Taking the Plunge

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Peter B said:
Absolutely. I agree.



prematurely, and icing up suggests that might have happened to you that last time. If you go to sleep with it set too cold, you risk waking up stiff as a board.



Just sayin'
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Understood my friend. And yes, if we back of the thermostat a bit they do run longer without icing over.

As far my back, epidural injections next week. Ugh!!!

It's all good. Wish we could get down your way some day.
 
N4712 said:
I dread the day (not really) when we start long range cruising and have to conserve fuel (not run genny 24/7). Haven't installed 12v fans, but it's on the list.
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I added a couple of 12v fans a couple of years ago they have cut my monthly electric charge during the summer by at least 50%. I used a Caframo Sirroco and a Hella Turbo both do a fine job, the Sirroco is mounted so it can bring air in or exhaust air thru the front hatch, it keeps the berth very comfortable. The turbo is mounted to circulate air thru the galley and solon, both have given excellent service so far, the best feature on the Sirroco is the ability to set the run time to 2, 4, 6, or 8 hours, both are reasonably quiet. I bought a couple more Hella turbos, 1 to mount in the guest berth and the 2nd as a spare.
 
wow

Ok Father George I take a extended work trip to Europe and come back and my Father in in Florida has bought a Californian

Congrats!!!!
 
frgeorgeh said:
Understood my friend. And yes, if we back of the thermostat a bit they do run longer without icing over.
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Icing in most cases due to a restriction in return air flow over the coils. Are the filters clean? Is anything blocking the air flow? Are the coils clean and dust free?

If it's a Freon issue you can many times tell by feeling the return Freon line where it goes into the compressor. It should be cold just about right up to where it goes into the compressor. If it's either hot, very cold or icy where the tube goes into the compressor, you have to little or to much Freon.
 
siestakey said:
Ok Father George I take a extended work trip to Europe and come back and my Father in in Florida has bought a Californian



Congrats!!!!
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How cool is that ?!?!?! Where in FL is he?
 
Ok group. I was able to crawl around both engines where the primary fuel filters are located. I now have all the model numbers for all different filters.

Anyone have a suggestion as to best place to purchase spares? I am guessing online but some details of where some of you folks have purchased before or could recommend would be much appreciated.
 
Well, we live in the opposite corner of the country so where we get our filters won't mean much to you. But we like to support our local companies so we buy all our filters (we use Baldwin filters for everything except the Racors) and lube oil (Delo 400) from the diesel shop in our harbor that does our engine work.

We could save a few pennies if we on-line ordered the filters from Defender or some outfit like that, but we would rather buy from our local folks and give them the profit.

If there's no handy supplier in your harbor you want to support or you prefer to order on-line, you might try Hop Car of this forum. He's in your region and I assume he carries a wide range of filters and stuff.
 
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Geo, Be sure to know what you're looking for. 2 micron filtration? 10 micron? What does the mfr recommend? What's in the current primary and secondary?

Once you know the model number, a google search can find the competitive pricing. Buyer beware...sometimes the initial price seems good, then the shipping is ridiculously expensive.
 
Good idea on supporting local shops. I will do that if price is right.

For fuel, I have 10 micron racor primaries and 2 microns on engine.

I have got to get these filters moved to inboard side. I could try and tackle it myself but that might be a pretty serious job for a green horn like me
 
frgeorgeh said:
I have got to get these filters moved to inboard side. I could try and tackle it myself but that might be a pretty serious job for a green horn like me
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It's (usually) just hoses, clamps, mounting holes, and common sense. The only challenging part might be finding or fabricating a place to mount the filters where you want them. You may have to install longer or shorter hoses depending on where the filters end up.

Depending on the fuel system on your boat, you may have to bleed the fuel system once you've completed re-mounting and re-plumbing the filters, but I gather you know how to do that now.:)

When we had our PNW boat's original dual-Fram filter setup for each engine replaced with a single Racor 500 for each engine, we had our diesel shop do it even though the filter locations weren't changing. We had them do it primarily because we didn't have the time or interest in screwing with it, plus if there was any problem it would be their fault, not ours.:)

But the job itself was dirt simple so far as I could tell.
 
Well, if I do redo it I'm gonna add the vacuum gauges too. Might as well.

It worries me cause where they are now, unless PO hired the work out I really doubt these filters have been changed as they should.

We want to head to Bimini soon but not until I am comfortable with all the systems.
 
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Greetings,
Mr. frg. You've been quiet these last few days so I figured you were either enjoying your new found leisure time OR you were up to your earlobes in "what do I tackle next". I see it is the latter situation.
Not to make your life any easier and to stir the pot just a bit, I would suggest, using a 2 micron in your Racor IF, as in my situation, the engine filters are a real b*stard to change, to extend the life of the engine filters.
Just a thought. How's the back?
 
RT Firefly said:
Greetings,
Mr. frg. You've been quiet these last few days so I figured you were either enjoying your new found leisure time OR you were up to your earlobes in "what do I tackle next". I see it is the latter situation.
Not to make your life any easier and to stir the pot just a bit, I would suggest, using a 2 micron in your Racor IF, as in my situation, the engine filters are a real b*stard to change, to extend the life of the engine filters.
Just a thought. How's the back?
Click to expand...


That is a good suggestion but, we are
Talking microns here. Is 10 micron really that much better on a primary? Not questioning. I just don't know

Back hurts like hell but it is because I have been tending to business on the boat. I can live with that. Mess and Gin help an awful lot at end of long day.
 
frgeorgeh said:
Good idea on supporting local shops. I will do that if price is right.

For fuel, I have 10 micron racor primaries and 2 microns on engine.

I have got to get these filters moved to inboard side. I could try and tackle it myself but that might be a pretty serious job for a green horn like me
Click to expand...

Sometimes it's better to leave sleeping dogs lie until you have a plan for getting past them especially when another dog might lie around the next corner. At least this one isn't affecting function or safely and you have the option of taking your time.

You might find it helpful to operate with the filters in place for a year or so to get the feel of the boat and consider other mods or improvements. Besides, you're bound to make new friends this year who probably are only too happy to help. Maybe you could barter some services (no pun intended) like a wedding and two baptisms. :angel: :D :facepalm:

It's not hard if you have someone present the first time who is familiar with the job. My best friend bailed me out of many first year maintenance requirements and improvements with lessons that were invaluable.

OTOH, if you really want this done soon to have it behind you, hiring a pro who will work with you and answer your questions is worth the price you'll pay.
 
FlyWright said:
Sometimes it's better to leave sleeping dogs lie until you have a plan for getting past them especially when another dog might lie around the next corner. At least this one isn't affecting function or safely and you have the option of taking your time.



You might find it helpful to operate with the filters in place for a year or so to get the feel of the boat and consider other mods or improvements. Besides, you're bound to make new friends this year who probably are only too happy to help. Maybe you could barter some services (no pun intended) like a wedding and two baptisms. :angel: :D :facepalm:



It's not hard if you have someone present the first time who is familiar with the job. My best friend bailed me out of many first year maintenance requirements and improvements with lessons that were invaluable.



OTOH, if you really want this done soon to have it behind you, hiring a pro who will work with you and answer your questions is worth the price you'll pay.
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Sage advice as always my friend. It's not like I have to change em every week!

And u are right. If I had help first time or first filter, and all parts we could knock it out in no time.

And yes, I have electronics skills out the wazoo and love to barter. Mechanics is my weakness.

Thank you as always for being there my friend
 
RT raises a good point. My Perkins have 2 micron secondaries and the shop strongly recommended I install 2 micron on the Racors, too. If you have dual Racors, a case could be made for one 2U and the other 10U in the standby position for when the 2U clogs.

I currently have one of each on each side after buying the 10U by accident. Eventually I'll switch out the 10U for 2U.
 
RT Firefly said:
Greetings,
....and to stir the pot just a bit, I would suggest, using a 2 micron in your Racor IF, as in my situation, the engine filters are a real b*stard to change, to extend the life of the engine filters.
Just a thought.
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For Christ's (and Buddha's and Mohammed's and Krishna's and Raven's and Pele's) sake RTF, what are you trying to do here? The next thing we know, you'll be talking to Mr. FRG about what kind of anchor he should have and this thread will run to a hundred screens and a thousand posts. Taking the lid of Pandora's Micron Box is a ticket to whatever Bad Place you believe in.

For the record, though, we use 2 micron filters in everything.
 
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FlyWright said:
RT raises a good point. My Perkins have 2 micron secondaries and the shop strongly recommended I install 2 micron on the Racors, too. If you have dual Racors, a case could be made for one 2U and the other 10U in the standby position for when the 2U clogs.

I currently have one of each on each side after buying the 10U by accident. Eventually I'll switch out the 10U for 2U.
Click to expand...


Yes, these are single racor 1000FG's as primaries, one for each engine. This would make the filters 2020's. The CATs themselves have 1R-0750s
 
Greetings,
Mr. M. Uh, oh....you said the "A" word. You all saw that folks it was M. Marin NOT me this time.
really-good-point.gif
 
Marin said:
For Christ's (and Buddha's and Mohammed's and Krishna's and Raven's and Pele's) sake RTF, what are you trying to do here? The next thing we know, you'll be talking to Mr. FRG about what kind of anchor he should have and this thread will run to a hundred screens and a thousand posts. Taking the lid of Pandora's Micron Box is a ticket to whatever Bad Place you believe in.

For the record, though, we use 2 micron filters in everything.
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Now that's funny!? And I think he already doesn't like my anchor OR my lack of shirt wearing. But, that's ok, we've met and had a fine time
 
RT Firefly said:
Greetings,
Mr. M. Uh, oh....you said the "A" word. You all saw that folks it was M. Marin NOT me this time.
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Well, you said the "M" word so I guess we'll see which hellish direction this thread takes.....
 
Good Friar-I am not surprised your daughter slept well. Over the years, I have found three things that are always better on the boat-eating, sleeping, and the third I will leave to you and your good wife to discover.
 
thd said:
good friar-i am not surprised your daughter slept well. Over the years, i have found three things that are always better on the boat-eating, sleeping, and the third i will leave to you and your good wife to discover.
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fishing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Al, I didn't think men of the cloth were allowed to fish.
 
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.

Fishing good. Me like 'em fish
 
frgeorgeh said:
That is a good suggestion but, we are
Talking microns here. Is 10 micron really that much better on a primary? Not questioning. I just don't know

Back hurts like hell but it is because I have been tending to business on the boat. I can live with that. Mess and Gin help an awful lot at end of long day.
Click to expand...

I agree with RT and Marin, it makes sense to run the Racors at 2 micron, therefore sparing your engine mounted filters as much as possible.

Also, I agree that it makes sense to keep the systems you have, before spending significant time and money to change stuff. That was the lesson I learned the expensive way.

Lastly for the big stuff I would get it from HopCar, but for expendables, filters and oil soak rags, in particular, no one comes close to Amazon in terms of price. Even Defender has an extra marine markup.
 
Wxx3 said:
I agree with RT and Marin, it makes sense to run the Racors at 2 micron, therefore sparing your engine mounted filters as much as possible.



Also, I agree that it makes sense to keep the systems you have, before spending significant time and money to change stuff. That was the lesson I learned the expensive way.



Lastly for the big stuff I would get it from HopCar, but for expendables, filters and oil soak rags, in particular, no one comes close to Amazon in terms of price. Even Defender has an extra marine markup.
Click to expand...


Thank you!
 
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