new owner with questions

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nocall
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new owner with questions

Post by nocall »

My wife Janet and I are the proud new owners of Elixir and will be taking her home starting tomorrow. The boat is overall in great shape but the black rubber window trim gaskets on the outboard forward windows has pulled away slightly from the lower corners of the frame. No leaking has been noted but we are not sure how to fix this--or even if it needs to be fixed.

For those who have added a memory foam mattress or topper, how difficult has that made it to get to the aft engine compartment?

The soft rubber sealing gaskets on the fiberglass engine covers are no longer stuck and I was wondering if anyone has a better idea on gaskets for the covers? I have tried to glue them back but I don't have much faith that this will work.

The last question refers to the vented loop on the head. This boat was built with a Y-valve that can direct the discharge to either the holding tank for stateside use or overboard for the Bahamas. The overboard discharge line is properly done with a loop that goes well above the waterline and has a siphon break at the top. As this is located within the interior of the boat (behind the cabinet in the head), I wonder if this could lead to odors and if anyone has taken a vent hose to the outside for this siphon break?

Thanks in advance for any and all advice for this newbie owner. Bruce
duetto
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Re: new owner with questions

Post by duetto »

hi bruce,

welcome aboard. on your last point, we replaced our macerator with a diaphragm pump. as part of the conversion i installed a siphon break. initially i had it vented in the starboard fwd locker where the loop and pump are. i can't say there was any great odor but just to be safe i put a tee in the holding tank vent line and vented it there. no problems.
john & diane cummings
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Mary & Roger
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Re: new owner with questions

Post by Mary & Roger »

Hi Bruce, I put a memory foam topper on both beds, and have had no problems just folding it back with the mattress. Got it at Sams, can't remember the price, but it sure made a differance in the bed.
I have used 3M super weatherstrip and gasket adhesive [any auto store ] yellow. it works very well if you follow the instructions. There is a RIB with the fabric glued to the hull with it, and i'm sure it's still being used. You will want to keep a tube aboard at all times. Roger on Teamwork
Spoff4
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Re: new owner with questions

Post by Spoff4 »

I believe I have the manufacturer, part number, and contact info for the window gaskets. I'll dig it out tomorrow at the office.
George and Anita, Paul and Susan
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MV 34 Hull #60
Tampa, Fl
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Re: new owner with questions

Post by Bargain Bill »

The gaskets on our 2003 MV34 are slightly askew too. Been like that since we bought it 3+ years ago and no evidence of leaking.
Bill & Fran Carlson
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Ocean City, MD
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Re: new owner with questions

Post by Bargain Bill »

The gaskets on our 2003 MV34 are slightly askew too. Been like that since we bought it 3+ years ago and no evidence of leaking.
Bill & Fran Carlson
Easy Riders MV34 #029
Ocean City, MD
nocall
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Re: new owner with questions

Post by nocall »

Wow! Thanks for all the replies. We are now officially on our maiden voyage, currently docked in Thunderbolt and headed down to the St. Johns River. Boat is working well and so far it has been without glitches. I have noted the port engine runs hotter than the starboard engine although both are within safe operating limits. Is this normal? The heat exchangers have been flushed recently, the raw water impellers changed, and there was no evidence of marine growth on the through-hull openings at the pre-purchase haul-out.

I believe we will try the memory foam topper. The ones I have seen at Sams are about 2.5" thick--pretty heavy but it will make the admiral happy.
duetto
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Re: new owner with questions

Post by duetto »

bruce,

you didn't mention whether you have 75's or 100's. if you search the forum you'll find numerous threads about the port engine running hotter, with many theories as to why. i personally believe that 75's will show this problem more often because they're usually running at a higher rpm to achieve planning speed.
john & diane cummings
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Ross Bowling
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Re: new owner with questions

Post by Ross Bowling »

We too have foam memory pads on the berths. They make a significant differance. No problem
With access. Mine want to crawl down the berth, need to reposition them when making the beds, but well worth the effort and cost.
Ross Bowling
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Re: new owner with questions

Post by Loki »

The inside forward hatches on our 1999 36 have small gaps in the aft corners of the gaskets. They don't leak even in the heaviest rain storms, but on one occasion we nose dived through very steep chop (southwest end of the Cape Cod Canal) and a substantial amount of water made it through. I've found web comments that a bit of superglue can get the gasket back where it belongs, but my local rigger says replacing the gasket is the only proper solution.

On a related note, one of our favorite upgrades is Skyscreen combination screens/shades on most of the overhead hatches. We have cats aboard and so need screens at night or when we leave the boat for "containment" as well as bug protection. These allow either screen or shades for privacy. We started with one and gradually covered most of the hatches. Cost is about $175 per hatch; installation is fairly easy - the available trim ring needs to be cut to fit and the result is clean and neat.
http://www.oceanair.co.uk/skyscreenrollersurface.aspx
Jeff Morris, Loki 36072
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Mishigas
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Re: new owner with questions

Post by Mishigas »

Hey Nocall, welcome to the site. I know Elixer as I did the trip down from Canada on our boat and Elixer was on this trip. As far as the port engine running hotter we had the same issue. I pulled the heat exchangers out and had them professionally cleaned by a local radiator shop and have not had a problem since. From what I learned, there was some issue with Yanmar using some kind of coolant in the factory that left a film on the heat exchangers, thus causing an issue with the heat transfer. We never actually overheated but we did see a diference in engine temps when running hard. Good luck with your new boat. Regards, Sandy Kramer MV "Mishigas" (for sale)
nocall
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Re: new owner with questions

Post by nocall »

Elixir is finally at her home dock on the St. Johns River in sunny Florida. A great trip with no real issues. We ran most of the trip at 3000 rpm on the 75 hp Yanmars and the port engine consistently ran in the 195+ degree range. The starboard engine stayed right at 175 degrees, regardless of load. Once, with full fuel and water tank (heavy boat), we decided to run at 3100 for a short run and the port engine had the coolant overheat warning light come on. I shut that engine down and continued on one engine until it cooled off. Speaking with the former owner, I found out that the heat exchanger has been recently cleaned and flushed with "Barnacle Buster", the raw water impeller replaced, and the thermostat replaced. All of this did not make much difference with the port engine running hotter than the starboard engine. He thinks that when the strainer scoops were reoriented to face forward during a haul out a couple of years ago, the yard may have not gotten them exactly right and they might actually be blocking the inlet for the cooling water. As he rarely ran past about 2500 rpm, no problem was noted. After the overheat episode, I cleaned out the strainer (which contained very little) and checked the impeller (which looked fine) and then just ran a bit slower. I did not have my infrared heat sensor gun with me to verify the gauge accuracy but, according to the former owner, the gauge reads somewhat high. Next step will be to see what the actual engine temp versus the gauge temperature is during a hard run and go from there. And I will look hard at the through hull opening and make sure it is not obstructed. Any other suggestions?

During the trip we filled the water tank with some pretty funky sulfurous water (oops) which made us really want a drinking water filtration system. Has anyone added such a system and if so, where and how? We have them in our house and RV and love them but finding room under the sink for the usual unit will be challenging, and I don't want to give up precious counter space for a countertop unit. Thanks to the PDQ community for all the fine advice. We look forward to many happy hours aboard our new boat.
duetto
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Re: new owner with questions

Post by duetto »

hi bruce,

couple of things: 1) the engine water heat exchanger is the last of 3 in the circuit. the first is your trans oil cooler and then the engine oil cooler. so if the exchanger was cleaned off engine you probably want to check the trans oil cooler. it maybe restricting flow. 2) couple of years back we were having the same problem. i used IR heat gun to isolate problem to the engine heat exchanger. the water temp in = water temp out. i pulled the exchanger and it looked as clean as the day it was installed. with my testing numbers i went to local yanmar mechanic. he said only thing he could think of was cooling tubes were coated with some kind of insulator. anyway, he boiled it out. it looked exactly the same. i put it back on the boat and headed out for a test. it was blowing 20 and we headed straight into it. normally, these conditions would really load the engines. the port engine ran right at 185. this was 3 years ago. since then the engines have run just fine. my theory is that antifreeze must breakdown at high temps. when it breaks down it coats the tubes with an invisible insulator. the problem is that the 75s run at very high rpms to keep on plane so there is very little margin for too much heat. this can become the death spiral, so your cooling system needs to be very clean.

on another note, we installed a seagull water filter 7 years ago which enables us to use the water tank for all our water needs. when i installed it i installed the separate dedicated water faucet. based on what i know now, i would just put it right after the water pump and let it serve the whole boat.

good luck, and let us know what you find.
john & diane cummings
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Mishigas
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Re: new owner with questions

Post by Mishigas »

Bruce, glad you made it home with Elixer. Do a search on this site for Heat Exchanger and you will find more to the tale. My guess is that it has nothing to do with the orientation of the scoops and more to do with the Heat Exchanger. When I pulled mine, it had a coating over the entire surface that almost looked like a varnish. Ater the cleaning, the metal surfaces where clean once again. Not sure if Barnicle Buster can acomplish this without removing the H/E completly. Keep us posted on your progress and enjoy your PDQ. :mrgreen:
Kind Regards, Sandy Kramer MV Mishigas
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Re: new owner with questions

Post by Beechjetdriver »

Hi, Bruce. I recommend considering Duetto's reply after our experience.

We are also new PDQ 34 owners. We acquired a 2005, SECOND WIND, in July. During her sea trial the starboard engine (75 hp) set off the overheat alarm during the full throttle run and ran hot even when running well below full throttle. Gregg Burdick and his geniuses at Stuart Yacht spent days trying to figure out the problem after replacing the impeller and back flushing the heat exchanger with no change. They found the problem when they took a look at the oil cooler. There was a piece of an old impeller blade blocking the flow of water. Cleaning the oil cooler solved the problem.

You might try giving Gregg a call: 772-286-9800. He and his guys are PDQ experts and always willing to help.
Bob and Barbara Harter
Second Wind
MV34 Hull #56
Tampa, FL
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