Extra Boat Battery Post

I'm not a fan of expensive batteries. They've led me astray one too many times. I bought a $300 AGM battery with a 2 year warranty. Twenty six month later it bit the dust. Today, I buy an El-cheapo for the boat and replace it immediately after the first sign of trouble -- whether it's under warranty or not.

So, it's Walmart batteries for me. My boat had a deep cycle for it's house battery when I became the new owner. That battery crapped out minutes after I took possession. I replaced it with a Walmart Deep Cycle Marine battery...which lasted a year beyond it's one year warranty.

Automotive batteries have a 3 year replacement warranty and 5 year prorated warranty. Why would I buy another marine battery when I could abuse a car battery and get it replaced for free if it failed within 3 years? So, instead of a deep cycle marine battery, make that a car starting battery.

The trouble is, the starting battery has only a single clamp style post, while my deep cycle battery had both the clamp and wing nut posts.

 I had my bilge pumps and propane monitor wired to the wing nuts and now there's no place to put these eye terminals.

The redneck solution is to back off the clamp nut on the battery clamp and put the ring connectors between the clamp and clamping nut (and I've used this on occasion). I don't like this for three reasons:
1) I hate to mess with the clamping system because if you run the clamping nut in too far it distorts the clamp and you've got to really snug it up to ensure a good connection of the eye terminals.
2) The heavy eye terminals take too much room on the clamping bolt -- so the nut doesn't fit.
3) If you use the redneck method for the eye terminals, every time you mess with the battery, you undo that connection.

The next quick solution is to get a 5/16" square nut and a 2" 5/16 bolt. Put a washer on the bolt - put the eye terminal on the bolt, run the square nut up to the eye fitting and tighten it, then put the bolt in the clamp.

 This lets you use the square nut against the flat on the clamp to allow a snug fit on the battery post.


But I like complete flexibility so here's what I suggest:

Get hold of a 2+" X 5/16" carriage bolt and a square nut for same.  Carriage bolt because they are usually threaded the entire length.

Cut the threaded part off at about 2". This will be your new clamp bolt.


Run the square nut down the new piece until there's an inch of free threads on one end.

This is where the nut is to be fixed to the threaded piece. I brazed my nut to the piece, but solder or even Loctite thread lock will do.

Remove the paint from the existing clamp where the fastener exits...on both sides of the clamp. I used a file, but a wire brush on a drill would work just as well.The clamp is soft lead, so this is very easily accomplished.

Now substitute this new piece for the old clamping bolt and you'll have a permanent place to attach those eye fittings without distorting the clamp or needing to mess with terminals when the clamp is removed from the battery.

BTW - if your square nut doesn't fit nicely against the flat of the clamp, try rotating the nut to a different side -- or just file away a little of the flat part of the clamp.


And a little chuckle here for my senior moment. The original design wasn't quite so simple. I used the existing clamp bolt and brazed a short piece of threaded stock to the head. I even drilled the head of the square bolt and machined a pin on the threaded part to make it easier to braze. When I got it all together I realized it's just a square nut on a piece of threaded rod!

Whipping

You're proud that you've finally mastered the art of making an eye splice.
How to make an eye splice

Some instructions say to use masking tape, I like electrical tape because it comes off easier.

Completed, it looks something like this.

Then you take the tape off and you have feathery ends.

 

You could whip these ends, but that's inconvenient. It's easier to use a soldering gun on them.

The trouble with the soldering gun is that it's very challenging to end up with something neat, that isn't burnt or sharp. I especially dislike the hard, sharp edges that can result from using heat because they often scratch when I handle the line.

I've experimented with stuff that can be applied to the feathery ends to make them neat, keep them from unraveling and will be easy on my hands. My favorite stuff is a water cleanup glue. I can rub it into the line with my fingers and roll my fingers clean without water or solvent. It's even fun getting the stuff off your hands.

Sometimes I can't quite get the feathery stuff to lay right against the rest of the line. When this happens I goop up the feathers and take off the excess, then do a wrap with a piece of electrical tape.

In a few minutes I have the perfect splice that's easy on the hands.

I think the new package looks like this.

Merlin Gives Me A Scare

Merlin has a bell at the back door. He rings it when he wants to go out. The weather was very nice today after days of sloppy rain. I wasn't surprised when he rang the bell to go out this morning. I let him out.

After coffee, I take Merlin out, either for a walk or to a very large nearby cemetery where he can be off leash and chase a tennis ball. Forgetting I'd let him out earlier, I was surprised he wasn't in his normal pleading to go out position when I put the paper down.

Then I realized he was outside, and rather than call him I decided I'd stealth out and see what he was up to. I can see his normal back yard hangouts as soon as I step out the door. He was nowhere to be seen. I walked out further and still couldn't see him. I walked around the garage and checked in the bushes - nothing. I could only deduce that he had somehow gotten out of the fenced in back yard, or worse, someone had taken him. I was just about to panic when I saw him.





He had climbed aboard Big Duck and was lounging on the back deck. Do you think he was trying to tell me something? 

Actually, this is something I do all the time...just get aboard and let the boat make me feel good, now it seems Big Duck does the same for him?

And it's not the first time he's emulated my boating behavior.
Just Like Me 

Yamalemon

Log of the QT – YAMALEMON Spring ‘93

The wires had been taken off and the little sticky pads had been removed.  I was left alone, lying face up on the narrow paper covered table, waiting for the wooden stick, rubber hammer, cold plastic cone and probing fingers.  This was the epitome of situations that require moving the mind to another location.

I closed my eyes and drifted to the southern end of Core Creek in NC, settling on the ICW in my small outboard amidst a school of playful porpoise.  I left the friendly creatures to stern and slowly headed south, following the day marks in my mind toward Moorhead City.  On an impulse, I had just swung hard to port, entering Gallants Channel toward Beaufort, when the doctor entered the room.  As the door opened, it emitted a subtle grinding noise that made me sit bolt upright on the examining table.

The doctor asked, "Did I startle you?"

"I thought I had run aground on the sand bar," I replied.

He said, "It's probably a good thing you came when you did..."

My EKG was fine, so were my tonsils, reflexes, heart/lungs and well, the rest was OK too.  My annual exam turned out to be very routine.  In explaining my 'grounding' to the doc, I discovered he was a boater too.

I lamented to the doc, that my wife and I lived aboard a sailboat in Beaufort NC for a couple years in the 70's and we really missed life on the water, but I recounted the recent return there in my little 16' outboard cuddy with a couple of guys.  We put in at Sea Gate on Adams Creek, and answered the call of Ocracoke, braving 30+ open miles of a very choppy Pamlico Sound.  The chop was tolerable downwind, but on the return we pounded so bad that it was necessary to hold on with both hands until we were back in the shelter of Adams Creek -- coming down off the plane to ease the pounding was not an option, although it was occasionally dictated to allow beer in and out.  We spent 3 days and 2 nights aboard in the area...there's nothing that compares to getting up early and watching a sunrise while swinging on the hook at Cape Lookout.

My wife and I get up early several days a week too, but not to watch a sunrise.  We go swimming at the "Y".  It's good exercise, but even more important it saves the abuse my ears would take if I stayed in bed while she went.  The alarm goes off at 5:20am.  I drag my butt out of the sack and on the way to the bathroom I make a "U" turn, go to the window and pull the side of the shade back.  I peer out into darkness, but I can faintly see my boat parked next to the house, proudly perched on her trailer, begging me to take her out and get her bottom wet.  It's only my bottom that gets wet that morning, but during the swim I plan the next cruise.

Occasionally my wife will catch me standing next to the boat, or looking at it out the window. I'll be totally mesmerized, contemplating projects that could be done, or gear that would come in handy, or where she'll take me next -- and when.  My wife will say, "Boy, I wish there was something in my life that could give me the pleasure you get from that boat!"

These are few of what should have been many examples of what my boat is to me.  The reality is, I haven't had one totally carefree day of boating since I took delivery of my new boat.  Most of my 'boating' time has been spent looking for a dealer who would/could fix the motor, or waiting to have repairs done or worrying if it would ever be right or finding ways to live with the problem(s) or making excuses to business associates and family for why the motor did not work as it should.

The boat was originally purchased with the idea of putting several 15'11" cuddys (with sleeping accommodations for 2, porta-potty,  fresh water tank and an economical outboard) in charter service in a couple locations in the Carolinas.  Yamaha was chosen to power the boat because dealers who sell Yamaha say Yamaha is far and away the best outboard.  They also point out that Yamaha is #1 in Customer Satisfaction.

As delivered in Aug '95, the motor response was flat for the last 1/3 of the throttle travel and the motor 'rattled' above 2/3's throttle without any change in top end.  I asked the selling dealer about this 5 or 6 times over a 4 month period. He assured that everything was working as it should, even after physically attending to the boat for the post break-in service.  Additionally, during the first 3 months with my brand new boat, the motor developed a miss at the top end and on one trip it began backfiring so badly I was almost stranded 4 hours from port.  I was able to limp back by disconnecting the middle plug wire.  It also began backfiring and dying at idle.

 In January, even though the dealer told me he had lake tested the boat and the motor was turning 5,600rpm @ WOT with the 11" pitch prop he put on, I convinced him that I had to be hitting the 6,200rpm rev limiter @ 2/3's throttle.  Not having a tach, my theory was based on a GPS reading of 22mph @ WOT and Yamaha specs of 22mph max for an 11" pitch.  While he was fixing the motor to run on 3 cylinders again, the dealer installed a tach and a 15" pitch prop.  The first time I took the boat out, it turned 6,000rpm.  I wrote a couple notes to the dealer asking if it was OK to turn 6 grand when the manual said 5,600, but he never responded. I finally bought a 17" pitch myself and brought the WOT R's down to 5,600 with a top speed of over 32mph.  The miss @ WOT and dying at idle continued, but I figured I'd just find another dealer to work out these problems.

WRONG!  I called 3 shops recommended by Yamaha Customer Service in California.  One said, "Bring it in, within 2 weeks we will let you know when we can get to it.  Another said they were very busy and could get to it in October (this was in January) and the last Yamaha shop said they wouldn't look at it at all because they didn't sell it.  I went to the, "We'll let you know in 2 weeks" place, and they didn't sell Yamaha and didn't have any Yamaha stuff on the shelves, so I figured I'd just nurse the motor along until October.

During that 'nursing' period:

1.      The pilot project (for the charter operation) was canceled because I couldn't get the motor to perform for the investors.

2.      The motor died regularly at idle -- this is especially exciting when it dies just before you put it into reverse coming into the dock or trailer.

3.      Low speed performance was very sloppy - did you ever try to pull a skier when just after you slam it open it coughs and almost stops?

4.      I packed up the car and family, drove 300+ miles to the coast, and then couldn't get the motor started to get it off the trailer.

I decided after the tainted vacation that I'd just take the boat in and wait as long as it took.  To make a long story short:

I dealt with Yamaha Customer Service in California 3 times by mail.  They responded only the first time, when I asked about local dealers and specs on WOT and idle.

I talked on the phone with Yamaha Customer Service at least 3 times.  This is a quote from the Yamaha Customer Service Rep in California after I asked him what he'd do if he was in my position of not being able to get a new motor to run correctly, "You're not putting this on me...it's your problem and you'll have to find your own solution."  I asked about talking to someone else, but Yamaha doesn't want that to happen - they make sure you always get the same rep.

I 'worked' with the two Yamaha Regional Sales Managers (Carolina/Virginia and Western) while the boat was at 2 different Yamaha dealers; both dealers said the motor was fixed, but when I took it out, there was little or no difference.

Experiences with a Yamaha Tech and Yamaha dealers on the Internet were fruitless.

I quit receiving the Customer Survey forms that Yamaha evidently bases their boast of being #1 in Customer Satisfaction on.  I guess if they know you aren't happy, they don't send you the survey.

All told,

·        The boat was at 5 different authorized Yamaha repair facilities; with multiple visits to 3 of them.

·        I put over 1,500 miles on the car/trailer going back and forth to authorized Yamaha repair facilities.

·        In 5 months, the boat was in the shop over 100 days.

·        The motor still regularly died at idle and it was still sloppy at slow speeds.

Yamaha deprived me of the pleasures of a spanking new boat, not to mention the payments and interest that I have made on a boat and motor that for every day on the water, spent well over 5 days in the shop.

You might argue that my outboard motor experience is a rare occurrence for a Yamaha owner, but the folks at Boat/US Consumer Protection will not support you – their books contain many similar stories.

I finally decided that life was too short to mess with Yamaha and told the dealer who had the boat that I would stick with Yamaha only if they replaced my motor with a 50HP 4 stroke, and I would even pay the difference.  The dealer countered by saying he had lake tested the boat (again) and it was now fixed correctly.  He admitted that the 17” pitch prop was correct for the boat, not the 15” as he and the Regional Sales Manager had previously insisted was the only one that would work.  The dealer also admitted that even though he had previously advised that the motor needed to come up a hole on the transom because he couldn’t get the rpms up, that the motor was in the right hole and after reworking the carbs it would in fact turn 5,600 with the 17” pitch prop, (under the advisement of Yamaha, he had pulled the tach to test it’s accuracy).

I met the dealer at the lake to take delivery, so he could personally show me his success with the motor.  I asked why it stumbled on acceleration.  He said, “They all do that.”  I asked him why it was still popping occasionally at idle.  He said that was nothing to be concerned about.  I asked him why it was idling so high and he said, “When Yamaha says 850, they really mean 1100.

The Yamaha C60 pushed the  boat to 32mph (via a GPS) at 5,600 rpm with a 17" pitch prop when it was running well (which wasn’t often).  The response was quite crisp even up to the last 1/2" of throttle.  The performance was the same with the boat fully loaded or completely empty.  The best guess at miles per gallon was about 5 1/2.

My new motor is a Honda 50.  I paid more for the Honda because I wanted SERVICE – Boat/US Consumer Protection said there were no outstanding complaints against Honda.  The Honda 50 pushes the same boat to 30 mph (via a GPS) at 6,000 rpm with a 13" pitch prop.  The response with the Honda is slower – she takes longer to get out of the hole, and the Honda is more load sensitive than the 2 stroke.  The Honda gets over 7 1/2 mpg.

The Yamaha was loud, smelly and wild.  It smoked, drank excessively and hung around with the wrong people (those would be the people at authorized Yamaha service facilities who couldn’t/wouldn’t get the motor working properly).  The Yamaha was uncivilized and unpredictable - if this is your kind companion, by all means, indulge.

The Honda is well mannered.  It doesn’t smoke or drink or hang around at repair facilities.  It is quiet, reliable, predictable, dependable and a pleasure to be around.

After my experience with Yamaha, I’ll never again buy anything that has any kind of Yamaha label on it.

To be sure, the Honda wasn’t golden right out of the box, but it didn’t take long to get it that way.  I’d buy another Honda tomorrow.

Nick in Spartanburg, SC 

Marine Navigation - Little to Big Screen

I love my antique Garmin GPSMap 478. It has both autoroute roads and NOAA charts on it. The NOAA part can be supplemented by adding other maps, like Inland Lakes or Fishing Hotspots, to now include all inland waters as well the the NOAA charts. The supplemental marine charts are old, but they're cheap and are plenty good enough for me...I got mine on eBay for $20 each. There are rumors that they can be downloaded for free. If you want current auto or marine charts they're available, but too pricey for me. Anyway, now I have everything on one handheld device with it's own battery and it fits in my shirt pocket.

My wife complained that she never knew where we were while on the boat. I got her an EVO 4G LTE (free compliments of a Sprint upgrade) and downloaded Navionics so she could see real-time info on her phone like position, speed, depth etc.

She suggested that it was still hard to understand what was going on because the screen was so small.

Here's what I did:
I got the largest HDMI flat screen I could find that wouldn't be too big for the boat...Walmart ~$100. I then bought a EVO 4G LTE Wireless Media Link for $60 on eBay.




And a cheap inverter from Walmart so I didn't have to rely on my generator to get 120VAC for the TV and adapter power.
Schumacher XI14 Power Inverter
This one even has a USB port which you will need for the adapter.  

Now we bring up the Navionics program on the phone and do a 3 finger swipe 

and wallah! the phone display appears on the TV.

 

Problem solved.

 

Killer Ozone

My wife makes me take a shower and change clothes when I come in from my shop. There's smells there that saturate my clothes...gasoline, diesel, alcohol (well beer anyway), carb cleaner, exhaust fumes, epoxies and polyesters, cutting fluids, gear oil even a dead bird that got trapped in there when I closed the door...

I don't blame her, but it makes me think twice about going into the shop and enjoying myself...there's always a price to pay and when I come inside the last thing I want to do is take a shower. I was determined to find a way to have a guilt free session in my shop with no repercussions.

A huge fan worked occasionally in the hot summer months -- well sometimes my wife could detect smells, but in the winter it was a shower every time I came back into the house, and the more time I spent in the house, the more I wished I was out in the shop.

This ozone thing came to the surface quickly - not only did I initially believe it was snake oil, that gas was going to destroy a host of materials that I had on hand in the shop. Report after report warned me that not only did ozone have a negative impact on many materials; it could also kill me if I inhaled too much.

So I looked for other options. All the stuff that's perfectly safe and environmentally friendly just doesn't work, whether it's filters or sprays or whatever.

In desperation, I ended up with a Big Blue Ozonator. If I couldn't clean up the obnoxious odor at least I was going to die trying.
Big Blue

I put my Big Blue on a timer, 15 minutes on, three times in 24 hours. Now my shop smells like a spring rain and my wife has no clue that I've been in the shop working. What a blessing.


Look, I don't care whether you believe or not, or if you feel safe using one or not, I'm just sharing that it might be worth a shot, considering that all of the totally "Safe" shit that I tried, didn't work. And if you really think about it, ANYTHING that is really effective has warnings and cautions - we just accept them for the real benefits they provide. Hell, my wife takes a prescription drug that warns there have been deaths associated with it's use -- yet she still takes it. Why? Because it works.

If your not an idiot, ozone may just be the killer you're looking for.

Volvo Penta Aquamatic Outdrive Stand

When I bought my 40 year old boat, I was terrified because the outdrive was no longer supported by Volvo. Turns out my fears were unfounded because the Aquamatic drives are extremely sturdy, but in the meantime I bought a working spare drive on Ebay for $80.

The spare drive was shipped in 2 pieces and I've been kicking those pieces around the shop for 2 years. I finally decided to make a stand for the drive and put the two halves together so they didn't take up so much space. I marked the drive as a reminder that it would need to be resealed if/when it was put into service.

I Googled Aquamatic stands and found some pictures. I decided the easier/simpler the better and I had some plywood lying around so I decided to use wood. I didn't have specific dimensions in mind for the stand, rather they were dictated by scrap wood I had in the shop.

The initial effort was a simple 90° V of 2 X 4's with plywood ends. I then put the feet on the plywood to make it a little sturdier.

This worked well for totally static storing of the drive, but I knew it would get bumped occasionally, so I added another couple 2 X 4's to wedge the skeg so the drive was kept in an upright position.

She was still a little squirrely in the fore and aft orientation...wanting to lean away from the prop shaft,  so I made a collar for the shaft so it couldn't rock up.

Here's what I ended up with:a






a

a

 a

And for those of you who would like to do the same...here's some numbers: