winterize the boat, hoping to finish in one day. Things didn't quite work out that way.

The fuel dock was first up. We filled the tank with diesel, and added biocide plus 32 oz. of Stabil. One interesting point here: our deck fitting for the fuel tank is narrow, and we usually look for fuel docks with a narrow nozzle to fit. Our normal fuel dock had only the wider high-capacity nozzle working this time, so we gave it a try. I just held it tightly against the opening, and it worked fine. Good to know. We then pumped out the holding tank, and returned to the dock.

While Michele put the final coat of Cetol on the toe rail and hand rails, I started winterizing the systems. We have a Jabsco Flat Tank 12-volt oil pump (see picture) for changing the engine oil. It has a nice 3.5 gallon tank, perfect for our 11 quart engine capacity, plus 2 quart transmission oil capacity. I set the oil pump running so that it could extract the warmed-up motor oil while I worked on other tasks. While it was pumping, I drained the water tank, bypassed the water heater, and ran pink RV antifreeze through the water system, the head, and the A/C.

When I returned to the oil pump, I was dismayed to find it nearly empty. It has worked ok (albeit slowly) in the past, but this time it failed. The oil just came through at a drip, and after more than an hour, it had extracted only about 1 quart of oil. Unfortunately, I'll need to return next weekend with another pump to finish the job. The good news: the unit is just a year old, and has a 3-year warranty. Kudos to Jabsco: I called them, and they're sending a new pump, no questions asked. Outstanding! I hope they follow through; I'll be sure to post an update.

Next weekend: Finish the oil change, drain the raw water from the engine, change the engine zincs, and run pink antifreeze through.

Finished Brightwork

Teak Maintenance, 11/11/2007
Michele finished the toe rail and hand rails today while I worked on winterization chores. They look great. There's a bit of bleed onto the gel coat, but not so noticeable in person. I might try cleaning it up with acetone.

The starboard hand rail looks just a bit lighter than the port hand rail due to the sanding. Again, not very noticeable in person.

Brightwork: Second Coat

Teak Maintenance, 11/4/2007

We returned on Sunday to apply the second coat of Cetol to the toe rail, hand rails, and cockpit steps. The second coat took the two of us just 90 minutes. There definitely appears to be some variation in color between the areas that were bare and those that still had original coatings. It doesn't look bad, but I certainly can notice it. Eh, probably I'm the only one who will care. Maybe a third coat next weekend will reduce the contrast. I'll take pictures of the finished areas next week.

The upper hand rails were in good shape, so they are done. After two coats, they really look nice! Applying a maintenance coat to sections that were already in good shape was easy. So easy, in fact, that we wish we hadn't put it off, despite the extensive list of more important work. The penalty for delay is just too high. We won't make that mistake again.

Still to do: flybridge steps, flybridge bench seat, wheelhouse door, and swim platform. That seems like a lot, but it really shouldn't be too bad. Everything except the swim platform is in good shape and should just require a maintenance coat or two. The platform will need a full sanding, so we may take it off and bring it home for the winter.

Brightwork

Teak Maintenance, 11/3/2007

"Bright it should be, and work it is." -- unknown

I'm not sure of the origin of that expression, but it aptly describes the dreaded task of maintaining teak on a boat. Often, other boaters look at the brightwork on a boat with mixture of admiration and pity. Teak is beautiful, but it also brings visions of endless sanding and varnishing. The finished product, of course, is quite rewarding. Or so I've heard.

Nowadays, pigmented coatings like Sikkens Cetol are a common compromise. The application and maintenance process is much easier, and the pigment protects the wood from UV. But, it lends a somewhat less appealing color than the mile-deep shine of traditional varnish. In our case, the decision to do it the easy way was made for us: The prior owner had already started with Cetol in 2004. Unfortunately, even with Cetol, we have our work cut out for us because we put off the project for too long, allowing the the finish to deteriorate quite badly in some areas. In those areas, bare teak has been exposed all year, and it has weathered gray. We really should have addressed the situation sooner, but we were otherwise occupied.

We started Saturday morning with the worst of it: the toe rail, hand rails, and cockpit steps. The hand rails were in mostly decent shape except for the forward-starboard rail, which was chipping and peeling pretty badly. The toe rail was moderately deteriorated all the way around. The deterioration increases the prep work substantially, since it requires sanding in addition to general cleaning. We followed these steps on all the deteriorated wood:

• Scrub thoroughly with a scouring pad, mild boat soap, and water
• Towel-dry
• Sand with 150-180 grit sanding pads to remove any flaking, and to take weathered areas down to clean wood
  
• Vacuum the dust
• Wipe with acetone to clean any remaining dust or oils
• Allow to air dry
• Brush on first coat of Cetol Light with a natural bristle brush

We freehanded the Cetol application, rather than taping off all of the surrounding area. That seemed to be the unanimous recommendation from others, given the time and difficulty involved with taping. A shop towel dampened with acetone works great for cleaning up any mistakes.

The process took the two of us about four hours. Teak is pretty soft, so sanding was easier than I expected. We only sanded to the point where all the flaking areas of Cetol were removed, which left the wood partly coated, and partly bare (click the pictures for closeups). My hope is that this will be adequate, but I'm concerned that the bare areas will show lighter than the other areas when we're finished. I expect that we'll need three coats minimum on the bare areas.

Fuel Issues

Changed Racor Fuel Filter
Changed Secondary Fuel Filter
Changed Crankcase Breather
Changed Air Filter
10/13/2006

Replacing the shift cables went very smoothly, so my father-in-law and I finished that job faster than I had anticipated. That left time for a little more maintenance before Michele and her mother arrived for our trip over to Cambridge.

I've had some concerns about our engine recently. There was a noticeable power loss and an increasing amount of grayish smoke at cruising speed. That could be a sign of serious trouble (worn rings, bad or dirty injectors), or possibly just a fuel problem. I was considering calling a Volvo diesel mechanic, but wanted to get all the filters changed out first, to determine whether it was just a fuel problem.

We quickly changed out each of the filters: the Racor primary fuel filter, the secondary fuel filter on the engine, the crankcase breather, and the air filter. During this process, I also discovered that my prior difficulty bleeding the fuel lines wasn't a problem with the lift pump after all. Instead, it was "operator error" -- i.e., I wasn't doing it right. The pump lever has some play, and I was only moving it within that range. To actually work, it needs to be pushed down beyond that range, at which point it springs back up. I was very pleased to learn this and gain the peace-of-mind that comes with now fully understanding the bleed process in case I ever need to do it while out on the water.

I'm happy to report that this effort made a huge difference in engine performance. Our speed was back up, the engine ran smoothly, and the smoke was virtually gone. We're still only hitting ~3400 RPM instead of our rated 3600 at wide-open-throttle, but that may just be a result of marine growth on the hull, so I'll wait until we launch in spring with fresh bottom paint to determine whether there's a problem.

Shift

Replaced Flybridge Cables, 10/13/2007

On my trip with Chris, the flybridge shift cable broke during our anchoring maneuvers. It broke in forward gear, with the anchor plus 20' of chain and 30' of rope in the water off the bow. It was an exciting few minutes, and an important lesson not to postpone maintenance. The flybridge shift and throttle cables had been a little stiff for quite a while, and I was planning to do the replacement during the off-season. Surprise! This project is getting done ahead of schedule!

The cables are 3300-universal type, 10' long, and run from the flybridge controls to the lower controls. They are threaded on both ends, making attachment/adjustment fairly easy. I replaced them with new TFXtreme #CC63310 cables, from Teleflex Marine. People rave about these cables, and I found them at BoatFix.com for just $30 each.

My father-in-law, who is a whiz with all things mechanical, helped me install them. It was fairly straightforward job:

• Removed the cover plates on the engine controls at both stations. There are set screws on each side, just above where the handles attach, that hold the cover in place.
• Detached the throttle cable by removing the cotter pin and spinning off the threaded fitting that holds the cable at each station. (Chris and I removed the shift cable the prior week, so I could take it home and find a new one.)
• Taped the new cables to the throttle cable and snaked them through from the lower helm up to the flybridge.
• Attached the new cables. On this boat, the fittings on the flybridge are not adjustable. Once threaded on and attached, they do not turn, whereas the lower helm fittings turn with a screwdriver.
• Adjusted the cable travel so that the shift and throttle levers hit their stops in both forward and backward positions, and so that the shift control is in its neutral detent at both helms.
• Lubricated the controls with WD-40.
• Reattached covers.

What an amazing difference! The TFXtreme cables allow a 4" bend radius, whereas other cables support only an 8" bend radius. Ours required a pretty tight bend at the lower station, so I think these cables were a great choice.