WD40 as sticky residue remover.

Our companion way stairs are wooden with a polyurethane coating and some non skid tape on to prevent the "sliding foot".
Last time I replaced the non skid tape, I removed all the tape by sanding and re polyurethane-ing the steps.
This time, I replaced without having to sand the remaining sticky surface off.

I removed the worn out strips of non skid tape and was left a sticky residue on the polyurethane from the tape. I first reached for De-Solv-It which has been good in the past, removing sticky residue from various tapes etc. This time around, it would not budge the sticky residue. So I reached for the WD40 which I have used to remove sticky stuff off my Gelcoat deck. Once again, WD40 removed that sticky residue without any hard rubbing.
So far, I can say it is good for removing sticky residue on both Gelcoat and polyurethane surfaces. No detrimental effects. Give it a try sometime and if you try a new surface, please report back here in comments, to tell us as to it's success.

Tape for steps

The tape for us didn't come in the width we needed so we used an old pair of scissors to cut the tape to the correct width. The grit will damage a good pair of scissors!
We use a clear tape so the urethane shows through. I think it looks nicer than the black tapes sometimes available.

Spectra Watermakers Clark Pump Check Valve Cleaning

 I was having issues with my water maker, and Spectra Watermakers suggested I check and clean the check valves in the clark pump. The thought was that there may be something caught behind one of the check valves. There are four check valves; two on each side under the cylinders where they attach to the center body.
Here's how I did it.
My watermaker membrane housing and clark pump was located under the boards of the aft bed. To remove the clark pump, I closed the sea water intake and removed the two low pressure hoses and the two high pressure hoses. Then removed the four screws holding the mounting plate and then the clark pump can be removed.

To the right is the clark pump removed and ready for disassembly. I first removed the the base mounting plate held by four bolts. That helps with with allen key use of the allen head bolts at each cylinder end where it joins the main body in the center.

Undo the four allen head bolts at one end and carefully rock the cylinder to remove from the center body. There are three O ring seals; two around the check valves and one around the large round locating piece that has the piston rod going through the centre. The piston rode pushes against the white plastic looking piston in the cylinder.

Using a Q tip cleaner, insert to clean the interface of the top check valve against the seat of the valve.

The lower check valve can be removed with a pair of needle nose pliers. It's the one that has a cross piece. There are washers and springs which full apart, but it is easily assembled and placed back. Clean with a Q tip as well before re inserting.
Make sure all O rings are in place before presenting the cylinder up and reapplying the four allen head bolts. Repeat for the other side.

In my case, I found no debris around the check valves, but found instead the piston rod that drives the pistons to be badly corroded. You can see the surface eaten away on the picture to the right. This has seals that runs on the surface of that piston rod, and I suspect that is where my problem lays.  The unit has been returned to Spectra Watermakers in the USA

Installing Port Visors

We have always wanted to have some rain protection over two port holes on our deck/saloon area. One was over the gallery; very important ventilation required while cooking. And one in our shower room; mainly to let the steam out, but not let the rain in.

Product as it arrives.

We ordered our port visors through Seaworthy Goods. Check them out.
We made sure we had the correct size and delivery was quick. The package includes the port visor with a red peel away sticky tape. A small scotch bright. And the instructions.
Installation was easy; about 3 minutes.
Scotch bright the area where visor is going to stick. Clean with alcohol. Pull off the protective red tape and apply. Press hard to ensure good contact.

Ready to start

The visors are made from lexan XL10 with UV resistance. Just wash with fresh water to clean.

Finished installation

Shower Mixers

 Our shower taps (hot and cold) created our mixer for our shower. However, over time they became difficult to turn on and off. That's them in the picture to the left.
 In deciding what to replace with, I decided on a lever mixer, but wasn't sure about that because of the limited space, and felt it was going to impinge upon my washing machine.  Conventional household mixers, I thought were just a bit to big. Then I came across these tiny mixers in my chandler store in NZ. Instantly, I knew they would do the job.

To the right, here's what that lever mixer looked like fitted.

And to the left, the tiny mixer. So much easier to turn on and off and get the temperature right for our shower. I don't know where else you could get these; try your local chandler or plumber supplies.

Holding Tank Modifications using Polyethylene Pipe

More work to my holding tanks! I alluded to some of the benefits of using polyethylene hose for sanitation hose and you can read about it here.

 The first thing I did was remove the input hose and fitting, to the holding tank which was located on the side of the tank. Last year, I had relocated the tank air vent to the top and did a temporary block off, of the old side air vent. You can read about that here. That was located just above and to the side of this fitting seen to the left. I used a Dremel and hacksaw to make the cut of the bronze fitting.

 I prepped the area to get ready to epoxy glue on a cover over the old fittings. Old paint removed and each opening stuffed with toilet paper so that the glue would not full into the tank. The glue is made from two pot epoxy (slow set) with silica powder/binder added until you get the consistency of thick peanut butter.

 To the left is the finished fibreglass plate epoxied to the tank. This year I decided to use some off cuts of fibreglass which are cut out when the boats are removed from the molds. Typically, they are window cutouts and hatch cutouts which are then discarded. You local fibreglass boat builder will have plenty of these to give away.

In preparation for the top fitting, I found the best location; drilled my hole for the polyethylene through hole; and then sanded the area for gluing the fibreglass plate to the tank.

To the left is the finished fitting. You might notice that the black hose it is attached to is polyethylene pipe.
Polyethylene pipe is NOT as flexible as sanitation hose, so you may have to use elbows etc to get it to go where you want to. You can also use boiling water to get a little more curve from the pipe.

To the right you can see the 25mm polyethylene pipe running down and through the wall where it goes to the macerator pump. The bigger 38mm (inch and a half) pipe runs from the bottom of the tank to the "Y" valve and then the polyethylene pipe continues on to the pump out pump. A diaphragm pump with joker valves each end.
Now the outflow is of poor design and should never come from the bottom of the tank, other than a drop down pipe inside the tank, from the top. This is due to the fact that effluent is always in the outflow pipe which leads to permeation  I'm using polyethylene pipe from the bottom of the tank and feel confident, there will be no permeation.

Above you can see I used barrel nuts. This makes presenting pipes up to the fittings real easy. In this case I didn't need to use them, but I had bought them with me, so decided to use them.
To the left you can see the macerator pump with barrel nut fittings at both the inlet and outlet. The outlet has a PVC type which was fitted some time ago. On the other side of the barrel nut, I have a joker valve inside the other half of the PVC barrel nut and then a valve. This is because it is pumping up hill and one day I may need to service.
I have now added a polyethylene barrel nut at the inlet side. Also, but not shown, is a threaded pipe (at the inlet side before the barrel nut), which goes to a valve, before joining up with the 38mm pipe from the toilet bowel. IF the pump needs servicing, I just
turn off the valves at either side of the pump; undo the barrel nuts (usually by hand); disconnect power; and pull the pump out. I have a few "boat towels" to mop up the small amount of fluid that will spill.
And let me say, the area smells so much better already. I might even replace the deck pump out hose ( which goes to the "Y" valve. But my wife says, that is just looking for work. Maybe if I get bored sailing?
Listening to "Just Waiting on a Friend" by the Rolling Stones.