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I forgot to paste in the URL for Powerline.
http://www.e-marine-inc.com/products/alternators/catalina.html—
Rich Carter
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I think my reply got lost in cyberspace, so here it is again.
I assume that you’ve seen my notes.
http://www.richardcarter.net/repower/AccessoryMount.htmlYour engine and mine are very similar and probably would use the same bracket assembly. This is a pretty complicated way to add extra charge capacity. I went this route because I needed to add a refrigeration compressor. If you do something like this, contact me before you start cutting steel.
If I just needed extra charging capacity, I probably would have replaced my existing alternator with something bigger. These guys have a 100A alternator and 3-stage regulator package for $735. A 120A nickel-plated unit is $875. I don’t think you can beat that price. I would suggest using at least a 1/2″ belt. I’m pretty sure that my engine came with a 3/8″ belt on the Yanmar original alternator. You could replace the water pump and engine pulley with 1/2 pulleys. If you want a backup, you can take the original alternator and put it in your spare parts box. If you want an independent starter battery, you can put a solenoid switch on your alternator field line using a 6V relay. When your alternator comes up to speed, it closes the 6v relay. This in turn closes the solenoid switch and connects your starter battery to the charging circuit. You can do something similar with a battery combiner that uses diodes, but the solenoid approach is less expensive and doesn’t suff
er fro
m a voltage drop across the diodes.—
Rich Carter
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Patrick
I still have my original owner’s manual, but I don’t remember the page in there. Maybe the previous owner took it out for some reason or perhaps the earlier boats didn’t have it.—
Rich Carter
BlackSheep #47
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Tor
Thanks for the attachment. I don’t think I had one of those diagrams. That’s precisely where I have them attach the slings. The diagram is a much better way to instruct the yard crew.I noticed the warning about tying a length of line between the straps. I had the forward sling slip on me many years ago. No damage was done except for the brown stain in my pants.
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Rich Carter
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Adam
I pull my boat at least once a year, sometimes twice. There should be no reason for the boat to slip in the slings, but you probably know this. I have the yard place the aft sling just aft of the cockpit winches . This puts the sling just forward of the skeg and aft of the propeller. If the hoist is large, you may need to tie the two slings together so that the forward sling doesn’t slide forward. Any competent yard should be able to rig the forward sling, but they’ll need guidance about placement of the aft sling. If the owner gives them bad direction, I would expect them to blame the owner. Some folks put “sling” tags on the tie-rail where the aft sling belongs.—
Rich Carter
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Adam
I don’t understand your question. Are you having some difficulty hauling your boat out of the water or unstepping the mizzen?—
Rich Carter
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Tor
After I sent the detailed directions on how I wrap connections, I realized that I missed a step. I usually wrap the silicon tape with coax seal before the final layer of electrical tape. This is probably a belt-and-suspenders solution, but I don’t want to be climbing my radio tower or mast to repair a corroded connection. Coax seal is a gummy tape that does a great job of sealing anything. You don’t want the stuff directly on a connector however because its like chewing gum. You’ll never get it off.The tape you describe is the same stuff I use. I’ll have to check with Home Depot to see if they sell the stuff cheaper than Radio Shack.
Home Depot also sells a spray-on electrical tape. I forget what its called. I use this stuff on anything that doesn’t lend itself to being wrapped with tape.
Ox-Guard is intended for use with aluminum wire or fittings and isn’t recommended for use on normal connections. It is required on the outside of connections that use aluminum wire such as the service that comes into your power meter from the street. You put a dab on after you’ve connected the wires to keep the aluminum wire from corroding. I use the stuff on aluminum antennas such as the HF beam I have on the top of my radio tower.
If you feel obliged to put something on your radio connections, put a dab of silicon grease on the threads of your PL-259 connectors. Don’t put anything on the center pin.
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Rich Carter
BlackSheep
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Tor
When it comes to sealing connectors, there are probably as many opinions on the subject as there are opinions on anchoring. This is what works for me.You want to seal the connection using a method that keeps the water out, resists sunlight, preserves good connection, and allows easy disassembly. Electrical tape by itself won’t do this because it won’t do any of the above. The most difficult connection to seal is probably an SO-238 -> PL-259 connection. This is the kind of thing that you make at the top of your mast where you connect your VHF radio antenna. The connectors are bulky and they are very sensitive to contamination or corrosion. If you wrap it with electrical tape, adhesive from the tape will find its way into the connector and sunlight will degrade the tape over a few short years. If it stays intact, it will probably keep water out of the connector, but there is no guarantee. I’m sure we’ve all pulled old electrical tape off stuff and found the tape to be brittle on the outside and the adhesive to be soft and runny on the inside. Assuming that you expect to disassemble the thing some day, the best way to
seal
a connector is to wrap it in silicon tape. This is the kind of tape that sticks to itself and not to anything else. Radio Shack used to sell the stuff, but I don’t honestly know if they still do. There is also a brand of rigging tape out there that has the same properties. This stuff forms a continuous seal around the connector and has no adhesive to leak. It isn’t particularly good at holding up to sunlight and I don’t trust the ends to keep water out, so I then wrap the whole thing in electrical tape. The vinyl tape keeps sunlight off the silicone tape and does a good job of keeping water from getting inside. The finished product is easy to remove since there is very little adhesive in contact with the connector and wire and it holds up to sunlight. Slice it with a knife and it will peal right off. I’ve never had a connector wrapped this way fail.If you are sure that you’ll never disassemble the thing, you can use silicone adhesive instead of tape. This provides a waterproof bond. When wrapped with tape, it will last for years. This is what I recommend doing with the ends of the backstay feed line shield.
Rich
BlackSheep—
Rich Carter
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Aaron,
It wasn’t that big a job. I think it took one weekend, or two 6hr days. You need the right tools for the job however. A drill-press, cobalt-steel bits, and a cutoff saw. If you have none of these tools, $500 will pay for them. Somebody else had something similar fabricated, but I can’t remember who. Perhaps he could let us know the cost and effort required to do it that way. After fixing the chainplate as described, there is absolutely no sign of stress. The steel brace behind the plate might be overkill. Aluminum might be easier to work and yet strong enough in this application. If you went with aluminum, you could probably cut the pieces yourself using a sawsall. I think you’d still need a drill-press, but generic steel bits would cut the holes. You could send the chainplate out to a shop to have it cut and drilled. I went with steel because I already failed to fix the problem once. I hate it when I think I fixed something only to find that my repair was inad
equate
.I think I should have sent the chainplate out for electro-polishing after I finished fabricating it. There some sign of minor corrosion.
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Rich Carter
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Lee
I first trired layers of plywood and fiberglass. It wasn’t stiff enough. I ended up using steel. My notes are linked below.
http://www.richardcarter.net/boat/TransomChainPlate/
Rich
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Joe
Here’s a link to my notes.
http://www.richardcarter.net/repower/Feel free to call if you have questions.
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Rich Carter (603) 889-2459
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Paul
The IC-707 was an entry model ICOM. It doesn’t work on the VHF band, but is probably similar in performance to the IC-706. It has a larger case, which would make it easier to read and possibly easier to operate but would take up more room in your nav station. I’ve never owned one, so I can’t comment on specifics.—
Rich Carter
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Tor
By digital transmissions, I mean digital modes such as WEFAX, PACTOR, FSK, and PSK-31. There are free or for-sale computer programs that allow you to send and receive such stuff. To connect your laptop to your HF radio, get one of these. This is an adapter that safely connects your computer and radio. It also comes with free software.
http://www.buxcomm.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2As I’ve mentioned in earlier messages, the ICOM IC-706 is a very good value. At around $400 on ebay, it is one of the least expensive all-mode HF/VHF radios that you can buy. If you want to spend a little more money, go for the IC-706MKIIG. A search on ebay completed items show that they have recently sold from $530 to $690. The later model has better filtering and works on the UHF band. There are other radios out there that are as good or better, but for the marine market, I think that either of these would be the best choice. When I decided to add a second transceiver to my nave station, I went with the original IC-706 because I saw no reason to spend the extra money on the features the more expensive model offers that I would probably never use on the boat. I’ve decided to swap out that IC-706 for a Yaesu FT-897 because I have Yaesu in my truck. I find it awkward to keep switching between the front-panel controls of the Yaesu and the ICOM. It would be easier if I
only
had to deal with one user interface. The Yaesu is similar to the IC-706MKIIG in features and performance.If you want to call me to ask specific questions, please feel free.
Rich Carter (603) 889-2459 (home in NH)
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Rodd
The insulator type that you mention is designed for small antenna tower guy wires. They are used to break up the electrical length of the guy so that it doesn’t resonate at any frequencies the antennas are likely to be used on. Loads typically run a few hundred pounds on these. A backstay can see loads of about 10x what a tower guy wire will see. A triatic stay might see half the load of the backstay, but this is still what I would consider too high a load for a ceramic insulator. If properly installed, the wire loops run through each other. If the insulator fails, ceramic parts will fall on your deck and the triatic would become about 4 inches longer. This probably won’t result in the loss of your rig however.—
Rich Carter
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In theory, you could use the entire rig as an antenna without even removing the grounds, but it would only work on a few very specific frequencies. Under no circumstances would I recommend removing the bonds from your rig. I have an HF whip antenna that I am not satisfied with. I’m switching to an insulated backstay. The insulators are expensive. I don’t have a bill yet, but I expect it to run about $600.
I recommend having a backup antenna in case your lose your mast. There are many possible backups from flying a kite with a wire to adding an inexpensive set of hamSticks. Outbacker even makes an antenna that covers the marine bands. You can buy a set of hamsticks for less than $100. They don’t take any room if you store them under one of the mattresses.
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Rich Carter
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