April 7, 2016
Salty 35
Thursday
At the fuel tank, I installed a shutoff valve near the pickup for the fuel supply line, then continued the line to the filter and on to the engine’s mechanical fuel pump connection. I also ran a return line from the engine back to the tank, where I adapted it into the vent line near the tank itself, as there was no return fitting built into the tank.
I cut two lengths of hose to use for the engine raw water system–from the seacock to the filter, and from the filter to the pump connection on the front–but I left these hoses and the filter out of the engine room for now to keep space open for the moment. Meanwhile, I was awaiting a new engine exhaust fitting to replace the high-rise version that was too tall for the engine room, so I couldn’t continue work on the exhaust system till that arrived. So with little else to do on the engine at the moment, I found a spot for and installed a coolant recovery tank for the engine, located on the port side aft of the engine. The hose for the tank was already attached to the overflow on the heat exchanger, but I decided to leave it off the tank till I finished the exhaust and other engine work.
I connected the throttle and engine control cables, which was uneventful. I found that the transmission gear lever, when pushed down for reverse, interfered slightly with part of the aft end of the engine foundation (or was it the other way around), so I’d have to make a cut in there to increase the clearance.
To mount and secure the house battery bank in its new box, I first dry-fit one battery and marked its forward end on the platform, then cut a hardwood cleat to screw in place, which would help hold the batteries in place along with a pre-existing cleat on the aft end. Since the box itself wasn’t necessarily structural in terms of withholding the batteries, I installed a strap over the batteries, and bolted it to the platform beneath.
With the batteries in position, and the back side of the box screwed in place, I led in the cables through a length of flexible conduit for protection. I’d planned to use terminal-mounted fuses for the overall system protection, but found that the studs were too tall to fit within the box, even if I cut off the excess. So instead, I installed fuses at the other end of each of the two positive cables, where the fuses would serve the same function, albeit a few feet from the battery.
With all the cables connected to the batteries, and the two 6-volt batteries connected in series to create a 12-volt bank, I secured the top with a corner latch on one side, which was enough to hold it securely along with the cleats on the two opposite edges.
Total time billed on this job today: 5.5 hours
0600 Weather Observation:
Dusting of snow overnight, rain showers, 40°. Forecast for the day: showers, and then more steady rain in the afternoon, high around 50