SO WHAT DID YOU DO WITH OR ON YOUR C-DORY TODAY??

Yeah, but Colby will insist that 82 degrees is too damn hot for mid October!
Click to expand...

I wish. Tonight forecast 29. Tomorrow high forecast 39. Too damn cold for this time of year! C-Traveler will probably have frost on her in the morning! :xseek Colby
 
Two years ago, I replaced the starboard cockpit box on C-Traveler with a new one. The old one had many of the edge screw holes cracked or chipped out. Broken from over tightening screws, or from pulling the box out with the sealant that they were initially put in with! (Now days they just use some weather stripping material.) I kept the old one thinking maybe some day I would repair it. Or try to... Well, during our deep freeze a few weeks ago I thought it would make a good inside project, so I got that old box back out. I had recently seen a post on facebook in the C-Dory group where somebody used some epoxy and chopped up fiberglass. So I got some marine epoxy, and chopped up some fiberglass cloth. Ground out some of the cracked areas, then used the epoxy mix to repair the box. After some sanding and painting, I don't think it came out half bad. Wish I would have taken both before and after photos. The port side box had a few cracks in it as well, so after I repaired the old starboard side box, I replaced the port side with it. If you look closely, you can see the repair along the top left side is a little rough. Consider that a good chunk of the edge was completely missing there. But the rest of the box came out pretty good. BTW, I used some PVC board to replace that lower rail inside the box. I could have just used the one in the old box, but wanted to have this one completely done before replacing it into the boat. Colby



2023_01_02_RebuiltCockpitSideBox.jpg
 
colbysmith":1tovgst2 said:
But the rest of the box came out pretty good. BTW, I used some PVC board to replace that lower rail inside the box. I could have just used the one in the old box, but wanted to have this one completely done before replacing it into the boat.
Click to expand...

Looks really good! I like your dockline holders!
 
We finally got to go diving from our Tomcat for the first time since October. The new motors run great. We're getting better mileage and faster speed than the old motors. The new Honda HD-4 gauge is a different story. It refuses to show an accurate number of gallons of fuel, especially in the port tank. Sometimes it shows zero, then 75 gallons. I've checked connections and settings but can't figure out a solution.
https://youtu.be/BNQsxInvjKM
 
We replaced the trailer jack with a 2500 lb rated (1,040# scale tongue weight) Fulton electric 12v. I replaced the standard 7AH tiny EOH AGM with a FLA Walmart lawn tractor battery, which is charged by the truck whenever connected. It has a 15A auto reset internal breaker. We chose not to use the truck wiring so we could use the jack without the truck. Also, I don’t know the rating for that wire and wouldn’t want to risk blowing some hidden under hood truck fuse if it’s under 15A. We’ll be even older by the end of the five year warranty. So far, we love it. Etrailer.com has expert US support at the same price as Amazon and we like them for competitive pricing and MUCH better tech support.

https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Jack/F ... 41401.html

John
 
I decided to install an Airhead composting toilet in my boat. I wanted to be able to remove it (as I did the porti potty) to give more room to shower, or perhaps to use it in the future in another RV. So I built a separate platform to attach the Airhead to, and then the platform can be screwed down in the head. Since the boat lists when using the head while solo, or if we are both on that side of the boat, I angled the platform to counteract the listing. About 1 1/2" higher in the back. I embedded T-Nuts into the head floor to screw the platform to. I thought I had a photo of the vent fan setup as well, but wasn't there when I went to download the photos from my phone. I currently have a 4" Marinco Solar Vent, which is no longer recommended by Airhead, and my plans are to remove that Solar Vent and replace it with a 3" Marinco 500 Vent, as recommended by Airhead. But too cold in Wisconsin right now to do any fiberglass repair, so I instead made a spacer plate that attached to the inside of the solar vent to accept the airhead venthead.
Colby

Photo of the base before painting. I used poly carbonate and some 2 x 2's.
IMG_3985.jpg

Bottom of the base after painting.
IMG_3988.jpg

T-nuts embedded with marine epoxy into the head floor.
IMG_3994.jpg

Platform installed in head.
IMG_3995.jpg

Airhead installed in head. Vent hose not hooked up yet. I'll have to take a few more photos....
IMG_3990.jpg
 
Colby,
Great job on the head installation!
My AirHead originally had the small 12 VDC computer fan in the top of the vent line. Because I do not like to have any power on when I am not using the boat, I eliminated that and put the 4” solar Marinco fan in. There is the same vent on the bow hatch, bringing air in and the one over the head, is taking air out. That was based on feedback from several user groups. All has gone well after almost 4 years.
I’m curious to know what the negative side of this could have been.
 
Steve, when I asked several questions about the Airhead from their Tech dept, Jenny replied with answers. The Solar vent was one of my questions:

Q:I've seen some hook it up to their solar vents. However, there are times the solar vent fan stops working, with cloudy days.

A:We do not recommend solar vents anymore. In the beginning we did. They can let wind in when it gusts. They do not run 24/7 after a cloudy day, and can expose the system to insect invasion. They also do not prevent water ingress. They are designed to circulate air through the cabin but for that application, it was never critical for the unit to run 100% of the time.


I have noticed with my solar vent that sometimes when it's windy out, air does come in. The descriptions on the Airvent 500, non-solar, no fan, one of the recommendations from Airhead, say it vents air with wind speeds in excess of 15mph. It does have a bit different design and I assume that design allows somewhat of a venturi effect. One of the disadvantages I saw with the composting toilet was the need for constant battery power to run it's small vent fan. Even at .06amps, a constant draw without recharging the house batteries would deplete them. I don't have solar panels, but I do tend to keep the boat plugged in even when on the trailer. Or keep the batteries above 60%. With two group 29 house batteries, I could probably go a week before that small amperage draw would be a problem. I do have the small vent fan wired in to my light circuit, and I do shut the master light circuit switch off when the lights (or cabin fans which are also on the circuit) are not needed. But I will probably have to start leaving that circuit on if I want the toilet to be vented. However, it's nice to know that the Airvent 500 is suppose to vent air with a breeze above it. I'm tempted to leave the current setup along with the Airhead vent attached to the solar vent, as I got both fans available. However, with the switch to the solar fan inaccessible now, it's always on and will only run when it's solar battery is charged. However, I guess there is still the possibility of water coming thru that vent? Colby

Here is a photo of the final installation:
IMG_4002.jpg

And this is a close up of the Airhead vent hose/head attached to my solar vent via a spacer plate.
IMG_4004.jpg
 
Colby,
Thank you for your detailed response. I too had a conversation with the owner/designer of Airhead, when I purchased my 26. As mentioned previously, I was unwilling to keep the boat on/plugged in, when I was not on the boat. He mentioned the vent without the fan, that you have spoken about, but he did not tell me not to go with my plan of a solar vent. I'm sure they have plenty of feedback and have had issues/complaints, from folks that had solar vents that were not operating, because of prolonged periods of no sun.
Fortunately, I have not ever had an issue. Still after 4 years, zero odor in the head or in the boat. I do have another new solar fan at ready, in case the installed one over the head, or forward hatch fails.
http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _album.php
 
Steve,
Your's also looks like a nice installation. If I'm looking at the photo right, you have your Airhead facing forward? I thought about possibly doing mine that way also. But it seemed to work fine as I positioned it. I've gone back and forth if I like my solar vent. On my 22 I had installed two, one in the Vberth hatch, and the other in it's head. Too many times the batteries never lasted long if I didn't have sunshine every day. I swore I was done with them, but then put one in the 25's head. The earlier ones did not have a little LED light, but this one did. I kind of liked that as somewhat of a night light at night, and nice to know I was hitting the toilet in the middle of the night without turning the bright light on. :mrgreen: But the fan in it too seems to run out of juice before morning, assuming I had sunshine all the previous day. I debated on getting the 90 degree elbow vent hose fan cap, but as you saw, I went with the straight. I may have to think about ordering the 90 degree when I finally change out the vent. Colby
 
Colby, we ran the Air Head vent fan, 24/7 and the draw was extremely low--in the 100 or so miilli amps. We did have the boat on a smart charger most of the time. I don't see any advantage in your setup with the 90* accessory.
 
thataway":18o44hh2 said:
Colby, we ran the Air Head vent fan, 24/7 and the draw was extremely low--in the 100 or so miilli amps. We did have the boat on a smart charger most of the time. I don't see any advantage in your setup with the 90* accessory.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. Think I'll just stay with the straight fan shroud. And will very likely change out the vents in April. Colby
 
Colby,
Just wanted to add to comments, that my vent pipe/hose, went straight up to the overhead like yours. The compartment is so small, that it bugged me, because it was not visually pleasing to me. The hose was not really long enough to begin with, so it was almost straight, between the Airhead and the overhead fitting. I initially was just going to buy a longer hose and couldn't find one locally. Airhead sold me a new hose at a very inexpensive price and that also aided my decision to get the angle fitting.
PS, my transaction with buying the new hose, was with the owner of Airhead. I asked him why he was selling me the hose so cheaply. His comment was that the head was where they make their money and all of the other stuff they sell, they only place a minor mark-up on them...
 
srbaum":1stsyw5g said:
His comment was that the head was where they make their money and all of the other stuff they sell, they only place a minor mark-up on them...
Click to expand...

At $1190 cost, I guess so! :cry: I'm hoping it is worth it! I haven't heard anyone talk bad about them. (And I tried everything to get a discount. Boat US, AAA, AARP, Veteran, free shipping? They didn't budge.) Their customer service, other than that, has been great so far though. Colby
 
I replaced the fuel sending unit from my port tank. The old unit was sticking, sometimes near full, sometimes near empty.
IMG_20230212_065932.sized.jpg

I cut the wires from the old unit and hooked up the new one to test it before removing the old unit. It read perfectly with the ring in the full position and changed as I moved the ring. Replacing the old unit wasn't too difficult, but the starboard unit is another story. I can't find it without removing the toilet or cutting the deck. It's still working, so I'm going to leave it alone for now.
51WdxYA+99L._AC_SL1500_.jpg
 
Back
Top