We've Moved

HEY EVERYBODY, WE'VE MOVED

Our blog had gotten too large, and it was getting to the point where it was difficult to comb through looking for specific posts or information. So we have developed a new blog at SailingVita.ca Come and see whats happening now.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

More Progress, 16 days.

I said I would take pictures of the fridge, so here goes.
 Doors in place, new countertop.
 Remove door number one, and you can see down into the fridge, with a small sliding crisper. Notice the double seals. I hope this will help keep the cold in, and the hot out.
 Remove door number two, and you can see the freezer box and the temperature control.
and door number three, which is the freezer lid. With all the insulation, the double seals, the small size of the box, and the apparent quality of the Nova Kool system, I feel pretty confident that we'll be able to keep beer cold, and make ice in the tropics. Guess time will tell. One thing I would recommend to anyone doing something similar, use a different paint. I used Interlux Perfection, two part polyurethane, and after the better part of a year it is still off-gassing. I really hope it stops soon. I honestly don't know what to use as an alternative, all of the recommendations I read online were for a two part paint.

Other than that, I have managed to start the electrical. I installed the batteries and ran the high current electrical.
 Above the house bank and the major positive and negative bus terminals. Each battery is fused to 100 Amp.  The copper bar ensures the batteries stay in the box, no matter what. Below is the distribution in the locker next to the batteries. This contains the Blue Sea ACR which maintains charging between the house bank and the starting battery. One of two fuse blocks, a couple of distribution bars and ground bus. The original design has started to morph into what makes sense. Design on the fly. Guess it doesn't matter as long as everything works, everything gets labelled, and I can keep track so that a complete schematic can be made afterwards.
As you can see here, the new battery switch next to where the old switch was. I have drilled out a two inch hole that I will cover with a vent cover. This is to allow air into the battery compartment so that I can build a ventilation system that vents the gas given off by the batteries.
 I also put up our calendar. Our son Stein and his girlfriend Kristen made this up for Serena for Xmas. I put together the picture and the calendar pages for the frame. It replaces a large calendar that Stein had made up for his mother many Xmases ago, that now hangs in his apartment.
Here you can see where I mounted the batter charger, the stereo, and the inverter. Interestingly, when I finally had the electrical all hooked up, I flipped the switch and smoke started piling out of the inverter, a lot of smoke. I quickly shut off the battery switch, took out the screws, and disconnected the terminals, ready to chuck the thing over the side if needs be. The unit was cold, the battery voltage was good. It didn't make sense. So I monitored the battery voltage, watching for a drop as I connected the terminals for the inverter. Nothing, no drop, no smoke. So I hooked the terminals back up, turned on the battery switch. No drop in voltage, no smoke. Ok..... I turned on the inverter, I could see it go through its self test and finish with a green light. What the @#$%??? Plugged in my dremel tool, and it worked like a charm. Only thing I can figure is that the unit was not tested at the factory, and there was some kind of oil or paint that burnt off during the initial power up. Who knows, it works good now.
I don't have any pictures of the sewing that I spent all day today doing. They wouldn't do the job justice anyway. But Vita's dodger has new windows, and they look sharp. Plus I restitched the dodger and add-a-room with Tenura lifetime thread. Going to the tropics, I didn't want to have to worry about restitching all the time.

Other than the above, I managed to order more stuff. I am getting some things fabricated, and I actually cleaned up the boat, believe it or not. Tomorrow Kingston to pick up more stuff, and start some of the wood work that needs to be done before we move aboard. Running out of time........

Ahhh, I work better under stress..... Mommy.....

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