Like the author of that article, after installing the Weaver davits I had a minor problem with the tail of my 8.5 foot dinghy dragging when sailing with a fair amount of heel. I had positioned the davits so that when sitting in the dinghy I could slide the the davit hoops on the dinghy right into the clips on the transom. This spring I raised the davit plates about a 4″, re-using the top holes in the transom. I can’t say for sure that this fixed the problem, but it wasn’t much of an issue in the first place. I’m sure this will be good enough. I don’t have a picture on my Picasa site that clearly shows the installed height of the davits. I’ll take a picture of the transom this weekend and post it with my other davit pics.
Last weekend we used the shower for the first time this year. A significant leak quickly developed. Water entered the main salon at the seam between the teak panelling and the sole just to the right of the nav station. The shower pan looks fine. The leak could be coming from the seam between the shower wall and the shower pan or possibly something underneath associated with the shower drain. Does anyone have experience with this kind of leak?
Rick Stewart
s/v Moon Eye
C380, #51
I re-caulked all the shower seams year before last. The trick is to make sure you get all the old silicone off because silicone sealant doesn’t adhere to itself. I removed all the trim, used scribes, sandpaper, and silicone remover, making sure to remove it completely. Thoroughly wiped surfaces with MEK, then re-applied the highest quality silicone sealant I could find, pushing it deeply
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I believe the proper wiring setup is to have the foot switches control a solenoid with low amperage while the solenoid passes the high current to the appropriate motor terminal. It also eliminates the possibility of passing the power to both terminals simultaneously (ie, pressing both foot switches at same time won’t damage anything). I recall seeing the wiring diagram somewhere, perhaps in the Maxwell manual.
Tim
C380 #199
Tim++,
Yes, the most “proper” method is to use the solenoid/switch box, not because the high current is switched by a heavy solenoid/relay, but because it avoids the caution you and I mentioned..actuating both up and down simultaneously. As I also mentioned, I’ve never had this problem in about 12 years of anchoring, at least several times/year.
This could also be accomplished by a separate spdt switch, but unsure if an appropriate one is available.
The solenoid/switch box approach does
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Firstly, let me state that in my past I’ve built and flown 3 full size aircraft, built and maintained several race cars…and am still on this planet to talk about it.
I mention this because what I intend to do requires some switch modifications that I have the ability and resources to accomplish.
Not making these mods and using the switch improperly could have serious consequences.
So, as they say, but not in Latin…Buyer be aware.
As stated earlier I went to boat this morning, and as Warren mentioned in his post, the motor will reverse if power is put to the spare terminal. This was easy to test.
Did an Internet search for heavy duty battery switches, and kept coming back to a battery selection switch as we all have in our boats. Stopped at West on way home and for about $40 picked up a Blue Sea m-Series
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Warren Elliot
C380 #44 My Bride II. Mainsheet Summer 2012
How can this be, you ask?? We’re talking about a pretty simple hunk of metal…so what’s the story??
The story starts back in mid summer last year, when the admiral and I were cruising our C380 in waters just short of Cape Cod, about 100 miles east of our Long Island Sound home port of New Haven, CT. Our mission was to do a bit of visiting/exploring for several days before heading into New Bedford, MA for the Catalina East Coast Rendezvous.
This was, by most standards, a pretty nice day except that, even with the sails set, it unfortunately required mechanical horsepower to attain any reasonable forward speed, particularly as our destination was quite a few miles off. The day passed uneventfully until I decided to do one of my “daily” engine checks. So the admiral took over the
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The replacement sender unit from Ezell is a totally improved design with a rigid ss vertical bar that a magnetic or something floats up and down on. Unlike the current unit with the resistive electronics in the fuel tank, everything is now external to the fuel tank. Much better design, and for a mere $29 well worth the upgrade. The current unit is a flimsy float hinged on a dangling peice of thick wire that connects to a peice of plastic that changes resistance based on how the flimsy wire happens to be dangling. Not too impressive in my fuel tank. I would replace even if its working!
Ezell is at (850) 578-2558, assuming they are the manufacturers of your fuel tank. I have the 26 gal tank, newer boats #179 on have the 34 gal tank. My part number was WEMA-11 Sending Unit (C380- 26 gal). It is a
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I’m sure many know this trick and issue but the boat next to mine didn’t so I thought I would post it.
The symptom started with their Xantrex Inverter having trouble starting. It would simply shut down as soon as it looked like it was beginning to start. The battery monitor on the panel really showed the problem – a DC voltage of 12.2 volts on fully charged batteries – not enough for the Xantrex to work. Though the problem was first recognized as the Xantrex not working, there would ultimately be other problems showing up as well with electronics not working or the engine not starting.
Using a digital volt meter, I could show him that the voltage from the battery terminals was 12.9 volts simply by putting the red lead on the positive terminal and the black on the negative terminal. What was not obvious to the captain
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I installed a ShurFlo Smartsensor 5.7 a few years ago. It is a variable speed pump, runs very quiet, and gives a lot of pressure. No problem with the fittings. Never had a leak with the 60 lb pressure the pump delivers. Only problem is getting used to the idea that a lot of water is going to come out when you open the faucet. Takes some getting used to or you will waste a lot of water. I installed it to eliminate the noisy water pump on an electric head.
