Winter tinkering progress

Lt.Mike

Lt.Mike

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2013
Messages
879
Reaction score
165
Points
43
Age
64
Location
Farmingdale NJ
Model
Overnighter
Hi just figured that I've gotten to a point in my tinkering where it may be considered interesting.
I've spent a great deal of time on the dash, planning, fabricating a mockup, and the actual build.
This was a priority this winter.

Here is a picture of what it was.
DSCN7912pb_zpsxys0rco0.jpg

DSCN7754_zpsr5rysjkd.jpg


This is what I've made, I still have some tweaking and replacing the plexi shield but cosmetically, well that's it.
(yes the emblem is crooked, its not permanently attached yet and I had a new decal made up for the shifter)
This was made from 1/4" black starboard and the trim rings I fabricated from a 1/8" gray sheet of Home Depots version of Starboard.
I added the gray trim rings to keep the black gauges from visually blending in with the dash.
photo_11pb_zpsrtzbviiq.jpg

photopb_zps1oqbxygm.jpg


Of course once you install a new switch panel you follow out wires that don't make the connection they should... like maybe the bilge pump.
That might be important. :roll: Knowing what I know now this should have been the priority project.
I found a few things wrong.
photo_1bpb_zpsakeefke3.jpg


The wiring schematics Grady provides states that they've mounted either a Rule 800 or 1500 gph pump, I have an Attwood 500 gph unit.
When I went to separate the pump from the base it, well, it did come up, all of it with a cake of whatever it was someone used to stick it to the hull.
One of the wires fell away and all had been crimped, wrapped with tape and left to lay in the bilge.

I also couldn't believe how bad the birds nest of wires was. I mean I knew it was bad and it was on my list of to do's but damn.
I had actually started sorting this out before I took this pic so it did look worse.
photo_3xpb_zpse5hztkbe.jpg


This can't be a Grady made thing can it? Five wires for a ground connection spliced into a main 10 ga. ground.
Busbar wasn't in this person's vocabulary.
photo_2bpb_zps7hlny6p4.jpg


Next on the list after I get that pump squared away I have a stereo system with remote to install and a washdown pump where there wasn't one before.
I may be working in a pole barn out of the wind and weather but I've gotta say it was cold today and leaning into a bilge leaves something to be desired in any weather.
Got to get it in gear, spring is coming. :mrgreen:
Mike.
 
That looks very well done. Tight space, but you got it all in.
 
"Hi just figured that I've gotten to a point in my tinkering where it may be considered interesting"

Nope. Not, yet. Just kidding! I like the grey trim rings - that was a good call and they do exactly as you designed. Nice touch.

Yeah, that mess of wires looks anything but "OEM". But that's to be expected on a boat that has had who knows how many prior owners and who knows what their skill level was... well, actually, I guess we DO know what their skill level was based on the evidence! :D

This is just a suggestion, but you might want to give that bilge a THOROUGH cleaning before you start digging into this too much. It makes working on things much easier, and also will get rid of all that gunk that is just going to clog up the new bilge pump again, anyways. Plus, once the layer of muck is removed, you'll be able to see if there are any underlying cracks/issues that should be addressed. Jack the bow up, plug the garboard drain, give it a light spray with water, then heavily spray the entire bilge with a degreaser (Simple Green, for example) or bilge cleaner, then fill with water and let it soak over night. Then, while the water is still in there, scrub everywhere and anywhere you can get to (a stiff brush on a pole/handle will help). Then drain and use a hose to blast the rest out. How far you take this is up to you, but the above should make a HUGE improvement. Everything is easier when it's clean.

But what you've done so far looks great!
 
Thanks guys. Dennis that's exactly what I intend to do, but I can't do it until the boat comes back home with me. It's presently in my buddies pole barn which enabled me to work on it through the winter but its sandwiched in by a small hoard of collector cars. There is no room to buff it out and pulling it in and out isn't really an option. I'm just cleaning, repairing, and organizing the wiring for now.
Checking the section of wires to the pump that aren't corroded showed that the pump can still work. I'm going to clean it up, rewire it, and install it on a temporary mount. I would never think of going out on the water without a pump so it will do till the weather warms up. They say ignorance is bliss right? Ya but unsafe too when it comes to stuff like this. Now that I know it's only a 500 gph pump I'm not comfortable with it so it will be replaced. I plan to get a Rule-mate 1100 gph automatic. It has an internal float like the unit I have now. It also has a 1 1/8" outlet. I'll be replacing the restrictive convoluted 3/4" cr*p plastic piping with the larger smooth braid re-enforced vinyl hose and larger through hull also.
Once I clean the bilge up (simple green is in my arsenal :mrgreen: ) I will epoxy a platform of Azek down to screw the pump onto.
I also had new decals made up for the capacity plate and Overnighter 20 emblem (which I restored). ...And I have to wire a new horn I have too. Oh ya and another thing to do is to clean up an use the original enclosure. It shrank so it wasn't used for probably 90% of its life but it was stored properly. It looks good but fits the boat like my high school pants fit me. :wink:
I'm not dropping 80lb.s anytime soon :roll: but there is a solution for the boat that doesn't involve big money. (time for another hot tip)
I am looking into buying a set of Ez-xtend boat zippers. They have come to me well recommended. Check out their site...
http://www.canvas-boat-cover-and-repair ... ppers.html
Like I said there is a list of to do's and with spring coming I'm feeling the crunch to get done.
I do appreciate the kind words, thanks again.
Mike
This is a pics of the pump I plan to get (sorry for the giant pic I stole the link from a web site :roll: )
s-l1600.jpg
 
Yup, those zipper-extender=thingies are really nice. Before you buy them, try waiting till it's a warm, sunny day and set the enclosures out in the sun for a few hours. Often times that will will loosen them up and actually expand them a bit.

'Ya got some good work ahead of you, but it will worth it in the end!
 
That looks good. I like the gray rings as well.
 
Update, the Grady as we know has a combo nav/anchor lamp switch. It knows to turn on the rear masthead lamp with the bow lamp in the nav mode leaving the front mast head off and in anchor mode both mast head lamps light without the bow lamp.
Thats really a slick trick when you try wiring another panel in to do the same thing as these wires seemingly run on the same line.
:hmm
Ok bluesea has a diode for this in the panel so that you can wire a second switch for anchor and with that the bow light won't light but Grady has two mast head lamps and one of which, the front needs to be off when in nav mode.
Ok this cavemen needed to go back to school on this one. I ended up ordering a pack of zener diodes off ebay. They are super cheap.
I wired one in between the nav switch to the rear mast and baitwell lamps. I wired in a second diode between the anchor switch and again the rear mast and bait lamps. Both diodes have the striped end denoting the cathode end facing the lamps. The diodes basically being a one way valve for electrical current work amazingly well and make it all work.
I know its a little thing but I really never gave a thought to what a diode does. Doing projects like this present problem solving challenges and opportunity to learn and employ new things. Sometimes projects can be a headache, I had fun with this one. :)

One other note, one of the festoon bulbs for the mast head lamps burnt out. I wanted to upgrade to LED there too as they last near forever and use a fraction of the power for less battery drain. WM has the 31mm replacement but for $28 each, that's nuts.
That's $60 with tax for two little bulbs, ain't gonna happen.
I ended up buying two from a seller on ebay for $16 shipped. Much better and are made by Sea choice.
Mike.
 
Lt. Mike - you can use a DPDT switch - no diode required. With this, you have two switches in one:
If your setup is a split masthead and separate stern light, wire the front masthead wired to both poles on one side, and on the other pole, bow and stern light on one side and rear masthead on the other.
If your setup is an all-around light instead of a split masthead, wire the all-around light to both poles on one side and bow lights to one side of the other pole.
 
Oh wait - I just re-looked at your pics. You might not have the dpdt switch option with your switch bank...
Bummer.
 
"It knows to turn on the rear masthead lamp with the bow lamp in the nav mode leaving the front mast head off"

Mike, are you saying that when you select the "nav" mode, that you DO NOT have a forward facing white light? If so, that is incorrect - things aren't wired properly. When in Nav mode, there needs to be a white light that can be seen from 360* (which can be done with one light, or split between two lights at different locations).

My boat has undergone a number of changes over it's years and different owners. It originally had a masthead light and stern light (when it was an sterndrive). Then the OB was added and a stern mounted, socket/pole light (single bulb, 360*) was added to get the white light over the OB for the rear facing light. But the hardtop was also added and the pole light was not long enough to extend over the height of the hardtop, so when in Nav mode, the forward bulb of the masthead light was on, along with the 360* light - which is also incorrect. Last Summer, I rewired things and got rid of the pol light all together. Now, when in Nav mode (or anchor mode), both bulbs in the masthead light come on all the time. I still don't understand why someone didn't do this to begin with. It's really the simplest way.

For your setup, though, without a hardtop, that rear facing masthead bulb would shine down into your eyes - unless you installed a glare shield.

WM will almost ALWAYS be one of the most expensive places to buy things like that.
 
Firenailer thanks.

WM is about the only walk in big marine store left. They're kind of like Home Depot crushing the Mom and Pop shops.
Dennis your right. I got it bass akwards. :roll: Brain fart.
The Mast head had three wires leading down to the panel with the front and rear masthead wired and plugging in separately.
Why?
I had wired it back up to work the way it appeared to come from Grady. Yes, why aren't they wired together?
It does have the glare shield too.
I Guess I have the option of both masthead lamps on with the red/green combo lamp or adding stern lamps and just the front masthead lamp on with the red/green lamp. The stern mounted lamps will wait for now.
The good news is with the way I laid it out it will be an easy fix by simply unplugging here and plugging in there. If I want to wire it with stern lamps it will be just as easy. And the second diode will already be there. No need to cut or re-solder.
Grady must have used a wiring harness that could be used on a number of models and I'm still sorting out all the wiring that Grady installed for options that weren't ever used. Add in all the additional prior owner mods and "repairs", :bang well I'm sure you've been there too.
I did find the Livewell washdown pump wire that saves me from having to run a new one, that was a help but I'm still figuring out the purpose for the port side junction box in the cabin. It has a 10ga, positive lead to two bus fuses powering...nothing (?). The prior owner tapped into it with two 20ga. wires to feed a cigarette lighter type 12v port. ( I hate using wire that thin)
The wiring schematic Grady provides is vague on that box. Is it simply an accessory power supply?
Mike.
 
Lt.Mike said:
Add in all the additional prior owner mods and "repairs", :bang well I'm sure you've been there too.

The wiring schematic Grady provides is vague on that box. Is it simply an accessory power supply?
Mike.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I can relate to "prior owner mods" for sure! It's amazing what you find, sometimes. The boat I had before my Grady was a Sea Ray 260 Sundancer... one owner before me. He added a second 110V outlet in the cabin. Great!... I thought. Until I was doing the wiring for the windlass that I installed. Turns he used home (solid copper) wiring! Totally not allowed on a boat. And he also used drywall screws to mount the junction box. And then I remembered... He is a home builder. :bang

I have a port-side, cabin acc fuse panel, too, in the Grady. But I know for a fact that the prior owner added it (or at least he told me he did it). Except he ran the 10g direct from the battery. I rewired it so it was getting it's power AFTER the battery switch. I use it to power the electronics on the dash and the VHF and Stereo in the cabin.

Is the third wire coming from your lights a ground? The two power leads are grey with a tracer color, right? I don't remember the colors, but grey w/tracer seems to ring a bell.

Yes, I would definitely agree that it makes no sense to have a separate stern light. Just seems silly to add a pole that you have insert and remove, along with getting in the way. All you'd need to do is tie the two grey wires together, right? Basically treat them as if you had only one light.
 
The wiring from the mast are gray/black stripe - rear mast lamp, gray/red stripe - front mast lamp, and black being ground. I don't have to refer to the schematic, its on the brain now. :roll: I'm using the shielded "Y" connectors that came with the boat which makes it easy to adjust.
The power outlet that I mentioned that the prior owner wired with 20ga wire had been used for his spot light. Think about that. The spot lamp wire had to be triple the thickness of that 20ga.wire. The wire should always be stepped larger on the power source end. Making matters worse the port side box had a 30 amp fuse which was powering that thin wire. I'm surprised the power draw from the light didn't melt the wire jacketing. !4ga. will replace it.
The way the 110 wiring in your boat went in is the same way my old wilderness camper was wired from the factory. Honestly I'm not sure if I myself would have known better.
I've done home wiring and I've done 12v but I've never mixed the two. Closest I've come is to plug in an inverter to power a coffee pot or laptop. I think I'll just keep on using that inverter. :wink:
Mike.
 
Yeah, boat wiring has to be stranded. Ideally it should be tinned, but it can not be solid due to the amount of vibration that a boat sees and the solid wire could eventually break and spark. Sea Ray did everything correctly - it was just the PO.

You know how that spotlight usage went in the guy's mind? He wired it, used it, nothing immediately sparked or caught fire so he assumed that it will be fine in future. And then he probably went on some forum where they were talking about proper wire gauge use and he said "That's bogus and overrated - I used 20g and it was just fine". And then someone else believed him, tried it and... :-|
 
This is great. I have an '85 204 Overnighter and I am planning to redo the dash. Yours looks very nice. What material did you use for the panel?

Huw
 
Thanks again.
The panel itself is 1/4" black King Starboard. It comes in 7 colors...
http://www.kingplastic.com/products/king-starboard/
I found mine on ebay at a great price but color choices are limited to what you can find there. If you want something like sanshade or seafoam you'll probably have to pay top dollar from the manufacturer. All things considered it won't be that bad though.
Home Depot was great as they have virtually every size holesaw you could want.
On the trim rings I had to get creative. The material is the same as Starboard but I wanted it thin and I couldn't find Starboard that thin. I found Palight on Home depots website and ordered it on line as its not available in the store.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Palight-Proj ... /206021295
I used a drafting compass to identify the center, then draw the inner and outer rings. I cut the center out with a holesaw, the drillbit in the saws center locating the pinhole made by the compass. Mist the blade with water to cool the plastic or it will heat up and melt instead of cutting clean.
(did I mention when I was younger that I used to work in a plastics factory? I learned a few things and it pays off :wink: )
I then cut the outer ring with a bandsaw running a thin scroll blade leaving a little more material past the ring. Heres where creativity comes into play. I use a bench top drill press. I wrap the holesaw blade that made the inner cutout with blue painters tape, enough to make it a snug fit when I took the five rings and slide them together back onto the blade. A little extra tape above and below holds it in place. Turn the drill on and while its spinning hold the end of a rasp against the drill presses post to steady it while the other end shaves down the rings to the desired size. This will make then uniform and perfectly round. When its done each rings edge was smoothed with wet 600grit sandpaper worked into the palm of my hand. The inner section of the ring for the tach being a size I couldn't match to a holesaw, was cut with a jigsaw so what to use to ream it?
I ended up using a plastic pint ice cream container. It had a mold mark identifying its center in the bottom. I drilled a hole dead center and installed a nut and bolt.
I slid the ring over the container till it was snug, clamped the bolt in the drills chuck and with the rasp made it perfectly round.
Even without mega dollar computer controlled equipment there is always a way.
There's a lot of satisfaction in getting results this way.
I'm presently in the process of restoring the roached out Overnighter dash plaque (that Grady doesn't stock anymore).
I'll post the before and after when that's done.
Mike.
 
The wheels in m head are spinning again. I was intending to replace the stained carpeted package tray bottoms on either side of the helm seats with black starboard but now having looked at the sanshade I have to use that color. I sectioned it out and painted the deck with sand tan interdeck which came out great. The sanshade starboard will tie right in with it... now if I can just find it. :mrgreen:
Mike.
DSCN6821_zpse4cd198d.jpg

DSCN6820_zpsae59ddb3.jpg
 
How long ago did you do the deck floor? I was thinking of doing something using KiwiGrip. It looks like it is holding up great.
 
Those pics were taken a short time after it was done.
Sorry guess that's a little missleading. It was done early summer of '14. It doesn't look much different now though. It's a little scuffed under the rod holders where the rod butts made contact and there's a scrape under the helm but it otherwise still looks like it does in the pics. When it gets warmer I'm going to touch it up with a roller. I expect that it probably is going to need to be redone after two more seasons to look its best. A scuff and recoat. I am very satisfied how it turned out and it's holding up.
One thing that shocked me was on the first outings were black marks all over the deck. :shock: I freaked but then discovered it was from the soles of the surf shoes actually being sanded off by the nonskid surface. It washed right off. I'm usually barefoot and found the surface kind to the feet. The nonskid works great. The only time it gets slippery is after a fish hits the deck and it's slime remains.
I will be installing a wash down system this spring for that reason.
Mike.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.