crap!!!!!!!!!!!

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phelpo

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 2, 2009
Posts
130
Location
Gainesville, Fl
Just got back from a long weekend, finally got the lp working, the fuel gauge came back
to life, the ref decided Lp wasn't bad and ran home in that mode, the only problem
is the damn left rear jack will not retract, so I jacked it back up to within a inch of home,
would not go any more, so I drove home with the stupid alarm buzzing but my stereo
was buzzing louder, all seemed good, got the rig back on our lot and shut down, hooked up power for the a/c, damn it is hot in Florida,  DW said can I open the rear bedroom slide, I said sure, and that is when the Crap started.....slide would not go out so I tried the front
slide, could hear the solenoid kick in but no go.  Went out back to check the hydraulic fluid
level, it was very level all across the concrete!!!!!!!! Can't find where it came out but I sure know where it is......so called a mobile RV guy and I'll let him handle it. 

Maybe he can fix the stupid Sony backup camera that failed tooooooo.......hey did I tell you folks we had a great time??  Stay safe..Phelpo


stay
 
I've had moments like that, but not with our Horizon. 

Our new-to-us 40' sailboat needed a lot of TLC when we bought it - it was ten years old and was most likely neglected for three or four years before our purchase.  Jane and I took three or four weeks of vacation and made another trip to the Bahamas from our home port of Cape Canaveral.  I had the starter on the propulsion diesel (we also had a diesel gen set) rebuilt before we left and sure enough it decided not to work very well by the time we got to Nassau.

Friends from Texas were meeting us to spend a week cruising with us, so the pressure was on to make a schedule, and for everything to work correctly.  The starter solenoid refused to work, so every time I needed to start the engine, I went into the engine room with a pair of pliers to jump the solenoid.  After a week of this, it got to be quite the joke and I was forced to pose with my pliers for a picture  ::)

Then not even that would work.  I had a starter overnighted to Nassau - by the time I got through paying shipping and duty, the starter cost about $900.

And on another trip to the Bahamas, we lost reverse in the transmission.  That was okay as long as we were cruising around and anchoring.  Problem was we needed to return to the Cape and had to go through a lock on the barge canal to get to our marina.  I called the lockmaster and told him we had go, but no whoa.  It was exciting entering the lock with a following breeze and no reverse.

Then there was the time the original fuel filter clogged up and the engine wouldn't run over idle speed.

Then there was the time ...
 
John is you want to match sailing mishaps, I go them.  Had a 32' Downeaster, weighed 17,000 dry...blue water
all the way.  Took it over to the Bahamas,  sailed all thru the diff islands, stopped at one where we decided to do a Bahamian anchor.......don't try this if you don't have a clue....well we thought we did.....crap.....wrapped the anchor line around the shaft and corkscrewed the engine off the motor mounts.  We are like no where.  I got
a fisherman to give me a ride to Walkers Key, hoped a flight make to Fl to pick up the mounts (from NY) the flew
back and got a ride back to the boat.  Raised the motor with a comalong, bolted them in and we were off.  There
was no way to sail out of this area with that boat.    Then there was the time in Key west when our anchor
let go and we were on the rocks in the harbor with a 50 mph wind blowing us again it.......called the coast guard
and they said where are you, we said 1/4 mile south of you on the f'in rocks.  next question, what is the color of your boat, hell were the only ones on the rock dumby......finally they came over and pulled us out, we were taken
on water........was not a petty picture.
 
Would you like to hear about the day the mast went overboard in high winds and high seas on Lake Michigan?  Or the time the rudder post broke a 100 feet from a rubble wall and we had no steerage with a onshore breeze?  Sailboats can be exciting :)
 
so Ned why did you throw your mast overboard????? Was it bad????? Never lost a mast, my mind but not a mast, Ned your mast helps you sail, (well sometimes).

I have a mobile rv mech coming thursday to see what the heck I blew out to cause my hyd fluid to float on the concrete...

Isn't rying fun???????

Phelpo
 
Phelpo,

An upper shroud parted inside a swedged fitting due to hidden corrosion that caused broken strands in the wire rope.  To this day, I do not trust swedging.  Several other boat owners had their rigging either x-rayed or magnafluxed after that happened and some found hidden corrosion inside their swedged fittings.
 
Swedging (or swaging) is defined as:

Swaging is a metal-forming technique in which the dimensions of an item are altered using a die or dies, into which the item is forced.[1] Swaging is a forging process, usually performed cold, however it can be done hot.[2]

In my case, the shroud made of wire rope was inserted into a hollow tube-like fitting and then cold rolled under pressure to lock the wire rope inside the fitting.  What happened was several strands of the wire rope broke inside the fitting, obvious when we saw the ends that pulled out were rusted, weakening the swage causing the failure under tension.

More information than you really want to know is at Wikipedia.
 
Considerable liquids were consumed once we reached dry land that day.  But that was swilling :)
 
So Ned I am appalled that you hadn't maintained your swedging,  isn't that a capital offense???

Man I was checking mine every 10 yrs or so.......

Phelpo
 
Did you x-ray or use some other non-destructive method?  There is no way to visually check swedging short of destructive testing.
 
To this day, I do not trust swedging.

  In your opinion, what is the alternative to swaging/swedging? And if there is one what is the failure rate on those?

Do the America Cup boats use swaging?

  Just curious..

Carson FL 96.3?



 
Multiple cable clamps, while not pretty, are much easier to inspect.  I have no idea what the AC boats are using these days.  I lost interest in that event when they stopped sailing real boats.
 
I (as in me, myself) installed new rigging on my sailboat and like Ned, I wanted no part of swedged fittings.  I used Sta-Lok fittings.  They can be easily assembled with simple hand tools and are essentially bullet-proof.  Another popular fitting was a Cast-Lock which used epoxy in the cable end fitting.  They apparently aren't in business any longer.
 
John, I had forgotten about Sta-Lok.  They can be taken apart for inspection and then reused, a big advantage.
 
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