Winter Upgrades And Maintenance.

[marshman]

Going back to anodes - I know, wake up -  most would recommend magnesium for the Broads I believe.

[Smoggy]

58 minutes ago, marshman said:

Going back to anodes - I know, wake up -  most would recommend magnesium for the Broads I believe.

It depends which part of the broads you spend most time on, if mostly oop norf mag is good but in the lower brackish  reaches ali will be better, zinc for sea.

[Vaughan]

Don't make the mistake of thinking that the north rivers are "fresh water".

Galvanic corrosion is affected by many other properties in the water : not just salt.

[Karizma]

2 hours ago, marshman said:

Going back to anodes - I know, wake up -  most would recommend magnesium for the Broads I believe.

I went with Aluminium following guidance from members on here.

[Karizma]

Another good weekend getting Karizma closer to being put back in the water. This weekend focused on antifouling; a coat of underwater Primer (where needed), two coats of Hempel broads (other brands available!) on the underside of the hull and two coats of Hempel Boot Top Hard Racing Antifouling on the waterline. First time we’ve done it like this, so only time will tell how it wears.

I’ve decided to leave the bow thruster ‘tube’ with primer only, as the Vetus bow thruster instructions state “……to prevent corrosion problems, do not use copper based
anti-fouling” – anybody else do something similar?

Things still to do before she goes back in:

• Install new Vetus 330 Raw Water Strainer / hoses
• Install new bow thruster anode
• Replace / re-grease rudder packing gland
• Replace stuffing box packing (see question below)
• Reinstall the prop
• Reinstall raw water impellor
• Polish hull

Things to do once she’s back in the water:

• Check for leaks following installation of new hull fittings / cutlass bearing housing !!!
• Check prop shaft alignment
• Deep clean the inside of the boat – she been used as a shed for the last 2 months
• Start cruising again …….. !

Question:
I’ve purchased Graphite (Vulcan VR3) gland packing for the stuffing box as mine doesn’t have a grease nipple as its water cooled from a feed off the raw water supply of the oil cooler. I have noticed that the previous owner packed the stuffing box collar with grease – I’m assuming I don’t need to pack it with grease as I’ve purchased graphite packing?
 

[mikeyboy1966]

You’re certainly making better progress than me,

my list of jobs,I’d easily have time for hasn’t had many crossed off

feel free to swing by st ives and lend a hand

im spending too much time talking to myself and procrastinating.

[Smoggy]

6 hours ago, Karizma said:

Question:
I’ve purchased Graphite (Vulcan VR3) gland packing for the stuffing box as mine doesn’t have a grease nipple as its water cooled from a feed off the raw water supply of the oil cooler. I have noticed that the previous owner packed the stuffing box collar with grease – I’m assuming I don’t need to pack it with grease as I’ve purchased graphite packing?

I believe packing with grease is likely to clog the packing and cause it to get hot, I don't grease mine as I have the same water fed setup.

[OldBerkshireBoy]

Water is all you need with graphite packing.

[Karizma]

4 hours ago, Smoggy said:

I believe packing with grease is likely to clog the packing and cause it to get hot, I don't grease mine as I have the same water fed setup.

 

4 hours ago, OldBerkshireBoy said:

Water is all you need with graphite packing.

thanks for the quick replies - thats sorted that one out then 

[Smoggy]

I was tempted to try the ptfe stuff but heard a few reports of it running much hotter so stuck with the graphite, I can check temps on the go as I have a thermocouple on each stern gland from when I first did them, they may get re-purposed as exhaust or oil temp yet as it's a fairly simple job to re-program the display on the dash.

[Karizma]

3 hours ago, Smoggy said:

I can check temps on the go as I have a thermocouple on each stern gland from when I first did them, they may get re-purposed as exhaust or oil temp yet as it's a fairly simple job to re-program the display on the dash.

they sound interesting - any chance of sharing what you have?

[Vaughan]

18 minutes ago, Karizma said:

they sound interesting - any chance of sharing what you have?

Let's keep things simple.

When you re-pack a stern gland, do the nuts up just a little more than finger tight, and then run the engine in ahead gear at about 1500 revs for at least 10 minutes.

I emphasise that the boat has to be in the water before you do this, or you will burn out your brand new cutless bearing!

After 10 minutes the gland should be warm to the touch.  If it is too hot to touch, slack off the nuts by about one turn each, and try again.  If the gland is dripping too fast after stopping the engine, you have slacked off too much.  You will eventually find the right balance.

A stern gland will always have a slight, slow drip when the engine is not running.  Maybe one drip every 10 seconds.

[Smoggy]

1 hour ago, Karizma said:

they sound interesting - any chance of sharing what you have?

It's a homebrew thing I made back around 2013ish from a borrowed circuit diagram chunks of borrowed and modified code and a picaxe 08m2 chip/eeprom/4 channel op-amp, reads 4 thermocouple channels and cold junction temperature and displays on a little i2c graphical lcd screen on the dash.

As it's mounted in the engine bay the cold junction temp gives a convenient ambient engine bay temp, the display will show what I tell it to, I set upper temp limits in the program which turns the offending figure red if it goes over.

The raw water pump temps are for a warning if the weed strainers get blocked.

Started out as "'cos I can" thing then found a use for it.

We happened to have a batch of thermocouples at work that we couldn't use on long leads.

[annv]

Hi A exhaust temperature sensor on the exhausts pipe/water injection point is much safer and gives warning long before any issues occurs. John

[Smoggy]

I'm thinking of changing it to exhaust temp alarm and oil temps.

[Karizma]

4 hours ago, Smoggy said:

It's a homebrew thing I made back around 2013ish from a borrowed circuit diagram chunks of borrowed and modified code and a picaxe 08m2 chip/eeprom/4 channel op-amp, reads 4 thermocouple channels and cold junction temperature and displays on a little i2c graphical lcd screen on the dash.

As it's mounted in the engine bay the cold junction temp gives a convenient ambient engine bay temp, the display will show what I tell it to, I set upper temp limits in the program which turns the offending figure red if it goes over.

The raw water pump temps are for a warning if the weed strainers get blocked.

Started out as "'cos I can" thing then found a use for it.

We happened to have a batch of thermocouples at work that we couldn't use on long leads.

Looks great - but you lost me technically after .".........modified code and a picaxe 08m2 chip/eeprom/4 channel op-amp"  

Its always good to know what's going on - I have a handheld infrared temp thingy and routinely go round and check temps (stern tube, gearbox oil, plumbers block bearings etc) when travelling from south to north - just to make sure everything is 'tickety boo' and stable.

3 hours ago, annv said:

Hi A exhaust temperature sensor on the exhausts pipe/water injection point is much safer and gives warning long before any issues occurs. John

Yes I've certainly been considering one of these (like the "Digital Marine Exhaust Temperature Alarm"), after getting a raw water blockage travelling back from Coltishall that was only noticed when the engine 'over temp' alarm went off.

[Karizma]

4 hours ago, Vaughan said:

Let's keep things simple.

When you re-pack a stern gland, do the nuts up just a little more than finger tight, and then run the engine in ahead gear at about 1500 revs for at least 10 minutes.

I emphasise that the boat has to be in the water before you do this, or you will burn out your brand new cutless bearing!

After 10 minutes the gland should be warm to the touch.  If it is too hot to touch, slack off the nuts by about one turn each, and try again.  If the gland is dripping too fast after stopping the engine, you have slacked off too much.  You will eventually find the right balance.

A stern gland will always have a slight, slow drip when the engine is not running.  Maybe one drip every 10 seconds.

Thanks as always Vaughan, will follow the above guidance.

Interesting that the original packing never dripped and the temp of the gland never got above 21 degrees C (when it was a really hot summer) - and the shaft temp at the entrance to the stuffing box got to maximum of 24 degrees (again when it was really hot summer last year) not sure if you think thats still too warm?

[Vaughan]

14 minutes ago, Karizma said:

that was only noticed when the engine 'over temp' alarm went off.

That's what it's for.  It is also what the temperature gauge is for, if you keep your eye on it.

Keep it simple.

 

 

[MauriceMynah]

I prefer the idea of a gauge, plus an alarm shouting "look at your bloody guages idiot"

Both simple AND effective.

[Karizma]

Final post for me on Winter upgrades and Maintenance ........

Final week of tasks to be completed and Karizma is now back in the water and ready for another season of cruising …….. (though not without a little hitch!)

We went back down early Tuesday morning to give us as much time as possible to complete, as many jobs as possible, focusing initially on the ‘must do’ tasks to allow a planned relaunch on Friday morning, giving us enough time to check her out and get her back to her home moorings, before going home on Sunday evening.

So tasks completed during the final week …..

•    Installed the new Vetus 330 Raw Water Strainer / hoses – I was surprised to read that it needed to be installed at least 6 inches above the water line. This only just allowed enough room to install it below the flooring without snagging! I would have thought the water line would have been ½ way up the basket?

•    Install new bow thruster anode/locking nut.
•    Replaced / re-greased rudder packing gland
•    Replaced stuffing box packing
•    Reinstalled the prop/new split pin
•    Reinstalled the raw water impellor
•    Re-sealed the rubber ‘bumper’ around the hull / decking with Arbo 1096 and replaced missing screw plugs to make her look ‘tidy’.

•    Polished the hull with 3M Perfect-It Gelcoat Light Cutting Polish & Wax

And then we launched her back into the water. Initially everything looked fine, so we spent a day/night in the basin at Loddon to clean the upper decks, deep clean the cabins and check the prop shaft alignment.

Sunday morning came, and it was time to go cruising back to the moorings. This is when we noticed that the cutlass bearing housing was leaking from the bolts. It wasn’t leaking badly, and the bilge pump could have easily coped, but I wasn’t prepared to ‘make do’ after all the work we’d done to her over the winter.

A quick call to the boat yard on Sunday, and out she came first thing Monday morning to take the bearing housing off again (after again removing the rudder & prop) - I’m getting good at this now.

This time we sealed it with (lots of) Arbomast BR (which stuck to absolutely everything!), and then kept our fingers crossed that this time it would be ok.

24 hours later and we were back in the water and, thankfully, she was water tight.

So it’s now time to celebrate, relax, ……… and then continue with all the ‘to do’ list tasks that can be done in the water, whilst cruising!!!!!!

 

[BroadAmbition]

Nice one congratulations and well done for doing many jobs well.

What prop size did you go for in the end?

Griff

[Karizma]

22 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:

Nice one congratulations and well done for doing many jobs well.

What prop size did you go for in the end?

Griff

Thanks.

Your man recommended I stick with what I had (rather than replace it) as he believed it would be just fine based on previous performance experience (and save a few hundred ££££), and after the 4 hour trip back to the moorings, it certainly felt like great advice.