Levitation
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2009
- Messages
- 1,300
- Fluid Motion Model
- C-248 C
- Hull Identification Number
- fmlt2510f809
- Vessel Name
- Charlotte Ann
Just finished running the engine which has been silent since returning from Florida in March... Getting ready to put the boat away in the workshop until time for our gathering in Florida in February... It has been outside to make space in the shop - and because I had this fantasy of a summer cruise (silly me)... Anyway, I am always amazed at the ability of the engine pump to suck down water - wide open hose barely kept up with it...
And added to my project list (good until 2050 or so) is making a push rod, bent just so, to actuate the engine primer for pressurizing the fuel rail before starting after a lay up... The spine is acting up today and getting down with my butt higher than my head is not an option this morning... So I just cranked it... Took 4 cranking cycles before it fired... After I was finished getting the engine warm I shut it down for 10 minutes then restarted to see if the ECM was beginning to go again... It fired up immediately, so good for now..
The boat is on the cement pad in front of the shop and I now need the room for the combine and corn head to have preventative maintenance, be mated together, and run... So later today, back in the shop it goes to shelter it from the deluge of nasty staining oak leaves that are starting to blow down... Keeping the boat clean when it is parked next to a forest is impossible and I bow to the inevitable..
And, last week I replaced the house batteries and the engine battery... They are 08 vintage from the factory... Still working... But when I put the load tester on them for ten seconds they were down 3 tenths of a volt while under load compared to a fresh battery, and they were 2 tenths of a volt lower after the load than the test battery - though still in the green on the tester... This is a sign that the plates have sulfated enough to be the beginning of the end... I could get another couple of years out of them but they would be increasingly compromised in load capacity - especially the cranking battery which is critical for starting with the Cummins ECM... They are still useful batteries and will find employment around the farm...
And lastly, the battery checking was brought on when I discovered the Protech charger was running in conditioning mode 24/7 for some unknown time, and had boiled the batteries down to the top of the plates being exposed since the last time I checked them... Long story short it turned out to be the 3 little dip switches that set the time for the conditioning charge had (apparently) oxidized the contacts and lost contact so the timer was not running... (too close to the battery fumes) In testing each of the conditioning time options, I moved the switches and the charger began operating properly... So, as part of PM, once a year I would recommend working those 3 dip switches back and forth a few times...
Final note:
I called Protech to discuss the charger with them... Even though this 1240i was a factory reconditioned charger I purchased from them a year ago, it is obsolete and they do not warranty it... Though he would be happy to sell me another charger (yeah, right)
And added to my project list (good until 2050 or so) is making a push rod, bent just so, to actuate the engine primer for pressurizing the fuel rail before starting after a lay up... The spine is acting up today and getting down with my butt higher than my head is not an option this morning... So I just cranked it... Took 4 cranking cycles before it fired... After I was finished getting the engine warm I shut it down for 10 minutes then restarted to see if the ECM was beginning to go again... It fired up immediately, so good for now..
The boat is on the cement pad in front of the shop and I now need the room for the combine and corn head to have preventative maintenance, be mated together, and run... So later today, back in the shop it goes to shelter it from the deluge of nasty staining oak leaves that are starting to blow down... Keeping the boat clean when it is parked next to a forest is impossible and I bow to the inevitable..
And, last week I replaced the house batteries and the engine battery... They are 08 vintage from the factory... Still working... But when I put the load tester on them for ten seconds they were down 3 tenths of a volt while under load compared to a fresh battery, and they were 2 tenths of a volt lower after the load than the test battery - though still in the green on the tester... This is a sign that the plates have sulfated enough to be the beginning of the end... I could get another couple of years out of them but they would be increasingly compromised in load capacity - especially the cranking battery which is critical for starting with the Cummins ECM... They are still useful batteries and will find employment around the farm...
And lastly, the battery checking was brought on when I discovered the Protech charger was running in conditioning mode 24/7 for some unknown time, and had boiled the batteries down to the top of the plates being exposed since the last time I checked them... Long story short it turned out to be the 3 little dip switches that set the time for the conditioning charge had (apparently) oxidized the contacts and lost contact so the timer was not running... (too close to the battery fumes) In testing each of the conditioning time options, I moved the switches and the charger began operating properly... So, as part of PM, once a year I would recommend working those 3 dip switches back and forth a few times...
Final note:
I called Protech to discuss the charger with them... Even though this 1240i was a factory reconditioned charger I purchased from them a year ago, it is obsolete and they do not warranty it... Though he would be happy to sell me another charger (yeah, right)