Should have this on the preventative maint. list - wonder what is next?

[bshanafelt]

As my boat is now 26 years old and 4000 hrs, I am discovering there are systems that need to be replaced that were not on my radar until failure occurred.

Fail #1
As an example, last season my windlass crapped out around day 40 of a 90 day cruise. This caused the planned cruise to be altered to remove and replace the windlass. It is hard to fault the windlass, as it had previously performed well up to day that the funny noises started to happen. The failure was not only worn brushes on the motor, but the gearbox had also begun to fail. In my case the windlass is deckmounted horizontal and to do an indepth inspection means significant work to dismount, split the case and tear the unit down to really find out what the condition of things are. Goes without saying that this level of inspection was not on my to-do list and I feel fortunate to have gotten my $$ worth from the windlass.
I ended up replacing with a more modern and certainly more robust unit and was able to continue the cruise although truncated. The new unit Lewmar H3 is far better in design for inspection as the cover can be removed without pulling the unit off the deck, so should be able to be in front of a catastrophic failure going forward.

Fail #2
Additionally, the large frame 200A alternator, which was new in 2008, also failed a week or so after the windlass. Good news is I carry a spare alternator so swapped it in. When I returned from the cruise I took the failed alternator in for a rebuild and it needed a thorough rebuild that included diodes, bearings, etc.
All to say that it may make sense to pull the alternator and send it in for service on a 10-12 year schedule.

Fail #3
This season's cruise had another of those failures that was not anticipated. The good news was the failure happened within 10 feet of the dock. This failure was the breaking of the throttle control cable to the engine. The break occurred inside the sheathing and was not inspectable. There was no indication this was going to break, instead all was as normal until it suddenly wasn't.
As mentioned it was a fairly minor inconvenience to dock the boat and replace the cable, with a West Marine a couple of blocks away from the marina. At the end of the cruise, I went ahead and replaced both cables (throttle and gear) to hopefully not have to worry about a failure here for a while - since I had things torn up some for the replacement cables, I also installed spares in the chase to make it a quicker job when the new ones wear out.




My point in this post is to get us thinking about parts and systems which are getting long in the tooth, still function but may be pushing the envelope on life cycle.

Here are some of the other items I have since R & R'd with this in mind:

Autopilot hydraulic pump
Main engine starter and solenoid
Main heat exchanger on engine
heat exchanger on gear
Fresh water domestic pump
Shower sump pump
Some electronics; chart plotter, A/P control head

 

[ABfish]

Someone on TF used the term "prophylactic replacement", meaning you're replacing functioning equipment that's near the end of it's expected service life.

I've adopted that strategy myself, limited only by budget. I prioritize based on whether the item would end or seriously impact a trip. And not surprisingly, my boat has become more reliable.

 

[Greg QS]

Some years are good some not so much for maintenance.
Some of the items you discussed can run for years with no issues, electronics, pumps etcs. I use the rule of "you don't buy one sneaker" So with that said. 1 cable breaks . I would replace all. Extra know parts that tend to go bad , like starter solenoid and starter , should be kept on hand and swapped out at first sign of trouble. This is where regular maintenance and inspection are key, I try to check as many as possible and swap out or repair ( general maintenance) as needed. Prolonging these items just creates failures. You can never prevent all but , prevention is gold in minimizing sudden failures. Nothing ever fails at an opportune time.
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