Refrigeration problems

Typical electric compressure with heat exhanger. Note the fill niple.

Almost every cruising boat has a fridge, freezer or air condioners. These are usually electric run small compressor units with air or water cooling.

The most common problem with these units is that over time they loose some of there coolant and if not caught in time stop working all together. The first step is to see of the compressor is running. Sometimes the power supply may be the problem or the cooling fan. If every thing seems to run but the plates are not getting cold the problem almost always is low refrigerant. This is easy to fix with a small coolant refrigerant kit available at most North American hardware stores. They consist out of a can of refrigarent, hose kit and a gauge.

Firts mount the hose kit to the can. Detailed instruction are on the can.
All units have a refill nipple (see picture) and the hose kit couples to it with a common airhose fitting. Than while holding the can up side down release some refrigerant in the system. Do not apply to much and wait a few minutes and see of the plates are getting colder. If only part of the plate get frosty indicating that more is needed. Keep filling slowly till the indicator gauge is reading the right pressure and the plates get frosty over the whole area. Overfilling will result in frozen copper lines from the compressor to the plates.

Note: Check you plates from time to time. If they start getting defrosted on part of the plates refrigerant is getting low.

Rigging cleaning.

This is the dirt coming down while washing.

A small pressure washer is a great tool for this job.

In the tropics the SS rigging turns quickly brown. As SS needs to be clean to avoid pitting and cracking a good practise is to clean it with fresh water. We take the presure washer at it from time to time.

smoke and heat alarms

Two fire alarms in each cabin. A fire at sea is to prevented at all cost.

This is a well designed alarm panel. Monitors heat, smoke and bilgewater alarms.

As we are a small passengers ship we need to comply with the Canadian DOT standards. They state we need a heat detector over every heat source like engine, stove and heater. Also we need smoke detectors. They must installed in all sleeping quarters and be hardwired into the ships wiring system and are connected to a central alarm panel in the pilothouse. We also have the battery operated smoke alarms installed so we are fully backed up in case of a power failure.

Although we are required by law to carry these, no boat should be with out. A fire at sea is not a good thing and the outcome is often end in disaster.

Jabsco cooling pump

Note the damaged vanes on the impeller. This caused water to pass by and reduce pump out put.

A few weeks ago i noticed that the water flow for the wet exhaust cooling was low, at idle. This is normally the first sign of pump wear. The cause can be a variety of things from a worn impeller to a more serious problem like Pump housing wear or a bearing seal failure. Over time these pumps wear and it is a good practice to have a look at them from time to time. We monitor them when the engine is running every few hours. Check for dripping indicating a leaky seal and check the output by feeling the temp of the hose coming of the pump.

Varnishing teak trim etc.

A little wood trim looks great but don't let it get away on you. Uv and weather quickly can reduce you nicest teak into a eyes sore.

The best is to varnish a few time a year and/or to cover your bright work with a sun cover. This is a tall order and most modern boats have very little wood on deck because of this.

We just have enough to be able to knock on wood. (on deck that is)

Stripping down is a lot of work but if you have to, put on a minimum of 7 layers of varnish.

Here Joanne is applying one of many layers of spar varnish using a cheap foam brush.

We use a hard varnish on deck and where there is a lot of wear like cabin soles and stairs etc. For inside we use a Ureathane as it easy to repair.

Refinishing non skid on steel decks.

After a couple years hard use the non skid on steel decks get to smooth for proper traction. Safe footing is a must.

We use interlux perfection a two part polyurethane hard wearing paint.
First clean the area with soap and water to get all dirt off. Then sand with 120 -180 sand paper. Make sure surface is clean of all contaminants in the existing paint. Then clean with interlux cleaning solvent. Tape off the edges and make sure the tape is pushed down hard.

Then prepare the two part paint with the nonskid filler. We went heavy on it as we desire a fairly rough surface. 2 1/4 cups for a 1/4 of a liter or 2 cups per liter. Reduced it with 10% reducer. After induction time (20 minutes) apply with a small roller. Depending on surface area. For larger area use a larger roller. Use a closed foam roller or the epoxy rollers available for these applications. You can use a non expoxy roller but it will fall apart within 10-15 minutes, no problem as long you replace it when it starts to fail. Apply a thin layer and if necessary apply a second coat the next day.

It turned out great.

note: the roller in the picture is not a close cell foam roller and not suitable.

Hatch covers and screens

Most vessels have a number of hatches and portlights. We have 7 lewmar deck hatches in several sizes. As sunlight UV is very destructive we use fabric hatch covers to protect them when we are anchor. These are easy to make onboard and basicly consist of a rectangular piece of cloth with a elastic string in the double sewn corners.

To keep the bugs out we have made screens from very fine nylon mesh material. Again easy to make and very affortable.