Sven
Seglare
Replaced the Suunto bulkhead compass on Saturday.
Remind myself to always bring the cordless drill charger !!
Anyway, the fun part was the discovery phase. The light in the old compass never worked (while we have had it). There have only been a couple of cases when that was a pain, but I wanted to fix it so we started testing the switch and the wire ... wondering if it was still servicable jammed between the bulkhead and the cockpit liner. Surprise, the wire was ok, but it terminated in the plug that used to go to the knot-meter impeller !? I just can't imagine how it could have ended up with the compass LED at one end and the impeller at the other. Maybe a PO used the impeller as a generator
That wasn't the real fun of the day. The real fun was when I saw the red battery-cable-like cable end hanging unattached in midair, about 4-6 inches from the suspended grounding post. What is it doing there and how come the other end of the cable looks like it is attached to the back of the guest switch ?
Another mystery ! The cable was _live_, just hanging there. A much thinner wire (12 Ga ?) was attached in parallel to the switch, but terminated at the back of the electrical panel as the heavy one should have been. I have no idea whatsoever why anyone would have attached a second positive lead to connect the switch to the electrical panel, unhooking one end of the heavy ga. cable. It just doesn't compute, the cable was the right length, looks to be in good condition and was easily hooked back up.
I'm amazed that the cable and the suspended grounding post never met up under way ... that would have been quite a show !
Since I'd already started collecting new terminal blocks and heavy wire to redo them all I guess I ought to proceed. Who knows what other horrors might be lurking. I'm still trying to figure out how I could have missed the problem in the first place, it's not as if I never crawl down in the lazarette to work on stuff.
Phew !
-Sven
Remind myself to always bring the cordless drill charger !!
Anyway, the fun part was the discovery phase. The light in the old compass never worked (while we have had it). There have only been a couple of cases when that was a pain, but I wanted to fix it so we started testing the switch and the wire ... wondering if it was still servicable jammed between the bulkhead and the cockpit liner. Surprise, the wire was ok, but it terminated in the plug that used to go to the knot-meter impeller !? I just can't imagine how it could have ended up with the compass LED at one end and the impeller at the other. Maybe a PO used the impeller as a generator
That wasn't the real fun of the day. The real fun was when I saw the red battery-cable-like cable end hanging unattached in midair, about 4-6 inches from the suspended grounding post. What is it doing there and how come the other end of the cable looks like it is attached to the back of the guest switch ?
Another mystery ! The cable was _live_, just hanging there. A much thinner wire (12 Ga ?) was attached in parallel to the switch, but terminated at the back of the electrical panel as the heavy one should have been. I have no idea whatsoever why anyone would have attached a second positive lead to connect the switch to the electrical panel, unhooking one end of the heavy ga. cable. It just doesn't compute, the cable was the right length, looks to be in good condition and was easily hooked back up.
I'm amazed that the cable and the suspended grounding post never met up under way ... that would have been quite a show !
Since I'd already started collecting new terminal blocks and heavy wire to redo them all I guess I ought to proceed. Who knows what other horrors might be lurking. I'm still trying to figure out how I could have missed the problem in the first place, it's not as if I never crawl down in the lazarette to work on stuff.
Phew !
-Sven
