jago25_98
30.04.2021 1:51:01
How & What to Accomplish in Pre-Inspections.
See full version: DIY Houseboat Pre-Inspection, inspect or survey it before calling a surveyor
How & What to Accomplish in Pre-Inspections.
"We are glad we read the ebook as it allowed us not go about paying for unnecessary surveys. It saved us from spending on surveys for boat's that were not worth 'our' time" more
Evaluating Age, and Condition of Equipment.
To reset the glass, use a silicone based window glazing SPECIFICALLY designed for this purpose. Do not use plain old silicone sealer. Clean the glass edges thoroughly with an alcohol based glass cleaner. Plain old Windex is fine. What you're going to do is to apply the window bedding very heavily to the frame channel and then press the glass into place, squeezing out the excess that you will later trim away with a razor blade once it fully cures. Don't attempt to smooth out the excess with your finger because you'll just make a mess of things. Yes, its going to look ugly at first, but the razor blade will trim it away as nice as can be. here
If you have a poorly designed boat where the window frames are holding up the flying bridge, or are very low to the side decks and the deck flexes when you walk on it, it is not likey that you can stop the leaks by recaulking the windows. This is a design problem that you're pretty much stuck with.
After removing the glass, you also have to thoroughly clean the channel in the frame in which it sits. Most window channels will be full of crud and corrosion. If you do not get it perfectly clean, all your effort is likely to be wasted, so be sure to do a good job. Two people can reset three windshield lites in a half-day so its not a big job. more
Black aluminum, anodized or painted, is a problem because aluminum is a great heat conductor, and when they heat up in the sun they expand and break the caulking seal, as well as helping to make the cauking brittle. To stop leaking, you have to use a non-hardening caulking so that the caulking can move with the expansion. To deal with this problem, you have to remove the frames, rebed them and refasten them less tightly than they were previously installed. The reason is that if the frames are drawn very tight, they will squeeze all the caulking out and not allow any movement without breaking the caulking seal. In this case, its best to use one of the specially formulated non-hardening silicone epoxy compounds and use 3/32" shims to prevent the frame from being drawn completely flush, particularly along the top of the frame where most leaks develop. Draw the frame tight against the shim - which is only inserted along the edges - and then let the bedding fully set before pulling the shims out. Once the caulking has fully set - say a week - then go back and retorque the fasteners just a little tighter. What you now have is a gasket against which the frame can be drawn up against.
If you do not have exterior moldings to install, use your bedding to finish up the glazing. To get a nice smooth surface, use a NEW chrome plated putty knife sprayed with silicone to prevent sticking. Don't try to remove all the excess, just get the glazing part smooth. You can trim the excess with a razor after it sets, which is very easy to do. [links]
Be sure that wire splices are as high up as possible and that they don't get wet from other sources. Remember that bilge water bounces around while underway. Coating connections with silicone sealer won't help. If the area routinely gets wet, install a gasketed plastic junction box. Good ones are available even at Home Depot! Carlon makes a nice one that sells for $5. [links]
To make matters worse, dirt and debris falls down into the gap and gets under the gasket when the hatch is opened and replaced without first being cleaned. When this happens, that gasket is only sealing to a layer of dirt which then lets water run through. To make matters worse still, those hatch covers are likely to be located close to the stern for access to bilge pumps, rudders and the like. Under these circumstances, it's not difficult to understand why so many of this type of boat sinks.
problems usually involve boats under 40 feet and more often boats under 30 feet. Obviously, the smaller the boat, the more prone to sinking it is simply because it can sink so much faster. The most common reason power boats sink is due to improperly designed cockpits. In order to keep people from falling overboard, it is necessary that the gunwale be of a certain height. If it does not come up above the knees of the average sized person, then a person is more likely to fall overboard.
If you've got a 30 footer or larger and are running only a pair of 60 A.H. car batteries, you don't have enough power for your pumps. This is mainly a problem for gas powered boats since diesel power is always accompanied by large batteries. [links]
Keep bilges clean, especially free of things like rags, paper and string. This stuff is deadly around float switches. Make sure the wires aren't tangling up in the switch. [links]
I can see a small pencil size hole under the water tank, water coming in about gallon an hour.
Straight wood or ply with a clear UV finish, you can see any problems before they get out of control.
I plan on enlarging the refrigerator vent and maybe adding a thermostatically controlled 12 volt axial fan. The refrigerator temperature is all over the place. I use a wireless indoor / outdoor thermometer that records high and low to monitor.