Posted by Bob Weeks (rweeks6508@…>)
Well the feeling on the PSS is beginning
to really feel bad! It does not fit! Fortunately or unfortunately, I took a
picture with a tape measure above the length of the shaft unit. Using the rule
it verified what Al said about not fitting I forgot to take into account the
flange collar. I guess when you think you are done with your homework you
better do more!
Bob
From: Bob Weeks
[mailto:rweeks6508@…]
Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2008
8:29 PM
To:
‘FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com’
Subject: RE: [FreedomOwnersGroup]
Re: F-30 Original Depthmeter and Knotmeter
No I am not afraid of taking them out
while on the hard unless someone around the corner is building an ark!
What I am afraid of is not finding a proper replacement that fits without
alterations. With all this old stuff fear is, with my luck, nothing will
fit straight away. I am beginning to get “that” feeling about
the PSS I just bought……
Bob
From: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com [mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of katorpus
Sent: Wednesday, January 16, 2008
8:15 PM
To: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [FreedomOwnersGroup] Re:
F-30 Original Depthmeter and Knotmeter
Bob…
Uh…I’m NOT making fun of you here, but let me get this straight…
You’re afraid to remove the depthmeter & knotmeter transducers while
the boat is OUT of the water? Why? This is not a destructive process.
If the transducers are in such (apparent) bad shape (crumbling?) that
you are afraid to remove them for fear of not getting them back in,
then they NEED to be removed (and replaced) while the boat IS out of
the water (lest they disintegrate and stop sealing the holes they are
in).
Your worst case scenario is that you’ll need new transducers and
through hulls to go along with your new display. These generally are
available “all at once”. The only thing you need to do is match the
through-hull size to the hole that’s there already.
Replacing a through-hull while out of the water is not something that
should cause you a lot of heartburn. (It’s a little harder when
you’re afloat, but still do-able…requiring things like toilet
plungers (on the outside of the hull) and sealants which work when
applied to a wet surface).
You SHOULD (for reasons listed earlier) be comfortable with the
removal of the knotmeter transducer when the boat ISN’T out of the
water. If you do it now, then you can replace the O-rings on the
transducer and know that you won’t have problems with this once the
boat is back afloat. It probably wouldn’t hurt to replace the O-rings
on the depth transducer while you’re at it, although, once installed,
these are typically never removed (unless you pull it out while out
of the water to avoid having to mask it while applying bottom paint).
Best case scenario, you have your knotmeter & depthsounder
transducers out, and you are able to narrow your replacement-of-
display choices down to ones that will allow you to use the existing
through hull (and possibly the existing transducers). This will be a
whole lot easier to accomplish if you know what size they are and
where/how the ears (and slots on the throug hull) are configured.
As far as “not broke or leaking”…a missing depthsounder display
sounds pretty “broke” to me. I assume that you’ll want to take care
of this niggling detail before you start locating rocks and shoals by
ear.
If it SEEMS that what’s missing is “original to the boat” (mounted in
holes drilled at the factory, no “marks” on the backside of the
bulkhead indicating that more than the one (missing) display has ever
occupied that hole, etc), then maybe you can “poll” other owners of
sisterships of your boat and narrow down the search to one or two
manufacturers.
— In FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com,
“Bob Weeks”
<rweeks6508@…> wrote:
Thanks I will definitely keep this one in my on-board binder under …
tricks
and trade secrets….Fortunately its on the hard now and I can do
this anytime
before next May. Sorry I did not make it clear that I had this
option but
your detailed workaround will not go to waste. My problem is “if
its not
broke or leaking leave it alone”! As soon as I try to take it
apart I going
to find some wrong and come April I am still working on plugging the
hole!….no I am an optimist …. only I lean to the negative side
most
of the
time. It like my flange on my prop shaft…I want to replace the
packing
gland with a PSS. So first step is to uncouple the flange from the
flex
coupling , four bolts into a rubber gizmo….only took ¼ of a small
pint of
liquid wrench and 4 fours of fighting with the bolts….next the four
nuts
holding the flex coupling to the transmission flange…1/4 more
liquid wrench
and another 3 hours. So now you would think I am only a short way
from home
now! All day Saturday this past weekend with a flange puller,
plumber torch
and skinless knuckles and the thing has NOT moved a millimeter!
When down
to the marina office and filled out a work order (more boat bucks)
and
wished them luck! Sorry at my age I go out on tangent!Bob
From: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of katorpus
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 6:09 PM
To: FreedomOwnersGroup@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [FreedomOwnersGroup] Re: F-30 Original Depthmeter and
KnotmeterHere’s how to get it out without sinking the boat
Go buy a motorcycle inner tube…about the size of a moped ought
to do it. It has to be big enough to fit over the transducer thru-
hull and the “ears” on the transducer plug…but not a LOT bigger
(a
car tire tube is too big)Cut it across the tube (at the valve) so that you have one
long “strand” with the valve at one end. Then cut off the piece
with
the valve and throw it away.Slip one end of the tube over the thru-hull (with the transducer
still in place and whatever’s left of the wire inside the tube) and
hose clamp it to the thru-hull with two hose clamps below the level
of the “ears” on the transducer. Fold over any excess neatly
before
clamping…you’re creating a seal here.Elevate the other end of the tube ABOVE the waterline of the
boat…attach it with a piece of line to a handy overhead grab rail
or something, but poke a hole for the line and don’t “tie the end
shut”Without pulling the tube off of the thru hull in the process,
turn
the transducer so that it disengages from the thru hull (on mine,
this is about 1/16th of a turn counterclockwise…but figure out
how
much before putting on the tube)Work the transducer up the inner tube until you can get it out
the
open end.The only water which will flow through the thru-hull is whatever it
takes to fill the tube up to the level of the waterline. As long as
the other end of the tube stays above the waterline, NONE of this
will enter the boat.Measure your transducer (including the distance from the ears to
BOTH
ends of the transducer and the size of the ears) and then reverse
the
process to put it back in. Don’t spend a week doing this, and don’t
go off and leave the boat with the transducer OUT.When you order a new one, also get the “plug” that should have
been
lying around in the boat somewhere in the first place. It’s best to
pull the paddlewheel transducer and plug the hole when you go off
and
leave the boat. Barnacles and slime mess up its action. (To clean
one
off, soak it a while in vinegar, then scrub it.) I spray mine with
SailKote before reinstalling it.This wouldn’t work if the wire coming out of the transducer hadn’t
already been cut (unless you disconnected the other end and fed the
whole length of it down the wire).You CAN always avoid this rigamarole with the innertube if you get
a
friend (who isn’t easily distracted) and just have him slap the
open
end of a rubber dishwashing glove over the end of the transducer
thru
hull and hold it in place by hand after you pull the transducer
out…he’ll only be there long enough for you to get the
measurements
and put it back in…the slots in the side of the thru-hull (which
the ears engage)prevent you from being able to do this by simply
placing your hand over it.You won’t get much water in the bilge doing this…if you use the
inner tube, you can “milk” it back down if you want and you
won’t
spill a cup’s worth.The water flow through an opening in the hull is directly related
to
the size of the hole and the distance BELOW the waterline. If
you’ve
ever just pulled out a transducer and slapped in a plug, it SEEMS
like it’s flowing at a GREAT rate, and it’s not really intuitive
that
it won’t flow at all if the “other end” of the “hole”
is above the
waterline, but it won’t.Steve Dashew builds his (aluminum) hulls with a minimum number of
through hulls…dumping all the discharges into a 4" to 6" pipe
that’s open at the top. As long as the top of the pipe is above the
waterline at any potential angle of heel, it won’t flood.If you think about it, an “outboard well” works the same
way…with
a
much bigger hole.— In FreedomOwnersGroup@ <mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup%
40yahoogroups.com>
yahoogroups.com, “Al Lorman” <ajl@>
wrote:Bob:
Almost all the depth transducers sold in the US are made by
Airmar. However, they are not all alike; there are a variety of
frequencies used. If you know the frequency of the depth
transducer,
you could probably find a matching display head. I do not know, but
I seriously doubt, that there is any standardization in
paddlewheels.Al Lorman
F30 Ab Initio
From: FreedomOwnersGroup@ <mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup%
40yahoogroups.com>
yahoogroups.com
[mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup@ <mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup%
40yahoogroups.com>
yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Bob
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 4:17 PM
To: FreedomOwnersGroup@ <mailto:FreedomOwnersGroup%
40yahoogroups.com>
yahoogroups.com
Subject: [FreedomOwnersGroup] F-30 Original Depthmeter and
KnotmeterLooking for experts on this subject. Can the transducers be using
or fed into other mfg products? The depthmeter works rather well
and
the little paddle wheel on the knotmeter turns freely but its
disconnected and I do not know where the past owner put display for
the knots, if its still around. I am afraid to pull them out of the
hull even thought the connections are still clean looking and
bright
red and from the bottom they also still look good. If I pull them I
will find the any replacement will need either a bigger or smaller
hole so therefore I would like to just take the electrical output
and
feed it into something else. Any suggestions? Oh I call the mfg and
they were clueless! I am assuming they send electrical current that
is then converted to a scaled output and is useable to a display.
The
question then I guess is there a standard?Bob
“Oh buying a New Old Boat is so much fun!”
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