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"Pro" Tips

bigd14

Contributing Partner
Blogs Author
I should have done this a long time ago, but I have been thinking about trying to collect all the little tricks and shortcuts that everyone develops for various boat maintenance activities in one place so that all may benefit. So what do you have?

Here is the first one I have to contribute

Affixing ring terminals to terminal strips

Problem- Fat fingers and stiff wires lead to lost terminal bolts in the bilge
Solution- Use a drill bit driver to hold and tighten bolts

IMG_2071.jpg
 

bigd14

Contributing Partner
Blogs Author
Working with G10

Problem: Cutting and sanding G10 ruins tools and creates clouds of toxic dust
Solution: Cut g10 with a jigsaw using a diamond abrasive blade. Minimal dust and clean cuts.

For sanding and shaping the sharp edges place several strips of 80 grit longboard sandpaper on a flat surface. Work the piece over the sandpaper to smooth sharp edges and achieve final shape. Works also to rough up flat surfaces for epoxying into place. Takes a few seconds and no clouds of dust from electric sander.

IMG_3172.jpg
 
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Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
On #1, right on. Furthermore...

Older boats have slotted screws on the panel; if so, change them all to Phillips, with spares. Phillips-heads stick on a driver much better. They will only stick if the driver matches--and for $6 we should all have a selection of driver bits.

Also, use spade connectors on wires. I know, I know, ring connectors are "best" and "recommended." But spades slip on and off terminal posts, where three wires may reside and rings will drive you nuts. And spades are plenty secure.
 

Frank Langer

1984 Ericson 30+, Nanaimo, BC
Put a dab of grease or Vaseline on a screw head to help it stick to the screwdriver and avoid falling into the bilge. Even more secure, push the screw through a piece of masking tape, bring the tape up to stick on the screwdriver, rip off the tape once the screw is in place, before final tightening. All this works with bolts too!!:)

If you don't want to drill a hole too deep, wrap a piece of tape around the drill bit at the depth you want to drill, and stop drilling when you reach that depth.

If your oil filter wrench is slipping on the filter, wrap a piece of sandpaper around the filter and try again.

If clear or semi-gloss Varnish is too shiny and satin is too dull, a mix of semi - gloss and satin may be just fine, but stir regularly to keep the mix consistent across the whole area. This has worked well on my cabin sole.

Frank
 
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Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
Tip for installing impeller ring-clip

Most of us have decided by now that the ring-clip that goes on the shaft in front of the impeller isn't really required. It seems to work fine without it. However, if something about your personality just demands that the clip be there, here's the trick I learned.

After the impeller is installed, pull it out slightly, maybe a quarter inch at most. The shaft will pull out along with it. Don't go too far, or as we know, the shaft disengages at the spline.

Now you can insert a long flat-blade screwdriver into one of the cavities near the back of the pump. This will hold the shaft and place as you push the impeller deeper onto the shaft--deep enough to install the ring clip. After the ring-clip is on, push the impeller shaft back in as far as it will go.

I also thought about using a long brass wood screw rather than a metal screwdriver to hold the shaft in place.20180610_133959.jpg Maybe less chance of scoring the wall of the shaft.

If you must.....
 

tenders

Innocent Bystander
I’ve found that carbide blades work fine on G10 in my table saw and small battery-powered hand saw. As for dust...yeah, I wear a mask for that.

My “pro tip” is to throw away those crimp butt connectors, both the cheap ones and the expensive ones, along with the crimper, in favor of Posi-Lock Connectors. They’re quite a bit more expensive, but they’re reusable. I bought a bunch of them quite reasonably in red, blue, and yellow flavors on eBay - they are fabulous for all electrical connections, including stereo/speaker connections, that aren’t sitting in water, where there is really no substitute for solder and shrinktube.

This isn’t where mine came from, but it’s clear what they do:
https://www.radiantz.com/Posi-Lock-p/223.htm
 

MMLOGAN

Member III
My favorite new connector

I have only used a dozen of these so far so I can't speak for longevity, but, these are slicker than sliced bread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wh5gM8GM70

I only posted the Summit video for reference. You can find them from various suppliers on Amazon. Google "solder seal wire connectors".

download.jpg
Other pro tip: hang your ignition key on your raw water through hull handle, you will never forget to open or close it.
 

bgary

Advanced Beginner
Blogs Author
definitely no "pro", but... I put a switch in the circuit between the engine panel and the electric fuel pump and mounted it down below near the pump.

fuel switch.jpg

Now when bleeding the fuel system, I can energize the circuit at the switch on deck, but turn the fuel-pump off and on close to where I'm working when opening bleed-valves. Minimizes the amount of contortions and mess.

Haven't tested this yet but, as a bonus, I can put the fuel system into an "anti-theft" mode. My boat doesn't have a key at the panel, just a switch, so anyone could climb onboard and motor away. In theory, I could turn off this switch - which is neatly hidden by the engine-compartment panel in the v-berth - and make it so a boat thief couldn't get very far.

In theory.

Bruce
 
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Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
To lift pump or not to lift, that is the question

definitely no "pro", but... I put a switch in the circuit between the engine panel and the electric fuel pump and mounted it down below near the pump.

View attachment 25128

Now when bleeding the fuel system, I can energize the circuit at the switch on deck, but turn the fuel-pump off and on close to where I'm working when opening bleed-valves. Minimizes the amount of contortions and mess.

Haven't tested this yet but, as a bonus, I can put the fuel system into an "anti-theft" mode. My boat doesn't have a key at the panel, just a switch, so anyone could climb onboard and motor away. In theory, I could turn off this switch - which is neatly hidden by the engine-compartment panel in the v-berth - and make it so a boat thief couldn't get very far.

In theory.

Bruce

Hi Bruce,
One bit of Universal diesel trivia is that our former 3 cylinder engine used to run -sometimes- without the Facit electric lift pump energized, and sometimes it would also start without the electric pump (warm weather).
In 2017 I had that pump wired separately with its own toggle switch to bypass the old high-resistance wiring in the harness and then sometimes would forget to turn on the switch.
I did notice that the engine would mysteriously stop running sometimes when the electric pump was not energized.

Diesels are simple engines, but there are odd little subtleties in their behavior.
:rolleyes:
 

mfield

Member III
Extra long soft shackle

Make up some extra long dyneema soft shackles (from the instructions on animatedknots.com).

These can be used with 2 inch steel rings to make dog-bones for reefing the main. The advantage is that the open shackle can be slipped through a cringle on the luff of the sail, the rings attached, then the shackle closed, all without having to sew anything in place.

Here's picture of another use of a long soft-shackle with a furler cam-block idea stolen from Loren Beach
furler_cam_block.jpgdogbone.jpg
 

toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
I have only used a dozen of these so far so I can't speak for longevity, but, these are slicker than sliced bread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wh5gM8GM70

I only posted the Summit video for reference. You can find them from various suppliers on Amazon. Google "solder seal wire connectors".

View attachment 25127
Other pro tip: hang your ignition key on your raw water through hull handle, you will never forget to open or close it.

Just about an instant sale here. I hate, hate, hate crimp-on butt connectors, which seem to have an extremely high failure rate for me. I note that several Amazon reviewers say they can't get the solder to melt before the heat shrink chars. The video suggests that some special heat gun or adapter is needed. What did you use and how well did it work?
 

toddster

Curator of Broken Parts
Blogs Author
Hi Bruce,
One bit of Universal diesel trivia is that our former 3 cylinder engine used to run -sometimes- without the Facit electric lift pump energized, and sometimes it would also start without the electric pump (warm weather).
In 2017 I had that pump wired separately with its own toggle switch to bypass the old high-resistance wiring in the harness and then sometimes would forget to turn on the switch.
I did notice that the engine would mysteriously stop running sometimes when the electric pump was not energized.

Diesels are simple engines, but there are odd little subtleties in their behavior.
:rolleyes:

The injector pump does create a little suction - often enough to draw fuel with moderate throttle, but not enough to keep it running at idle or low speed. That's one of the symptoms that you need a new lift pump!
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Make up some extra long dyneema soft shackles (from the instructions on animatedknots.com).

These can be used with 2 inch steel rings to make dog-bones for reefing the main. The advantage is that the open shackle can be slipped through a cringle on the luff of the sail, the rings attached, then the shackle closed, all without having to sew anything in place.

Here's picture of another use of a long soft-shackle with a furler cam-block idea stolen from Loren Beach
View attachment 25129View attachment 25130

Not "borrowed" from me, but clever all the same. Those soft shackles are starting to appear on some boats around our little YC.

(There have been so many great ideas presented on this site since Sean rolled it out many years ago that we could almost make a book of them!)
 

e38 owner

Member III
Make up some extra long dyneema soft shackles (from the instructions on animatedknots.com).

These can be used with 2 inch steel rings to make dog-bones for reefing the main. The advantage is that the open shackle can be slipped through a cringle on the luff of the sail, the rings attached, then the shackle closed, all without having to sew anything in place.

Here's picture of another use of a long soft-shackle with a furler cam-block idea stolen from Loren Beach
View attachment 25129View attachment 25130

Works great for jib sheets. Almost eliminates catching on the rig during tacks
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Right. There is no reason to twist the cringle of a stiff mainsail over a reefing horn when a dog bone can be made up in five minutes. Use spare shackles and scrap of line to get the dog bone length right before making up the permanent version.

Better yet (sort of) are reef cringle downhauls, led back to the reefing line brakes on the cabin house. Allows reefing, or shaking out a reef, without ever leaving the cockpit. I was skeptical (more gear, more lines) but now am sold.
 
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L

Leslie Newman

Guest
Regarding those ring connectors....I am in the habit of cutting any existing rings to make them into spade connectors when I am putting them back. I snip just enough from the end of the ring so it will slip onto the screw terminal. Makes life much easier for use fat fingered blokes.
 

bgary

Advanced Beginner
Blogs Author
reef cringle downhauls, led back to the reefing line brakes on the cabin house

I've gone this way... mostly. leech reef-lines lead through the boom, down to the deck and back to the clutches. But for the luff end, I made a downhaul tackle - block with a hook on the top, block with a becket and cam-cleat on the bottom, snap-shackled to the mast partners, with the tail living in the line-bag in the cockpit.

That tackle gives me a 2:1 system for pulling down the luff, and I can do the pulling (or the releasing) from either in the cockpit or at the mast.

In other conditions, that same tackle can be used for a cunningham or, by snapping the snapshackle to a car on the rail, and hooking the hook to the vang fitting on the boom, I have a preventer.


$.02
Bruce
 

MMLOGAN

Member III
Connectors @Toddster

I used a heat gun with a small "funnel" type tip. I did not experience any scorching.

This is the tip I have:

download.jpg
 

nquigley

Sustaining Member
Make up some extra long dyneema soft shackles (from the instructions on animatedknots.com).

These can be used with 2 inch steel rings to make dog-bones for reefing the main. The advantage is that the open shackle can be slipped through a cringle on the luff of the sail, the rings attached, then the shackle closed, all without having to sew anything in place.

Here's picture of another use of a long soft-shackle with a furler cam-block idea stolen from Loren Beach
View attachment 25129View attachment 25130
Reefing point dog bones are a great application for soft shackles. Since dyneema doesn't like sharp bends, you can lessen that issue by attaching the rings to the dyneema loops via luggage-tag loops.
But wear in the dyneena strand where it bends over the ring is a minimal risk in this application because the dog bones are used only temporarily, they carry relatively low loads, and if they fail, it won't cause a serious problem.

But ... speaking of safety ... your other pic shows that it's time to replace your (lower) lifelines - there's obvious corrosion where the wire goes into the swage.
My 33 yo lifelines had the same telltale symptoms: I just replaced all my lifelines with dyneema. It cost about 30% of replacement with wire, but the price difference is probably a wash because one should replace dyneena about every 5 years, compared to wire about every 15 years.
 
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