Keeping Busy

At this time I believe that most of the U.S., despite the lack of a federal mandate,  has some sort of restrictions on the gatherings and movement of people in an attempt to slow the spread of the Corona virus pandemic.  Most have some variant of a "stay at home" or "shelter in place" order.  The result of which seems to be a lot of boredom...to the point that people are <gasp!> even cleaning their own homes.  For a boat owner, finding something to do is pretty easy.  I've heard it said many times that if you think there is nothing to fix on your boat, you simply aren't looking hard enough.  In my case, it doesn't seem to take a lot of looking.

I think I've previously written about the work that I needed or really wanted to get done before making the trip.  A few things were known and there were many more that were discovered once I returned to the boat.  In hindsight, it is probably a good thing that there were so many items that resulted in delays to the trip, otherwise my crew and I may well be stuck in the Bahamas right now or figuring out how to make a direct sail back to the U.S.  If you are curious what is going on in the Bahamas right now with regard to boaters, you can click HERE to see the current (as of 4/15/20) situation.

Work on the boat does continue, albeit at a slower pace.  Part of that is due to the fact that it appears I will have a fair amount of time before this pandemic subsides so I'm not in a particular hurry now.  Another reason is that getting supplies has been complicated by the COVID19 pandemic response and other issues. There is also the conflict between the need of help for some tasks and physical distancing requirements/recommendations. 

The first delayed project has been the rigging.  Getting the rigging at a price that wouldn't scuttle the trip before it started was one of the first delays.  Now that I have the rigging, social distancing and travel restrictions prevent any further progress on that task for the time being.

The rigging finally arrived.  180 lbs or so.

Unable to find a suitable replacement dinghy at a reasonable price, the decision was made to try and refurbish my well sunburned dinghy.  Patch material, refurbishing paint, and replacement valves were ordered.  The patch that has leaked for as long as I have owned the boat has been re-patched and now holds air and another patch has been applied.  Initial base coats of the rubber paint has been applied and the dinghy now looks significantly better and holds air.  Unfortunately more base coat was required and the new can was found to have been partially solidified when it arrived, therefore a replacement had to be acquired.  It finally arrived yesterday, so naturally it is cold, rainy, and windy outside today.  But progress will continue on that project.

Dinghy original condition.

Dinghy after first base coats of restoration paint applied.

The partial cockpit dodger/enclosure was a project that I had planned to do before getting to the boat.  A trip my wife and I made from Virginia to Southport in early January, just after completing the hardtop build, emphasized the need for protecting the helm from the weather.  The front dodger was created a little while back and is up and functional.  After completing that part, I found I had enough material to do complete panels for the sides, so I altered the design and created those side panels.  Unfortunately, I was lacking a couple of zippers to complete the build and those arrived only a couple days ago.  So, that project is almost complete, again just waiting on the weather so I can do a final fit and determine the exact position for attaching the zippers and a couple additional snaps. 

Test fitting enclosure panels.

Since it appears that I will be on the boat for a while as the temperatures rise here in North Carolina, I decided to revisit continuing issues I have had with the raw water pump for the air conditioner.  After several attempts to repair the existing pump, the motor finally seized up and a replacement had to be ordered.  As is my usual luck, despite ordering the correct pump, the one that was shipped to me was not a 115 volt A/C pump but a 230 volt one.  That had to be returned and the correct one re-ordered from a more trustworthy supplier than Amazon.  The replacement arrived about a week later and was installed and I'm happy to report that the air conditioner is again operational.  Hopefully it will stay that way for a while.

My boat was a former charter boat and was equipped with several 115 volt AC plugs, but only one 12 volt DC plug.  Since the native boat power system is 12 volt DC, it is rather inefficient to convert power from the 12 volt battery bank to 115 volt AC using the inverter and then back to  DC voltage to power things like phone, radio, and flashlight chargers.  I have now installed two new 12 volt DC sockets to provide a more efficient means of utilizing the house battery power.  With the earlier addition of solar, the boat is now more self sufficient than ever before.

New 12 volt socket with USB charger in it.

There are other projects that I initially intended to defer until after the trip that are now getting some attention while I have time.  I wasn't happy with the velcro that was used when I initially recovered the salon cushions and have since reworked those covers.  I'm continuing to retrofit some of the lights with LED strips to further  lower power consumption.  I've finally managed to identify one of the leaks the boat had during heavy rains and will be looking at repair options for it.

Social distancing and my lack of desire to go to stores any more than absolutely necessary has also given me a chance to use supplies and practice techniques that come in handy when living in a remote anchorage or on passage.  Learning better techniques to store various fresh vegetables and what can be easily frozen to extend shelf life is a continuing process. I'm also getting better at controlling the boat oven for baking more delicate items like breads.  I've even tried Nido powdered milk that came recommended at The Boat Galley and have to admit it is almost as good as fresh and certainly suitable for baking and as a coffee creamer.

Speaking of not wanting to go out shopping, since I have a sewing machine handy, I offered to sew masks for the local hospital if they were in need.  Thus far, they have not indicated a need, but I am on their list of people to contact if the need arises.  I did create a couple masks for myself for if/when I need to go to the grocery store.  One of the other boaters here at the marina has a daughter that has an immune disorder, so I also made a couple masks for them. It was an interesting exercise to try and figure out materials I had on hand that would make a reasonable mask.  What I found was that non-woven fabrics were generally considered better than woven fabrics for trapping smaller particles.  What I ended up using for my own design (again, with what I already had on board...which was very limited) was the non-woven material used in some types of reusable shopping bags for the outer layer and a cotton bed sheet for the inner liner.  Since I have a spool of stainless steel safety wire, I used pieces of it to create the bendable nose bridge.  Although I can make no guarantees about the effectiveness of the masks, I'm reasonably confident they are far better than nothing. 

So, in these strange times, I continue to keep myself busy.

Still Here

Yep, we are still here (both on the boat and in Hammock Beach, FL.).  Been busy working on that whole fun-work balance thing has left me with less time to write posts and less subject matter to write about.  We've been making some trips to the beach, doing some shopping, and getting some work done.  Trying to slow the pace down a bit and that left me with mostly mundane tasks this week.  I mean who wants to read about going grocery shopping, clothes shopping, or washing the boat. There have been a couple things of note though, so I will try to catch you up.

Sometimes I really wonder about the previous owners of this boat.  There have certainly been some strange or questionable maintenance and upgrade practices on the boat.  I don't know if it was the owners themselves or poor contractors, but sometimes I just have to shake my head at the things I find.

This story is about a strange noise that resulted in a discovery in the boat wiring (at this point these discoveries shouldn't really surprise me, yet they still do). After a rather wet weather spell, we experienced a strange clicking noise near the electrical panel.  The noise was very intermittent and I wouldn't call it a buzzing but more of a fast paced clicking.  Naturally, as soon as I would go over to investigate the noise, it would stop.

Eventually we were able to chase it down.  It was coming from the GFCI outlet located at the electrical panel.  This GFCI outlet at this location protects the 120 volt circuit for the starboard side of the boat and was found when we noticed a plug on that circuit didn't have power. I think the clicking was the GFCI outlet trying to trip.  The bizarre part of this scenario is that it should only click once as the circuit trips and should not keep clicking. The other strange thing is that the power to the TV and DVD player (also on that circuit) did not lose power when the GFCI tripped.

So, I start investigating.  I disassemble the panel to try and chase down where the TV and VCR are plugged in and this is what I found...

Not the proper way to install an electrical
outlet...in a house or on a boat.

Yes, that is a household remodel electrical box just hanging behind the panel and not attached to anything.  The zip tie is only holding everything up by the electrical wire. The outlet looked like an ordinary household electrical outlet and was showing some signs of corrosion. There was also no cover plate to prevent anything from falling into the electrical box. I know my surveyor opened up and looked inside this panel so I really wonder why he didn't think this was a problem. In any case, a more stable solution with a better outlet is in order.

I purchased an electrical box I could mount, a new outlet that is supposed to be more weather and corrosion resistant, and a cover plate to further protect the connections within the box.  We installed the new box and then used zip ties to better organize the wiring and make sure nothing was swinging freely or likely to cause further problems.

Looks much better now (safer and more stable) doesn't it?  Hopefully that will resolve the issue. At some point I should probably sit down and go through the entire electrical system on this boat and make sure no other issues are hiding behind the walls.

And a bit of humor from our shopping the other day.  Not exactly truth in advertising.

Maybe it should say 1 kink hose.

More LED Goodness

Back when I did the florescent to LED conversion of the guest berth light, one of the features I added to that light was the ability to switch it to a secondary color (blue).  The concept behind having a second monochromatic color was to try and help preserve night adaptation of the eyes during night operations.  Normally red is used in these cases, but my experience in aviation has proved to me that red and I don't get along that well and that any monochromatic light can work fairly well in this regard.

The big problem I had with the concept of creating lighting for night operations on the boat was the fact that the existing lights in the salon area didn't lend themselves well to this idea.  The overhead fixtures are small round lights and getting multiple colors into them wasn't really practical without spending a lot of money on specialized fixtures.  But on our recent overnight trip, I realized I had another option that might work.  The boat has courtesy lights under the stairs and one under the salon door that may be able to light up the cabin enough for safety without the need for the overhead lights.  Honestly, I had almost forgotten about these lights because most of them never worked and I didn't find them particularly useful with the original incandescent bulbs.  But converting them to blue LEDs might just make them useful,,,and a nice accent light for other times.

I originally thought about getting replacement LED bulbs for the fixtures, but then I remembered I had all of that left-over LED strip lighting I could use. It wouldn't cost me a thing, other than some time and a few small bits of wire, to convert the lights using the strips.   So out came the screwdriver, the soldering iron, and the spool of LEDs.

It was a fairly simple process to convert the lights.  I removed the bulb, and then bent and cleaned the contacts so I could easily solder to them.  I then figured out the size of strip that would fit around the inside diameter of the fixture (a 6 led segment fit about 80% of the way around the fixture), cut it to length and soldered an inch long piece of wire to the positive and negative contacts on the strip. After removing the protective paper from the adhesive, I applied the strip and soldered the wires to the contacts in the fixture.  Using a permanent marker, I marked the terminal on the back of the fixture that was attached to the positive side of the strip so I would know how to reconnect the fixture (incandescent bulbs don't care which way the power flows, but LEDs do).  And then all I had to do was reinstall each fixture.

Now I have nice, working, blue accent lighting in the boat.  And the lights produce enough light to keep you from tripping around the boat in the dark and should help with night adaptation of the eye.

These light strips continue to be a nice, low cost way of converting lights to LED.

Fluorescent to LED Conversion Redux

Well, the bad weather has returned to Brunswick and most of the southeast I think. So I decided to convert one of my more standard fluorescent fixtures to LED as a nice indoor project. I took a few more pictures this time so I could write up some instructions for anyone interested in trying this. I also decided to do an upgrade, I made the fixture switchable between white and blue light. While the blue could be useful for preserving the eye's night adaptation, since I can't convert most of the cabin lights this way, I don't know how useful it will actually be. But a fun thing to play with on a cold, rainy day none-the-less.

In the process below, I chose to reuse the wire in the fixtures and solider the connections.  If you are not comfortable with soldering, there are clip on connectors that can be used with the strips and you could use crimp on connectors to connect the power leads.

But first a few notes about LED light strips

Before I get started on the conversion, I should talk a little bit about the LED strips.  The LED chips appear to come in two basic sizes, 3528 and 5050.  The numbers refer to the dimensions of the LED chip and the 5050 chips are supposed to be between 2 and 3 times brighter than the 3528 ones since there are actually 3 LEDs on the 5050 chip.  In order to compare various strips, you will need to know what type of chip is used as well as how many chips there are in a given length of strip.  A 10 inch strip containing 15 3528 LED chips will be about as bright as a 10 inch strip containing 6 5050 LED chips.  A 10 inch strip containing 15 5050 LEDs will be much brighter, and it will also consume more power than the 15 chip 3528 strip.

Also note that you can generally only cut the strip every 3rd LED otherwise some of the chips will fail to light.  So, if the chips are spread further apart on the strip, it limits the size of functional strips you can create.  In my project, I am using strips of 3528 chips that are spaced about every 11/16 of an inch. This allows me to cut a strip almost 10" long with 15 LEDs.  This is a useful size for fitting on the reflector of a fluorescent fixture.  I've found that three of these strips is approximately equivalent in light output to an 8 watt fluorescent bulb.

One last thing to note about LED's, there are usually two different flavors of white. Bright white, daylight white or cool white LED chips produce a very white light similar to commercial fluorescent bulbs and the color often feels cold or sterile to people.  Soft white or warm white chips produce a light a bit closer to the light produced by an incandescent bulb and tends to feel more warm and comfortable to many people.  These colors will vary slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer.  As I noted in my previous conversion, I chose a warm white LED strip and found it to be a little too yellow.  This time I will be using a combination of two warm white strips and one bright white strip per fluorescent bulb replaced.  I find this configuration to produce a light that feels brighter than the warm white alone and yet still feels warm and not sterile.

The lights I used in this project are the Lampux 12V Flexible LED Strip Lights, 300 Units 3528 LEDs, Non-waterproof, 16.4Ft 5M Spool from Lighting Ever. I have one spool of warm white, one spool of daylight white, and one spool of blue.  At $7.99 U.S. per spool you can get enough LED strips to replace 9 fluorescent tubes with extra lights left over for under $20 including shipping (prices from 1/2015, not including the blue option),

Converting a Fluorescent Fixture to LED

At the highest level, this project consists of disconnecting the fluorescent light ballast and connecting the LED strips directly to the switched power and ground wires of the original fixture. This process assumes you have a 12 volt system.

What You Will Need 

• 12 volt LED strip lights.
• A soldering iron and rosin core electronics solder (if soldering)
• 20 gauge wire (if soldering - can use wire scavenged from the fixture to keep costs down)
• LED strip light pigtail connectors (if NOT soldering), 1 per fixture, 2 per fixture for dual color option.
• Red crimp butt connectors (2 per fixture if NOT soldering, one per fixture for dual color option only)
• LED strip light interconnects (if NOT soldering), 2 per fixture for single tube, 5 for double tube, and one more for the dual color option.
• SPDT switch or on-off-on replacement switch (for dual color option only)
• Crimp on connectors for switch (if not soldering, for dual color option only)
• 12 volt LED single color strip lights (for dual color option only)
• A couple zip ties or electrical tape to bundle and keep wires attached to fixture.

The Process

First you will want to remove the fixture so you can work on it.  Turn off power to the fixture's circuit (not just the switch on the fixture).  Remove the fixture and disconnect from the ships power wires (if there are no connectors, you should consider adding insulated crimp on connectors to make future work easier).

Existing wiring of the fixture

Remove the lens and any cover that may exist over the ballast to expose the fixture wiring. Trace the path of the positive wire from the back of the fixture to the power switch and then from the power switch to the ballast.  Cut the wire at the ballast.  This is the positive switched power wire.  Trace the negative (ground) wire from the back of the fixture to the ballast and cut that wire at the ballast.  If that wire is completely disconnected, you can set it aside so you don't lose it.  Do not throw it away.

Cut the wire between the switch and ballast

If you want, you can remove the ballast and the bulb sockets (so long as they are not integrated into the fixture) as it may give you additional space to mount the LED strips and run wiring.

Cut wires with the ballast removed

Dual Color Only: If you want to do the dual color option, you should replace the switch with the on-off-on switch or locate a position and mount the SPDT switch.  Attach the switched power wire to the center terminal of the switch and attach two pieces of wire to the other two terminals on the switch. These two wires will be the switched power for the array of white and array of colored LEDs.  Crimp two wires to the negative wire as you will need one for each LED array.

Wiring for the dual color option

Now you will want to figure out how to position the LED strips in the fixture.  Cut a strip so it will fit on the fixtures reflector behind where the bulb once was.  Be careful to ONLY cut the strip at the marked locations.  If you are using connectors, attach a pigtail to one end of the first strip and an interconnect on the other.  If the strip came with a pre-attached connector, strip the wire so you can connect it.  Cut two more LED strips and determine how to position them.  I used two strips of the warm white and one strip of the daylight white per bulb, placing the bright white strip between the two warm white strips.

Remove the tape off of the adhesive backing and apply it to the reflector on the fixture, making sure you leave enough room for the connections.  If using connectors instead of solider, you may want to connect up the strips before sticking them down to the frame.

Connect the positive terminal or wire of the first strip to the switched power wire (or one of the two switched wires if doing the dual color option).  Connect the negative terminal or wire on the same side of the same strip to the negative fixture wire (or one of the two wires if doing the dual color option).  At the other end of the first strip, connect the positive to the positive of the next strip and the negative to the negative of the next strip. Pay particular attention to make sure you connect positive to positive and negative to negative. Continue this process to connect the third strip to the second.  If your fixture has two bulbs, cut three more LED strips, apply them to the fixture and continue connecting one strip to the next until all the strips are connected in a single circuit.

LED strips wired up for the dual color option

If you are making these connections to a metal fixture and using the solider option, you may want to use a little electrical tape to insulate the connecting wires from the fixture.

When making the wiring connections, you may find it helpful to use zip ties or electrical tape to secure the wires.  make sure that pulling on the wires from the back of the fixture does not pull directly on the connections.  If it does, attach the wire to other wires or some location on the fixture to provide stress relief for the wiring.

Dual Color Only: In order to find the space to mount two of the alternate color LED strips, I found it necessary to re-install the ballast cover. I placed one of the white strips on each side of the cover and put the colored strips on the top of the cover. Cut two strips of the alternate color LED strips and apply them to the fixture.  Connect the other switched power wire to the positive side of the first LED strip and connect the other ground wire to the negative side of the same end of the same strip.  Connect the second alternate color strip to the first just as you did with the white strips.

The best picture I could take of the two different "whites"

That's it.  You now have an LED fixture (perhaps one with dual colors).  Reconnect the fixture to power and re-install.  Turn the circuit power back on and test the light.  If you did the dual color option and used the on-off-on switch, one side should turn on the white and the other should turn on the alternate color.  If you used the second switch option, the power switch will turn the fixture on and the second switch will select either white or the alternate color.

Well, I hope this all makes sense.  It is not a very difficult project and has the potential for cutting your lighting power requirements in half.

Converting Fluorescent Lights To LED

Yep, still cold, still rainy. Hopefully that will change soon. Figuring that I needed some indoor projects to keep me busy, one of the projects I've been researching is the continuation of upgrading my lights to LED.

I have already converted most of my incandescent lights to LED as they are the biggest energy saving bang for the buck (in the 75~90% range).  Now I'm taking a look at the fluorescent lights.  In the case of fluorescent lights, the power savings isn't as dramatic, but even 30% (or more) is nothing to sneeze at when your power comes from a limited battery bank.

In the case of my incandescent light fixtures, I was able to find LED bulbs as a drop in replacement (or even build my own from a broken household LED bulb).  Fluorescent replacements aren't quite as easy. Unlike incandescent fixtures that are a simple and direct connection to power, fluorescent ones have a transformer (called a ballast) that controls the power supplied to the bulb and is incompatible with LEDs.

There are some special bulbs that plug into the existing socket and have a wire to bypass the ballast, but they are a bit pricey. Another option is to replace the fixture.  There are a few fixtures out there with a similar footprint, but they aren't cheap and I didn't really like the options that I found.

While wasting time watching it rain researching this issue, I came across another option. With the advent of LED lighting, someone came up with the idea of putting LED's on a flexible adhesive backed tape.  This is often used for accent and under-cabinet lighting, but a few people have figured out you can use it to replace bulbs.  So, a few days ago, I found some of these flexible LED strip lights at a good price and decided to give it a try.

I ordered a strip of the "warm white" lights and they arrived today. Since the weather is still dictating inside projects and the ballast in the light in my berth has been giving me problems (it only turns on when it feels like it), I decided to upgrade it with the LEDs.  I wanted to document the process of the upgrade, but this one fixture was a bit more complicated than all the others on the boat.  Instead of wires running from the switch to the ballast, this unit had the switch and connectors soldered directly to the ballast. So in order to reuse the switch, I had to remove it from the circuit board, attach new wires, and new connectors.  Not that complicated of a task, but not a process I wanted to document as I figure it would only confuse the otherwise straight-forward process (people comfortable with electrical connections and soldering should easily be able to figure out how to do this).

Once I had the switch free and the connectors attached, the remaining install is reasonably straight-forward. I cut three strips of the lights to approximately the length of the tube I was replacing (cutting only at the approved marks on the tape) and adhered them to the fixture. I then soldered the connections on the strips together with small jumper wires I scavenged from the fixture (there are connectors made that can be used in lieu of soldering, but I already had the wire and solider and didn't see the need to buy the connectors) and soldered the switched power wire and ground to the connected strips.  I think it took me an hour or two for everything.

The result isn't bad.  The "warm white" colored lights turned out to be a bit more yellow in color than I would like (the picture below makes them look more white than they actually are).  Three strips of the lights put out just a little less light than the fluorescent tube did based on my observation (or maybe it is just the color difference that is tricking my eye, I'm not really sure). My guess is either 4 strips, or using the larger 5050 LEDs instead of the 3528 ones would put out as much or more light...at the cost of more power use.  In the end, for about $2 worth of the LED strip and a little solider and wire I had on hand, I have a LED light that consumes around 3.75 watts instead of the 8 watt fluorescent. And best of all, I didn't have to put the old fixture into the landfill.

Next time I may try using the "daylight white" strips or a combination of those and the warm white ones.  I'll also document the process better in case you want to try updating some of your old fluorescent lights.

If It Fails On A Boat, It Is Probably Corrosion

Well, as I mentioned in my last post, I'm running out of things to try in fixing my deck light. Short of replacing the entire wire, the connectors up at the fixture are the only other possible failure points. So, for my first try today, I decided to replace the connectors.

Of course, I already know that the wires up at the fixture are pretty short (I had previously repaired the positive lead), so I'll need to add a length of wire along with a new connector...or I'll never be able to get a bulb connected. I don't have any "boat approved" 14 gauge wire on the boat, fortunately there is a place nearby that is supposed to have a bunch at much better than West Marine prices named Genuine Dealz.

I plug the address into my phone's GPS and head over. My phone directs me to this nondescript warehouse that almost looks like it is abandoned, except for the two cars parked near an open door. No signs or any other indications I'm in the right place, but I park and poke my head in the open door. Inside there are a lot of spools of wire and other electrical parts. Definitely a low-budget, mostly internet based operation. There were a couple nice employees that confirmed I was in the right place. I told them I was looking for some 14 gauge wire and a few connectors. They hooked up their giant spools of wire and made me a 100 foot spool while I waited. Given their prices, I ended up buying a couple spools of the marine grade tinned wire and some additional heat shrink connectors to extend my parts stock.

I return to the boat with my supplies and construct some 5 inch extension wires with spade terminals on one end and butt splice connectors on the other end. Best to assemble what I can on the ground instead of trying to do it all while swinging from the mast.

After doing what I can on the ground, I once again get out the Bosun's chair and go up the mast. Instead of using my harness, I borrowed the Bosun's chair I had used before from a friend here at the dock (I have to admit, after trying a few different chairs and harnesses, Jesse has the most comfortable one I've found). Another friend, Bill, here at my dock has an interesting rig to allow you to pull yourself up the mast. He has rigged up a couple fiddle blocks, one with a jam cleat and becket and a lot of 1/2 inch line to create a 4:1 purchase system. With this, and a rope climbing ascender, someone can pull themselves up the mast while only having to lift 1/4 of their weight. This setup made it easy and comfortable to go up to the deck light as many times as I have over the past few days.

Bill's mast rig with an eye splice I did for him.

I make my way up the mast to the light, pop the light out of the holder, and carefully unscrew the lugs on the back of the bulb enough to remove the bulb. Then the surgery begins. I cut off the existing spade connectors and strip the wires so I can attach the butt connector that is already attached to the new spade assembly. I make sure that the stripped wire is clean and in good condition. I then crimp on the new wire assemblies. This all sounds quite simple...but imagine doing it mostly one-handed while sitting on a swing hovering 20 feet over the deck of the boat. After the crimp is solid, I use a BBQ lighter (they work a bit better in the wind than the average lighter) to carefully shrink the heat-shrink end of the butt connector for a weather-tight seal. Now I have longer, weather-resistant connections for the deck light. I reattach the bulb and snap it back in the holder. The moment of truth arrives...will this Hail Mary attempt work or will I need to pull a new wire.

I make my way back down the mast, wriggle out of the Bosun's chair and head over to the electrical panel. I flip the switch....and...the light comes on!  Yes! It appears that a connector was the issue after all.

Being an engineer, I now wanted to know why this was the failure. When I was up on the mast, I did some tests, including pulling on the connectors to make sure they were well crimped, so I wanted to know exactly what the failure was. The first thing I noticed is that the crimp on connector on the ground wire is not the right size.  The wire is 14 gauge and the crimp on connector is red for 18 to 22 gauge wire...but it seemed solidly connected.  The red connector is also not sealed so weather (or on a boat, salt water, could theoretically make it's way into the connection and wire. I stripped a little bit of insulation off of the wire and found that the ground doesn't appear to be tinned wire and there was some corrosion over an inch down the wire from the connector.

Top: Bad Ground spade, Bottom: Good power spade

Checking the resistance from the spade to the cut and stripped end of the wire on the ground connector I removed, I found resistance in the 18 mega-ohm range. That's a lot of resistance. In comparison, the positive connector I removed, that I had previously replaced and only replaced again because I wanted a longer length of wire, showed 0 ohms of resistance. Clearly the ground connector is the issue.  Pulling on the wire using pliers, I was able to pull the wire out of the connector.  I found the charred and corroded remains of the wire. I guess the insulation was what was holding the connection together as well as it was.

So, it seems that corrosion slowly turned the connector into a resistor and then the heat and corrosion eventually weakened the wire to the point it would not provide enough power to light the light (I think it was more carbon and corrosion than wire).

If you have stayed with me this far in this story, here are your tips (or my lessons learned) should you run into a similar issue with electrical on your boat. First, always use heat shrink connectors anywhere corrosion may be an issue (is there any place on a boat where corrosion isn't an issue?). The combination of the shrinking and the oozing of the "glue" that seeps out as the result of the shrinking should go far to protect connections from corrosion (you can see the difference in the two types of connectors in the picture above). Next, if it looks corroded on the end, it is probably corroded where you cannot see it and it is worth replacing even if it seems to be connected. And finally, always assume it will take 10x longer to perform a task on a boat than you think it should. I'm sure there's a joke in here about how long it takes for a boater to change a light bulb...and it being 3 days by the time you fix the things found along the way.

I Can't See The Light

The deck light is driving me crazy.  Went up the mast again to do some additional tests.  When the bulb is attached, I wasn't seeing any voltage measured across the bulb or when I tested the positive terminal and grounded the negative to the mast.

Once I removed the bulb from the circuit, I found house battery voltage (13.something with the charger running) when measuring between the positive wire and a ground point on the mast.  When testing continuity between the ground wire and the mast, I found an open circuit.  I verified that the bulb terminals showed continuity, so it should be OK.  It seemed like the ground wire was the culprit and the issue wasn't up on the mast after all.

I was finally able to track down where the ground wire terminated.  I had first thought it was grounded through the mast, but after a bunch of detective work, found 3 possible wires that could be the ground in the cabinet under the mast where the other connections are.  And the connection looked rather corroded.

Hoping the corrosion was the issue, I cleaned up all the connectors and terminals on the terminal block.  I put everything back together using dielectric grease to help combat corrosion.  I tried the light again...and nothing.

Not wanting to climb the mast again...and not knowing what I would do if I got up there...I tried thinking up possible scenarios that I could test from the connections in the cabinet.  I was able to determine one of the green ground wires was the one for working steaming light and assume the other two, which were crimped together in a connector, were for the anchor and deck lights.

Since both the anchor and deck lights are out, I decided to remove the crimped on connector so I could perform some additional tests.  There is, after all, a chance that with both lights out and the common point being that connector that it could be the issue.  After removing the connector I could individually test each circuit.  I checked for continuity between the positive wire for the deck light and the two unidentified green wires.  Both showed open circuits which seems to confirm the bad wire theory.  I also tried with the anchor light and it showed an open circuit regardless of which ground wire I tried (this was not unexpected since I hadn't gone all the way up to check on that light at the top of the mast yet...but I was looking for a miracle bit of evidence at this point).

So, it seems that power is getting up to the bulb, but isn't making it back down to ground.  The connections up on the mast look reasonable, so it seems that it may be a break in the ground wire somewhere in the mast.  I wouldn't guess that this wire would fail though...as it is routed inside a sheath and well secured at all points I could inspect.

I may try replacing the connector up on the mast as a last Hail Mary before I bite the bullet and try pulling new wires through for the light.  Why is nothing on this boat ever easy to fix? Maybe if I sleep on it I'll come up with some obvious problem I have missed.

And Sometimes You Win

In my last post I told you a story of a couple days that just didn't go my way.  And that is how it goes sometimes.  Of course, a few times you win the battles too.

After learning the little secret on burping my air conditioner sea strainers, I thought I had the problem solved.  But, during the latter part of the trip south, I found that one reason for the need to burp may be result of the design of the boat.  I found that if the boat goes over about 7 knots or so, the Bernoulli effect actually sucks water out of the system.  I confirmed this at one point when I removed the lid of one of the strainers and the water was sucked out through the open through hull.  Since the strainer is below the water line, normally opening the strainer would cause water to enter the boat.

Unfortunately, part of how I discovered this was that I had attempted to fire up one of the AC units to provide some heat during the trip down to Brunswick.  After noting that the system wasn't providing heat I shut it down.  But, it had been running for at least 15 minutes or so and when the raw water pumps run without water...well, it is a bad thing.

So, of course, when I got to the marina and tried it out I found that the pump wasn't working even after I burped the system.  The raw water pump would buzz but not turn. Not a good sign at all...and I was thinking that I would probably need to drop another couple hundred dollars for a replacement pump. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I decided I would first try to remove the pump head and see if there was anything I could do to revive it.

I pulled the head off and then turned the system on for just a few moments to see if the motor would spin by itself.  Of course, it did not.  I then tried turning the motor spindle by hand and was finally able to get it moving pretty freely.  Restarted the system and now the motor would spin...this was a good sign.  While I had the head off I cleaned it up (it seemed to have a little dust from the ceramic magnets caused by it running dry) using a soft scotch brite pad, some towels and water.  I was able to clean it up enough that everything seemed to move freely.  I re-assembled the unit and gave it one more try.

At first it just buzzed, but I tapped it with the handle of my screwdriver and it started working.  I let it run for a few minutes and then shut it off.  When I tried restarting it, it again needed a little tap to get going, but once going, would run OK.  When I contemplated taking the pump apart, I had found a website on beer making that talked about servicing these pumps (yep, I guess these March pumps are also used in beer production) and mentioned that if you had one that was sticking, you could loosen the screws just a little while it was running and then re-tighten them and that would help realign the pump head.  I gave it a try.  After loosening and re-tightening the screws on the pump head, I shut the system down again.  When I restarted it, the pump spun right up.  I've been testing it the past few days (OK, with the colder temperatures I've been needing some heat so have been using it) and it seems to be working just fine now.  Success!

So, in a welcome change, a little time and patience saved me a few hundred dollars for a replacement pump.

Another issue that cropped up on my trip from Virginia was that my steaming light went out.  It worked fine when I was at the boatyard, but the first time I tried using it on the trip, it didn't come on. Since it has been cold here, I have been reluctant to go up the mast and check on it.  Yesterday I decided that I had nothing to lose and decided to clean the connections of the terminal strip that contained the electrical connections for the mast (I had previously verified that electricity was making it to that point on all 3 of the lights).  At worst, I would be cleaning up something that could use a little TLC, and at best maybe I would get my steaming, anchor, and/or deck light back.

In my boat, this connection is found in a cabinet under the galley sink.  While this isn't the most comfortable place to work on the boat, it does beat climbing the mast and hanging on to a big piece of aluminum when it is only 40 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit outside.  So, I disassembled the connections on the strip, one by one.  I used a wire brush and scotch brite pad to clean up the terminal strip, spades, and screws.  I then reassembled each connection, using a little dielectric grease to help combat future corrosion.

After getting everything reassembled, I turned on the 3 lights and went outside to check and see if any were alive.  The anchor light was still out.  So was the deck light.  But the steaming light was once again functional.  So, for taking a complete stab in the dark that was convenient to try on a cold day, I got one of my lights back.  I'll chock this up as a win as well.

I also got the motor back for the dinghy that day.  The cost to fix it was probably right around the same as the cost to replace that pump, so I guess in the grand scheme of things, I'm about even.  I put the motor on the dinghy and went for a spin around the marina.  I even managed to get the dinghy up on plane for a few moments and that 15 hp engine can make the dinghy move.

After the failed fixes the other day, it felt good to have a few things go right.  Definitely improved my spirits.  Now, if it would warm up a little, maybe I can get some other things done.

Can't Wait to Have Solar on the Boat

Having spent the last few nights at anchor, I have to say I just cannot wait to install alternative energy options on s/v Rover.  When purchased, the only option (other than a shore power cord), was to run a Northern Lights generator for power.  Sadly, I have not remedied this situation yet so I have to fire up the generator once a day or so to top off the house batteries.

As I sit here typing this, the drone of the generator going in the background and disturbing this otherwise peaceful setting just annoys me.  I hate having to run the thing...the pollution and noise just make me cringe.  Hopefully soon I won't need it any longer as one of the projects I'd like to do over the next couple months is add solar and possibly a wind generator.

Become self sufficient and less reliant on fossil fuels, that is one of our goals.

This might be a bit much, but I can appreciate the sentiment.

Now I need to go turn off the infernal noise maker before it drives me crazy.

Dow Corning 4

When I was packing up tools and supplies at home, one of the things I thought might be useful was a tube of DC-4.  I originally bought it when was doing maintenance on my airplane as it was an FAA and manufacturer approved grease used for a variety of things...including, of all things, lubricating oil filter gaskets.  It is sold in a rather large tube...and usually one is a lifetime supply for most people so after 7 years of airplane ownership the tube I had was still 99% full. Its primary purpose is actually a dielectric grease (not electrically conductive and helps impede corrosion in electrical connections)...which I thought might come in handy on a boat.

So, today as I started chasing down a couple intermittent power issues, I go a chance to use a little more of it.  I have never seen the exterior cockpit lights (the arch and step lights) work.  I checked the light sockets and no power was there.  I checked at the switch in the cockpit and no power there either.  I went into the engine room since I know there is a large power distribution panel there.  Of course, the manual I had that numbered the circuits for the arch and cockpit didn't match the panel so it became a bit of a guessing game. I removed, checked the fuses, and reinserted the fuse holders and went back to check the lights.  Suddenly they worked.  So, it appears connection corrosion was the issue.  I've also had intermittent power in the port forward berth and port head, so I figured it was time for some general maintenance of the panel.

I removed each fuse holder, removed the fuse from it, checked the fuse, lightly coated the fuse ends in DC-4, and reinserted the fuse.  I then used a Scotch Bright pad to clean up  the terminals on the fuse holder, gave them a coat of DC-4, and reinserted them in the panel.  After doing this to the 20 or so fuse holders, I climbed out of the engine room and went and checked all the DC circuits on the boat.  Everything worked spare a couple bulbs that might be burned out.  I'll go and check them...and likely install them using DC-4 as well.

Hopefully the protection added by using DC-4 will put an end to these intermittent power issues...at least for a good long while.

Marine Grade...or not.

One of the many projects I had to do when I arrived was to replace a 110 volt receptacle that seemed to have something jammed into the grounds so a 3 prong plug wouldn't fit in the socket.  When I went to remove the outlet I took off the cover and found that the plug was pretty rusted.  Obviously this was not an outdoor outlet, much less one designed specifically for marine applications.  In fact, after I removed the mounting screw, the socket was still so rusty it would not come out of the hole that was cut where it was mounted.  I guess this boat didn't typically have a plug in this location as this was obviously not a "factory installed option".

Using some vice grips and a little persuasion, I was able to finally get the outlet out...in pieces.  This is what was left:

While I was glad to see that the plug was installed using marine grade wire instead of household wire, the connections were made as one would do in a house outlet, the wire was twisted around the terminal screw and clamped in place.  I've read up on this and know that the wire should have had properly crimped on ring or spade terminals designed to handle the movement that can occur on a boat.

So, I cut the ends of the wire, added the proper terminals and heat-shrunk (is that a word) the ends, cut the mounting hole a bit bigger to accept a GFCI plug, and assembled everything back together.  I think it looks pretty good and is now a bit safer than the rusty thing that was there before. Hopefully it is a more "marine grade" installation.

I will be the first to admit that I don't know a lot about how things should be done on a boat.  The one thing I have going for me is that I know this is true and will seek out the knowledge necessary before taking on any boat project.  For your safety, if you aren't quite sure how something should be done on a boat (they have different requirements than houses) please do a little research.  The life, and boat, you save may be your own.