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Just completed a 2900nm tough passage - two little switches almost ruined my month: Bilge Float Switch and Volvo D3-110C auxiliary stop
Scott SV Tengah
Hi all,
We just completed a 2900nm passage from Hawaii to French Polynesia with pretty rough upwind/up current conditions for the first 10 days or so. Just a bit longer than the Atlantic crossing but much more difficult, with days on end at 38-40 degrees apparent, bashing into current and waves. The second half was a bit better, but two little failed switches almost ruined our trip. 1) The on-off switch for our bilge pump float tube failed. I presume it's the original - 13 years old. Internally, it corroded and while it has been working perfectly during our ownership until now, the resistance finally got high enough that it didn't activate the bilge pump when the water level rose in the gray water bilge. The quick connect tabs are not well sealed and I believe this is how moisture gets into the switch. The secondary bilge water level alarm on my A54 is located to port of the gray water bilge. Because this was a hard upwind port tack, the gray water (and saltwater from the anchor well and bow deck locker) pooled to starboard and NEARLY SUBMERGED THE ALTERNATORS. I would guess another few hours or another shower or two and it would have been an expensive problem. I would suggest everyone check their bilge switches for resistance in the "on" position. Ours was approaching 500 ohms. It's a bit of a custom job, so you may want to plan on having a backup made or purchase one from Amel. I also intend to install a water sensor on the float tube itself, in case we ever find ourselves on another multi-day port tack upwind adventure with a dead switch or bilge pump. 2) We have been having intermittent electrical issues with our Volvo D3-110C where it would turn off randomly, generally with the helm display going blank. Further, the Volvo displayed voltage was always 0.1-0.3v less than what we measured at the engine-side battery cables and less than what was displayed on our Onan remote panel. I believe I have found the problem and I believe it's a design fault resulting from Volvo's adaptation of a car engine for marine use. On the starboard side of the engine lid/cover is an "auxiliary stop button" that is normally closed and allows power to flow to the ECU. When you press this button, it opens the circuit and depowers the ECU, turning off the motor. The problem is that this switch is not sealed and is in the path of the engine room intake fan. That means salty air is blown onto it and since it's not sealed, it will corrode internally over time. See attached photo. We had a motor that would die randomly and had major difficulty starting up as we were heading south from the doldrums into southerly winds. Not a great place to have an intermittent motor. After finding the problem, I simply butt connected the two wires leading into the aux stop switch and if we can't find a SEALED replacement switch, we will likely leave it as such. The aux stop switch is redundant there because you can always remove the ECU blade fuse right next to this faulty switch. I'd suggest owners of the D3-110 check resistance on their aux stop switch. Also examine the quick connect spade connectors - both of mine were corroded from the constant flow of salty air. Hope this helps someone. -- Scott 2007 A54 #69 SV Tengah http://www.svtengah.com
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Re: Bow Thruster Amel 54
Doug Smith
I wanted to add to the information available for the bow thrusters for Amel 54’s. Mine wasn’t going up or down, and when it was down, it wasn’t going to starboard. If you are having difficulty with your thruster or just want to understand it better, these files might help.
Doug Smith S/V Aventura, Amel 54-113 Deltaville, VA USA
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Re: Rudder Stuffing Box Packing Material
Dan, According to Alban in Martinique, when new packing is installed, you will likely have to tighten in 30-60 days. Bill
On Mon, Nov 2, 2020 at 8:21 AM Dan Carlson <carlsdan61@...> wrote:
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Re: Rudder Stuffing Box Packing Material
That is what I received from Amel last month as well. I cut to length with diagonal cuts. Installed each piece offset about 120 degrees. Carefully pounding each piece down around the shaft. Based on some other information I was very careful when tightening the ring back down to make sure that I did not strip out the threads. A few days of motorsailing down the calm Chesepeake and so far no drips. Will keep checking as we go offshore next. Best regards, Daniel and Lori Carlson on sv BeBe, SM #387
Good day all,
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Re: Rudder Stuffing Box Packing Material
Eric, I spoke to Amel. Yes, it has always come precut, but with some people recently retiring, some bits of previous and undocumented experience was lost. The new people did not have the correct length. I believe it is totally understandable and that we have been somewhat spoiled. I was also told by Amel SAV that the material is 8mmx8mm or 5/16’’. I asked Paul to use the formula Length = (diameter * pi) and to test this formula with a correct fit. When Paul has tested this, either Paul or I will post it here. Bill
On Sun, Nov 1, 2020 at 9:05 PM eric freedman <kimberlite@...> wrote:
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Re: Rudder Stuffing Box Packing Material
Hi Paul,
Here is how I did it:
For the shaft packing I used 70cm of PTFE Flax shaft packing 5/16” which have to cut into three pieces. Cut the corners at an angle for a better sealing. I never remember the length of each part but you can use the old packings or the hole for measurement. When installing the new packing coat them with silicon grease.
When taking into place be sure that the cuts are as fare away from each other for better sealing: See also https://amelyachtowners.groups.io/g/main/files/AMEL%20SM2K%20Rudder%20Removal
Fair winds Olaf
S/V Katchopine, SM2K 392 currently in Trinidad
From: main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io <main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io> On Behalf Of Paul Stascavage via groups.io
Sent: Samstag, 31. Oktober 2020 17:15 To: main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io Subject: [AmelYachtOwners] Rudder Stuffing Box Packing Material
Good day all,
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Re: Bow Thruster Amps rating.
Bob Chapman
My belief, from many years in both aerospace and industrial electrical engineering, is that one should only put one terminal under a fastener (screw or bolt or nut). When there are more than one, it significantly increases the chance that a wire
will wiggle, particularly where there is any vibration, thus loosening the whole “stack”. Then the added resistance due to the looseness will quickly lead to a red-hot stack If there’s much current flowing in the stack. I clearly remember ordering silver
bars drilled and tapped to use as common bars. Wasn’t so very expensive.
On Oct 30, 2020, at 3:58 PM, Dan Carlson <carlsdan61@...> wrote:
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Re: Rudder Stuffing Box Packing Material
eric freedman
Did you speak with Amel and ask why the packing did not come in precut?
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
For the last 18 years mine was always precut. Fair Winds, Eric SM 376 Kimberite
On November 1, 2020 at 2:45 PM "Paul Stascavage via groups.io" <pstas2003@...> wrote:
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Re: Rudder Stuffing Box Packing Material
Germain Jean-Pierre
Hello Paul,
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
It’s an easy task; arm yourself with a very sharp knife. Remove all the old packing. (I use a dental pick) Wrap the new material around the rudder shaft and cut diagonally at about 1 mm longer than needed. With a wooden block of suitable size (no wider than the groove), tamp down the first layer. Add Teflon grease atop this first layer. Do the same for the second layer ensuring the cut is 120 degrees away from the first cut. Idem. For 3rd layer. Install the white nylon nut and tighten accordingly. Sea trial when able… retighten if needed.
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Re: Rudder Stuffing Box Packing Material
Karen Smith
The exact metric size packing that Amel ships can be the very devil to source in the US, but the closest inch size works fine. If I recall Amel supplies 8mm packing, and 5/16 inch packing is within 1% of that. But measure before you buy, my memory isn't 100% on 8mm or 10mm...
Far better to cut by wrapping it around the shaft than to do it by measure. If you do perfectly square cuts on a length of packing exactly equal to the shaft OD, the cuts will gap apart on the outside of the packing with is significantly longer in circumference than the shaft. Bill Harmonie SM160 Annapolis, MD.
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Re: Rudder Stuffing Box Packing Material
You can buy stuffing box packing from any decent chandler, it's not Amel specific.
We did ours 7 years ago and it hasn't leaked since. Agree with Danny, used the shaft as a template, cut diagonally and it doesn't have to be dead on accurate, insert the three rings so the cuts are 120 degrees off from each other and you will have no problems. Cheers Alan Elyse SM437
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Re: Rudder Stuffing Box Packing Material
C=pi*diameter Measure the diameter (3.14159265359* diameter) Let me know the answer. 😃 Best, CW Bill Rouse Amel Owners Yacht School +1 832-380-4970 | brouse@... 720 Winnie, Galveston Island, Texas 77550 www.AmelOwnersYachtSchool.com Yacht School Calendar: www.preparetocastoff.blogspot.com/p/calendar.html
Eric, Bill, Danny, and Jarek,
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Re: Rudder Stuffing Box Packing Material
Paul Stascavage
Eric, Bill, Danny, and Jarek,
Thank you for your replies. I guess I’m going to have to cut the rings myself. If anyone has any additional advice, I would greatly appreciate it. All the best, Paul Stascavage SM #466 - s/v Rita Kathryn On The Hard - Severn Yachting Center - Hayes, VA www.RitaKathryn.com
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Re: Rudder Stuffing Box Packing Material
Hi,
I purchased for my SM also 1 x 70cm from SAV AMEL. This is perfectly normal as the stuffing material is supplied in 1 single length that will have to be re-cut into 3 pieces. RegardsJarek Zemlo S/Y NOA BLUE
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Re: .Re: LiFePO4 Conversion on sv BeBe - SM#387
Philippe Belloir +33 781 709 791
-------- Message d'origine -------- De : Scott SV Tengah <Scott.nguyen@...> Date : 31/10/2020 11:38 (GMT+01:00) À : main@AmelYachtOwners.groups.io Objet : Re: [AmelYachtOwners] .Re: LiFePO4 Conversion on sv BeBe - SM#387 The wind lass draws much less wattage and more than once have used it with engine off to shorten scope when our desired 7:1 swings a bit close to the neighbors. This is all with a set of batteries that have been used for 2 years full time live aboard and cycled over 100 thousand amp hours total. So my experience is that, yes , the high amp problem will be solved. -- Scott 2007 A54 #69 SV Tengah http://www.svtengah.com
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Re: Rudder Stuffing Box Packing Material
Danny and Yvonne SIMMS
Hi Karen, I wrap the length around the rudder shaft and cut it on the diagonal. An alternative is to find a tube the same diameter and use that for your cutting template. I would not use a straight cut. Also when you fit the rings stagger the cuts. It doesn't need to be perfect to the mm as the crush effect on tightening seals it aided by the diagonal cut which by its very nature helps the seal, that's why the diagonal cut is the recommended method. I have never had problems with initial leaking, once installed that is it. Regards Danny SM 299 Ocean Pearl
On 01 November 2020 at 12:28 "Karen Smith via groups.io" <karenharmonie@...> wrote:
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Re: Rudder Stuffing Box Packing Material
One long piece spiraled around the shaft will most certainly NOT work. If Amel is not cutting it to length for you, it kind of defeats the purpose of buying from them!
It needs to be accurately cut to length--exactly one shaft circumference. I have cut mine straight, and that works. A bevel is fine if you can do it accurately. If you try to cut it yourself, it's a bad idea to cut it "a little long" and then trim it to exact length. If you try to cut a millimeter or two off at a time it's very hard to keep the end from crushing and fraying, and that makes a bad fit, and a bad fit means leaks. A good article on the details of how to cut it with some things that make a good (or bad!) job: https://www.pumpsandsystems.com/what-are-key-steps-cutting-packing-optimum-performance It's not rocket science, but it is technique sensitive. You can use the rudder shaft to size the rings, but it is awkward at best and hard to do a good job. In my experience with this rudder shaft, and others, it takes some time for the packing to "settle in." For the first couple days of active steering underway you will have to keep a close eye on it and be ready to tighten it further if it starts to drip--no matter how tight you think you got it on the first go. After a few days of sailing it will likely be done, and will then be good for thousands of miles without further attention. Bill Kinney SM #160 Harmonie Annapolis, MD.
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Re: Rudder Stuffing Box Packing Material
eric freedman
I always received 3 individual pieces cut at a diagonal to the correct length.
toggle quoted messageShow quoted text
Fair Winds. Eric SM 376 Kimberlite
On October 31, 2020 at 5:15 PM "Paul Stascavage via groups.io" <pstas2003@...> wrote:
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Rudder Stuffing Box Packing Material
Paul Stascavage
Good day all,
I recently ordered the packing material from AMEL. I specifically requested: "Quantity 2 - Package of 3 rings of packing material for the Rudder Post" What I received was two individual lengths of material (70 cm each) - see attached photo. My question is, has AMEL switched to 1 piece of material rather than 3 or did I only receive 2 of the 3 rings? I am hoping someone will be able to answer the question based on the length of material supplied (70 cm). Thanks in advance for your replies. All the best, Paul Stascavage SM #466 - s/v Rita Kathryn On The Hard - Severn Yachting Center - Hayes, VA www.RitaKathryn.com
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Re: Genoa Chain Plate bolts Leaking in aft hanging closet
I apologize for not jumping into this fray. My experience with sealing chainplates with 5200 were less than good. It s difficult to find things that adhere well to stainless steel. The native oxide prevents good adhesion. After much research, I found a GE silicone product that actually had adhesion to stainless steel, printed on its applications. After using this, 6 years later, no leaks. ~~~⛵️~~~Matt A50 #27
On Oct 31, 2020, at 10:01 AM, CW Bill Rouse <brouse@...> wrote:
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