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Messages - #23

#1
Pearson Pilothouse / Re: Number Twenty Three
April 02, 2017, 12:37:50 PM
Quote from: S/V Deo VolenteAre you still using foam cushions as mattresses? Seems to be a bit of moving aboard lately. I think it's a good boat for it.

Hi Bob,

Yes to the foam mattresses, but I may opt for your setup once these go stale.

I relocated up-Island on Friday during a weather window and this marina only has 15a shore power, so I'm making choices like coffee or heat in the morning. I'm planning on installing a forced-air diesel furnace this summer, which will see me through next Fall and winter without having to huddle around my oil lamp. I gave a lot of research and thought to the hydronic systems but can't get past the $6000 price tag.

My #2 Injector Line is leaking, so that's made it to the A-pile for maintenance projects. Fortunately it's one of the few w50 parts that are readily available.
#2
Pearson Pilothouse / Re: Number Twenty Three
March 30, 2017, 01:37:10 PM
After a busy month of packing, downsizing and more downsizing, I am finally living aboard Dharma Bum full time. I want to give my retirement plan a year's test-drive before retirement, in case the reality turns out to be less appealing than the idea. It's not my first time permanently living aboard, but it is my first time doing it without four other people and a dog, so if nothing else I'll have more elbow room.

One of the many little things I've completed this month was putting in the Froli bedspring system. It's an older version (which I got a great deal on!) and puts an 1.5" airspace beneath the v-berth mattresses and adds a whole lot of spring support. 

Before:



Froli bases installed:



Froli springs installed:



final arrangement:



Some of the Froli springs have optional red inserts, which add additional firmness. I decided to leave half of them off and give each side of the berth a week's sleep before deciding whether I liked 'em all on or all off. Keen-eyed observers will also notice my snazzy homemade fitted sheets, courtesy of some Ikea twin bedsheets and my lamentable sewing skills.




#3
Good morning :)

If you mount the unit further forward, can you extend the exhaust line so it still reaches the transom?

Alternatively, most of these heater manufacturers offer some variant of a plug for side-mounted exhausts, to keep water out while heeled over. It means not being able to use the heater while heeled (at least on the exhaust side), but it's an option. If your source doesn't offer the plug, perhaps one from Wallas or Espar would still fit.

~ Chris 
#4
Pearson Pilothouse / Re: Number Twenty Three
February 23, 2017, 01:54:00 PM
Quote from: BobOur bilge sumps are somewhat problematic. Are you using a check valve?
Hi Bob,

I'm putting a Jabsco check valve on the primary pump line, just south of the pump but where I can still easily see if there's a blockage.

Quote from: SV AlfrescoI have a Whale Supersub on my 367. It comes with a check valve.  Had a problem where it wouldn't shut off. Turns out it was bilge scum on the pump. I cleaned it off and it works perfectly, for now. Periodically check it a couple of times per season.
That's good to know - thanks!

The Supersub-supplied check valve is an odd design. The whole purpose of the horizontal pump design is for installation where there's limited vertical clearance, so why they supply a vertical check valve that increases the clearance requirement is puzzling - especially when you also have to factor in the additional height needed for the bilge line itself. Was going to email Whale with some feedback on that (and on their choice of GHT).
#5
Pearson Pilothouse / bilge part 2
February 22, 2017, 12:11:42 AM

after months of delays, measuring, waiting on parts and tackling other projects, I finally installed the two new automatic bilge pumps last weekend along with all their associated electrics and hoses.







Lessons Learned:

the outlet thread type on the Whale Supersubs is GHT (Garden Hose Thread) not BSP or NPT. That meant finding a conversion fitting that would get me to a final 1" hose barb. I ended up with 3 intermediate fittings to make that work.

the outlet size on the Rule pump was 1 and 1/8". I heated and pre-fit the hose before I got into the bilge. It was still a tough fit.

keep a jigsaw handy to trim the nylon bilge board that you successfully test fit months earlier. For some reason it won't fit that final time. 

#6
Pearson Pilothouse / Re: Number Twenty Three
February 21, 2017, 01:56:15 PM
“upgrade bilge pump”

Such a simple phrase from the prepurchase surveyor – who would have thought it would turn out to be the most challenging maintenance issue so far. In all fairness, it was a valid recommendation. The Par 36680 pump was poorly mounted, poorly wired and poorly plumbed. At a meagre 330gph, it was also woefully undersized.





I undertook a couple of intermediate steps shortly after bringing to boat back to Canada: I made the wiring less of a fire hazard and relocated the Par to a sturdier base. My permanent solution was to install 2 higher capacity pumps in the bilge itself: one main and one overflow. My challenges were threefold: (1) the bilge footprint beneath the engine was only a 14" by 6” triangle (2) access to that bilge was an opening beneath the driveshaft, approx. 5” x 6” and (3) to not add any more through-holes to the transom.

The size of the bilge footprint necessitated automatic pumps instead of ones with a separate float switch, and the size of the access opening necessitated physically small pumps. I decided on a Whale Supersub 1100 for my main and a Rule 1100 for my backup. My thinking was to use two different manufacturers to reduce the likelihood of systemic quality control failures.

To mount the pumps, I repurposed a ½” nylon cutting board. Both pumps came with separate snap-in mounts that I could screw into my “bilge board”, which meant I could get each pump in and out of the bilge on its own – one of the other requirements due to the size of the bilge access. Both pumps could be plumbed with 1” ID hose (although the Rule outlet was 1.125”). Using 1” outlets meant that I could manifold both lines into a single 1.5” transom outlet, as the math is such that two 1.0” flows only need a 1.25” opening to manage capacity.

At the transom end of the project, I had other challenges. The existing ¾” Par outlet was set so close to the 1.5” manual bilge pump outlet, that it couldn’t be enlarged to 1.5”. That meant I had to come up with a new 1.5” transom hole. Since there was an obsolete ¾” transom hole higher up, for an old propane vent, I decided to (1) enlarge that hole to 1.5” for relocating the manual pump outlet, (2) cap off the ¾” Par hole (and eventually glass it over) and (3) use the original 1.5” manual hole for my two new electric bilge lines. For the new manual outlet, I bought a Marelon through hull and I bought a Groco bronze one for the automatic outlet, to replace the cheap plastic one the factory had installed. I fabricated 4” square by ½” thick plywood backer boards for both new through-hulls. Each backer board got 3 coats of Bilgekote, except for the side that was going to be 3m 4200’d to the inside face of the transom. 

Between the pumps and the outlet, I decided to mount the bilge lines on the inside wall of the port lazarette. That meant preparing another mounting board, which also got 3 rounds of Bilgekote before being 4200’d to the wall. For powering both pumps, I ran new 10/2 boat cable from the master battery switch to a 4-post terminal block and then wired the two Rule 43 switches to it. I had spare 14/3 round boat cable that I used for the runs from switches to pumps. Rather than joining the pumps to the cables with heat-shrink butt connectors, I decided to use 3-pin waterproof connectors, similar to these:



This meant that each pump could be simpler to swap out while still maintaining water-proofiness, without the inevitable loss of wiring length that comes from having to snip off old butt connectors.


To be continued…

#7
Pearson Pilothouse / still chuggin' along
February 17, 2017, 09:38:18 PM
the past month has had a lot of background prep work but few projects that I can tick off as "completed". Waiting on bits & pieces via Amazon or chandleries takes time.

I have managed to replace the zippers on the cockpit helm cover, repair some horrid gouges in the cabin bulkheads, seal another window and re-hoist my reinforced genoa. The bilge pump replacement project is progressing, but I'll detail that once it's complete.

One other project I've completed is to refinish the main cabin entry. I've been putting off tarting up the ship's exterior woodwork to focus on systems, but decided to tackle the cabin door because it was so woeful looking. 



After much research, I decided to use teak oil rather than a varnish. It's a commitment to regular re-coats, but I don't mind and I prefer the look over varnish. I selected Daly's Seafin as my oil of choice, based on consistently good reviews and recommendations.

After hot-scraping the old varnish off and then removing the seemingly 4 pounds of silicone holding the two scratched and stained plexiglas windows in place, I scoured the door in Te-Ka wood cleaner. Then I glued down some edges that were splintering, filling in some holes with stainable filler and had tinted, tempered safety glass cut to replace the worn-out plexiglas.

With the new glass installed, I applied 6 coats of the SeaFin oil over 4 days, sanding with 400g after coats #1 and #2. Leaving the door to dry for an additional two days, I reinstalled it:




It's only a small start on the brightwork, but it felt good to tackle it and do something other than hang upside down in the bilge.

#8
Pearson Pilothouse / the closing of the year
December 30, 2016, 11:50:25 AM
With a second critical project completed this month, Dharma Bum finally has a working head and a new septic plumbing system.

The old system was plumbed like this:

toilet > locking Y-valve > overboard or tank
tank > Tee > macerator or deck pumpout

The new system is plumbed:

toilet > tank > locking Y-valve > deck pumpout or manual overboard pump

As detailed previously, I decided to eliminate the "direct overboard from toilet" option because environmental regulations make it an increasingly restricted option, reducing the cost-benefit of the added plumbing. Sure I can pump direct overboard in open waters still, but I'm not liable to be actively poopin' in open waters anyway, so that option has the appearance of benefit with little practical application. The new setup also requires the regular use of the whole system, thereby ensuring parts of it don't seize up from disuse.

The only challenge to installing the new system, was aligning the new Mark V manual pump  with the Jabsco Y-valve, while also aligning the Y-valve with the holding tank outlet. I fabricated a mount for that, which also ensured the Y-valve would align with the deck pumpout hose and have clearance for the handle of the manual pump. 




The old 1" outlet thru-hull for the macerator became the 3/4" raw water inlet for the toilet, thanks to a new 90-degree male thread hose barb.  The old raw water feed had been Teed into the raw water for the HVAC off a whole other thru-hull, with a single rusty hose clamp and no siphon loop. Both the new raw water feed and the 1.5" overboard hoses are looped above the waterline to avoid a siphoning risk. All of the septic hoses are now double-clamped with non-perf hose clamps.

Here are the Before/Afters:






happy 2017!


#9
Pearson Pilothouse / Re: Number Twenty Three
December 02, 2016, 03:19:06 PM
Quote from: SVJourney110 at the dock, Honda generator for away.
installing a permanent air conditioning unit and then using a portable gasoline genset to power it sounds consistent with what I've seen of PO decision-making...

In any event, its days are numbered. 

I've ordered the parts for the septic system renewal, so I guess that's next on my project list!
#10
Pearson Pilothouse / Re: Number Twenty Three
November 27, 2016, 06:05:29 PM
Quote from: S/V Deo VolenteSome Boat Yoga involved there!
I see you have AC/Heat, do you also have a generator?

Hi Bob,

There's no genset (which raises the question: "why did a PO install an AC HVAC unit in a boat with no genset?"). I'm treating that appliance as temporary, until I get a hydronic diesel furnace. Not much need for the air conditioning in the PNW...
#11
Pearson Pilothouse / power to the people
November 27, 2016, 05:17:13 PM
at long last, the shore power project is complete!



I would have been done yesterday, but was 3 heat-shrink ring terminals short.

This project accomplished a number of specific objectives:

1. it replaced all of the OEM 35-year old AC wiring with new ABYC-compliant stuff

2. it replaced all the home-handyman fire-hazardy non-compliant AC wiring

3. it relocated the AC panel away from the DC panel

4. it added an inline galvanic isolator

5. and it put the shore power plug in a more intelligent location (and incidentally freed up room in the lazarette for my new bilge lines)






Total AC appliances are:

Battery Charger
Hot Water Tank
Fridge
Furnace/Air Conditioner

Each is on it's own circuit (the Fridge and Hot Water Tank are connected via water-resistant junction boxes). Then there is a circuit for the galley gfci and another for the two portside outlets (first in line is also gfci). All wiring is continuous and every wire ends in a heat-shrunk ring terminal - no butt or spade connectors. The AC panel back is in the portside lazarette and is protected with a BSS isolation cover.

One major winter project down and three to go!
#12
Pearson Pilothouse / Re: Number Twenty Three
November 13, 2016, 10:36:47 AM
Quote from: S/V Deo VolenteFeels good to make headway eh? I made a door in the shower also, there is too much room there to only access it by taking out 20 screws. By the way those cubbies are called "winch alcoves" in Pearson literature.

That looks great Bob - do you have shelves back there? if so, how did you set them up?

#13
Pearson Pilothouse / update time
November 11, 2016, 02:40:01 PM
Still "plugging" away at the shore power replacement. All of the new 14/3 and 10/3 wiring is roughed in, as are the three GFCI outlet boxes (galley, dinette and v-berth).

For fridge and hwt junction boxes, I'm using variations of these:



because they have watertight gasketed covers as well as rubber seals for the wire feeds.  Inside each are Blue Sea Systems 30amp terminal blocks.

The shore power will now be attached via a SmartPlug I've installed in the port cockpit cubby, where it's out of the rain and clear of knocks and bumps.

more photos and details once it's all complete!
#14
Pearson Pilothouse / Re: Number 10
October 16, 2016, 09:02:53 PM
Hi Jake and welcome to the forum!

I've seen photos of #10 before and she looks like she's had an amazing refit.  Keen to hear more about her!

~ Chris
#15
Rig inspection and pin replacement is on my project list - in truth I've been so focused on the mechanical and interior that I haven't given it the priority that it merits.

Having said that, I've been very conscious of the fact that I have an unknown rig, and so I sail on the conservative side when underway.

Great topic!