SPRING START UP PART 3 SYTEMS

http://boatnutmagazine.com/

SPRING START UP / SYSTEMS 

 Part 3  in SERIES

Systems

 What does this term mean, well this refers to all the parts and mechanical equipment installed on your boat that either seperatly or in combination provide a service to you on your boat, a good example is the fresh water system.

 THE BATTERIES

 The first thing you must do when your ready to recommission your boat in the spring is to re install the batteries. If you have stored your batteries off the boat, there are three things you need to do before you reinstall them. The first thing is to visually inspect the batteries, if they are swollen (side are bulged out) replace them (it is possible they froze). Second check the levels of water in the batteries, this can be done only if the batteries are considered serviceable.  Serviceable batteries have caps or two covers you can remove and inspect the water levels. WARNING: The water in the battery contains ACID ( be carful when removing the caps). If the levels are low, which means the water level is below the inside top they must be filled with "distilled water" only. Once this is done you need to charge the battery up, and load test them and see if they are good. This test can be done at auto or marine battery sales location (or you can purchase a load tester). If the batteries were flat or kept getting low last year, or the batteries are really low on water, buy new ones. You do not want battery problems this season. When you install you batteries make sure you use the tie downs or hold  down bars attached to the battery trays. Next clean all the terminals and wire ends for the best  connection. When you hook up your wires make sure the negative wires are first to be connected (these wires are black or yellow) . It is important to put the wires on in the right order. This dictates how efficient your charger will work, it also affects the ability of the charger to sense an over charge. Over charge will boil the batteries dry and shorten the chargers life.

 So here is the correct order: 1st wire installed is the charger wire then large main cable and then the balance of the negative wires. There should only be three or four wires on a post, if you have more this is a fire hazard (have a buss bar installed). The reason the charger wire goes on the post first is that most chargers sense heat back up the wire as an emergency shut down. If the charger wire is the last wire on the post the other wires will work as a heat sink and the post will and can overheat. Before you hook up the positive wires (Red Wires) make sure your battery switch(s) are off. Now repeat the process on positive side if you get a load spark when you hook up your positive wires this is a sign of a constant load, the most common constant load is your fridge. When the 120 volt power is off the fridge will automatically switch to 12 volt. If the battery switch is wired correctly it will shut down everything but the bilge pumps, however it is not unusual for this not to be the case. If you do have a load spark have this checked out it is a fire hazard, and will certainly affect the life and recovery of the battery.

.

The next item to check is the battery charger: You will need to have the shore power hooked up at this time. Be sure when connecting or disconnecting the shore power that the 120 main is in the off position. Make sure the 120 volt panel main, and the shore main if you have one is on. The only breaker that should be on is the "charger or converter" depending on how the panel is labeled. If you did not previously charge your batteries and they are dead the charger may not come right on. It does not recognize there are batteries hooked up. Some new chargers require a power signal from the batteries to the charger before it will cycle on. If your charger does not recognize the dead batteries you will need to bring in a trickle charger and get the battery charge started first and then use the onboard charger for the rest of the charge. When the charger cycles on then move to the next system.

Make sure all your 12 volt switches or breakers are off this includes all the dash switches.

 The next system is your bilge pumps: Be sure you know where they are all located. There can be high and low water bilge pumps in the engine compartment, a forward bilge pump in the cabin under the floor. The first test is the float switches. If you have the toggle float style, you test the float switch by lifting the float up and be sure the pump operates. If your boat has built in float switches, look on the side of the bilge pump housing for a small lever, lift and test. If you have a bilge pump or float switch that does not work replace it.(remember to check for a blown fuse first before you replace the parts). Now turn the battery switches on, and turn your bilge pumps on at the dash or manual bilge pump switch. If you have a pump that works on the float switch but not on the manual switch then you need to check your bilge pump fuse at the manual switch side of the circuit. The high water pump located on the side of the stringer will only work automatically there is no manual switch, this pump should have an alarm go off if you trip the float switch. Listen to alarm and become familiar with it, most boaters do not know they have this system (not all boats have a high water pump). This is a good time to bring water on board and test your bilge pumps making sure they pump water overboard and you do not have a broken hose in the boat. When you are satisfied move on to next system.

 BLOWERS: While you have the hatches open its a great time to go ahead and try the engine blowers, and inspect the vent lines going to the blower on one side and the fresh air intake vent line on the other side. If they are cracked replace them. A sign the blower is starting to fail is a high pitched squeal, you will need to replace it.

The next system is the shower in your head.: You likely have a shower sump, turn the sump switch on and pour water down the drain, the shower sump does requires maintenance. To help you locate the shower sump its a square box with a float switch and bilge pump inside. There is a hair trap inside that needs to be cleaned. If the sump doesn't get used much it will fill with mold and smell bad. Grab a disposable paint brush some bleach and a water bucket pour bleach in the sump and use the brush to scrub clean, rinse with lots of water and re install the lid with all 4 of the screws.

The next system will be all the lights: Navigation, anchor, courtesy, interior, etc. Test and be sure they all are working correctly. If you have quartz or regular light bulbs change them for led conversion lamps, they draw very low power and do not make heat. The LED lamp provides much more light.

Now go ahead and test all the other 12 volt accessories on your dash such as horn, electronics, etc. The depth sounder will power up but will not give you a reading it will not read until you are in the water

.

Now we can check the fresh water system: On most boats there are two ways to have fresh water on the boat. The first is dock side water fitting which requires you to hook up a water hose to the dock. This is a female hose fitting (large 4 inches square) with a rubber cover so that when the hose is disconnected, nothing like spiders can plug up the small screen which works as an in take filter. The other way to have water on board is in the water holding tank. Before you fill the tank you must be sure the fresh water pump is hooked up and the hot water heater is hooked up. They are generally disconnected at the time the boat is winterized. Once this has been confirmed go ahead and fill the tank, while its filling (slowly). Go out and confirm that all your vents are clear there should be a small screen in each vent if you are not sure what they look like just wait the water should start to burp out of the vent once the tank is nearly full. Once you have determined what the vents look like check them all there will be one vent for each fuel tank, the holding tank and the water tank. A plugged vent can slow down the flow. Plugged vents will prevent being able to fuel up without burps, the water and holding tanks will collapse as they empty down. If you will here the tanks thump and make sounds there is a problem, have this checked. Expanding tanks can break floors and create leaks

The dock side water system does not require the fresh water pump to be on. The water system on the boat relies on the pressure water coming from the hose you have hooked to the dock. NOTICE: You do "not" need the water pump on while in this configuration. Many times I have serviced boats were the dock side water is hooked up and the 12 volt water pump switch is on this is only keeping the pump hot and shorten the life of the pump. The dock side water system is the best way to test the water system, it will flush any  away remaining anti freeze in the system completely. Go to the furthest tap or water fixture from the water hook up open the tap on the cold side only and flush until water is constant and clean. repeat at all other taps on the boat. Once the cold side is done go ahead and repeat on the hot. You will also need to flush the head if you have vacu flush head or a head which uses the water system on the boat to flush. Manual heads and some electric conversions use lake water taken at a  thru hull in the bottom of the boat to flush. Once you have water at all taps turn the pressure down and leave water on with all the taps closed if you hear water leaking check under the sinks for leaks. At the same time open the floor hatches and the motor hatch look for any new water. If there is water you have a leak, and you will need to get it fixed or fix the issue yourself. if you have no issues go ahead and disconnect the hose from the dockside fitting. Turn on the water pump open some taps and confirm that the fresh water pump is pumping water. When you close all the taps the pump should automatically shut down. If the pump continues to cycle ten you either have a leak or the pressure setting on the pump head needs to be adjusted.

There are added items that can be tied to your water system, one is the ice maker and the other would be a washer dryer combo. if you have these read the instructions on start up.

The last system to go over are the mechanical systems: This includes the motor(s) and the generator. You will first need to check all the fluids and make sure they are at the right levels before turning a key. If you have an Inboard Outboard this will include the gear lube in the drive.(the same goes for an Outboard motor).With an Inboard Outboard or and Outboard configuration you can get water to the engines with a set of flush muffs that will need to be specific to your lower unit. Using the wrong flush muffs could cause the water pump to draw air and burn out the impeller. I suggest you have two people at start up time, one on the boat and one on the ground in control of the water. Once the water hose is in place the captain should head for the helm and with the engine hatch open and the drive down (do not run with drive up)." You want to have a visual of the motor(s)". The person who is going to start the motor gives the ok to turn on the water, be sure the hose is not wrapped around the prop. Confirm water and the captain can start the motor. Here is what to look for at the dash immediate oil pressure, and then confirm there is no water exiting the engine any were, either one of these is a failure immediately shut off the motor. If the motor is running fine the person on the ground must confirm there is water coming out of exhaust, if the block is empty this may take a couple of minutes. If  there is no sign of water out of exhaust after a few minutes turn off motor. Let the engine cool down and try again ( no water again on the second try call a technician in to take a look).  If this checks out fine give the motor a slight rev up and confirm the flow out the exhaust increases. Now shut the motor down, Turn off water right away. Check the fluids again for any sign of contamination or drop in level. If you experience any of these issues, get a professionals opinion do not run anymore (Do not launch the boat). If it is ok then be sure the garden hose is clear of the prop and the prop can spin without hitting the ground , turn on water restart the motor let it warm up to operating temperature and try a shift sequence. Duplicate the process on the other side if you have twins, this does not mean your out of the woods yet but, you can launch knowing that the boat will run and shift.

.

In an inboard configuration the delivery of water to the engine can be tricky, depending on how the boat is rigged. If the boat is rigged with flush kits this is were you can hook a garden hose to a fitting located on the deck it is usually a chrome fitting with a black plastic cap on a chain, There is a hose from the back of this fitting to a plastic j flush fitting on the main water line near the motor water pump. If you have this configuration you can run a garden hose to the boat and run the engine. You do need to be aware a big block motor can and will take so much water it will flatten the hose and the motor will starve for water. This will burn out the impeller in the water pump. If you have basket strainers you can close the thru hulls and put the hose end in the strainer fill it and while the water is running start the motor (be sure to reopen thru hulls when you are done). The last option is to remove the hose from the thru hull couple your garden hose to it and run the motor (this is the safest way). In any of these cases you need a second person either on the keys or in the engine room. Once you have water to run the motor(s) the steps are the same as above Inboard Outboard motor information in the last paragraph. WARNING: it is NOT advisable to put the boat in gear in a inboard configuration as the props can hit the ground and you cannot be sure the shaft is lubricated at the stuffing box were the shaft passes through the hull.

Check all belts and give the motor a good visual inspection. Check all hoses even the large exhaust hoses if they are not stiff and are soft then you need to remove and inspect they can blister on the inside and block exhaust flow at higher rpm and create an overheat with lots of smoke. Check the mufflers and inspect the whole engine room for things like corrosion, oil, any contaminants. The generator follows the inboard procedure in most cases its better to leave the generator until after launch.

At the time of launch bring a buddy, when the boat starts to float check below all the floors , and in motor compartment for leaks.Once you have determined there are no leaks. go ahead and start the motor(s). Have your buddy watch for any issues such as overheat. Running the boat on land can hide a bad water pump impeller because the water used to cool the motor is under pressure. Now the motor must pump all the cooling water on its own.. Take a little drive at low RPM range and watch the motors for any issues this will show up on the gauges don't just take the boat and gun it across the lake.

Be sure you air conditioning and generator thru hull is closed at this time and open them when your ready to start these systems. Treat each system the same way always check for leaks. There will be air conditioning start up information in the next blog, any questions please ask.

To guarantee access to all of  Boat Nut Magazine articles, pictures and featured services visit the official Boat Nut Magazine ©™ website. Be sure to reply to the Boat Nut Association registration on our site for the latest Boat Nut weekly and monthly news letters and opportunities.

http://boatnutmagazine.com/

Copyright 2015 © Boat Nut Media, Toronto, Ontario. All rights reserved. No part of this information/publications may be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or reproduced in any way, including but not limited to photocopy, magnetic, or other record, without prior agreement and written permission of the publisher, Boat Nuts Media ©™ No liability is assumed with respect to the information provided.