SKOL A25 rebuild underway

[OldDemps]

Few updates on SKOL repower from Volvo to Yanmar. I’ve moved the boat to Gallery Marine (yanmar dealer) in Seattle for final engine install and alignment. Spent the last 3 days cleaning and removing most of the scrambled 43 years of DC wiring and Volvo panel etc.

Two items

1) I need your pictures and suggestions of your AC/DC panel placement on Albin 25’s. In the Head or under the helm? Etc.

2) Does anyone have 3” inlet exhaust muffler & hose in the A25?
Will a 3” exhaust hose fit thru stock starboard stringer passage? See photo (1 5/8 hose currently shown).
My Yanmar 3JH4E require 3” exhaust. Ideas??

Thanks!!

[ssrig]

3" hose?? OD right? I think there are smaller size mixing elbows available but not sure if it would be for your engine, but if it was a new smaller elbow for a few hundred $'s might be easier than running 3" all the way.

[WillieC]

I'd stick with the engine installation instructions. If they say 3", then by all means.

Thanks for the updates. I knew the exhaust was going to be an issue. As to the hole size...Mine has the original 1-3/4" I.D. (44mm?) hose. I don't see being able to upsize any more than 2" I.D. if that. However, that mod is nothing more than some judicious sawzall and holesaw work and some glass work (or other method) to soften the sharp edges thus protecting the larger hose from chafing. That and the cost of larger muffler, hose, and through hull. Mere pennies in the grand scheme.

The original exhaust set-up has long been troubling since there is not enough room to get the exhaust hose high enough for the vented loop to prevent flooding. I have seen a number of folks move the through hull location, which can make matters worse. There are a number of threads, here and elsewhere that address this issue generically and on larger boats. I would love to see a "proper" set up in an A25. All that said, other than those unfortunate enough to have the old football bladder rubber muffler explode, we don't read of A25s sinking with the original installation.

[kerrye]

Is a 3" exhaust an absolute requirement on that engine or does your engine just happen to have a 3" elbow? I'd at least try to determine if a 2" is permissible on that engine before doing the conversion to 3" 3" sounds awfully large to me for an engine of that horsepower. If a 2" is permissible I'd consider adding a reducer to the existing elbow and go 2" from there.

[dkirsop]

I vote for checking with the engine supplier and finding out if an elbow compatible with 2"ID hose is available. There is not likely to be much back pressure given the shallow rise between water level and elbow height in an Albin. The hose and outlet on my boat is set up for 2"ID and is stock. Add a flap to the exhaust outlet at the stern to avoid back flow issues in high seas - it's cheap insurance.

[tribologist]

On the ac/dc panel, me and DA has posted a lot of pictures in my Driftless thread. Let me know if you like more pictures from Driftless. I left all original wiring for the lights but everything else was done over.

I have an exel chart now but i will make a full diagram in Visio when im done.

[dkirsop]

Here are a couple of pictures on my rewiring job. I elected to centralize the fuses for all my accessories and standardize on ATO style fuses. This makes it easy to electrically isolate a piece of equipment while I am working on it by simply pulling the fuse. It also means that I only have to look in one location to check all fuses on the boat. The fuses are common and can be sourced pretty much any where.

Rewired.jpg

The small block to the left is for circuits that need to remain hot after the batteries have been switched off - bilge pump, solar charger, am/fm radio presets. The fuel pump and glow plug circuits are only energized when the ignition switch is turned on. The feed to the ignition switch is only energized when the starter battery is switched on. I used rigid PVC conduit and a pull box to route the wires from behind the bulkhead up to the electrical cabinet.

Chair Folded.jpg

The photo above shows the pilot house side. The wire coil is how I corralled the extra cable that came with the radar unit. The small box in the lower right is an echo charger for the starting battery. I have since added a Balmar ARS-5 regulator and a solar regulator in this area.

In addition to my battery switch I also installed a ground switch which allows me to completely kill ALL circuits either when working on the engine/alternator or in the event of an emergency such as a battery short.

[ssrig]

dkirsop,
I like your pilot seat set up, I am on page 12 reading back on this site, will I stumble upon a thread on what you did for it? Nice teak floor too!

[OldDemps]

Thanks for the replies.
Just found out that yes Yanmar uses the same mixing elbow on all “JH” Series engines. so 3” is definitely overkill for this, the smallest in the series 1.6liter engine but 3” is the spec. The yard is researching options.

Dkirsop. Awesome wiring. I love how clean and simple under the helm is. Want to fly to Seattle for a few weeks and do it again on my boat?? 🌧

Ok who else has a few photos of their DC panel for my recreation??

Thanks!!

[dkirsop]

Here is a work around that I came up with in building a new exhaust elbow. View the post towards the bottom of the page.

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=9868

[hetek]

The 3" exhaust elbow is a Yanmar thing. I recall that Yanmar will void your warrantee if you don't install exactly as they prescribe. And they also require an official Yanmar inspection of the installation before they even activate your warrantee. That's for new engines though.

I have a 2" ID hose exhaust hose that fits through fine. Pretty sure the sleeve is only there to prevent chafing though. Maybe as WillieC mentioned, rework it with a saw and maybe use a piece of PVC pipe as a chafe guard. If you want to stay with fiberglass, they make fiberglass exhaust couplers that could be 'glassed in place.

Like these:

https://tridentmarine.com/product/fiber ... 7GfBtEpChA

[DesertAlbin736]

On the ac/dc panel, me and DA has posted a lot of pictures in my Driftless thread

Yes, that's right. Can't help you on the exhaust issue, the 3GM series Yanmar engine in my boat uses the smaller diameter exhaust & a totally different mixing elbow. In fact Yanmar swapped sides between intake and exhaust between GM & JH series.

DSCN3674.JPG

So regards electrical panels it seemed to me most practical to mount the AC breaker panel under the dashboard on the cockpit side. Question was, how to deal with the depth of the breaker.

This is the type of AC panel I used from Blue Sea Systems , which conveniently for you the company is headquartered in Bellingham, just a couple hours up the road from Seattle. This panel measures 7.5 in. high X 5.5 in. wide and 3 or 4 inches deep, so you need about a 9X9 junction box.

8101.jpg

I have two 15 amp AC circuits fed off the main 30 amp breaker with expansion slots for three more circuits if needed, one for the onboard battery charger, the other for standard household outlets, of which there are three in line on the circuit. The first incorporates a GFCI breaker & is located in the head compartment under the dc distribution panel access door. The second is near the top of the front wall of the hanging closet in the forward cabin, and the third is in the cockpit mounted in the short wooden wall panel at the forward end of the starboard bench seat.

DSCN3419markup (1280x960).jpg

Here's how I mounted the AC breaker panel under the steering wheel. I used a weatherproof grey PVC junction box & used a jigsaw to cut an opening out in the front cover. I got this from Lowes, but I don't see that same size listed in their catalog anymore.

DSCN3410 (1280x960).jpg

This view of the helm station shows the layout of the AC breaker panel and 12 DC switch/fuse panels. As always, click on the picture to zoom in for full screen enlarged view. There are two DC fused switch panels, one at far right next to the wheel, and a second auxiliary panel to the left of the AC panel. Both panels came with the boat. The main one has switches for anchor light, running lights, cabin lights, bilge pump, intstruments (VHF), and GPS chartplotter. The one down low to the left has switches for mast spreader deck light, windshield wiper, and 12V socket, plus a voltmeter. Below the auxiliary DC switch box is the SI/ACR relay and associated bus fuses. The solar panel controller is below the ProNautic battery charger. The grey square LCD display to the left of the wheel is a monitor that's part of the solar panel controller than can display voltage separately on the house and start batteries (reads direct from the battery posts) and the volts and amps output of solar panel when it's turned on.

DSCN3638.JPG

This is a good view of the terminal strips inside the head compartment, with the GFCI house AC outlet at lower left, all the various terminal strips, the remote "smart charge" alternator voltage regulator, and the engine hour meter. The thick green wire is the AC safety ground coming from the galvanic isolator inline with the service entrance socket. All AC wiring is marine grade jacketed cable, not standard solid copper house wiring.

DSCN3642.JPG