TOOLS: POWER8 WORKSHOP

Here's an item that would fit right in on a cruising boat or even a landlubbers apartment:
 It's called the Power 8 Workshop:


It looks like it has just about every tool one might need to do a lot of different projects on board yet stores in a very compact space. Which is an important since space is always a concern.

• Includes 4 Power Tools; variable speed hammer drill, circular saw, jigsaw and flashlight. Each tool integrates with the workbench to become a drill press, table saw, scroll saw and table light

SPRINGING FORWARD AND GETTING OUT OF THE DOLDRUMS

I've been in sort of a boat doldrums for a few weeks now. I've not had much urgency to get down to the boat since my Electric Propulsion system does not require a whole lot of maintenance. I've instead been spending some time spring cleaning around the house and trying to figure out what to with some of the left over stuff I pulled off the boat when converting to Electric Propulsion. Thinking about EBAY, donating or selling out right. I've been cleaning out a lot of stuff in the Den where I'll be hopefully working on a new sail cover and cushions for the Engel refrigerators in the main cabin. Now that Spring has officially arrived I feel the boat calling again. So I ordered a few items I know I'll be needing for the upcoming season.

I pretty much am a single hand sailor these days. One thing I bought since it really makes a lot of sense for me to use is a Pick Up Buoy.   I don't know why it has taken me so long to buy one. I was getting along quite well with an empty milk container tied to the mooring pennant lines and a boat hook since 1996. But, after watching a neighboring sailboat use his it just makes a lot of sense for me. Especially since the winds and the currents in the harbor do not always cooperate sometimes requiring me to sometimes make another pass to snag the line.

Another item I knew I'll be needing in the up coming weeks is some Cetol Marine Natural Teak Wood Finish. I've been using Cetol for years mostly on the cockpit hatches, bright.work and handrails. Last spring I decided to use it to spruce up the galley area, companionway steps and the headliner project . I was pleased with the look and ease of application. So I'm planning on using it on other areas of the cabin this year. I bought two quarts since I also plan to use it on some unpainted molding at the house.


I've got a few more things I'll need to order  for the up coming season but, they can wait until I get closer to a launch date. For now these along with 9 yards of Sunbrella fabric for the new Sail Cover will keep me busy enough.

A QUICK STORAGE PROJECT

The three days hunkering down below waiting for the Nor' Easter to pass gave me time to work on some projects that have been on the "To Do"  list. I have three aerosol products that I try to keep handy in the tool locker. They are Corrosion Block, Boeshield T-9 and PB Blaster.  I often have to rummage through other items to get to them. Somewhat of a pain when all I need to do is grab one of them for a quick spray. So I came up with an idea of hanging a fabric pocket made out of some knock off Sunbrella material I had on board and hanging it on the inside of the tool locker door to hold the cans. It was a quick job using my Sailrite LSZ-1 Sewing Machine to put it together:
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This allows for much easier access to them and utilizes the space inside the tool locker  much better. Not to mention less aggravation trying to find the cans among the other stored items

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FROM THE USE WHAT YOU GOT FILE: Plotting tools

I've been catching up on some projects I've been wanting to do as the sailing season heads to an end. Some of which involve using my fairly new Sailrite LSZ-1 Sewing Machine. I bought a bunch of stuff on board to use and help with the planned projects. Things like tape measures, fabrics, snap hardware and the like. But, I found that I did not bring a straight edge ruler. So making straight hem lines has been a little awkward. The simple straight edge really comes in handy when extending and measuring lines too. So I looked around the boat and found my Weems & Plath Marine Navigation Plotting Tools are coming in very handy when measuring and drawing on various fabric pieces. Seems the same tools used for  drawing straight lines on a chart also help do the same on Sunbrella fabric. So I really don't need the straight edge rulers at all.

HEADING FOR THE FALL

It's the last few days of summer though today it seems like fall has arrived a few days early. For the first time this season I covered my self with the goose down comforter in my bunk last night. This morning I put on my wool watch cap while having my morning coffee in the cockpit another first. The cool northwest wind is just another reminder that the sailing season here in the northeast is coming to an end soon. I also noticed that I have not seen an Osprey working the harbor in over a week. The sunsets are noticeably earlier too.  I'm just trying to figure where did the summer go? The good thing is I am getting a little more productive working on some of the projects that I thought I would have had finished by now. Why does it take until the end of the season to get things started? Perhaps because I spent most of the summer just enjoying being on BIANKA and that is not such a bad thing.

AN UNEXPECTED BONUS

It's nice when a project lends it's self to another project benefit. Such was the case with the cabin wood molding project I completed to cover up the handrail access openings. I thought that I might mount a fan to the molding at some point. But, then I thought that  the wood molding strip would also provide an excellent mounting place for ...

DISCOVERIES

We had one day of "mild" temperatures in the fifty degree fahrenheit range. I decide to spend some time in the garage on the never ending struggle to get and keep things organized. I made some progress and discovered some useful things related to the boat. The first were two useful tools for fiberglassing that I had used for a project on my previous boat a 24 foot Bristol. They were a Saturation Roller and a  Corner Epoxy Roller.

The saturation roller needed to be cleaned up a little as it showed  the messy results of my first feeble attempts at fiberglassing back in the 1980's. A few minutes removing the stuck on Epoxy with a screw driver had it good as new again:

Both tools are now reunited where they belong in the bin that holds the Epoxy resins and other tools for fiberglassing. They will be useful if I ever get around to building that dingy I've been thinking about. The other discovery was hidden in an old coffee can on a shelf for decades. It's a small metal vise that looks like it might come in pretty handy on board:

It's old but, still has useful days ahead on board for various projects. Sometimes all it takes is a little cleanup and organizing brings these useful discoveries to light.

TOOLS OF A SAILOR: Cutting Star Board with an Oscillating Multifunction Tool

A while ago I purchased a cheap Chicago Electric Power Tools Oscillating Multifunction Power Tool. While I was cutting the pieces for the second phase of the Helm Instrumentation Project I decided to use it to cut some of the 1/2" Star Board pieces and it did a pretty good job. Some of the pieces were pretty long so there was a little melting of the Star Board requiring a quick second pass. But overall it worked well as you can see in this video:

 

REWIRING THE HEAD LIGHT: PART TWO

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Now that I had rewired the house wiring that connected to the light fixture with Anderson Powerpole connectors. It was time to rewire the fixture it's self. I soldered some wires to the connections for the switch and put Anderson Powerpole connectors on the other end of theses wires. I also soldered some wires onto the LED light being careful not to use too much heat while doing so to avoid any damage to the electronics of the light disk. NOTE: The LED light I used is not polarity sensitive so it did not matter which lead I made positive or negative. You need to check the wiring specs of the specific LED you may use as this is not always the case. 
At the other end of these wires I put on the appropriate colored Anderson Powerpole connectors.
Once all the connectors were on the proper wires. I used cables ties to make things secure, reinstalled the fixture into the head area and connected it to the house wiring:

I put some white electrical tape behind the LED just to make sure it would not short out to the light frame. Using the Anderson Powerpole connectors will allow for the easy addition of more LED lights or changes and modifications in the future. For example one thing I might add in the future is a red LED light for nightlight use and to prevent loss of night vision when sailing at night. Only thing remaining is to put the cover back on the fixture frame and this project is done for now:

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SOLAR BIMINI REWIRE

Tweet I installed the completed solar bimini on BIANKA back in 2010 though I did not finish posting about it until 2012. At the time I did a quick job of connecting the 48 volt Kanaka panels to the  Morningstar ProStar PS-15M-48V Charge Controller using the connectors that came with the panels to get the system up and running. In this case it was using  spade lugs connected to a two screw barrier strip and then down to the controller. I taped the whole thing in some electrical tape. This worked fine for awhile and it was always my intention to make things a little neater and more weatherproof at some point. Well, that project got moved up on the list this spring when I saw this:

I found that one of the solar panel connections had corroded and broken away from the spade lug.  

Indeed all the connections showed severe corrosion issues. Definitely time to replace this "temporary" setup. So that's what I did. I've mentioned before I really like Anderson Powerpole Connectors   for a lot of connections on board for a number of reason. One is they have wiping contacts that help clean the contact surface when connecting and disconnecting. Plus they are compact and can be ganged together. Another advantage is they have color coded cases available:

Since I'll be connecting 48 volt solar panels it is a good idea to follow the Anderson color code for their Power Poles. For 48 volts the recommended color is blue. I used it above for the positive 48 volt panel connection. This helps avoid confusion with the 12 volt panels that are also part of BIANKA's solar bimini.
Another thing with Anderson Powerpoles it is also easy to make up "two fer" cable harnesses so that in this case I can connect two separate solar panels to the same solar charge controller. This ability to quickly connect and disconnect the connectors helps in troubleshooting or taking voltage and current measurements of the panels.

As is the Anderson Power Poles are not particularly waterproof. So what I usually do is fill the back end of the connectors (where the wire enters) with Marine GOOP and then cover that with some electrical tape. Another wrap of electrical tape around the connector case joint ensures even more protection from moisture.    
With the new connections more waterproof than my previous installation I should not have to revisit this area of my electric propulsion charging system for long time.

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INSTRUMENTATION PROJECT PART FOUR: Choosing the Enclosure

Once I gave up on using the obsolete Kings Loran case new possibilities opened up. I could use a bigger enclosure that would hold more meters and therefore have more information on the battery bank. I planned to mount the enclosure at the helm so I would not have to move to see it.  I would need to make sure that the enclosure would be able to endure the weather conditions at that location. Looking at my choices I choose a
 BUD Industries PN-1325-CMB Polycarbonate NEMA 4X Box with Mounting Bracket and Clear Cover.
It had dimensions of 8.74 x 5.75 x 2.17 in.  Big enough to easy house the four battery meters I planned to install originally. Now I could also add a total battery pack voltage meter and also an amp meter too. Plus I'd still have space for other instrumentation meters I may plan in the future.

It also has flanges so I could mount it easily without drilling holes in the back of the enclosure. Since the box may be exposed to the elements keeping the amount of holes drilled into it is a good idea. The box it's self is designed to IP65 of IEC 529 and NEMA 1, 2, 4, 4x, 12, and 13 specifications and is UL Listed. The NEMA 4X spec is especially relevant in my application on board BIANKA:

"Type 4X  Enclosures constructed for either indoor or outdoor use to provide a degree 

of protection to personnel against access to hazardous parts; to provide a degree of 

protection of the equipment inside the enclosure against ingress of solid foreign objects 

(windblown dust); to provide a degree of protection with respect to harmful effects on 

the equipment due to the ingress of water (rain, sleet, snow, splashing water, and hose 

directed water); that provides an additional level of protection against corrosion; and 

that will be undamaged by the external formation of ice on the enclosure."  

Sounds like it should be able to hold up for most of the conditions experienced at the helm position. It also comes with Threaded brass inserts and cover screws are M-4 stainless steel, non-magnetic and fasten into threaded brass inserts. The cover has a gasket material of Silicon Sponge. The body and cover are also UV stabilized.
I also bought the BUD Industries PNX-91425 Aluminum Internal Panel which fits inside the PN-1235 box and mounts to the brass inserts molded into the bottom. This panel will be used to mount the meters inside the box.
With the enclosure now in hand it's time to start wiring things up.

INSTRUMENTATION PROJECT PART THREE CLICK HERE

 INSTRUMENTATION PROJECT PART FIVE CLICK HERE

  

INSTRUMENTATION PROJECT PART ONE: Plan A

Back around Earth Day last year I mentioned that I was planning on recycling the now obsolete Kings 8001 LORAN unit. I have come up with a new instrumentation project to monitor BIANKA's propulsion battery bank. The  weather proof case of the Kings LORAN will fit nicely into my plans.  The back of the Kings unit has a few connectors on it which might come in useful:

The coaxial LORAN antenna connection might come in useful for some type of video feed.  The AMP 25 pin connector might also prove useful. But,  first I have to  remove some of the internal electronics. This King 8001 LORAN unit sold for about $600 in 1985. In today's dollars that would be over $1,100. Opening it up I could see why:

Ed King sure put a lot of electronic technology inside the box:

Including some LSI (Large Scale Integration) chips for the display board and some nice conformal coating to help protect the circuity from the marine environment:

It's no wonder this unit was working right up until the Coast Guard shut down the Loran transmitters. Probably would have kept on working for many more years if they had kept the transmitters operating too . Oh well at least some of Kings design will live on at least on BIANKA. Even if it is only the case:

 I knew the case for the Kings Loran would be good to use since it already had a home and mounting hardware in the cockpit and was pretty weather proof.  But, I also hoped to recycle as much of the existing hardware as possible. The first thing I thought I could use is the metal shield that was used  between the some of the circuit boards inside the Loran. I thought it would make a good mounting plate for the meters and switch.

Well, after buying some of the metering components I soon found out that my original plan was just not going to work out.

Using paper cut outs of the meter dimensions I soon realized that the Kings Loran case would be to small to house all the instrumentation I wanted at the helm. It looked I could fit the four battery meters and the switch that controls them. 

But, I could not also fit the more important current meter inside too. Even though it looked at first like it would:

But, in the end I could see it was just not going to work out:

So it's on to Plan B!

 INSTRUMENTATION PROJECT PART 2 CLICK HERE

A LIGHT PROJECT

I bought another BEBI BEKA LED light for the boat. I find it to be a rugged and versatile light for use on board. It can also serve as a backup anchor light should the one on the top of the mast fail at anytime. I've also mentioned before how much I like to use Anderson Power Pole connectors for various uses on board the boat.  So with the new light on board and a spare 12 volt cigarette power plug I came up with an adapter project that will come in useful:

First I used a Crimper made for the Anderson Power Poles to crimp connectors for the BEBI Beka LED light:

I then checked with an ohm meter the positive wire of the cigarette lighter plug. This is important step to make sure you have the correct polarity in the wiring of the connectors. If wrong you could blow a fuse at worse you could have an electrical fire on board. Best to avoid both situations by checking the wiring:

Once the connectors are crimped on the wires they are inserted into the Anderson color coded housing and are ready to go and be used in various configurations on board:

For example I use the BEKA light for nighttime illumination in the cockpit. But, I could also easily add an extension cable between the cigarette plug and the BEKA light and hoist it up the mast as an emergency anchor light if needed.