I don't think (?) you are saying a resource thread is useless or not worth starting... but rather should be treated as a starting point to become informed vs the end-all be-all absolute answer.
Well, sort of. Even biased opinions can have their value if the reader knows how to judge them and apply them to his or her own question. But I think the posts we have now provide sufficient information to be a "starting point" toward a particular answer. What i think would be more valuable is to have something on the forum that gives as much as is possible
the answer.
All of us probably have things they heard someone they respected say that has stuck with them their whole lives. Somebody--- I believe it was one of my college professors but I couldn't swear to it--- told me or the class that the only lasting value of an education is that it teaches you how to learn. This and the career path I have followed have taught me how to find out the specific things I need to know, or to figure out and track down the right person who knows the thing I need to know.
Whether it's searching out the right supervisor to talk to about video taping the inboard spoiler installation during the assembly of a 747-8, or which is the best helicopter company to hire in Rio de Janiero, or who's the best lead guitar player in the Puget Sound area, I've gotten pretty good at figuring out how to acquire the information I need. The internet has made the process a lot faster, particularly on a global level, but the process remains the same.
Note: Don't think that I'm saying or implying that I posses some unique ability that few other people have. I daresay that anyone who is truly successful in their chosen field of endeavor knows consciously or subconsciously how to do exactly the same thing.
A resource thread on this forum would have value, particularly if the material on it is the "real deal."
CPES is a good example. There are lots of opinions and theories about how best to use it. Some of them are valid, some not so much. But the manufacturer of CPES does not simply mix the stuff up, put it in cans, ship it, and let the buyers figure out for themselves how to use it. They printed up fairly detailed instructions on how to mix it, how to apply it, the best things to apply it to, complimentary products that can be used with it, and so forth.
If this is the kind of information which, if it ends up in the proposed resource thread, will go a long way to
correctly answering the questions that arise about how and when to use CPES.
Lubricants are another good example. Everyone and their grandmother has opinions on what kind of oil to use in what. Some people point to the fact that they used x-type of oil in their pickup truck and after 100,000 miles the engine hadn't exploded yet as proof that using the same x-type of oil in the Designed-in-the 1950s-Diesel in a boat will be just fine for that engine. Maybe even better than the oil the manufacturer said to use in it.
Well, maybe it will, maybe it won't. But there is no way in hell that I am going to take pickup-man's internet-forum word for it and use x-type of oil in the Designed-in-the-1950s Diesels in our boat. Instead, I'm going to use what the manufacturer of that Designed-in-the-1950s Diesel said to use in it. Particularly when these engines went longer running on that oil than I'm probably going to live.
So.... if the resource thread contains the manuals or excerpts from the manuals for the kinds of engines we use in our boats--- as the GB owners forum does---- that would be great. Someone can still use the same oil they used with great success in their pickup if they want to, but boaters who are more interested in sticking with what the folks who built their engine recommended will have the information right from the horse's mouth.
Same thing with transmissions. People are forever speculating about running a twin engine boat with one engine shut down and the prop freewheeling. Is it okay? they ask. Well, maybe it is and maybe it isn't. The transmission manufacturers make it clear in their operations manuals if freewheeling is okay or not. And what the limitations are if it is. If the relevant manuals or manual excerpts are in the resource thread, people can get the correct information instead of wading through a lot of opinions, maybes, and guesses.
On the same subject, sometimes it can be okay to freewheel the transmission, but NOT the prop shaft in its shaft log because the log needs cooling and lubrication from an engine-driven raw water feed. So THAT information needs to be in the resource thread, too, so that someone doesn't go off willy-nilly freewheeling their transmission because the manual says it's okay only to burn up their shaft log and ruin the shaft.
A resource thread can be very helpful if it contains truly accurate information. I use the Manuals section of the GB owners forum from time to time because we don't have every detail of our engine, transmission, generator, fresh water pump, inverter/charger, toilet, etc. manuals memorized and we live 100 miles from our boat. So we can't just zip down and read the relevant manual when we need a piece of information or a spec in a hurry.
So do it right, and it will be a valuable asset to a lot of participants on this forum. Do it not so right and it will become yet another thread full of opinions and speculation and guesses and "this is what I do so you should too" posts.
Worth trying, though, in my opinion.
