winter project

[franklyprice]

So I've decided to do some rehabbing on the Jeanne Claire over the winter and will be moving her into a shop close to my house this Thursday. On the list is,cabin curtains, wood refinishing, possibly new cabinet doors and drawer fronts,some new cushions, new battery charger, new northern lights genset , upgrade the AC system and new shore power connections. Basically just a complete freshening of the cosmetics and electrical system. Also, since it will be indoors I should be able to do a pretty good job of polishing and waxing before launch in the spring. The shop I am renting is pretty cool, it was made as a shop to make aluminum boats and they have made many but they just haven't had any orders lately so I am able to take the place over, at least through the winter and maybe more, we'll see. Any suggestions are welcome, particularly on AC systems or battery chargers/ inverters.

[IRGuy]

Frank P.... As you know from reading here I also have my boat in an indoor "boatyard" and am expecting to be finished with my rebuild and complete exterior painting this winter. I have about 6 things going on at one time these days it seems. I don't have an inverter installed so I can't comment on that, but last summer I did install a new Xantrex 40 amp three circuit battery charger after the one that came with the boat died after many years of service. I also purchased a remote charger monitoring/control panel to go with the charger. The charger works fine. The remote panel has all it's indicator lights buried back on a pc board well away from the front panel where the small window holes are located, making the lights all but impossible to see. I called Xantrex and complained, however to date all I can say is they have told me they will be introducing a new model charger with a better designed remote panel, I suspect it will appear sometime early in 2011. I am hopeful of getting some kind of concession from them re: a new charger and remote panel, but getting anyone there to commit to anything is like pulling teeth. Also.. they are apparently owned by an overseas company, and their "Customer No Service" personnel are based in some foreign country, where they apparently don't know much about the products they are supposed to help users with. I finally gave up and started calling their home office in Canada. As of this time I would stay away from Xantrex charger systems if you want a remote panel, however if you see they are advertising a new series of chargers I would take a look at them, along with their remote panel if one is available. As far as refacing cabinet doors and drawer fronts is concerned, I built and installed all new cabinets last year, and used solid teak face frames with teak veneered door and drawer fronts, with surrounding teak edge trim I made myself. These are basically 3/8" plywood with paper backed teak veneer overlay. You can adhere the veneer to the plywood with contact cement, but I hate the stuff (no chance to move the veneer once it touches the base it is to be attached to) so I used an iron-on technique with a thermoplastic glue. Simple and forgiving. If you want to use this technique let me know and I can explain what I do. There is a large mill about 100 miles from here where I buy my veneer.. they make veneer out of almost any wood you can imagine, and they let me sort through their retail store inventory and choose the pieces I want, and they actually had several pieces especially made up for me where the grain went across the 4'x8' sheet rather than lengthwise (for cabinet fronts). If you want I can handle the local details for you from here and then I can send the veneer to you. (It is shipped UPS, FeDex, etc rolled up in boxes about 10" square and 4' long.. I have a couple of these boxes in my shop). The last teak veneer I bought was about $130 per 4'x8' sheet, which makes me measure twice before I cut it! As far as revarnishing wood trim (and varnishing the teak veneer), which I also have done, I prefer a flat or matt finish, rather than the high gloss some prefer. To me it has a "warmer" appearance. For interior finishing I use two coats of Minwax Fast Drying Satin Varnish, with the first coat thinned about 10-15% and the second full strength or slightly diluted. I brush all mine, but I suspect you will have the perfect spray system so it will go quicker for you. Notice this is not a "marine grade" varnish, so it doesn't cost 4 times what it should. I only use it for interior surfaces. For exterior surfaces, such as the solid teak door I built last year, I use a much more complicated system with an epoxy base coat. About 5 years ago I replaced the two shore power receptacles and breakers in the cockpit, including the flexible clear plastic breaker handle covers.. this all came from High Tide.. at their usual inflated cost. Drop me a note if you want more details about anything.. and good luck!

[Donmystic1]

I converted my batteries from 8 d's to (4) 6 Volts which gave me a bit more room in the battery compartment. I also wired in a separate battery for the genset so that it is isolated from the rest of the batteries and can be used to start the Gen set if the other batteries go dead. A Guest 3 bank battery charger was installed in place of the original old heavy Raratan charger.It charges all the 6 volts and the gen sets batteries when plugged into the dock.

[franklyprice]

Don, I hadn't thought of a separate battery for the genset but that's not a bad idea since the Northern Lights does have an alternator on it. Frank, I am pretty sure my interior is red oak. One of the things I am not, is a great wood worker. I plan to have any doors or drawer fronts made by a guy who does all my other cabinet work, a master cabinet maker.He also is really into wood finishes and has some suggestions, like you prefers satin or so gloss and I agree. The wood in my boat was refinished rather cheaply by a guy two owners ago and isn't holding up all that great, it's also one of those finishes with a slight golden hue that I don't like all that much. My goal is to have it done by spring because I can't imagine sweating all summer working on it. Also, do you think there might be another source for those breaker covers? If I have to I'll pay the inflated cost but it's hard to believe those are Bertram specific.

[lobsta1]

Frank, The Xantrex of today is a far different company than the that existed when I installed my Truecharge.Feedback from different forums is that they are to be avoided. Charles or Newmar are now often recommended. Al P.S. Are you going into the Winninghoff facility?

[franklyprice]

Al, Yes winninghoff's place. What do you think of the old Heart brand charger/inverter which was taken over by Xantrex. Do you think they managed to ruin that?

[lobsta1]

About 10 years ago Xantrex bought up a bunch of other companies, Tripplite, Trace, Heart & others. The Truecharge series were some of the best chargers around. The heart brands were good also, BUT, I personally know of at least one & have read of others that caught fire. I think in 2009 Xantrex was bought out by a Chinese conglomerate & almost everything was outsourced to China. Al

[franklyprice]

Well maybe Charles or Newmar then...

[Rick]

Frank, I bought the Xantrex a few years ago and so far, so good. But that was a few years ago and I believe Al when he says they are now to be avoided. But the best thing I bought was AGM batteries to go along with the charger. They have low series resistance and charge quickly but are just rock solid. Never leak, never need maintenance except for cleaning and have been impressive holding a charge. I've been on a mooring for 3 days, with the fridge running, using my Lectrasan and the engines still crank like they're fully charged. What's wrong with your A/C....just looking for a new controller ? That set screw setting that you turned me onto has been awesome. Very quiet now. But I did some upgrading myself....had to buy a new compressor in June. Old one burned out but I still have the unit if it helps at all. I hemmed and hawed at buying a new one. But when I finally decided to do it, it turned hot for the rest of Summer about a week later. Rick Ticket 85 SF Merc 454 MPI's Falmouth, MA

[lobsta1]

Rick, You just reminded me of what I forgot to tell you. In my rambles on the net I found out that changing that pot setting often leads to premature compressor failure. Al

[photo finish]

Rick, I agree with the agm batteries. I have them and love them.

[franklyprice]

Al, Does it lead to premature failure because of the fan being too slow and then icing occurs? That would be the only way I could see it making a difference. Rick, My old unit is not shot but old and a bit rusty, plus I do want to upgrade to digital and cruisaire makes a different circuit board on the unit for digital to do it right so it looks like a good time to do it.

[Rick]

Tim, They are definitely a step up in technology...will never go back to wet cells. Al & Frank, I actually adjusted mine after the unit failed. But there was one night after I made the adjustment that was rediculously humid and the unit did freeze up. I went fishing that day and all was fine the following night. So you've got to be careful how low you set it when you go to sleep but it's just a fan speed adjustment as far as I know. Rick Ticket 85 SF Merc 454 MPI's Falmouth, MA

[lobsta1]

Frank, Rick, From what I've read, turning the fan speed down does cause freezing up & consequent premature compressor failure. Al

[franklyprice]

The guy that showed me what to do warned me not to go too low with the fan speed for that reason and I didn't , I'm pretty sure I warned you about that, didn't I Rick? Then again, how do you know how low is too low until you have a failure , right?