bertram31.com

Sounds right. Happy? White smoke gone?

Didn't notice the white smoke. I wouldn't close the issue as I only made a short run though and ran it pretty easy for the most part.

Peter,
That sounds great, I'd be happy!

I am very happy the boat seems to be running great. I didn't take notes but I had a nice cruising speed of about 23 kts just over 3000 I forgot the exacts.

Spent a few hours working on the teak deck and cleaning out the freshwater tank this morning.

Numbers sound great. Enjoy

Peter

You are there right on the money. I thought those props would drop the numbers close to 4400.

Did the vibration go away?

Not sure on the vibration. It's hard to notice from the bridge and I need to stand on the deck while someone else is driving. I am hopeful the cutlass bearing helped that issue we'll see.

A bit of a hiccup this weekend. Started the boat up on Saturday morning without a problem.

On Sunday went down and no go on the starboard motor. I flip the ignition switch and get no reading on the battery/volt meter. Switch on the parallel switch nothing. Switch the batteries port to starboard and still nothing.

The port motor runs fine and starts off either battery. The starboard engines starter ticks but no juice to start it up. Not sure if I may have a problem with the ignition relay or a bad starter, any ideas?

In either case I have the mechancic coming down this week to trouble shoot the issue.

Was hoping to take my wife and son on their maiden voyage for Mothers Day it has been postponed.

i would say bad starter. or bad connection to starter

Loose ground wire.

If you get there before the mechanic, rap the starboard starter with a hammer once or twice and then see if she turns over. You obviously have power since the same batteries turned over your port engine. The Bendix on your starboard starter may be stuck in the in position and the raps can often dislodge the jam. If that is the case, it needs some lubrication or a rebuild if it's badly rusted.

I did tap the starter with a hammer and cleaned up the connections to it. Didn't help but again I'm not all that mechanically inclined (read as "I'm a moron"), but I'm getting pretty good at writing checks ;(

My very small brain makes me think that since I get no battery reading on the starboard dash its an electrical issue and not the starter itself. Really I have no clue.

Thanks for the advice.

Regardless we got my son in his life jacket and on the boat for the first time. Even if we didn't leave the dock.

Peter,
I would agree. If starter motor was bad you should still get a voltage reading on your gauge. Surprised you still get a click though if no voltage?
Do you have neutral start only safetly switches? If so maybe not quite in neutral?
Do none of your gauges move when the key is turn on? If not I would suspect the key switch or the wiring on keyswitch.

You son Looks happy, great times.
I think that you are not getting power to the starting switch for that motor. If no gauges move. Do you have alarm buzzer at start up? If you do and get no buzzer then thats the problem. You said that you just rewired the boat right ? You could just jump the starter but you said your not that machnical
FYI when it gets warmer out get your son in the water with the lifejacket on so he leans how to float in it. It might roll him over on his face if he dosen't know what to do. Learned the hard way with my youngest 6 now.

I do have a neutral safety but I checked it. The gauges move slightly as i engage the ignition switch but then no reading. The starter clicks slightly more rapidly when I flip the parallel switch. The port gauges pull a voltage reading from either battery.

Thankfully a ride on the new boat wasn't the only Mothers Day gift on Sunday.

Frank my son is always happy we are really blessed in that way. It's really his boat I'd be happy with my small flats boat if it could accommodate the family. The B31 is our new summer get away.

I normally get an alarm if the ignition is engaged but the motor isn't running after a few seconds. No alarm on the starboard motor. Definitely don't know how to jump the starter since it's at the dock I didn't need a quick fix.

Peter,
Growing up in Oakdale living on the boat (luhurs and silverton) on fire island most of the summer I know. My boys love camping on the boat as they call it. Fun is just begining.

Frank,

Connetquot graduate? If so what year?

Pete

Ditto The Prof's advice - go over your battery ground cable connections to the motor, unbolt the motor end, file the cable end terminal shiny, same with contact area on motor, shoot with CX, re bolt. Very common problem as the ground gets neglected in favor of the positive side.

UV

NO, I would of graduated 86 but moved to northern Va in late 84.

Capt.Frank wrote:NO, I would of graduated 86 but moved to northern Va in late 84.

My brother in law Bill Beal graduated in 85 my sisters Donna 86 and Joanne 84 all graduated from Connetquot. They all still live in Oakdale along with a long list of characters. I grew up in sayville but the small part that was in the Connetquot district.

A good clean gound is always step one on electrical gremlins, Walters tappy on starter is also a neat trick on any motor driven pump that has sat idle for a long winter. Three day canyon trip with head pump no worky..my buddy says your a handy guy go fix it will ya...lets say someone left a prize in it...three raps with hammer..all fixed. BH

i not buying any of this!!!! " small brain" yea right wall street analist all you need is a little helping hand now i have to learn the english again at 64 years old thats tough .i am free after 1pm tommorow.

Thanks for the offer Bob, mechanic is already on his way no big deal. But if you want to take a look at the seats I can clear my schedule:). Seriously thank you much for the offer.

Don't get me wrong I'm not stupid, Dad taught me to change the oil. Anything beyond that call a mechanic, actually he probably said a lot more I just didn't listen. What I really need is a good book like engines for dummies or something. I am more worried about not being able to trouble shoot a problem at sea. Otherwise I strongly believe in doing the things you do really well and paying others to do the things they do well.

Power Squadron Engine Maintenance course used to be a good basic troubleshooting course. Don't know what they may have now but might be a place to look into.

Peter

Really not that hard. Follow Bob's lead. Let him talk while you walk through it trying to find the problem. Before you know it, it will be simple as pie.

I was lucky, my father was a great mechanic. I know enough to troubleshoot the plain jain old gas engines. If there is a way of starting them I can probably get it going. Just don't ask me to change the fuel pump on those big block GM motor. Never could get that dam arm to line up.

Walter is right take a course.

If you have solid state ignition, check out JC Whitney and carry an ignition eliminator. I may have an old one laying around I have to check. Don't remember if I kept it when I put in the diesels.

The ignition eliminator allows you to by pass the solid state ignition if they ever die on you.

Boy, that's why I like my non-electronic Cummins. Simple as hell as long as you have fuel and air. Electricity to start it up, then only to shut it down. I've been hearing a lot of stories about new electronic Volvo D-3's and D-4's shutting themselves down for the slightest things, leaving you in the dark (and out on the water) without letting you know why so you might be able to get them started again. This is progress?

Walter checked the power squadron website they only offer the boater safety course.

Tony you are exactly onto what I'd like to have knowledge about. I dont need to be able to rebuild a motor just be able to trouble shoot an issue.

I went down to the boat this morning and rechecked all my connections. I am convinced that the problem is in the ignition switch. Is there a relay that connects the battery to the starter? I flip the switch and get no voltage reading. Connect a volt meter to the leads on the starter and nothing.

Just found out I have to fly to Charlotte first thing tomorrow morning and get home early tonight as my wife will be battling the LIRR issues. In this case I will just hope the mechanic squares it away before the weekend so I can use the boat over the weekend.

Will see if I can stop at the book store to pick up something to read on the flight.

Hey Pete-
Father's Day is not that far away how about Nigel Calder's book... it's available in Capt. Pat's bookstore...
Keeping a good thought for you for this weekend.
Best,
Stephan

That is perfect I will forward it to my wife. Didn't realize capt pat had a bookstore. Is that just recommended reading or can I buy it through the capt?

Peter-

Make sure you have juice where your battery cable connects to the solenoid on your starter. If not, then you have a problem upstream--dead battery, bad connection at main switch (not starter), bad connection at the starter. All this is pretty unlikely based on what you described.

If you have juice, jump from the big battery cable terminal on the solenoid to the smaller terminal on the solenoid (I think the one you want is usually yellow)--you're basically bypassing the solenoid. You can do this with a screwdriver (lots of sparks and can be exciting), or better yet (and recommended and they're really handy to have anyway) get a remote starter switch from your local autoparts store (they're cheap) and do it that way. Do not turn your key (power to the coil) when you do this. That way, the engine won't start--it'll just crank (or not).

If the engine cranks, its the solenoid. If the engine still doesn't crank, it should be the starter. Take the starter off (really easy) and get it bench tested, and replace if necessary. You MUST use a marine starter, and get the proper rotation for your motor if your motors counter rotate rather than getting your counter rotation from you gears.

I think it was UV that described electrical as basically like the flow of water. Just keep looking to you find where the flow is blocked.

Caveat - I'm not a mechanic, and since I sold my B31 (still crying), I can't go out and look for you. But, I think this is right.

John F.

The "Book Store" is a cooperative through Amazon.com and they in turn send me a small commission on anything sold at Amazon, if the purchaser originates from my site...

http://bertram31.com/bookstore/

Great book to have around the boat, kinda like Chapmans but for the mechanical side of boating. Give me a call when you get back and I'll show you some of the basics.

The book has been ordered. I am willing to learn.

This is like an AA meeting for a guy with no mechanical inclination. "My name is Pete Palmieri and it's been 15 years since I changed my own oil"

Thanks for not beating me up to bad!

Peter

We are all in training here. Capt. Pat is the teacher. After 36 years I thought I knew every thing about my 31. But I learn something new here all the time.

When it comes to power, I alsways start with the Battery. Make sure I have 12.75 to 13.25 volts. If not the battery is discharging. Then if it does, the next question is do I have juice to the switch and so on.

Not to be too simplistic, but I believe those engines have a 15 or 20 amp fuse. Check it and make sure you have good juice at that point.

I am betting on the ignition switch. I was close on the RPM's. Anyone want to lay odds.

Wise man always asks questions.

We are all in training here. Capt. Pat is the teacher.

I'm only a guidon bearer and none the less a student too...

captain now that we enter our golden years we also have go learn to aganst the grain . teacher/ student not sure in this changing world. my cousins in florida are taking me hog hunting with a damm ak-47 no less i swore i would never hold one of those bastards. 6 wheel all terain,air boats ise be a red neck some place called brama island. i also get to go to a walmart-------------heaven help me!

i also get to go to a walmart-------------heaven help me!

Careful Bob, you might get addicted. Be sure your butt crack is showin' above your belt line; you might be on camera...

first i paid my 190.00 to florida for out of state conceal pistol permit . i just hope it ain`t going to be one of those get me out of here things.

Bob

You will need to loose one of our front teeth otherwise those Walmart greeters will know you are there to spy on them.

I'm only a guidon bearer and none the less a student too...

Capt. Pat

Like I tell my staff, don't always assume I am right or really know what I am talking about. We all learn from each other no matter how old we are.

Well got the book delivered. Also figured out what was wrong with the boat.

The battery was dead, the parallel switch was not working and has been replaced. For the life of me I can't figure out how the batteries are wired to the battery switches. Each switch has 1, both, 2 and off. None of those settings aloud me to connect the good battery to the starboard motor.

Peter-Great that you found it now. As long as that battery was functioning you would have never known that switch was improperly wired.

http://www.usps.org/e_stuff/member_courses.htm

here is the link to the Power Squadron page of courses for members. Jou will need to join though.

The problem is two fold. The parallel switch which is on the dash is now working properly. I will still have to figure out why the battery switches in the engine compartment don't feed either engine.

Easy problem I should have been able to fix on my own but I'll take it nothing costly.

Joseph Fikentscher wrote:http://www.usps.org/e_stuff/member_courses.htm

here is the link to the Power Squadron page of courses for members. Jou will need to join though.

Thanks for the link. The closest engine maintenance course is in conneticut 70 miles away and is in September. I will give them a call and see if there is anything else in the works.

I will still have to figure out why the battery switches in the engine compartment don't feed either engine.

maybe no jumper between switches

Keep jumper cables on your boat.....