Refurbishing a 1992 Grady White 246G Explorer

[kaelc]

It's not marine grade. Depends where you put it. Good point though, I'm putting it in an enclosed cabin. It would not be a good fit for a boat that doesn't have a cabin you can control temperature and humidity in.

Yeah, I've finally made the determination that in the PNW if it doesn't have an IP rating/designed for marine it shouldn't go on my boat. I try and keep it dry and run the fan/heater but there are weeks were I don't and even nights on the hook where it get's pretty moist inside. When looking at the chinese heaters I determined I didn't want to change them out every 3-4 years, as it looks like guys who moore their boats might have to do as the mother board and connections are not well protected? So tempting with this 1/10th the price. I bought my lowrance NEP-2 used for less than 1/2 the price of new. Raymarine seems even more pricy https://amzn.to/3ZGIogN #ad

 

[CBsqrd]

When I have been diving into the DFF-UHD vs using the onboard for a 1KW, it appears that the processing is different because it is done at the black box. I don't anticipate going deeper than 1000 ft. What I was reading is that the processing handled at the UHD will give better resolution and discrimination. The hope for me, would be out on the shelf in about 600' being able to discriminate between mud and gravel. Finding areas of rocky areas for Lings vs gravel for Halibut, and mud for wasting my time. My old Garmin XSV with a GT51M was useless at these depths. I only knew that I was not fishing any more when I could feel the pipe jig going into the mud as I pulled it out. I have some marks, but the reality is that I don't know why they produce and I feel a bit like some of that style of fishing has been random which which is what I want to fix.

I previously looked into this as I had a DFF1-UHD (i.e. chirp) block box paired with a original TZTouch14 and was wondering if there would be any advantage in keeping the black box if I upgraded to a TZT3 or TZTXL which have built in Chirp sounders. The consensus from Furuno and people who had tested both was that while the settings (gain, TVG, etc.) might be slightly different when optimized, the end results were the same and the block box wasn't needed if you had a built in Chirp sounder.

Bottom discrimination ("BD") is a separate matter. If this is something you want / need, you will need to have at least one CW (i.e. fixed frequency) transducers with a DFF1-UHD+ (which is essentially the built-in sounder in the TZTXL). Note that with the DFF1-UHD+, only one CW transducer can be used in the setup and the returns from that transducer won't be shown (just the BD results).

The other option for BD would be to add a the BBDS1 module with its own dual frequency CW transducer - this should give better results over the above example as the sounder needs to compare returns from two different frequencies to determine bottom hardness, and this is easier with fixed frequencies. While Chirp is great for detail and separation, it falls behind when it comes to determining bottom hardness since it broadcasts over a range.

Note that BD is limited to 100 m / 330' (per Furuno), so would not be applicable in your example.

 

[mgreen5228]

Lots happening and I am bad at posting.

Got the main tank out. It has been I installed prior to the dock and was 1/2" longer the the opening. A saw fixed that. Tank looks good. No pitting. A few rub marks where there were bubbles in the glass in the floor.

The floor is only glasses on the top. Wet plywood. It is coming out and will be replaced.

 

[mgreen5228]

I ordered electronics. All furuno. 16XL. Placing it will be a serious challenge but no sense getting a high resolution system if the screen us the weak link.

Most of the canvas is ok, but all the seams were coming apart so I have been re-sewing all the seams. Replaced about a dozen snaps.

The bolts at the bow pulpit were leaking so it has been removed.

I am worried about the rails leaking. I don't see how to access them yet. Maybe I will get lucky.

 

[Thunder21]

I ordered electronics. All furuno. 16XL. Placing it will be a serious challenge but no sense getting a high resolution system if the screen us the weak link.

Most of the canvas is ok, but all the seams were coming apart so I have been re-sewing all the seams. Replaced about a dozen snaps.

The bolts at the bow pulpit were leaking so it has been removed.

I am worried about the rails leaking. I don't see how to access them yet. Maybe I will get lucky.

Not all rails are through bolted if that’s what you mean. I’ve seen quite a few just screwed. I resealed all of mine last year and it was just screws .

 

[mgreen5228]

After getting the first tank cleaned up, I do see a bit if corrosion. All on the top of the tank.I will get some G-Flex epoxy to repair them. To paint the tanks I am thinking Pettit epoxy. I will pick up some Co osa for the new floor for the tank. I am also seeing that the limber holes need some work. I end up with a small puddle of water that gets trapped and it should be bone dry. These tank holds have zero ventilation. Seems odd. Any ideas on that? The corrosion started small and got bigger as I cleaned it with a wire brush.

 

[salmonkiller01]

After getting the first tank cleaned up, I do see a bit if corrosion. All on the top of the tank.I will get some G-Flex epoxy to repair them. To paint the tanks I am thinking Pettit epoxy. I will pick up some Co osa for the new floor for the tank. I am also seeing that the limber holes need some work. I end up with a small puddle of water that gets trapped and it should be bone dry. These tank holds have zero ventilation. Seems odd. Any ideas on that? The corrosion started small and got bigger as I cleaned it with a wire brush.

Somehow you should measure the depth of the pitting, compare to tank thickness Picture looks deep. Might want to consider replacement.

 

[mgreen5228]

I agree that I need to examine more. That pic is the worst of the main tank. I will chase it and measure when i get to the end. Still using up the gas in the aux so I can pull it and check it out. I am currently optimistic.

I re-attached the pulpit today. Not all the hardware was bedded when I took it apart. I did a proper job with 3m 4000. Still a bit of work to do on the bow joint.

I start semi-retirement next week and will only work part time so should be able to spend more time on this project.