She's finally home!! Rickk's 230

[RickK]

Well, I don't have a T-top, so that real estate is not available.  The more I look into this, the more these flexible panels seem to make sense. Easy to store and I could lay a couple over the back bimini - they don't weigh but a pound or 2 max.  I haven't read that they get real hot like the standard panels warn about.  The biggest hurdle is that they are BIG bucks and to double or triple them up to get the current   .  Maybe it's not feasible as a one-day charger, the reading I've done so far keep talking about max current for only 4 hours a day in their calcs .....I'll keep digging.

[John Jones]

Hell, just get a group 29 or even larger house battery and don't worry about charging it until you get home.  I have a 82#, 24V trolling motor on the flats boat and I can fish two days without noticable loss of power.  Group 27 deep cycles from Wal-Mart.

[RickK]

Hell, just get a group 29 or even larger house battery and don't worry about charging it until you get home.  I have a 82#, 24V trolling motor on the flats boat and I can fish two days without noticable loss of power.  Group 27 deep cycles from Wal-Mart.

The battery box in the 230 only handles 2 of the smaller batteries and they barely fit  :cry:

[John Jones]

[GoneFission]

       

When in doubt, cut it out!  

         

[RickK]

Geeeez, .... what a support group :!:  :!:



 

[JimCt]

LED's.  If I recall, your only house load is lighting... unless you leave the electronics powered up.  Maybe consider one of those little Honda generators.

[GoneFission]

I used one of those little Honda generators on my flounder gigging boat.  We had 12V 60W lights on the front and ran the generator in the back to keep the battery charged.  It was surprisingly quiet and never missed a beat.  The metal cover even had good enough paint to stand up to some salt spray and salt air.    

Just make sure you run it in open air, never in an enclosed space!!   :!:

See ya on the water!

[JimCt]

Hondas have a great reputation.

[RickK]

LED's.  If I recall, your only house load is lighting... unless you leave the electronics powered up.  Maybe consider one of those little Honda generators.

Might even end up costing about the same......  

[RickK]

Ok, on to the thru-hull raw water system.

I have one of these scoop/thru-hulls

on the bottom of my boat or one that looks like it anyway.  Do they make these in Nylon?  If not, then I guess my thru-hull is brass already.  If it is brass, AND the seacock is nylon, then the MFR disobeyed the rules of not mixing types of materials.  Still haven't started digging into it physically - just starting to plan and ordering stuff.
If it is brass, I see they are available in 1/2" or 3/4" OD - what is the usual size they'd install as a standard - 1/2"?  Any idea?

[John Jones]

1/2 is probably plenty.
Mixing with non-reactive stuff like nylon is not a problem but I would not want any plastic between the ocean and the seacock.

BTW, BRONZE is what most marine stuff is made of.  Brass has a short life in salt.  Brass fittings and valves from Home Depot are not recommended for marine use.

[LilRichard]

You probably have a 3/4"... that's what I have.  Go over to TA Mahoney and get yourself a bronze ball valve for $30.  Put some teflon tape on the threads and be done with it.

[RickK]

I got into the bilge this weekend and tried to unscrew the plastic ballcock or whatever it was, to replace it as you guys advised me to do and it snapped right off in my hands.  I guess they're not too stout   Had anything been down there to fly around and hit it, not a good day - again, like you guys warned me.
Anyway, I cleaned up everything, wire brushed the bronze thru hull and headed to Boaters World.  I bought a bronze ballvalve, some hose, a few fittings AND a Johnson 70psi washdown pump  8)
Here is what I came up with:

I don't have any other place to mount the pump, so it had to be in the bilge area.  The last few trips had a yield of ZERO water in the bilge so I'm hoping that this construction will not change anything.
While I was in the bilge I mounted the fresh water 3.5gal/min 40psi FLOJET pump on the other side - next comes the fresh water tank in the bilge area.


I didn't want a bunch of hose laying around on the deck so I found a great (IMHO) spot to mount the connector and switch - under the helm seat.




Once connected, the 25ft hose will give us plenty of hose to get to the extreme front and back of the boat without even beginning to stress or max out the coil.


As you can see, out of the way.  The hose will be stored in the compartment under the seat until needed.


I will put a matching setup under the Port helm seat for the fresh water /rinse setup.  Johnson makes a nice control plate - SPST with indicator and fuse, on one plate.  I'd like to find a way to buy another of those for the FLOJET I have for the fresh water side.  Haven't found a way yet.
Any ideas?

[JimCt]

Glad you busted that plastic fitting in the driveway.  Hole in the boat that size will let in a lot of water fast.  Pump location looks good!