Beneteau Swift Trawler 44 - Page 11

mystery · 03-23-2018, 08:25 AM

Attaching picture with my findings. Now I should give the Dealer some credit as after I provided some pictures and insistence there is no clog or obstruction in the lines and everything drains as soon as the sump lid is cracked open, there must be a venting issue, they pointed out that there was a design flaw in certain ST 44's that were produced where the vent extended too far. They didn't mention water could get in but that is what I found. Is anyone with a ST44 newer than 2015 able to check their venting setup?

Also, note that my HVAC drain manifold attaches to one of the shower drains at an upward angle. That probably needs to be corrected and should probably be attached to its own fitting on the sump.

Now what really concerns me is the fuel tank vents are the same type of fitting, to the right of the starboard entry door. I had some water in one of my tanks (flushed out now after emptying fuel/water separators several times) but adding that at one point I had issues with splash back while fueling at high speed pumps, I am starting to think these fittings are not ideal as they let water in, the question is what would be used in place that would only allow air to vent but not water to get in?

mystery · 04-15-2018, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mystery

Attaching picture with my findings. Now I should give the Dealer some credit as after I provided some pictures and insistence there is no clog or obstruction in the lines and everything drains as soon as the sump lid is cracked open, there must be a venting issue, they pointed out that there was a design flaw in certain ST 44's that were produced where the vent extended too far. They didn't mention water could get in but that is what I found. Is anyone with a ST44 newer than 2015 able to check their venting setup?

Also, note that my HVAC drain manifold attaches to one of the shower drains at an upward angle. That probably needs to be corrected and should probably be attached to its own fitting on the sump.

Now what really concerns me is the fuel tank vents are the same type of fitting, to the right of the starboard entry door. I had some water in one of my tanks (flushed out now after emptying fuel/water separators several times) but adding that at one point I had issues with splash back while fueling at high speed pumps, I am starting to think these fittings are not ideal as they let water in, the question is what would be used in place that would only allow air to vent but not water to get in?

I can confirm the issue with the draining was the vent. I removed the connection to the sump temporarily and it drains without issue. I will be re-routing / fixing the vent line in the near future as well as probably connecting the HVAC manifold to its own port / fixing the angle on it.

mystery · 04-15-2018, 03:06 PM

Anyone have issues with their windshields when wearing sun glasses? I see spots on all the windows. It is very annoying and was causing eye strain as we were operating 8-10 hours a day. Attached is a picture of what I see.

rclarke246 · 04-15-2018, 04:45 PM

Where is the vent line from the lowers sinks & showers?

I do have to be careful of high volume fuel pumps. Had a geyser early on.

Any info is always appreciated. Thanks

rclarke246 · 04-15-2018, 04:46 PM

Got the same issue with my windshield.

mystery · 04-15-2018, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rclarke246

Where is the vent line from the lowers sinks & showers?

I do have to be careful of high volume fuel pumps. Had a geyser early on.

Any info is always appreciated. Thanks

Its the one on the sump that I circled in red in the picture in my prior post. I heard that Beneteau may have changed the vent design a few times.

What happened with your fuel pump?

mystery · 04-15-2018, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rclarke246

Got the same issue with my windshield.

Just cheap euro tint? Never had such an issue before on any boat or car that I have owned. Maybe it just got to me after running so many hours each day but I don't look forward to staring through it while enroute to some of our favorite spots that are ~4 hours each way...

mystery · 04-15-2018, 05:00 PM

Project I am working on now is upgrading the house battery bank. Looks like I will go with 10 x 6v golf car batteries = 5 pairs to make 12 v. I am trying to figure out the weight of each lead ballast brick on the port side and how to remove one. Looks like there are 14 of them. Might be 5200 that is cementing them in? I want to remove one to weigh. Potentially put some additional batteries there and rest down in the bilge area replacing the existing house and moving the engine bank slightly to accommodate the remaining 4. Should give me 1,075 amps at 20 hour rating or 50% of usable capacity = 537.5. Hopefully enough to be on the hook or a mooring for a few days without having to run the generator constantly.

**FlyWright** · 04-15-2018, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mystery

Anyone have issues with their windshields when wearing sun glasses? I see spots on all the windows. It is very annoying and was causing eye strain as we were operating 8-10 hours a day. Attached is a picture of what I see.

You're looking through polarized sunglasses and polarized boat windows. You can get non-polarized sunglasses like Ray Ban for interior use and then use the polarized for exterior use.

mystery · 04-15-2018, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyWright

You're looking through polarized sunglasses and polarized boat windows. You can get non-polarized sunglasses like Ray Ban for interior use and then use the polarized for exterior use.

Thought I tried a non-polarized pair too and had the same issue. Problem is I have prescription sunglasses so that means I'd have to get a second frame and Rx lenses for interior use which seems a bit ridiculous. I don't have this issue in any car or boat I've been in before. Does that mean most don't use polarization on their windshields and for some strange reason Beneteau opted to?

**FlyWright** · 04-15-2018, 05:55 PM

I only thought this because one of my two windshield pieces is polarized. I had the boat for 5 years before retirement and never knew it since pilots can't wear polarized lenses in flight and I didn't have a 2nd pair. Once I retired, I bought polarized lenses and ...lo and behold...there are the dots!

dhays · 04-15-2018, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mystery

Anyone have issues with their windshields when wearing sun glasses? I see spots on all the windows. It is very annoying and was causing eye strain as we were operating 8-10 hours a day. Attached is a picture of what I see.

I assume your sunglasses are polarized. Use non-polarized lenses and you won’t have the problem.

Presssure or stress on a glass or polymer lens will create some polarization in the windshield. Polarized lenses will create areas of cross-polarization and you will see those patterns.

That stress can be created as the material is cooled after being made into a sheet. Given the regularity of the pattern from your photo (nice job on the photo btw) I would bet it is caused from the cooling process.

rclarke246 · 04-15-2018, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mystery

Its the one on the sump that I circled in red in the picture in my prior post. I heard that Beneteau may have changed the vent design a few times.

What happened with your fuel pump?

No, I had fuel back wash once when fueling at a “high volume” diesel pump. It was actually at Harbortown, Hilton Head, SC. Before I could react I had what seemed like a major geyser of diesel fuel erupting from my fuel fill. I’m more careful now and listen closely as it fills. I guess the venting could be better.

mystery · 04-15-2018, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rclarke246

No, I had fuel back wash once when fueling at a “high volume” diesel pump. It was actually at Harbortown, Hilton Head, SC. Before I could react I had what seemed like a major geyser of diesel fuel erupting from my fuel fill. I’m more careful now and listen closely as it fills. I guess the venting could be better.

Ohh gotcha. Yeah, mine is a bit finicky when fueling. I fueled up at a super high speed diesel pump I think it was 50 gallons per minute and had to hold it half way. The sweet spot seems to be somewhere between 20-30 gpm. I make sure I have no fenders blocking the vent and the nozzle is in a good position. Does not seem to like being all the way in so I give it a few cm. I saw something interesting at a pump the other day - they had a think absorbent boom around the nozzle to help prevent spray back. My fuel tank calibration also seems to be off as one tank has a 5-6% difference. Not a big issue maybe I can figure out how to re-calibrate.

rclarke246 · 04-16-2018, 05:03 AM

My calibrations have always been incorrect, even after I went through recalibration steps when full.

Always show discrepancies but if I go with the lowest reading, usually the port tank, it’s pretty accurate. People tell me boat gauges are always screwy. Hard to understand in this age of precision.

Last time out somewhat scary: heading out to fuel up, which is 15 miles away, gauges showed “15/18”, port / starboard. Halfway there the starboard gauge goes to “0”! ?

Ran fine and it corrected as soon as I fueled up so it had to be a gauge malfunction.

I’m going to close those crossover valves between the 2 tanks.

RT Firefly · 04-16-2018, 06:09 AM

Greetings,
Mr. m. Mr. dh is correct regarding the "spotting" being a result of the cooling process of the glazing material, in your case, glass. Part of the tempering method involves blowing air on the hot glass as it exits the lehr (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehr_%28glassmaking%29) . Those "spots" are areas where the air hit the surface of the glass. Most, if not all, automotive style tempered glass is manufactured via this method. The reason you haven't seen this in your car may be the angle of the glass or the orientation of the glass in the frame. If you tilt your head those spots will most probably become more or less visible depending on the angle. NOT suggesting you drive with your head crooked but it will demonstrate that viewing angle does have an effect.
Perhaps a different brand of polarized glasses may help or the next time you get a prescription pair of spec's, ask the optician to orient the polarization in a different direction (I have no idea if this is possible but it may alleviate some of the eye strain).