My shame, my nasty engine room.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
EVENTUALLY I'll get a bunch of this stuff for neatening up wire runs...Flexible Wire Loom For Cable Management
" I'll learn more by reading than I will by writing on here." Au contraire Mr. Bluto. EVERY comment has the potential for generating feedback. See, now you'll not use kitty litter in your bilge.

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If I used sump pumps that could digest trash, then I could deploy the kitty litter... I'd just need 20 of them.

The oil absorbing pads are great. I use them in my ER floor throughout as I do all my normal maintenance. Last week I dripped a few drops of oil on the floor under me. No worries the pads clean it all up. Under the engine I lay them down and if there is any drips of any nature they take care of it. I am getting ready to replace them and the ER will be lined white again. This way if anything drips I know about it fairly quickly. I am going to replace both oil pan gaskets next month. The oil pads are about .50 a piece so for about 10-15.00 you can line your ER. If you were just covering under the engine most engines only need two to three pads.

I think I'm going to look for some kind of trays and put pads on them because the space under my oil pan is very obstructed. Kitty litter is like clay/sand. Just messier than I want to use. I'm messy enough already.

Baker mentioned earlier that you may look at cutting down a plastic bin of some kind. That's a pretty good tip. Maybe one of the big, but shallow, ones that are designed to slide under a bed. In your case, you may want to look at the idea of gluing some blocks to the inner hull under your motor to make a place to set them. You might also consider rerouting your waste line that runs under there, but since **** doesn't run uphill, that may pose a challenge.

Tom.B said:

In your case, you may want to look at the idea of gluing some blocks to the inner hull under your motor to make a place to set them. You might also consider rerouting your waste line that runs under there, but since **** doesn't run uphill, that may pose a challenge.

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Yeah, waste line replacement/modernizing is on my list. Once we get the move complete (house), I'll be looking back to boat projects. I want to degrease and paint my engine as much as possible and free up access if I can move my battery boxes. From there I need to check all my connections and go crazy with the wire brush.

Since I got my coveralls and the weather's gotten cooler, there's no more scrapes and cuts and I can spill diesel on myself like crazy now .

Be careful moving your batteries. There are a few gotchas. First is obviously wiring. I can lend you my giant tool (and it crimps too) for making your own battery cables, but the worry is that it almost always leads down a path to a bigger project. Like adding switches, buss bars, and chargers. Second is ballast weight. With that many bigazz batteries, you might want to be conscience of weight distribution. Finally, access. They need to not only be in a place that allows engine access for filling and testing, but can be easily replaced every few years or so without having a member of the UCLA football team come help lift them out.

What I see in your engine space is to first get a proper sower sump system and do away with that weird contraption of batteries over water. That is just plain weird. That will quickly lead you into a battery placement and management project.

Just think it through thoroughly. If you provide the beer (GOOD beer!), I might be persuaded to come help you think.

All good advice here with a few things to note:

Use cushion clamps to secure wiring as opposed to tie wraps - less chafe.

I have found dishwasher detergent (like Cascade) the best engine room cleaner ever. It cuts grease, diesel fuel, all of it. When I removed my steel fuel tanks, it left a horrible mess, Cascade cleaned it all squeaky clean.

Wouldn't Dawn work too?

For ground in dirt and oil on rough fiberglass (like in the bilge) powdered dishwasher soap mixed with a little warm water and a stiff brush works really good for cleaning. Just be sure and wear gloves and some eye protection, it can be quite caustic to your skin and eyes. Be sure and wipe it up and dispose of it appropriately.

Dawn is good for cleaning and wiping up lightly oiled surfaces and even your hands. Its probably one of the better detergents for that purpose. We used to mix Dawn with a little water and squirt on small fuel spills at the fuel docks. But I am told that is nolonger acceptable as it is acts as a dispersant and doesn't remove the oil from the water.

The Purple stuff!!! Biodegradable and powerful. Alkaline, not acidic. Beats any soap product and Simple Green hands down.

We've used a combination of Simple Green, Dawn dish soap, and a bathroom cleaner called Kaboom (the foamy version).

The latter is most aggressive, but it eventually gets up enough crud so the lesser cleaners will work if still necessary. It's fume-y, and also you need to get it up with rags or an old-fashioned string mop head; not so great to pump it overboard. Works really well, though.

Toothbrush can work in some places; others need a rag guided by a flat blade screwdriver.

You might be able to get a mop head under the engines, using an adjustable extension pole. If so, spray Kaboom under there, let it work (turns white), then mop it out. Repeat as required.

Painting stuff (after cleaning) makes it much easier to discover new issues, should something arise.

Once clean, white absorbent "diapers" under the engines have been sufficient for us; more of a tell-tale than anything else, assuming no subsequent spills.

Ziplock bag around filters when you change them.

-Chris

Main things I need to do:
1. Scrape and clean under the engine.
2. Clean the actual engine.
3. Clean my stringers.
4. Paint my storage floor boards.
5. Tidy up wires from PO. A few loose wires need this.
6. How to clean/improve those press-board panels? (What do you call them?)
7. Fab some kind of removable tray to catch drippings under the engine.

Quite a bit of atomized oil around the E-room to wipe down. Might also do some bilge paint in various areas, but need to degrease first.

Tom.B said:

Wouldn't Dawn work too?

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Soap used for washing dishes makes bubbles galore, and doesn't rinse off easy.

Soap made for a dishwasher makes zero bubbles, and rinses off really easy.

We have also found that dishwasher soap cuts diesel better than anything else.

YMMV

Ahhh... Good point. Thanks.

>Soap made for a dishwasher makes zero bubbles, and rinses off really easy.<

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Basically this is TSP.

In areas where the water police do not allow the sale of TSP at the hardware store , machine dish washing soap is the choice.

FF said:

Basically this is TSP.

In areas where the water police do not allow the sale of TSP at the hardware store , machine dish washing soap is the choice.

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My next task. I'm starting to scout Cascade now...

1. Cleaned most of engine room.
2. Repaired broken engine temperature gage.
3. Verified gen set works after fuel filter change.
4. Fixed captains chair.
5. Bought beer.
6. Drank some of it.
7. Put diaper under engine

Some painting and vacuuming to do still. And I need a butt load more mechanics wipes, but so much done and learned. Looks like I need new starter batteries for gen set, but the learning continues...

Nothing like messing around in boats...

Looks like I need new starter batteries for gen set,

Try to install one large enough to start your main engine. A Series 31 will usually do.

PIA to have to grab it , move it and stick it in as a start , but better than,,,,,,,,DEAD IN THE WATER.

FF said:

Looks like I need new starter batteries for gen set,

Try to install one large enough to start your main engine. A Series 31 will usually do.

PIA to have to grab it , move it and stick it in as a start , but better than,,,,,,,,DEAD IN THE WATER.

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That's the way mine is. One batt to start both. I would like to have a dedicated one for the genset to keep its system isolated, but NextGen generators don't have a charging system on them. Still, it doesn't take much time or power to start either of them (now), so the DuoCharge easily tops the start battery up while we are underway.

FF said:

PIA to have to grab it , move it and stick it in as a start , but better than,,,,,,,,DEAD IN THE WATER.

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I got three battery banks - starter, house, and genset, which are switched in case one is bad. I started the genset off the house batteries using the switch.

But also - I changed the fuel filter on the generator without incident. Ha.

Just got to get my genset batteries out of the shower sump. (They're raised, but still).

Ben said:

Just got to get my genset batteries out of the shower sump. (They're raised, but still).

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It's about the weirdest thing I have seen on a boat (not like I am an expert or nuttin')

One thing RickB instilled in me when he consulted on a couple of my projects is that: Simpler is better. Less things to break and fewer single-points-of-failure. Admittedly, I didn't totally follow his advice, but the jist of it sunk in.

One battery to start the power plants and one large-ish house bank. You anchor out a lot, so you might want to spend some dough on good batteries when the time comes.

Tom.B said:

It's about the weirdest thing I have seen on a boat (not like I am an expert or nuttin')

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You know as much as you compliment me on cabin space, I lose it in engine room space. You out-space me there. That's partly why mine feels like so much more of a cramped area. Plus my gen-set is inconveniently located. Plus I got extra batteries.

Last night on bilge-grime duty I noticed mostly my batteries aren't badly located to port, but I could rearrange them better. I need better access to my wiring and starter on the left of the engine. I need to freshen up my wiring and wire-brush and repaint on that side pretty desperately.

My work overalls really save me alot of hose-clamp scrapes, I noticed. Love to work in the ER when it's not 95 out.

Had a very minor oil leak and found it to be blow-by oil which dripped into the pan under the engine. Had a recovery system installed: the top of the system's oil filter (black, round top, red "button") located at the back end of the engine.

Probably caused by the recoil of the cannon...............

which are switched in case one is bad

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Depending on the amp draw of the main engine starter this is not an option for most rotary switches.

Actually Fred, I experienced a runaway starter on several occasions. I would say you really *should* have a switch in-line to the starter. I have this one:

HD-Series - Blue Sea Systems

markpierce said:

Had a very minor oil leak and found it to be blow-by oil which dripped into the pan under the engine. Had a recovery system installed:

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Mark: Whos recovery system did you use?

Tom.B said:

Actually Fred, I experienced a runaway starter on several occasions. I would say you really *should* have a switch in-line to the starter. I have this one:

HD-Series - Blue Sea Systems

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Tom B:

Where did you locate your switch ? At the battery, starter, or other location ? Photo ?

Sea hag

I brought all three switches up into the cabin (as recommended by the experts here for easy access in an emergency) under the bottom stair to the portside door. The battery bank/tray is located just underneath this in the engine room. Maybe one foot or less. Made a little box out of King Starboard and drilled a pretty good size hole under the step and lined it with foam to prevent chaffing the wires. Hang on... I think I have pics.