Hendo's Randall 35 Cray Boat complete rebuild, Perth, Western Australia

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For the bonding wiring, use wire a couple of sizes larger than you think is necessary. You have to minimise voltage drop as the voltage differences are quite small. I don't know exactly what size mine is, but it could well be 6 ga.
 
More time on the electrics today. This time all of the senders were hooked up and the ignition was finalised. Tomorrow I might bleed the injector system and give her a kick in the guts and a bit of a run to make sure all of the gauges and sender units are working correctly. Turned out the brighter light coming out of the oil pressure gauge was due to a bigger bulb so I pulled a couple out and will chase up some red LED’s for them so they match the compass.

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Hendo78 said:
More time on the electrics today. This time all of the senders were hooked up and the ignition was finalised. Tomorrow I might bleed the injector system and give her a kick in the guts and a bit of a run to make sure all of the gauges and sender units are working correctly. Turned out the brighter light coming out of the oil pressure gauge was due to a bigger bulb so I pulled a couple out and will chase up some red LED’s for them so they match the compass.
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Matt, Me Mate! I well recall when you started her up first time. Be careful to have all cooling apparatus and fluids working in top performance. :thumb:
 
Art said:
Volt meter reads 13 +... hooked up to the batts being maintenance charged?

Nice looking array of gauges! :thumb:
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I’ve got a CTEK MXS 25 charger running on a maintenance charge program charging both the house and the starter banks via the VSR Cluster

I’m thinking once the engine is running it’ll be up there as well because the alternator is a Bosch 160amp Longhaul alterntor. I’m told this will pump out some power. Not sure. Hopefully find out tomorrow.
 
Insequent said:
For the bonding wiring, use wire a couple of sizes larger than you think is necessary. You have to minimise voltage drop as the voltage differences are quite small. I don't know exactly what size mine is, but it could well be 6 ga.
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I have some yellow and green cable that is 13mm core the same as I have used for the main power and negative cables. I was going to run that from an anode to a bus then run some thinner 4mm or 5mm core cabling to a couple of fittings. I was going to do maybe two or three of these setups.
 
8 gauge is the usual size for bonding wire, coloured green; you need minimal voltage drop of you can get issues. Look at Calder's excellent book, good bedside reading.
 
Hi all.
Anyone on here have any experience with Faria gauges? Mine are fogging up when the power comes on. At first I thought it was smoke but it’s not. I turn the lights on and it doesn’t make any difference. Looking for suggestions before I rip them out and throw them at the neighbors cat.

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Hendo78 said:
Hi all.
Anyone on here have any experience with Faria gauges? Mine are fogging up when the power comes on. At first I thought it was smoke but it’s not. I turn the lights on and it doesn’t make any difference. Looking for suggestions before I rip them out and throw them at the neighbors cat.

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I have some faria gauge and never experienced this. Looks like some humidity is trapped under the glass and condensate. Do they become hot when power is on?

L
 
Does it seem to be vapor [water or other liquid] or actual smoke? Do they clear up after a while? Were they exposed to direct water contact at any time?


They're guaranteed I hope!


Wish I could be more help...
 
From faria web site:

Most marine instruments have small vents in their cases to allow a way out for moisture that finds its way in. It is possible for moist air to be drawn into the vents when the air inside the gauge cools down after the instrument is turned off. The morning sun can draw this moisture up against the lens, causing fogging. Turning on the instrument with the instrument light "on" will speed up moisture removal. Fogging is not abnormal, nor will it harm your instrument, which is built to withstand the harsh marine environment.
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You may also try blowing air in the gauge vent.

L
 
Well I’ve read numerous websites and threads on foggy gauges. Turns out it’s common. I think it’s sh!t. I looked at liquid filled gauges. I couldn’t really see ones that would suit me. They were more for cars. I looked at some from veethree but they only warrant their product for 2 years from manufacturer and for $800 I’ll take my chances with modifying mine.
Lots of discussion on venting the gauges. Mine are inside so obviously won’t get wet like an open cabin vessel so I’ve opened them up to help expel any heat. I’ve probably shortened their life expectancy but will try and take precautions to offset the salt air with protection spray. They don’t look pretty but no one will see it. If this doesn’t work I’ll install a little fan behind the gauges just like a computer has to get the air flowing. Time will tell eh ...!

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Hendo78 said:
Yeah by not bonding or putting anodes on my boat lol
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This is not a simple situation. Your shaft, prop and rudder will be metal that should have anode protection. And bonded. Your hull may be wood, but with the fairing coatings and paint, wood is not anywhere close to the saltwater! But depending on how you treat the holes in the hull for the fittings, there might be some wood in contact with water and risk of alkali attack. Ideally you would use high quality bronze through hull fittings. And slight oversize holes with epoxy coating then re-drilled to correct size. There is a case to be made for leaving bronze fittings un-bonded. However, if you are using SS through hulls then bonding, and anodes near them, are advisable. The key to all of this is to use a silver/silver-chloride reference electrode to measure the voltages, and to avoid over-protection.

Nigel Calder, or similar people with expertise, should be your guide here. If you can find a corrosion specialist in your area then it could be worthwhile getting them involved.

I would much prefer bronze through-hulls , or even Marelon, to SS ones. If you already have the SS perhaps you can exchange them?
 
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Insequent said:
This is not a simple situation. Your shaft, prop and rudder will be metal that should have anode protection. And bonded. Your hull may be wood, but with the fairing coatings and paint, wood is not anywhere close to the saltwater! But depending on how you treat the holes in the hull for the fittings, there might be some wood in contact with water and risk of alkali attack. Ideally you would use high quality bronze through hull fittings. And slight oversize holes with epoxy coating then re-drilled to correct size. There is a case to be made for leaving bronze fittings un-bonded. However, if you are using SS through hulls then bonding, and anodes near them, are advisable. The key to all of this is to use a silver/silver-chloride reference electrode to measure the voltages, and to avoid over-protection.



Nigel Calder, or similar people with expertise, should be your guide here. If you can find a corrosion specialist in your area then it could be worthwhile getting them involved.
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Hey mate. Argh so confusing lol.

My rudder is bronze, mounted on a stainless shaft going up to a bronze shaft gland fitted to the boat via an oversized hole filled with epoxy.

The prop is bronze fitted to a stainless shaft running through a bronze shaft tube fitted with a stainless dripless shaft seal mounted to the gearbox via a polyflex coupling.

The thruhulls are stainless mounted via an oversized hole filled with epoxy then back blocked and bolted off.

Hope this helps.
 
Well, from what I know (just a bit of reading...) you need some protection, but have to avoid over-protection. Easy enough for the rudder and prop shaft. The tricky items are your through hulls. I think you have insulated them well enough, but they could still become active and get corrosion if sitting in water that doesn't move much. If you will berth where there is a current, or a reasonable amount of water movement, then it could well be ok to have no anode and no bonding for them.
 
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Matt me mate!

Although quite the jumble of recommendations and "past experiences" are coming into light here...

One thing to remember is that there are many [still in very good condition] older wooden boats yet plying the waters. Therefore, there is a magic mix [proportionally speaking] of anode/diode/wood materials. Via research... you will find that mix by the time you splash SOLSTICE! :thumb:

Art :D
 
Matt, re the fogging instruments. I suspect you opening them up will do no real harm - might shorten their life a bit over time, but it's done now anyway.

However, what I suspect is happening is just the normal moist air they are sucking in with the temp differences between day and night where you are, and that at night because they are getting colder than they normally would if the boat was on the water, they are sucking a bit more in at night, then the heat from them being turned on turns that into water vapour, causing the fogging of the still cold cover glass. If they were in use, they would warm up quickly and the fogging would dissipate. I think once launched the issue will be solved as the night temps will be higher, and she'll be probably more closed up to the night air. I have noticed after a cold night out on the water, the fogging appears briefly in the Motorola guages up on the flybridge, but not at the inside helm.

So, basically - stick 'em back in and quit worrying, ok..?
 
Peter B said:
Matt, re the fogging instruments. I suspect you opening them up will do no real harm - might shorten their life a bit over time, but it's done now anyway.

However, what I suspect is happening is just the normal moist air they are sucking in with the temp differences between day and night where you are, and that at night because they are getting colder than they normally would if the boat was on the water, they are sucking a bit more in at night, then the heat from them being turned on turns that into water vapour, causing the fogging of the still cold cover glass. If they were in use, they would warm up quickly and the fogging would dissipate. I think once launched the issue will be solved as the night temps will be higher, and she'll be probably more closed up to the night air. I have noticed after a cold night out on the water, the fogging appears briefly in the Motorola guages up on the flybridge, but not at the inside helm.

So, basically - stick 'em back in and quit worrying, ok..?
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Yea I’ll leave them alone now. Not much left to play with or worry about hahaha.
 
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