Gotta love those PO's...

[HeadMistress]

Holy crap...!!!!

I never met him...member on another forum sent me that photo several years ago. But there are two things about him that I'd bet real money are true: 1. He's an engineer. 2. He's single. I shudder to think what he could do to a boat if he ever got his hands on microprocessor controls.


--Peggie

 

[FoxtrotCharlie]

I will point no fingers, for one day I will be a PO also

 

[hmason]

My first GB, a 1984 36' which I purchased in 1997, I never found anything wrong.
My current GB, a 1996 46' which I purchased in 2012, I have found nothing wrong.

 

[Bigsfish]

Howard

I want to sell you my boat!

 

[Mako]

The toilet sits on the holding tank. He was very proud of it.

That's fantastics, except he should have installed the world's greatest marine head... an RV head!

 

[jimisbell]

That looks pretty bad, but if it works... One thing for sure, you'll know right away if any of the hoses are exuding odors!

I really like it. Its neat and accessible.

 

[psneeld]

I will point no fingers, for one day I will be a PO also

Exactly.....

 

[FF]

"That's fantastics, except he should have installed the world's greatest marine head... an RV head!"

Using 1/5 to 1/10 the flush water an RV head does not require pumping as often , how would the PO keep up the economy of pump out stations?

 

[diver dave]

The PO of my boat was 88 years old and suffering dementia. Not a single system worked correctly and many didn’t work at all. ...

gotta get those types out of boating and into politics where they belong.

 

[Cigatoo]

gotta get those types out of boating and into politics where they belong.

 

[Shrew]

PO decided to ensure there were no leaks, he wrapped the threads of all the pencil zincs for the Yanmar with teflon tape. He probably prided himself in how good his zincs looked every time he changed them.

PO solved his pressure pump problem by removing the pump pre-filter.

I bought a boat that was missing a screen in one of the portlights. We also noticed there was a small tear in another screen. We went to replace the torn screen and found the missing screen. The solution having a hole in screen #1 is remove and install screen #2 on top of screen #1 to fix the hole (Just don't open portlight #2 anymore).

 

[psneeld]

I really wonder just how many TF boats are fully ABYC COMPARABLE (not necessary fully compliant). Or whose ???? Is really the best or perfect despite manufacturers recommendations or last weeks best practices.

In my travels I hear a lot of talk, yet the devil is in n the details......

We will all be POs....just thinking ok f the flash house saying.....

 

[High Wire]

We will all be POs....just thinking ok f the flash house saying.....

Decipher please!

 

[psneeld]

I wish I knew....dang phone auto correct...

Just remembered... the old saying about "living in glass houses"....

 

[Slider70]

My worst experiences on boats I have owned was usually wiring. Most I had to re-wire and knew this on purchase so adjusted the price to reflect this. Worst wiring was a bilge pump installed without a fuse. Just before I purchased the boat the PO had a fire that smoldered and blackened the inside of the cabin but went out when the very small gauge wire he used melted apart. Lucky he didn't use the proper sized wire. He re-wired in a new pump again without a fuse!

On the wood working side I bought a woody that the PO had done work inside the house securing the wood revisions with dry wall screws. Not only did they rust but were a major challenge to get back out to replace.

Unfortunately, I suspect buyers of my previously owned boats have had something nasty to say about me too?

 

[AusCan]

I was lucky. My 35 year old boat was mostly original without any "upgrades" done other than a 34 year old cassette deck/radio and fishfinder installed. Thanks guys1

It will be me that future owners will be cussing.

 

[BrianSmith]

(Wow, I thought mine would take the cake, but after reading all the other posts, I don't think it'll even get Honorable Mention.)

PO wanted to be able to use the main engine raw water pump as an emergency bilge pump, so he installed this valve. Problem is, it was installed backwards, so that if you ever actually moved the lever to the opposite position, it would continue pumping water in from the ocean - right into the bilge!

 

[geoleo]

So after reading thousands of posts so far on Trawler Forum, a fairly common theme seems to be "the PO strikes again"... with some sort of ridiculous prior installation in all manner of areas of the boat.

What are some of the crazy things you've experienced that have been done by prior owners... and what did you have to do to rectify them...???

Posts with PHOTOS get extra credit...!!!

My boats PO screwed the bonding cable from the shaft log into the nearby FG muffler!

 

[gator749]

I once looked at a nice President 41 that was about four years old at the time. The owner had installed quality state of the art electronics himself. I never got around to looking at the wiring as all the fastening to the boat was carried out with vast amounts of duct tape....

 

[Comodave]

Isn’t that what duct tape is for???

 

[jimisbell]

Normally, having been a PO at least 5 tomes, I would not comment on POs, but I must make ONE exception. Since the modification was definitely ILLEGAL.


On aquiring the Millennium Falcon, a steel hulled Bruce Roberts 44 Center Cockpit Ketch, I started doing a thorough going over. I thought I had done it all. Then one day I was on the bow looking over the side when my wife flushed the toilet, ElectroSan. What I saw coming out the side of the hull was OBVIOUSLY untreated sewage. But it seemed, from inside, to be working fine.I knew something was wrong with the ElectroSan so I removed it to take it home for R & R. Not an easy or fun project. I dont mind....well I really do....messing around in my own crap, but messing around in some0one elses is NO FUN.
Got it home and in the driveway with a running garden hose nearby, I opened it up. Much to my surprise, there was nothing inside but a bunch of styrofoam with a straight PVC pipe from the input to the output!!!! All the motors, sans shafts and impellers, were working fine. But they were not doing ANYTHING. It was enough to satisfy the USCG but was doing nothing to the sewage. $700 later and a new ElectroSan...........

 

[Archhibb]

Originally posted from one of our resident mechanic gurus over on DBF...

"So yesterday I got sent down to an outboard powered boat to troubleshoot a fuel gauge that was inop. After some fault tracing I determined that the tank itself was not grounded. Normally to justify my findings, I would have grounded the tank with a jumper wire to test my diagnosis. It is possibly a life saving decision that I skipped that step and decided to search for a missing ground by the batteries or ground bus. Because when I took the covers off of the battery’s I found green 6AWG wire connected to the positive side of one of the batteries. I was suspect of it so I shut the battery switch off and checked what that went to. Sure enough it went to the aluminum fuel tank with 100 gallons of gasoline in it. So in short, there was 12 volts connected directly to the gas tank. Very strong possibility that if I had grounded the tank to test my diagnosis...Boom."

 

[Jonboy108]

Not the worst, but weird nonetheless

Bought a 16 year old Nordic Tug and found after having cleaned the bilge, finding a strange odiferous liquid in there. The source was an open tee fitting that was plumbed into the holding tank vent line. The fitting was carefully glued into the line but provided a neat way for holding tank aromas and liquids to flow into the bilge.

 

[Flybull]

Originally posted from one of our resident mechanic gurus over on DBF...

"So yesterday I got sent down to an outboard powered boat to troubleshoot a fuel gauge that was inop. After some fault tracing I determined that the tank itself was not grounded. Normally to justify my findings, I would have grounded the tank with a jumper wire to test my diagnosis. It is possibly a life saving decision that I skipped that step and decided to search for a missing ground by the batteries or ground bus. Because when I took the covers off of the battery’s I found green 6AWG wire connected to the positive side of one of the batteries. I was suspect of it so I shut the battery switch off and checked what that went to. Sure enough it went to the aluminum fuel tank with 100 gallons of gasoline in it. So in short, there was 12 volts connected directly to the gas tank. Very strong possibility that if I had grounded the tank to test my diagnosis...Boom."

Holy Crap...!!!

 

[hmason]

Howard

I want to sell you my boat!

I wish I could afford to buy your boat. I will be listing Magic for sale soon and looking to move up but your boat is out of my league. I doubt the new owner will find anything wrong with Magic!

 

[Commander Nomad]

So you have an existing wire run you need to tap into, in the middle of the wire run.

Option 1: cut the wire, install ring terminals on both sides, install a terminal block, and add your wire.

Option 2: not preferred, but not too bad, use one of those 3 way crimp terminals.

Option 3: perhaps a copper split bolt to add the wire to with a wad if electrical tape to hopefully keep corrosion at Bay.

PO's option:. Don't cut the existing wire, just strip a couple inches of insulation out of the middle of the wire run, strip your add on wire, wrap the new wire around the existing, and add a booger of solder to hold it in place.

This was behind a bulkhead by the way, neither hot nor ground taps we're insulated.

 

[Lou_tribal]

So you have an existing wire run you need to tap into, in the middle of the wire run.

Option 1: cut the wire, install ring terminals on both sides, install a terminal block, and add your wire.

Option 2: not preferred, but not too bad, use one of those 3 way crimp terminals.

Option 3: perhaps a copper split bolt to add the wire to with a wad if electrical tape to hopefully keep corrosion at Bay.

PO's option:. Don't cut the existing wire, just strip a couple inches of insulation out of the middle of the wire run, strip your add on wire, wrap the new wire around the existing, and add a booger of solder to hold it in place.

This was behind a bulkhead by the way, neither hot nor ground taps we're insulated.

Was your PO the same as mine? Lol

L

 

[fractalphreak]

So you have an existing wire run you need to tap into, in the middle of the wire run.

PO's option:. Don't cut the existing wire, just strip a couple inches of insulation out of the middle of the wire run, strip your add on wire, wrap the new wire around the existing, and add a booger of solder to hold it in place.

This was behind a bulkhead by the way, neither hot nor ground taps we're insulated.

My last boat (1977 Reinell B307) had that in the factory wiring loom. It was mostly for the overhead lighting, and all of it hidden behind ceiling panels.

 

[Andrew Diligent]

Diligent “shocker”

Our 86 MT 34 (Diligent) passed a survey with flying colors (and shouldn’t have) our first trip was delivery run to Rockland ME from Portsmouth NH. My son, an audio engineer, always has a pen like AC electrical sniffer in his pocket to test speakers on stage. Just as we were about to leave he checked the boat speakers (metal cases 3 pair) they all rang hot for 110v, so did the faucet and taps in the galley!!!, ???.

We were unplugged and ready to cruise. The PO kept the boat on a mooring, and used it infrequently, his major brand inverter had been self installed and when on backfed 110 through poor grounds.

I rewired (every inch, 2-40 gal trash cans. We have 1, 110 outlet forward cabin, for tools only at the doc, no genset no inverter. Releying on 12 v only, we can lie a anchor in the fog for for 2 weeks of quiet comfort.

 

[Mako]

"Gotta love those PO's"... how about a thread on "Gotta love the current owner"?

So no one here has ever made a crappy, temporary fix, perhaps something hidden deep, and not divulged everything to the new buyer????

BullS*t. We're all human. So I'll admit that I have, but it was nothing critical or life-threatening.

So to the original poster Flybull, I admit this is not only an amusing thread, but also helpful as I have learned a few things to keep my eyes open for. But perhaps the title or premise should have been changed.