Having fun refurbishing an Albin 25, was “Catching up on a few years lost maintenance on Driftless”

[tribologist]

New battery switch, separate start battery and a automatic charging relay...

[Dieselram94]

Thanks!

We were looking at some LED strips at Defender on Sunday but have not purchased any yet. They were quite expensive. I’m thinking of trying some non boat ones.
For sure going to put some over the bench.
I got warm white ba15d LED’s for the cabin fixtures but they sucked! Not bright enough and they were wired differently. Ground on case and 12V on pads. I’m thinking of trying some LED plates instead. I’m also hoping to find 44mm LED’s for the head and the cockpit. Any suggestions for good ones?

I was more thinking of condensation on the hull sides in the cabin at night in the early part of summer when water is cold but it might not be a problem then.

Ulf

I don’t have any suggestions, I was just thinking sone hidden strips would look really nice along the sides, with the fresh paint. It’s definitely in my plans to add some. Sounds like it’s best to get the cool white instead of the warm white?

[tribologist]

Found great lamps on amazon, same color temp as old bulbs but brighter.

GRV Ba15d 1142 High Bright Car LED... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EKKJMS2?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

[DesertAlbin736]

New battery switch, separate start battery and a automatic charging relay...

Same as what I did with ours. Located on the side wall under the drivers seat due to batteries being relocated to the bench seat storage locker. SI/ACR relay on the cabin wall

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add a battery wiring diagram edit.jpg

[tribologist]

Thanks DA!

Knowing what i know now it shoukd be “Refubishing Driftless”. We spent pretty much all non working time on her since we got her but it’s getting close to operational. I moved the engine relay panel up on the bell housing and i need to finish that before it can be back in water.

[tribologist]

Modified the waterpump to take a 3ym30 impeller. I bought the impeller thinking the PO used the 3YM30 pump but the pump is from the older engine. Was an easy mod to the shaft cutting it down to 12.2mm and add a slot. Not sure it was the right thing to do but the 3ym30 impeller seems more common. Glad I looked at it... three vanes in heat exchanger....

Looks like my pump originated from a 3GM30 engine. I found a brand new one in a box in the boat but its bigger and heavier than the parts and tools needed to rebuild it so i will probably sell it. It was silly expensive!

[DesertAlbin736]

Looking back through my vast archive of photos, here are two versions of Yanmar 3GM30F pumps.

Backstory: During our first San Juans cruise in 2014, the first year we owned our boat, I had similar issue with broken impeller vanes. There we were, just leaving the Blind Bay anchorage on Shaw Island & pulling out into the channel between Shaw & Orcas Island when the hi temp alarm went off. Our panel has idiot lights but no temperature gauge, so there's no warning of an impending overheating condition until the light goes on and the alarm buzzer sounds. We used the dinghy to push the boat back into the anchorage & contacted West Sound Marina on Orcas since they are an authorized Yanmar dealer.

It turned out two impeller vanes had broken off, one getting sucked into the heat exchanger, the other jammed the pump & tore up the pulley & scored the shaft spindle. The verdict: pump KIA.

So we ordered a new pump & took the ferry over to West Sound Marina on Orcas (luckily there's a ferry terminal in Blind Bay) to pick up a new one which had to be ordered & shipped in from Seattle. Turns out there's more than one version of pump for 3GM30 engines. One is for engines with conventional transmissions, another for sailboats with SailDrive lower units. They ordered the saildrive version by mistake, which is made for smaller diameter hoses & smaller impeller housing. Due to time constraints since we were due in Roche Harbor for an AOG rendezvous we called up the dealer in Bellingham & they knew what we were talking about & had the correct size in stock. So we took the ferry back to Anacortes (no direct ferry service to Bellingham), rented a car, drove up & got the part, drove back to Anacortes & ferried back to San Juans as walk on passengers. Once we got the correct pump installed we took the SailDrive version back to West Sound Marina for a refund. Here's what the SailDrive version looks like next to the old, correct size pump.

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It was silly expensive!

Yes indeed, over $500! Moral of story: Never run pump dry, always install new impeller at least every two seasons.

[tribologist]

I been doing them every two years on my outboards and they look ok at that time. I think thats reasonable. I would love to have a 3ym30 pump installation where the impeller lid face forward. I have a 7mm nut driver for the ABA hose clamps and thats the same as the pump lid.
If i get ambitious I might make a mount. I wish i had a cad model of the engine. Measuring the engine is half the problem.

[WillieC]

Put a Speed Seal cover on 'em. Do the Google!

[tribologist]

Neat idea but unfortunately it looks like they’re closing. Hopefully someone else picks it up. I don’t know that I would intentionally dry run or extend the change interval. It still rub the same on the drive side and the vanes are getting the same bending torture but it should cut wear in half?

Ulf

[WillieC]

I used Speedseal mainly for the ease of removing the cover. The other benefits were only bonuses.
I was inventing the thumbscrew idea in my head when I stumbled on Speedseal. Done!

Sorry to hear of their misfortune. Thanks for the update.

[DesertAlbin736]

With the easy accessibility of the engine it's easy to simply remove the pump and change out the impeller at the shop workbench. The tricky part with this Yanmar engine is the routing of the raw water intake hose. As seen here it has to go up, over, and around the engine mounts since there isn't room for a 90* elbow.

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[tribologist]

Got wiring and relay panel done on engine. The panel used to be on the starboard side of the engine and quite messy and full of non insulated terminals so i moved it to the bell housing. Pretty much done with wiring now. Just need the ground for the charging relay and a few more small things.

Next will be to replace a gas valve with a real bronze valve and refinishing the handles. Noted some leaks from the anchor mount i need to fix also.

Ulf

[kerrye]

This comment comes too late but I have been told that locating relays on the back of the engine by Westerbeke was a bad idea because they are known to suffer from the heat and vibration of that location. I have been advised it is better to move them off the engine.

[WillieC]

Ah, vibration. Long ago, when my Volvo Penta was converted to fresh water cooling with the addition of a heat exchanger, whoever installed it thought it would be a good idea to mount the exchanger to a bracket that was bolted to the lifting eye attachment using engine head bolts. The brackets were quite beefy, made of flatstock bent in an ironworker and extended to the right side of the engine. Thus the HX was mounted above the exhaust manifold, yet still fit under the engine box. Anyhoo, boy did that sucker vibrate! So bad, that it physically eroded the rubber seal at the radiator cap. This was the beginning of my original overheat problem, and I thought, a very simple fix. Long story, see my rebuild thread.

Cut to new install, first thing I did was mount the HX to the lower, fixed part of the engine box side. Zero engine vibration. Most recently, I mounted the "puke bottle" filter in a similar manner, on the front bulkhead, again to eliminate transferred vibration. Now if I could support the engine with a sky hook and seal it all in a vacuum chamber, I'd be set.