GrantS

Ok here we go......... I shall be fitting my Outdrive back on this weekend (Weather being on my side) and wanted to see what other people have used when fitting the gasket. I have been advised by a Marine Engineer, that he just puts waterproof grease onto the gasket for a good seal. Now this may be ok, but i am not sure if i would be comfortable with this, as i can't afford to have any leaks at all. This is due to the fact that i may not be able to be there when the boat is craned back in (Although i think i really need to organise this with the Marina so that i am) because if it leaks, the boat will sink. The only bilge pump on the boat, covers the forward part of the divide and has no float switch attached. The engine part (aft) of the divide has no bilge pump. I have all the components to sort these out, but im not going to have time to sort it out before the boat goes back in. I am tempted to either use Red Hermatite or Blu Hylomar with the Gasket as a safer bet. So, back to my question. What have you used / done in the past. I need a 100% seal on this with no mistakes. Thanks Guys

Hi Jonathan, You can buy the The Velleman Thermostat Kit from Rapid Electronics Pt. No. 70-4048 Wire up the Relay so that it is Normally Closed when not energised. The relay is rated at 10A, but the Kit says 3A, which i believe is down to the pcb terminals. So i soldered the leads directly to the pcb. The Thermistor only needed short leads attached in my case due to where i was able to locate the pcb, which was where the mains & 12vdc leads were stored. This was really handy, as i am easily able to get to the Pot to set up the temperature i require. I have been testing it out with a thermometer inside and have it set to 6 degrees at the moment, but the temperature i am measuring is at the bottom of the box & the thermistor is located in the lid at the top. Also, as current passes through the thermistor it will create its own heat, all be it very small. I wouldn't expect the difference from the bottom to the top to be massive, but i will check it just to see. Anyway, seems to switch itself on and off ok & when i check the temperature at intervals it seems to always be at 6 degrees. So that will do for me. If you need any more info, just ask. Hi Trevor, I might just blob some silicone on the tiny bit of bare wire exposed on the thermistor if i get around to it..............

This was one of the jobs on my to do list that i thought i would share with you. Price of thermostatically controlling the Cool Box so that it doesn't run 24-7 = £5.58 Price of having Cold Beer on the Boat = Priceless

If there ever was a Speed Limit introduced on Breydon. i would hope that it would be something sensible, like 40 Knots. Lol. Mind you, unless there had been quite a few collisions due to speeding, then i guess there won't ever be a need for one. They couldn't blame wash, because that ones been around for a long time and hasn't changed.

After having read through the comments about speeding on Breydon Water, The only thing i think is a shame, is that it would seem that it has to be justified. There is no speed limit on Breydon & common sense says to be respectful to other boat owners. Thats it. If there was a re occuring problem of High Performance boats travelling 80 mph, then i guess you would need to have a limit, but i'm not aware of this happening. I beleive that Boat owners & people that hire should be aware of the extra dangers crossing Breydon and should be responsible for their own actions regarding their safety. When i am crossing Breydon, i expect waves or wash, so therefore i don't get the Kettle on for a cuppa, leave items in the cabin that can fall onto the floor or let my son climb all over the front of the boat. If i did any of the above, then the consequences are down to me.

I tried vaious scale removers on my Stainless Prop, but found that the best one for me was Lime Lite using a toothbrush to scrub it with. However, it was still hard work and took several applications to remove it. Good luck & happy scrubbing

Hi brian, We are at WRC, so might see you there in the new year. All the best, Grant, Heidi & Luke

Hi.....

Hi Jim, Thanks for finding that out. TOP Falcon MAN I have also since, mailed your friend, who got back to me very quickly and was very helpful. So thanks for that as well. I also had a chat with SD again, and have now ordered a new prop. This will be a 15 x 14 (so we will see happens when i try it next year) Fingers Crossed

The 15 pitch prop does seem appealing........ but costly if its not quite enough. It would be nice if there was a try before you buy shop. Lol Changing the prop in the water is possible if i could get enough people to sit on the front of the boat, as even with the drive fully up, the prop is still underwater. Also i would have to be extra careful not to drop anything...... I have also contacted someone today by E-mail who might be able to help, so i will see what he has to say on this. I would like to buy the prop at 17.5% instead of 20% vat, as i don't really like giving the government money for nothing, so i need to purchase it this side of Christmas.

Oh, and i think that was with 3/4 tank of fuel, a full fresh water tank an extra battery at the back and loads of clutter as we were on holiday. Although, i would have been a little bit heavier on the way back after eating at all the pubs during the week.

Hi Strowager, Regarding the 15p, yes this is what i need to be sure of. I realistically have two choices here, either the 15 or the 13. The weight of the boat is going to be somewhere around the 2300kg mark, as the Bayliner 2255 is 1800kg and they are very light for their size. (Hence the nickname everybody knows them as) I have seen lots of varying weights for these boats advertised (obviously engine weight being a factor) but they all seem to fall into the 2000 - 2500kg area. Also, bear in mind, she nearly there with the prop we have on there now as you can see in the photo But keep the messages coming, because im having a good read of them and digesting it all. PS - Don't say anything about Lifejackets - I KNOW LOL

Thats a lot more Hp than me. Lol Petrol engines usually develop max bhp at around 5250 - 5500, so it might be around that sort of figure

Hi Jim, What Hp do you have ?

Hi Ian, Yes, she is

Thanks for the quick reply David. Yes, the engine is a bit on the small side, but if i can acheive between 22 - 25 Mph, then i would be happy with that. To be honest, my only real choice regarding this will either be a 15 or a 13 pitch, but as you said, SD are the experts. I think i will see what other thoughts people have on this and then bite the bullet.

Hi Folks, I,m in the process of changing the prop on Destiny and wondered if anybody could assist with my choice of prop. The current prop, which i have removed and is in my garage waiting for me to clean it up is a Mercury Marine Mirage Plus Stainless Steel one. Its a 3 Bladed 15 1/4 x 17p which can't get the old girl on the plane. I know i have posted before about this, but now i need to get this sorted whilst she's out of the water. # Max RPM that can currently be acheived is 3400 (Need to acheive 4400) # Max speed acheived 13 MPH (GPS reading, not water speed) # Gear ratio at present unknown (forgot to read it from the outdrive when i was last down there) # Weight of boat - Still unknown (Too many conflicting weights advertised) # Weight of engine & drive 250KG I spoke to Steel Developments, (Clements Marine only supply props for shaft drives) spoke to a lady on the phone desk and gave as much info as i had, but all she wanted to know was, what the current revs and what type of drive it was. She then told me that what i needed was a 3 Bladed 16 x 13p. Slightly bigger diameter, but 4'' down on the pitch. (alluminium prop, as i don't want to pay for a stainless one) Now, it is very likely that this will do the job, but my concern was this........... The lower the pitch, the more revs / acceleration / lower top speed Due to the fact my engine is only 120hp, i need to find the balance between getting it on the plane easily, but not too easily where the top speed is sacrificed once its on the plane. There was one thing i didn't mention and that was that i have play in the remote and am not getting full throttle, although its almost there, so i don't think this has a big affect on the problem. They didn't seem to be too helpful with the top end result, but was 90% sure that this size prop would get it on the plane though. So, i though that i would post on here to see what you have to say about this. (approx 200rpm per pitch) another variable figure depending who you speak to.......Lol Price for prop including vat & delivery is £126 (Any cheaper, let me know please) if this is the size i should go for? Also if anybody knows somone who wants a Mirage Plus Stainless Steel prop including flow torque hub, let me know, although i won't part with until i have tried out the new prop. So, basically summer time. Thanks - Grant

Oh yes, and the Hinge pin removal tool would help. Not worth me buying them, as i only intend on servicing my own unit.

Thanks for the input David & Trevor for the you tube video link. Its nice to actually see the drive removed, as the manual just tells you how. After watching the video, i spotted a possible mistake by Wayne. He says in the video, that the sterndrive has two limit switches, although the workshop manual clearly shows the limit switch on the port side & the trim sender on the starboard side. Plus, you wouldn't want two switches doing exactly the same thing i wouldn't have thought. I wonder if he ever realised after posting the video. Mind you, im gonna need to borrow a couple of special tools for the job, they do tend to make the job easier.......

Winter's coming and its time for Destiny to come out of the water and time for Grant to get stuck in to some more work.......... One job on the list is to change the 1980's dashboard layout & bring it up to date a bit. Guages, mmmmm ! Yes, in addition to my new NASA depth & speed unit thats going in,i have new a Trim guage for the leg which matches the other 2007 guages. Cool.... Now, fingers crossed, the POT should be already fitted to the sterndrive, as i seem to remember seeing two pairs of wires laying in the bilge under the engine. one should be connected to the POT for the guage & the other should be for the limit switch. Mmmmmmm, LIMIT SWITCH.......... Now, if these are already there, then that will be the guage sorted, but the question is, do i connect the limit switch ? The limit switch should be adjusted so that when the rams are extended, there is only 22" +/- 1/4" centre to centre of the fixing bolts. When the rams have reached this point, the switch o/c's the supply to the up solenoid & stops them going any further. This is a safety feature, to stop the prop coming completely out of the water when you are buzzin along. The trailer button, allows the leg to be raised completely out. Problem is, i dont have a trailer button on my remote........ So, do i connect it & then fit my own trailer button, so that i can raise the leg fully, or do i just leave it. I must admit, my last boat only had an up/down button, so i guess that it never used a limit switch ??? Long time ago now. What say you regarding this......... :

Yes, I know what you mean. It sounds easy to somebody that has some experience, but if you have none, then it doesn't matter how well you explain something, it will not help, because when you are at the boat actually looking at it all, its difficult to carry out the actual fault finding. MBird did an excellent description of how it works and was spot on. To be honest though, if you can get somebody with electronic / electrical skills to come to your boat, it should be straight forward to trace, although it could be time consuming, but certainly not complicated.

All sounds a bit over complicated for a lamp flickering on & off to me. The lamp is usually in series with the (exciter) wire (12v) to the alternator. If its intermittent, then as said earlier, it is likely be a poor connection on that line. E.g. A Connection before lamp, The lamp itself, A break at the soldered connection terminal in the alternator or even a fracture in the lead itself. I had a similar problem on my Kit Car where the lead had fractured approx 2 inches back from the alternator & was caused by the vibration / movement of the engine. Hope this helps Grant

Ive always found the sink & drawer method to be very productive. A wire trace with a treble & a single hooked up to a dead sprat & a swan shot next to the mouth of the fish. Then just a case of lifting the rod up & reelling in on the way down. I have used this method on many waters, including the broads and found it to be more productive than any lure that i have tried.

Who has Trim Tab Guages, as i don't on mine. If you operate them without the engine running, you can tell when they have reached their full travel by the sound of the pump. However, when you have the engine running, you can't hear a thing and are never sure when they have reached the end of their travel. Mind you, i haven't got a guage for the leg either, but i'm looking into that one and it only goes one way at the moment anyway - UP ! Grant

All this talk of planing is very upsetting you know................