I ran new bilge pump wires on Saturday . . .

[Ben87]

. . . in the rain, and what a brutal job it was.  What should have been so simple was a total PITA and my hands/fingers are gouged all to he!!.  I disconnected the brown/black wire from the Attwood V500 pump that is at the bottom/rear of the bilge and set to pulling the 4 wires in the bilge to the console after I had crimped a new 16 AWG wire to the black wire.  There were another set of connections in the 3-wire bundle that were crimped and the connections were grunged up to say the least so I cut them to ensure that they would pull to the console with no problem, but there was a problem, I couldn't get the wires to snake through effortlessly as they had been taped together, I have to assume from the factory, and they kept hanging up on the battery cables, throttle/shift and engine harness while coming through, well, through much swearing, I got the whole bundle to come through along with my new wire.  The big pain was the pipe that goes thorough the starboard stringer which houses the bilge hose, once I got the butt connector through that the wire fed through cleanly, so now I have two new wires for the manual bilge pump hook up.  Originally there was a hot wire leading to a Rule Automatic pump, I assume to allow the pump to work when the battery was installed but it was unneccesary now as nothing gets in the bilge when the boat isn't being used so a manual pump is fine.  

Eventually I'm going to add/replace the water pressure guage and run a new line and I need to finish the console frame/door as well as cut a hole in the console for the wired remote for the JBL stereo I've wired up but have yet to install as the 12+inches of rain have put a stop to outside work.  Aside from that, I can't wait to get the boat out again and enjoy the new motor.

[JimCt]

You must have about drowned in that downpour.   And the rain's not over yet.  At least that job is done!

[Ben87]

I hooked up the wires from the bilge pump to the switch last night.  I ran them through the hole/shaft in the stringer where the bilge pump hose routes through to keep the connections up and out of the bilge water as that is what originally killed the connetions in the first place, that and 20 year old wiring did them in, so the Attwood V500 works as well as the BEP Marine 6 position switch panel.  

I cut a hole in the upper left hand portion of the console for the JBL wired remote for the stereo last night and I'm in the 3-step process of refinishing the teak on the boat, the forward separator for the bow storage, the 4 rod holder racks, the cupholders and the console door and frame, I sanded the pieces last night and put the first step of teak cleaner on, which is sodium hydroxide and sodium hypochlorite/a base, and tonight I'll sand the parts on the boat/everything but the console frame and door again as I didn't do a great job on them last night, then I'll hit them with the teak brightener which contains oxalic acid, then let dry and tommorow will hit it all with the teak oil to finish it all off.  

I installed two Moeller battery trays Monday night and they are nice, for $10 apiece, they were a cinch to screw down, 4 big self tappers and they were in, I'm thinking of cutting a piece of computer mouse pad to line the bottoms, any concerns with that?, I'm thinking it would ease the vibration on the batteries.  

Once I finish the teak on the console door and frame I will reinstall it as I have to drill 2 or 3 more new holes in the top of the frame as the old holes pulled out from all the vibration/knocking/jostling over the years, then I can put the stereo in, secure all the wiring and be done, finally!

All I'll have left to do is to solder the trailer wires instead of the cheesy wire nut/push-through wire connectors and twist and electrical tape job I had done, then I can enjoy the summer and run the new Optimax in.

[Ben87]

Sanded the teak and after hitting it with the teak cleaner, then brightener, I put the oil on and now it has that nice orangey look to it, not the gray/ash look it had for so long.

I got the console frame in along with the radio tray but the stereo is a tight fit and my access to the panel wiring is not as good as it was, but I can get to the connections, if I ever have to by unscrewing it from up top.  

I have to secure the wires under the console with zip-ties and screw them to either the stereo tray or the frame of the console.  

I have to silicone all the accessories, 12V plug, stereo remote, ignition switch, kill/safety switch, throttle/shift/binnacle and helm/steering, then clean everything up and I should be done with this years rebuild and can look forward to just finally enjoying the boat.

[Ben87]

Finally, my quasi-resoration is complete and I was able to get the chance to take the 222 out again for only the second time last night.  Close to 60 gallons of gas and 4 persons with almost no gear, the motor did well.  The new Optimax 150 with about 3 hours on it now and about 32 miles is just so sweet.  All systems are running fine, lights, bilge, stereo, batteries and connections have all been gone over and are all secure.  I put enough of the Quicksilver Quickleen for the first tank of gas to ensure a better burn, heck, at anywhere from $12-15 for 12 ounces, the stuff had better be good.  

I can't say enough how nice it is to have a key that when turned, fires up a motor just like that, after having the 1987 Merc with all it's idiosyncracies over the years, being able to just touch they key and go is truly special for me and something I will never take for granted.  

The last thing I'm definitely going to do is install a two battery switch to be able to charge both at the same time and manage two batteries instead of hooking one up and leaving the other to rest, a real pain to keep switching back and forth to.  

Overall, I'm done and was happy to have been able to get out again as it was a nice night out last night and the boat and motor went so very well.  Glad I could share.

[RickK]

Glad to hear that your sweat equity has paid off in enjoyment.  That's the sick stuff we put ourselves through.
As for the batteries, here is what I do.

If you look over to the far side of the boat, beside the battery, you see a little blueish box that I mounted onto the side of the liner wall.  This is a 2 bank battery charger - boaters world $100.  This monitors, conditions and charges both batteries.  You can also see a hint of a 2 battery switch on the transom, left over from earlier days when I did things like you, but only have one battery hooked up now - the cranking battery.  The other battery is for the trolling motor.  I hook the charger up at the house when I get back and leave it pugged in until the next time I take the boat out - no more worries of if the batteries are charged or not.

[Ben87]

Thanks so much for sharing that, I like the set up.  

Having to take the time now to disconnect the wires from the terminals, then taking off the two knobs for each battery, then sliding them into each tray, then hooking everything back up is going to get old for me real quick so I'm going to go with the new switch and run new cables.  

The batteries under the console are side by side so I won't need to buy longer cables as they are kind of pricey at around $20+ for 18"!!!, however, the switch isn't too bad at under $50, and having two batteries is the only way to go.

I had run a 650CCA battery this past weekend and this is after all the talk I've heard about the "need" to run a 1000CCA battery, why is it that I didn't have a single issue with starting and running on the 650CCA?