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$29 can safe you thousands $$$

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 1:36 pm
by DickTuschick
I was recently moving a boat by myself and a small problem almost turned into a very big one.
The hose exiting from the heat exchanger to the exhaust elbow popped off while underway. Operating from the FB I had no idea this had happened.
The boat DID NOT HAVE A SMOKE /CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR....
Luckily this happened when I was only a few minutes from docking the boat. When I came off the FB to handle lines, I realized that the cabin was full of smoke....exhaust fumes. With out the water cooling going into the exhaust system it quickly overheated and melted allowing exhaust to enter into the cabin. The good news was that it was only a plastic muffler that had to be replaced but it could have been much worse.

The moral of this story......MAKE SURE YOU HAVE OPERATING SMOKE?CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTORS IN EACH HULL.........very cheap insurance.....

Re: $29 can safe you thousands $$$

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2018 2:25 pm
by AMCarter3
Wow! Scary story, Dick. Glad it turned out OK for you. Any clue as to how or why the heat exchanger hose came loose?

Re: $29 can safe you thousands $$$

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 11:21 am
by Allezcat
Dick,
This is why I installed a raw water failure alarm on AllezCatII to alert if there is any loss of cooling to the exhaust system.
It is easy to install at minimal cost.
Borelmfg.com
Glad the outcome wasn’t worse!
Chet

Re: $29 can safe you thousands $$$

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 11:27 am
by AMCarter3
Chet, could you share the details about your aw water failure alarm?

Re: $29 can safe you thousands $$$

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2018 12:13 pm
by Allezcat
Mac,
Just go to borelmfg.com and read the commentary
I bought the dual alarm and called the factory to replace eng 1 and 2 with Port and Stb. on the warning panel
Installation just involves putting the supplied bands around the exhaust hoses downstream of the Elbows and running wires to the helm station. I put the panel at the lower helm but I think another panel at the upper helm would really be worthwhile after reading Dick's story
Chet

Re: $29 can safe you thousands $$$

Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2018 10:37 am
by teamwork
What manufacturers would you suggest? Lots on Amazon, all household.
Would like to know where you placed them. CO sinks, smoke rises??
Roger on Teamwork

Re: $29 can safe you thousands $$$

Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 1:59 pm
by AlanH
For anyone that has newer electronics (we recently had all new Raymarine installed) the exhaust temp and high bilge water alarm can be wired into the MFD's. We had it done for both sets of alarms. The only down side is the MFD's must be on to get an alarm but I was satisfied with that.

We also had the temperature, oil pressure and tachometers wired in. We had a tack fail one time underway and this eliminates that problem. We also have access to gauges at the upper station now. We can split page with them but I usually just switch pages periodically.

If anyone wants any details please let me know.

Alan

Re: $29 can safe you thousands $$$

Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 7:42 pm
by Gusto
We also installed the Borelmfg.com bands on the exhaust tubes just downstream from the risers with the siren and engine indicator on the bridge panel. We hope this will alert us to the problem that Dick just had in time to shut down the appropriate engine before any damage occurs.

Bob MacNeill
Gusto MV34 #83

Re: $29 can safe you thousands $$$

Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2018 11:50 am
by AMCarter3
I’m planning to install high temp alarms on our exhaust systems this winter. For those that have already done this, could you share details on how and where you ran the wires for the panels to the lower AND upper helms

Re: $29 can safe you thousands $$$

Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2018 12:49 pm
by AlanH
Mac,

I think you are asking how to route the wiring. Parts of this job will require a helper.

Start in the starboard engine stateroom. Inside the forward inboard storage cabinet there is a recessed fiberglass shelf, remove the six or eight screws take it out. Once out you will see a lot of wiring heading up to the main wiring panel. There will also be a wire chase running horizontally to the port side of the boat.

Go to the port side and remove the same shelf in the forward inboard cabinet. You will see the other end of the wire chase that you saw on the port side Use the chase to fish wiring from one side of the boat to the other. Wires can be fished from where the shelf was to each engine compartment.

From the starboard side the wires can be fished up to the main wiring panel. You will have to decide where to use as a starting point for the wiring. I prefer to start the wiring in the electric panel and work towards the engine compartments although I have started from the engine compartments at times. So far everything is pretty straightforward. Getting the wires to the flybridge is not so easy.

From the main electric panel you will see wires that are heading to the flybridge going into a wall at the upper outboard area. They make a turn and go into a wiring chase going to the flybridge. That area is jammed full of wires and it is a challenge to fish wires through it. The other end of that chase is in the flybridge cabinet just forward of the cooler seat.

Look around, if you are lucky there may be string that a previous worker left in that you can use to pull wires through. If not you may want to fish you own string through to pull wires with. Be sure to leave a string in place when you are done to use in the future. There is a small vinyl trim piece just to the front port side of the electric panel that can be removed easily and may help with fishing the wires around the bend. Pulling these wires will the the hardest part of the whole job.

I hope this helps.

Alan

Re: $29 can safe you thousands $$$

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2018 11:50 am
by AMCarter3
Alan, thanks very much for that guidance!