New to me 50, Steel full displacement, engine questions

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Sounds like things are coming together nicely! Looks like a nice boat with lots of possibilities.

Ted
 
Looks like a Tollycraft sink and stove.
 
Regarding your electrical and corrosion concerns, purchase a half-cell and use it to check for leakage between your hull and the water next to your boat. It's a great tool for trouble shooting current leakage. I use one to check my zinks, and for any stray current in the marina from others. When in doubt we don't connect to shore power. Regarding galvanic corrosion dc current is the biggest potential source of problems, esp battery chargers and dc belge pumps. Regarding transformers make certain you get one that also has the green ground connection isolated between the primary and secondary windings. Otherwise you are still connected to every other boat in a marina that is plugged in and may be having current leakage issues. A few hundred mili-amps of stray current can ruin your boat in a very short time. You have a great looking boat....and steel for PNW is an excellent choice.
 
Thank you for your help. Should I be bonding my DC system to the hull. It's pretty hard to isolate it mostly due to a clutch pump that's frame is grounded. Also that meter sounds interesting where would I find one
Thank you
Obie
 
The silver/silver chloride half cell I got was from boatzinks.com. It's a reference cell that has a plug on one end you connect to your multi-meter selected in the mili-amp range, and you place the electrode end in the water next to your boat. The resulting readings will determine the amount of zink protection you have. The booklet supplied with the cell has the info needed to determine your zink coverage; and also for example describe how to trouble shoot if the marina is hot by checking for leakage on the dock power ground buss. It's pricy at ~ $125, but can save you big time if you catch a potential problem in the making.

Regarding dc ground I am not an expert on this, but on my boat all my dc is grounded to one location on the engines. All grounds have a dedicated insulated wire returning back to the same location on all dc items esp bilge pumps etc. You do not want to use the hull as the ground path, using the hull as the path may creat reference differences in ground path resistance between the various items. As mentioned by others if your unsure seek out a real knowledgeable person. I have spent a lot of time and $ learning about these issues and am still by no means an expert. I know enough to be dangerous, so I keep seeking more info to improve my skills.
 
mike50 said:
The silver/silver chloride half cell I got was from boatzinks.com. It's a reference cell that has a plug on one end you connect to your multi-meter selected in the mili-amp range, and you place the electrode end in the water next to your boat.
Correction: the multi-meter is set to mili-volt; not mili-amp. Sorry for the confusion.
Click to expand...
 
Congratulations.
What a wonderful boat and I admire all of your work in this past month.

This was also a great thread, really informative.

I hope to see you some time.

Rchard
 
Thank you for the great tip of BoatZincs.com (978-841-9978) - The Online Superstore for Zinc Anodes. What a great site! I will be ordering my probe. I was guessing we were talking about voltage not amperage. And I also would have never used my hull as part of the electrical system, although it sure would make wiring a snap.
I am days away from launch. Yesterday I finished off plumbing my through hulls. The surveyer had me do all pipe and ball valves in stainless. Yesterday it was gusting to 70 knots. My boat is on the hard in Astoria, it would shake hard and I was afraid all day she would tumble off the stands ugg. But it is a new day and all would seam to be ok. Today I will do some cleaning in the bilge, fire the motor again to check the hydraulics to the crane and windlesses, I had a burst line and dumped around 30 gallons of hydraulic oil in my aft locker before seeing it. No worries I was planning on changing the oil anyway, just not by using a Dixie cup to scoop.
Again thank you for your help
Obie
 
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Sounds like your doing very well. The reason for mentioning the dc grd issues was because I had a near sinking resulting from an aluminum gray water tank in the bilge area that had an internal dc pump and float switch failure. The tank was supposedly electrically isolated by the orig owner, but had one edge that came in contact with hull causing localized pin holes that were almost all the way through the 5/16" bottom plate. Had the worst of all conditions dissimilar metals and stray DC current. This was missed by the survayor and ultrasound inspection; we got very lucky. The comments about getting to know your boat before making changes is execellent advice.
 
Ok I have hit the wall on one of my systems and I need help.
Hydraulics! So I have a hydraulic system that is daisy chained. The oil exits the pump go first to my crane. The crane workers grate, then it goes to my front windlass. Then I try to bring the windles forward or back it makes the pump belt slip. Then the oil goes to the stern windlass. The same thing happens when I try to operate that windlass. From there it then returns to the tank. Has anyone heard of a system like this? Were they are not in peralel, but in series.
Obie
 
"Boat's too big and complicated."

Not really he just never got a PDL (pass down log)

so has to figure all the idotsincracys from scratch.
 
Really doubt the hydraulics are in series. Just may look like it.
Take a photo of the tubing/hoses at the bow windlass, there will be a "t" somewhere. The "t" could even be far away, trace the tubing.

Some where in your system you have a pressure regulator, find it and get a gauge on it.

Hydraulics can be dangerous if not properly maintained and adjusted. Look up pin hole leaks.
If properly maintained, they provide great service.

Much like electric, if you don't understand it, get a pro.
 
It truly is in series. And when you are not trying to ingage any motor in the series, there is no presher in the system. When you ingage the clutch pump it dose not draw the engine down at all.
I will get pics when I get back to the boat.
Obie
 
Obie said:
It truly is in series. And when you are not trying to ingage any motor in the series, there is no presher in the system. When you ingage the clutch pump it dose not draw the engine down at all.
I will get pics when I get back to the boat.
Obie
Click to expand...

I am just starting to understand how my hydraulics work (bowthruster and fin stabilizers.) My system uses a variable volume pump with a load sense. This is a small return line from the load side of the system that the pump uses to increase volume to maintain pressure when load is applied. Like yours, my pump creates no engine load when no systems are engaged.

I still have much to learn and it's hard to find hydraulics mechanics these days - at least where I am.

Richard
 
"it's hard to find hydraulics mechanics these days - at least where I am."

Stop in a shop that is a hyd specialist. They repair trash trucks , earth movers and farm gear.

They will know of a mechanic that would love to earn cash some weekend figuring and then explaining your system.
 
Obie said:
Ok I have hit the wall on one of my systems and I need help.
Hydraulics! So I have a hydraulic system that is daisy chained. The oil exits the pump go first to my crane. The crane workers grate, then it goes to my front windlass. Then I try to bring the windles forward or back it makes the pump belt slip. Then the oil goes to the stern windlass. The same thing happens when I try to operate that windlass. From there it then returns to the tank. Has anyone heard of a system like this? Were they are not in peralel, but in series.
Obie
Click to expand...
FWIW, If you haven't already checked it, see if there is a mechanical dog or brake locking the windlass shafts or hubs.
 
That's what I thought, a lock. But if you reach inside the windlass you can by hand turn the motor, and that then turns the Gypsy.
It's kinda cool though the gear the motor turns JABSCO
Mag Drive Pump, 11 GPMI'll only be turned by the motor. If you try to turn the Gypsy to turn the motor it will not turn. It has an automatic break in the gearbox. Not sure how that works , but it works well.
Obie
 
FF said:
"it's hard to find hydraulics mechanics these days - at least where I am."

Stop in a shop that is a hyd specialist. They repair trash trucks , earth movers and farm gear.

They will know of a mechanic that would love to earn cash some weekend figuring and then explaining your system.
Click to expand...
Good idea. Pay him to draw a schematic with ISO symbols for troubleshooting later.
 
FF said:
"it's hard to find hydraulics mechanics these days - at least where I am."

Stop in a shop that is a hyd specialist. They repair trash trucks , earth movers and farm gear.

They will know of a mechanic that would love to earn cash some weekend figuring and then explaining your system.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. I know a guy who rents out heavy equipment - I'll bet he has a mechanic for the hydraulics.
 
Any goodyear hose shop will know mechanics.

Do check belt tension and make sure the cranes are not frozen.
 
My hydraulics have a selector - one way for the crane, another for the windlassand a third circuit to the rear that is looped. I can only use one at a time. Look for a selector.
 
boat hydralics

The experts on this is Spencer Fluid Power with offices in Portland and Seattle. Many years ago they put together a complete hydraulic system for my boat.
 
Yes I know spencer, they are very close to me.
And my hydraulics have a selector also. 1 for the bowthrusrer, then one for windlasses and crane.
I think it has to be a problem with the valve body? I don't see we're it could be anything else
Obie
 
Obie said:
Yes I know spencer, they are very close to me.
And my hydraulics have a selector also. 1 for the bowthrusrer, then one for windlasses and crane.
I think it has to be a problem with the valve body? I don't see we're it could be anything else
Obie
Click to expand...
FWIW...some thoughts, if not already checked; once in the windlass mode is it possible you have 2nd /another hyd selector for the fwd and aft windlasses mode?
When moving the selector valve into the windlass position; does the pump immediately pull down or do you have to move the in/out selector at a windlass for it to pull down/slip the pump belt?
 
You have to move the leaver at the windles. That is when you here the pump pull down. At first you here oil squirting through the valve as you begin to restrict it. The way the se stem is desighed I believe all valve at there neutral state allow oil to fee flow to the next valve bodie, and so on till it returned to the pump. Then you pull a valve you then send it through one side ore the other in the hydraulic motor. It then exits the motor and continues on through the loop.
 
Obie said:
You have to move the leaver at the windles. That is when you here the pump pull down. At first you here oil squirting through the valve as you begin to restrict it. The way the se stem is desighed I believe all valve at there neutral state allow oil to fee flow to the next valve bodie, and so on till it returned to the pump. Then you pull a valve you then send it through one side ore the other in the hydraulic motor. It then exits the motor and continues on through the loop.
Click to expand...

It appears given all of your descriptions that the problem is either flow restricted by stuck hyd motors (unlikely given earlier comments), or a restriction or closed valve in the downstream windlass return line. Any chance you have a stuck check valve some point down stream of the windlass return lines? As a quick test you could temporarily/remove the return line (into a 1-2 gal can) at one of the windlasses and see if you get any motor rotation.
 
As a quick test you could temporarily/remove the return line (into a 1-2 gal can) at one of the windlasses and see if you get any motor rotation.
Click to expand...
That may not be a good idea. Older heavy duty work boats can have hyd pumps with flow rates on the order of 10 to 25 gal / min.
 
Portage_Bay said:
That may not be a good idea. Older heavy duty work boats can have hyd pumps with flow rates on the order of 10 to 25 gal / min.
Click to expand...

Could not agree more!
My prior suggestion assumes that pressure and flow rates are understood and that "reasonable safety precautions" are followed. The idea is to run a line into a large enough container to allow for a "momentary" engagement of the selector valve to see if there is any motor movement. Another alternative (expensive/difficult??) if possible/accessible is to run a temporary by-pass line back to the return point at the hyd tank.
 
I think I will pull one of the controle valves that I believe is the problem and take it into spencer. Maybe they can test it. I think there have to be something stuck. But that should tell a lot.
Obie
Thank all of you for trying I will keep you posted, I was hoping some one would have had the same thing and been able to say (it's this). Maybe that some one will be me once I get it solved.
 
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