Thursday, August 8, 2013

Alien vs Predator


I went back to a wiring project and knew that my Anchor Light was not working.  I wanted to trace the wire from the electrical panel under the galley floor and test for connectivity where the wire entered the mast.  I was more curious how the wire was run than whether it worked or not.  The height between the hull and the galley floor in the Hunter 27 is around 5 inches and it was very hard to see anything until it dawned on me that my I-Phone has a camera and video on it.  I shoved the phone into the bilge hole and shot several pictures pointing in the direction I thought the wires might be coming out of and what did I find....

Figure 38 - The World of Alien

Creepy, very creepy. I was expecting something hideous to come out of that black hold in the back.  But there were my black and red wires.

Creepy, very creepy.







 
Figure 39 - Meets the World of Predator


Somehow, I snapped another picture and this time it is ROMEX and I could not figure out why it was where it was and where it was heading. All the ROMEX I had found to date was in the AC connecting the three GFIs.to the electrical panel.  Not sure if I ever concluded what I was looking at here.

Maybe somebody who reads this in the future can answer this riddle?

I continued in my wiring efforts to inspect and ensure functionality prior to replacing.  The DC schematic from the original 1979 Hunter Owners Manual helped a great deal  along with the The Beast's wiring diagram of the harness.

Figure 40 - I=V/R
Figure 41 - Internet Research
Found This
Well, it was time to connect back the
bowl of spaghetti wires to the electrical panel.  Thank goodness I found a diagram on the internet for this exact panel.

Lesson Learned:  If you are going to take wires off of something before you know what you are doing, make sure you label them well.



Figure 42 - Unlabeled wiring.
Humbug! 
It took the better part of August to finish the wiring because I was my own worst enemy.  But this was on my bucket list, to wire a boat from scratch.  My manhood was at stake.  I cried, cursed, kicked things until somehow, someway, the great feat was accomplished.  I am glad I was alone in these moments because the embarrassment of another club member or Olivia observing me would have been too great to bear.  Perhaps someone did hear me and they were mature enough to let it pass.  Yikes!

Friday, August 2, 2013

The Lady in Red (Diesel Tank)


Now that many of the structural projects were done, I was catching a second wind.  It was just past mid-summer (for our neck of the woods) and folks at the club were already talking about the Down the Bay Cruise in September and the subsequent Pig Roast.  Now that The Beast was in, I wanted to fix the fuel guage on the newly painted aluminum fuel tank.  The original 12 gallon tank had been reduced to 8 gallons by the first owner who wanted more storage room.  Cruising the northern Chesapeake, an 8 gallon is ok with a 10hp Westerbeke.  The Beast burns around a gallon an hour when iron sailing and there are plenty of marinas in the area.

Figure 36 - Fuel Guage
 12gal to 8gal
In opening the fuel guage by removing the four outside screws, I had to play around with a pair of needle nose pliers in bending the stem of the float just right so that when the fuel tank was full, it would register 3/4 tank.  It took awhile but the resurrection process was moving ahead at hull speed.


Figure 37 - The Full Monty