My Short Haul Refit

[O C Diver]

Engine install pics:

Thought I would add the engine install pics to the tread. Have posted these before, but for the sake of continuity added them plus some new pics. First pic is of the motor heading up to the boat. The only things that needed to come off the engine to fit through the door were the starboard engine and transmission hangar mounts. This engine is so much narrower that the Cummins which required a number of items to be removed to squeeze through the door.



Lots of room to spare on the sides. Also the engine is shorter which made the install easier.



Engine is in place so we can position the 3/8" thick stainless steel bed plates, and mark where bridges and isolators attach. A rough shaft alignment is done to get the bridges under the transmission isolators at the right height.



Everything looks good, so we move the engine out of the way to finish the bed plates.




The bridges are welded to the bed plates. All the holes are drilled and tapped for the isolator bolts. Holes are drilled for three 1/2" stainless lag bolts that will anchor each bed plate. Pilot holes are drilled in the engine beds. Then the engine beds and pan are sanded, wiped down and then receive 3 or 4 applications of gel coat. Finally the bed plates are lag down with three 8" lag bolts per side and a generous amount of 5200. They're not going anywhere.



The engine now is set and a final shaft alignment is done. After everything is bolted down tight, the 13' x 3.5" shaft can still be turned with one hand. As they say at the marina, "It's not perfect but you're not getting any closer."



Sean is holding the model I made for the custom stainless exhaust riser with the extension on it. The string going across represents the engine room ceiling. The sound insulation will be reworked above the riser to accommodate the extra height. Marine Exhaust of Rivera Beach, FL will make a custom stainless riser with heat wrap from my model. The model has to be flat against the turbo, discharge has to be 3 dimensionally exactly where I want it, maximum height needs to be correct, and brace tab and raw water inlet also need to be correct. There is a lot to get right and not much room for error. They also wanted pictures to understand all the points. Second picture is without the extension to floor reference.





2 months later here's my new riser. It's not perfect but it couldn't be any closer. There is a brace that runs from underneath the high section down to the transmission mount to help support the weight. Below the discharge will be a 12" x 12" x 12" lift muffler. The discharge will go straight up then straight back over the genset before turning to starboard then out the transom. All the remaining exhaust parts are waiting for me to return from FL in a couple of weeks to install them.




Next will be upgrades to the electrical system.

Ted

[Forkliftt]

Nice!


1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's
✌️

[O C Diver]

Upgrades to the 12 volt system and the house battery bank:

So when I bought the boat, one of the high priority items on the list was cleaning up the 12 volt system in the engine room. While the system did function and the components were of good quality, it was clear that the system had been added to in a poorly thought out plan. Basically the 150 amp engine alternator connected to a 2 battery bank charging isolator which provided power to one 8D battery for the engine and three 8D batteries for the house bank. The batteries and alternator were on the starboard side and the isolator was on the port side with the power distribution panel. Over 100' of 4/0 tinned marine cable tied this Kludge together. This was done when the new Magnum inverter charger was installed. From a bill in the boat records, the materials (not including the inverter or labor) were over $4K. As space was limited in the engine room, the four 8D battery boxes were mounted next to the engine making it really tough to do engine maintenance.

First project was to relocate the battery bank. The Cummins engine used a very large lift muffler and a bunch of 6" exhaust pipe. That will all be relocated and replaced with a much smaller lift muffler and 4" exhaust pipe for the John Deere.



The platform for the old lift muffler became the location for the new battery box. Sean built this box out of coosa board, 2 layers of bi-axial cloth with polyester inside and out, and finally covered with several applications of gel coat. Did I tell you Sean does really nice work?



Battery box is filled with 8 Trojan T105 deep cycle 6 volt golf cart batteries. 900 amp house bank and 4/0 cable carrying it to the distribution panels. That should keep the LED lights on.



This is the old power distribution center. From left to right: Magnum inverter / charger, positive power distribution panel with lexan cover, below distribution panel is an always hot fuse panel for bilge pumps and radio memory, top to bottom engine battery switch - bank combiner - house battery switch, dual battery charging isolator, and negative buss and ground bonding buss. Took me a while to make sense of it all.



This is the new power distribution center. It's a little less busy. Not quite done. Still need to add a few cable anchors, some labeling, and the lexan cover over positive distribution panel.



Everything was disassembled ,cleaned, and reassembled with some minor changes. From left to right. Positive power distribution panel. There is a house bank battery switch and the engine emergency start switch. Engine battery is next to the engine with 16" battery leads; no point running extra wire and another switch. The emergency switch allows the engine to be started off the house battery. Next is the always on fuse panel. Above it is the shunt for the Victron Battery monitor.



Next to the always on fuse panel is the negative buss with a sub buss above it. Next is the ground bonding buss. The red box is a Sterling advanced alternator regulator.



Missing from the power distribution center is the dual battery charging isolator. Instead I mounted a second alternator on the engine with a Sterling 3 stage charging regulator. The engine alternator and battery only power the engine and it's gauges. Everything else is power by the house bank and 220 amp second alternator. In the event of a failure of either alternator, flipping the emergency start switch combines both banks so they can be charged from either alternator.



The cluttered engine room with the Cummins, the 8D battery boxes, and a lot of wire snaking around the front of the engine.



The engine room before all the wiring was done. The daily engine, transmission, and genset fluid checks along with all the fuel separators and tank manifolding are on the starboard side......by design.



Still have 2 milk crates full of primary wire left over after everything was reconfigured.

Next up my new raw water system.

Ted

[Marlinmike]

Really nice attention to detail, should make for a very reliable and sound vessel. Any thoughts on sound deadening as well as what is your cruising plans with this fine new vessel?

[O C Diver]

Originally Posted by Marlinmike

Really nice attention to detail, should make for a very reliable and sound vessel. Any thoughts on sound deadening as well as what is your cruising plans with this fine new vessel?

Boat was well sound insulated with soundown insulation. Have added some more in areas, but will do sea trials before going any further. Cruising plans are annually the Chesapeake in the summer and Florida in the winter until I retire. Great Loop in 2016 or 2017. Planning the East coast from Maine to Texas, and near Caribbean Bahamas and maybe Cuba.

Ted

[dimer2]

Your house bank is just like the one I am currently working on! (without the perfectly made custom box)....
You may want consider this connection set up for where you come off the bank.

[O C Diver]

Originally Posted by dimer2

Your house bank is just like the one I am currently working on! (without the perfectly made custom box)....
You may want consider this connection set up for where you come off the bank.

Can certainly see how it's theoretically better. Wonder if there is much of an actual difference? With the large wire size lugs, getting that third lug on the battery terminal is going to be tough.

Ted

[Marlinmike]

Awesome plan, I'm a few more years further out then you, some common plans of where to travel, not looking to do the full loop, northern Canadian canals which we haven't done and maybe the BVI/AVI areas is what we are hoping for.

Thanks again for sharing, all the best!

Originally Posted by O C Diver

Boat was well sound insulated with soundown insulation. Have added some more in areas, but will do sea trials before going any further. Cruising plans are annually the Chesapeake in the summer and Florida in the winter until I retire. Great Loop in 2016 or 2017. Planning the East coast from Maine to Texas, and near Caribbean Bahamas and maybe Cuba.

Ted

[Larry M]

Ted: Are you adding a SOC monitor for the house bank?

[O C Diver]

Originally Posted by Larry M

Ted: Are you adding a SOC monitor for the house bank?

Yes, a Victron battery monitor, shunt is in the 6th pic of post #83. Plan to use it as a rough guide for state of charge, and reset it each time the bank is completely recharged. Really more interested in amps out and amps in rates as opposed to state of charge of the bank. Working under the assumption that when amp flow in drops to almost zero after many hours of cruising, the bank is close to fully charged, and the 220 amp alternator is producing for current consumption only. Does that sound like a viable plan?

Ted

[O C Diver]

Originally Posted by Marlinmike

Awesome plan, I'm a few more years further out then you, some common plans of where to travel, not looking to do the full loop, northern Canadian canals which we haven't done and maybe the BVI/AVI areas is what we are hoping for.

Thanks again for sharing, all the best!

Thought I would do the whole loop avoiding the Mississippi and the Canadian canals. Wanted to see what the other rivers in the central USA were like as some sounded interesting. Think I can live without seeing the levies of the Mississippi. Plan to make a second trip back up the Hudson to see the Canadian waters. Want to be able to spend more time without the traditional imposed deadline of Chicago by Labor Day. Would plan to come down the Hudson in October, follow fall to Florida if that's possible.

Ted

[dimer2]

"With the large wire size lugs, getting that third lug on the battery terminal is going to be tough."


Yeah, I can see where that would be difficult. I would still consider putting my charger wires there though if at all possible.

[Larry M]

Originally Posted by dimer2

"With the large wire size lugs, getting that third lug on the battery terminal is going to be tough."


Yeah, I can see where that would be difficult. I would still consider putting my charger wires there though if at all possible.

If you go with Trojans and want bolt on terminals, I would suggest you go with the EHPT (embedded high profile terminial) post. The difference is the ability to stack more than 2-4/0 or 2/0 battery cables per post. With the standard post, the ELPT (embedded low profile terminal) you are limited to ~2. If you look at the lower right terminal, I have 1-4/0 and 2-2/0 lugs on the post. I would like to have a little more post height. It's an ELPT.

When we picked up our batteries, the seller went out of his way to stress that we use the correct torque for the nuts on the posts. He showed us 2 new batteries where a buyer (s) got a little carried away over tightening the nuts. Trojan lists the torque value at 95-105 in-lb for the ELPT or EHPT posts.

[Larry M]

Originally Posted by O C Diver

Yes, a Victron battery monitor, shunt is in the 6th pic of post #83. Plan to use it as a rough guide for state of charge, and reset it each time the bank is completely recharged. Really more interested in amps out and amps in rates as opposed to state of charge of the bank. Working under the assumption that when amp flow in drops to almost zero after many hours of cruising, the bank is close to fully charged, and the 220 amp alternator is producing for current consumption only. Does that sound like a viable plan?

Ted

Sounds good. We also look at the amps in/out the most. We do look at the voltage but more as an indicator when we aren't charging. From experience, I can tell the SOC pretty close even if the batteries aren't at rest by what the voltage is and what's running DC wise.

Great thread.

[healhustler]

Ted: You know, going with the little Deere is going to ruin your wake-making possibilities. Still, that 3.5" shaft must be a record for that size motor....giving you the "my shaft is bigger than your shaft" bragging rights at the anchorages. I want that boat, Ted. I don't care if it costs a million bucks, I want it.

Note: I can't do anything about it, but I want it.

[O C Diver]

Originally Posted by healhustler

Ted: You know, going with the little Deere is going to ruin your wake-making possibilities. Still, that 3.5" shaft must be a record for that size motor....giving you the "my shaft is bigger than your shaft" bragging rights at the anchorages. I want that boat, Ted. I don't care if it costs a million bucks, I want it.

Note: I can't do anything about it, but I want it.

Lusting over another's boat, one of the 7 deadly Trawler Forum sins. Well at least you're open about it. Is Bucky ok with this?

Ted

[Bacchus]

Dimer... You may want consider this connection set up for where you come off the bank.

Originally Posted by O C Diver

Can certainly see how it's theoretically better. Wonder if there is much of an actual difference?
Ted

Ted... I just stumbled across your thread and got "caught up" w/ the work. Nice job w/ the refit - great looking vessel - thanks for taking the time to document & share it.

Re: the above comments - I have also wondered just how much better the theoretical connection would be. I started a Reference material thread in the Electrical Electronic & Nav sub-forum Post #9 includes a link Smart Gauge How to correctly interconnect multiple batteries to form one larger bank.

This is the best explanation & quantification of the differences of several battery wiring alternatives... hope it helps

[O C Diver]

Originally Posted by Bacchus

Ted... I just stumbled across your thread and got "caught up" w/ the work. Nice job w/ the refit - great looking vessel - thanks for taking the time to document & share it.

Re: the above comments - I have also wondered just how much better the theoretical connection would be. I started a Reference material thread in the Electrical Electronic & Nav sub-forum Post #9 includes a link Smart Gauge How to correctly interconnect multiple batteries to form one larger bank.

This is the best explanation & quantification of the differences of several battery wiring alternatives... hope it helps

Hi Don, appreciate the link. The 15% difference in draw down isn't huge, but it is significant. The stumbling block for me is still getting that 3rd cable on the battery terminals and routing the wire within the battery box. Things would be a lot easier if I had made the box bigger. Lots of fun bending 2/0 battery jumpers in tight spaces.

Ted

[fryedaze]

I need another refit FIX. Its been two weeks.

[Harry]

Originally Posted by fryedaze

I need another refit FIX. Its been two weeks.

Me Too...
I was really looking forward to seeing how the glassed over cap rails turned out when completed.