bigbruce
Crew Member
Yes I did. Will be cutting it down to 24”. Also went with the Curt commercial Duty hitch. Took about 45 minutes to take the old hitch off and bolt the new one on. No drilling required.
What Did You Do To Your Boat This Week?
- Thread starter Stizzla
- Start date
BigBird007
Crew Member
TPU, correct
Last edited:
Clint r
Well-Known Member
Yesterday we took it out for its last trip of 2023. No other boats on Mabel lk so had the whole lake to ourselves. One fish to the boat, about a 3lb Dolly. No snow on the road into the launch and launch was bare and dry. Looking grim for next years fire season as the road is usually a foot under snow. Sometimes it’s impassable at this time of year. 
Newf
Crew Member
Installing a USB port/voltmeter combo and I have a question since I'm electrically challenged. The little unit only comes with 2ft of wire and terminals so is it OK to tap into wires close to where I want to install it (such as the wiper feed) or should I extend the wires and tie into a busbar which is further away or does it have to go back to the battery for some reason? I'm thinking it only needs a supply of power from anywhere to work but what's best for the intended purpose?
Thanks.
Thanks.
tannerc
Well-Known Member
Your fuse block up front would be your best bet.
zurk
Well-Known Member
busbar.
Do you mind sharing what you used? I’ve got deck lighting that needs replacing
TheHurtLocker
Well-Known Member
I purchased these a couple of years ago. They’re really good.
TritonLED 20-Inch Waterproof HIGH OUTPUT
Bring out the best features of your yacht with the TritonLED 20-Inch Waterproof SeaStrip, which produces 300 lumens per strip. Get yours here at Apex Lighting!
www.apexlighting.com
Thanks!I purchased these a couple of years ago. They’re really good.
TritonLED 20-Inch Waterproof HIGH OUTPUT
Bring out the best features of your yacht with the TritonLED 20-Inch Waterproof SeaStrip, which produces 300 lumens per strip. Get yours here at Apex Lighting!
Our boat was built and rigged on the island, and we had had in June a Vancouver firm send out a tech (T1) t0 install a Victron Battery Monitor. We did this because we were were mystified that on certain occasions when we came back to the boat the batteries were not charged
Just before we left on our two week summer trip up the coast into Desolation Sound , and then over to the island our radar/depth sounder and chart plotter all failed.
So we called the same company to send us out a tech (T1) out who discovered that the cable that connected things together had been pinched somehow. Note the pinch was in a panel that had not been disturbed by the person who installed the meter.
I call this next service call the dead Furuno visit. T1 told me that we had been sold 10 year old product and that our system pieces were incompatible . The tech said he was able to patch the cable and it appeared that things would work for our trip. He could patch but not replace the cable because they were no longer available from Furuno. This both surprised and perturbed me.
Of course the patch failed in a matter of a few hours.
So we had to change our trip plans a bit (no anchoring , no trap setting, no fishing with downriggers etc.) but we still had a great trip. The writings of Bjorn Kjellstrom had taught me well years ago when I was a wilderness canoe trip guide so off we went with charts and compass. Having had our compass recently swung I was confident that North was North, etc. etc.
One of the other things I had asked T1 to do in June was draw a schematic of the boat for me.
I followed up a few times and finally we received the Schematic in, I think, early September. T1 was too busy to finish this drawing so it was given to a new person to finish. Even with just high school electrical shop I thought wtf is this when I saw the drawing..
When we got home I was pretty busy as I was retiring on Sept 6th, and I got back to dealing with the electronics issue October after a 3 week road trip including being in LA for Eric Clapton's 2 day Crossroads Guitar Festival. It was FA.
Now I was perplexed by the issues of incompatibility and that our units had somehow failed. So, now retired, I called Furuno and they were as surprised as I was that the units were incompatible and that I had been sold NOS (new old stock) .
They asked me to ship my radar dome and the chart plotter to them for inspection. Now Furuno's North American headquarters is in Camus, WA so I asked if I could just drive the stuff down and wait for it to be looked at. Not a problem I was told.
I had sent the schematic to a pal who is a P. Eng and very boat handy. He called for a meeting on the boat with his well used fluke meter. It was on this day that we took the radar dome and chart plotter off the boat for my trip to Furuno
I spent the night in Camus, had excellent halibut fritters at the Puffin Cafe in the Marina. (A nice little family owned restaurant).
From the Puffin Cafe web site:
"Welcome to the Puffin Cafe! A taste of the tropics! Now serving caribbean cusine, pirate cooking and spirits in a unique waterfront location with river and mountain views, a cozy fireplace, outdoor seating and boat docking in a casual atmosphere! Floating on the Columbia River in the Marina at the Port of Camas-Washougal."
Visit their web site: http://www.puffincafe.com/
......and then went back to Furuno the next morning about 10.
I got a bit of a warehouse/test centre tour and it is about Two Costco's in size with higher racking.
Beautiful building in a high tech Business park
First of all my equipment isn't 10 years old , and the Radar Dome and Screen are 100% compatible. Furuno also had the cable in stock (more than one)
When I got home I called the local firm and requested a meeting .
I had a 45 year career in meetings, in bargaining , correcting insurance company oversights and errors, and I have to admit I often have lunch with lawyers. I am also 6'4' and prefer meeting where people are sitting down, to lessen the height thing.
I have an idea about how to keep meeting dynamics from getting off track
Be prepared
Be Nice
Have a reasonable solution prepared.
The meeting went well, there was some surprise when I mentioned my road trip to Furuno and that the units were not old stock, and were in fact compatible.
We agreed that a different electrician would be sent out. When it was mentioned that the cable was no longer available I said that they had them in stock and my pal at Furuno had told me if there was a problem with the shop getting anything that I was to call him.
Once the cable arrived the new tech T2, another nice guy, came to the boat. Firstly he had to reinstall the dome and the chart plotter and then before he started pulling the new cable he checked what had been done when T1 repaired the cable.
T2 and I soon learned after T2 called T1 that T1 didn't have the right connectors with him that day so he patched it together as best he could.
See photo
T2 had the correct connectors and said to me, "I recommend that I just clean this up and it will be good as new".
Midway through the patch he called T1 to explain that this particular cabling had some coloured wires that also needed to be connected and they were done either backwards or missed in the original repair. (I wasn't hearing both sides of the conversation).Once his repair was done he showed it to me and what he had done was to put male and female plugs on the cable where it had been cut and patched. It now looked factory.
T2 still had time to figure out why we were having battery charging issues (see my two of my old battery switches for sale in the flea market along with the three new ones I bought that were the wrong dimensional size) .
T2 installed the correct sized switches that were unavailable during the pandemic. T2 also showed me the iPhone app to get more information from the Victron Battery Monitor.
He looked at the way a panel was wired when the boat was built as per Blue Sea and added in a new cable and things are now working correctly on the battery charging front.
T2 then made notes and sketches in order to prepare a new schematic for the batteries /engines/ dash/shore power and I expect that in a week or two.
So things take time to get things right and how the cable was pinched is a mystery and I can't worry about it.
Things are working now, the battery charging issue has been solved and we have got the bottom washing booked for late March
Just before we left on our two week summer trip up the coast into Desolation Sound , and then over to the island our radar/depth sounder and chart plotter all failed.
So we called the same company to send us out a tech (T1) out who discovered that the cable that connected things together had been pinched somehow. Note the pinch was in a panel that had not been disturbed by the person who installed the meter.
I call this next service call the dead Furuno visit. T1 told me that we had been sold 10 year old product and that our system pieces were incompatible . The tech said he was able to patch the cable and it appeared that things would work for our trip. He could patch but not replace the cable because they were no longer available from Furuno. This both surprised and perturbed me.
Of course the patch failed in a matter of a few hours.
So we had to change our trip plans a bit (no anchoring , no trap setting, no fishing with downriggers etc.) but we still had a great trip. The writings of Bjorn Kjellstrom had taught me well years ago when I was a wilderness canoe trip guide so off we went with charts and compass. Having had our compass recently swung I was confident that North was North, etc. etc.
One of the other things I had asked T1 to do in June was draw a schematic of the boat for me.
I followed up a few times and finally we received the Schematic in, I think, early September. T1 was too busy to finish this drawing so it was given to a new person to finish. Even with just high school electrical shop I thought wtf is this when I saw the drawing..
When we got home I was pretty busy as I was retiring on Sept 6th, and I got back to dealing with the electronics issue October after a 3 week road trip including being in LA for Eric Clapton's 2 day Crossroads Guitar Festival. It was FA.
Now I was perplexed by the issues of incompatibility and that our units had somehow failed. So, now retired, I called Furuno and they were as surprised as I was that the units were incompatible and that I had been sold NOS (new old stock) .
They asked me to ship my radar dome and the chart plotter to them for inspection. Now Furuno's North American headquarters is in Camus, WA so I asked if I could just drive the stuff down and wait for it to be looked at. Not a problem I was told.
I had sent the schematic to a pal who is a P. Eng and very boat handy. He called for a meeting on the boat with his well used fluke meter. It was on this day that we took the radar dome and chart plotter off the boat for my trip to Furuno
I spent the night in Camus, had excellent halibut fritters at the Puffin Cafe in the Marina. (A nice little family owned restaurant).
From the Puffin Cafe web site:
"Welcome to the Puffin Cafe! A taste of the tropics! Now serving caribbean cusine, pirate cooking and spirits in a unique waterfront location with river and mountain views, a cozy fireplace, outdoor seating and boat docking in a casual atmosphere! Floating on the Columbia River in the Marina at the Port of Camas-Washougal."
Visit their web site: http://www.puffincafe.com/
......and then went back to Furuno the next morning about 10.
I got a bit of a warehouse/test centre tour and it is about Two Costco's in size with higher racking.
Beautiful building in a high tech Business park
First of all my equipment isn't 10 years old , and the Radar Dome and Screen are 100% compatible. Furuno also had the cable in stock (more than one)
When I got home I called the local firm and requested a meeting .
I had a 45 year career in meetings, in bargaining , correcting insurance company oversights and errors, and I have to admit I often have lunch with lawyers. I am also 6'4' and prefer meeting where people are sitting down, to lessen the height thing.
I have an idea about how to keep meeting dynamics from getting off track
Be prepared
Be Nice
Have a reasonable solution prepared.
The meeting went well, there was some surprise when I mentioned my road trip to Furuno and that the units were not old stock, and were in fact compatible.
We agreed that a different electrician would be sent out. When it was mentioned that the cable was no longer available I said that they had them in stock and my pal at Furuno had told me if there was a problem with the shop getting anything that I was to call him.
Once the cable arrived the new tech T2, another nice guy, came to the boat. Firstly he had to reinstall the dome and the chart plotter and then before he started pulling the new cable he checked what had been done when T1 repaired the cable.
T2 and I soon learned after T2 called T1 that T1 didn't have the right connectors with him that day so he patched it together as best he could.
See photo
T2 had the correct connectors and said to me, "I recommend that I just clean this up and it will be good as new".
Midway through the patch he called T1 to explain that this particular cabling had some coloured wires that also needed to be connected and they were done either backwards or missed in the original repair. (I wasn't hearing both sides of the conversation).Once his repair was done he showed it to me and what he had done was to put male and female plugs on the cable where it had been cut and patched. It now looked factory.
T2 still had time to figure out why we were having battery charging issues (see my two of my old battery switches for sale in the flea market along with the three new ones I bought that were the wrong dimensional size) .
T2 installed the correct sized switches that were unavailable during the pandemic. T2 also showed me the iPhone app to get more information from the Victron Battery Monitor.
He looked at the way a panel was wired when the boat was built as per Blue Sea and added in a new cable and things are now working correctly on the battery charging front.
T2 then made notes and sketches in order to prepare a new schematic for the batteries /engines/ dash/shore power and I expect that in a week or two.
So things take time to get things right and how the cable was pinched is a mystery and I can't worry about it.
Things are working now, the battery charging issue has been solved and we have got the bottom washing booked for late March
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