The Polar Power Generator is Here

12/28/2010

Snow on the boat and dock

It was exciting watching the genset travel to Wilson NC with the huge snow storm not causing a delay.  I picked it up from the R+L Carrier depot and brought it to the boat.  The roads were clear, but the boat and dock were still covered with about 4" of snow, and the boat was down about an inch in the water.


 Paul and I opened the crate, and the genset looks beautiful... then I opened the box with the controllers in it -- It looks like Medusa's head.  Most of the cables were plugged in at both ends.  The few loose ends I guessed what they were for and when I spoke to Richard at Polar Power I had guesses correctly.

The back side of the rack that holds the 3 main panels

Three of the five housings are mounted on a rack that will  not fit anywhere.  The rack is designed so all the connections are behind the housing.  The housings are designed to be mounted in a rack.  I'll have to use rails or posts or something.  This is going to be as difficult as I had feared.  I'm no longer optimistic about getting this done quickly.  This is more the way I expected it but didn't want to dwell on.  I need to come up with some good ideas for tomorrow.

12/29/2010
I came up with the ideas.  I mounted plywood sides and fiberglass angles to secure them to the bulkheads.

The housings with the brackets attached and tape
protecting the sockets from shavings.

I was able to mount the control panel in the old hole from the previous panel.  Since the Polar Power panel was smaller I had to make a frame to cover the edges of the existing hole.

 Bill Richards, one of my dedicated crew showed up to help get the genset installed.  The work went much faster.  I designed and he fabricated.  We got all the brackets and the genset base done by 4pm, and then the snow had melted as much as it was going to for the day, so we slid the genset onto a dolly and hosted it onto the boat, down the companionway, through the quarterberth and into position.

Bill is steadying the genset as it it being lowered into the companionway.

This is a hard picture to figure out.  It is the genset half in the quarter berth and half in the engine room.  The black thing in the upper left is the fuel tank.  It is still fully attached to all the fuel hoses and is suspended by the main halyard so we have room to work under it.

 This is the inside of the sound shield, and unfortunately it has a long razor cut.  It was inside a plastic bag in the crate with the engine, and the plastic bag didn't have any cuts in it.

12/30/2010
This day went quite well.  I got all the housings mounted and the wires between the housing all attached.  The main thing left is to attach the genset, fuel tank, battery and muffler to the boat.  They are just sitting there now.

Here is the original rats nest of wires now mounted and attached

The genset with its sound shield on and the mounted housings tucked in the corner behind it.

More Electrical & Clean Up

12/13/2010
I got the last of the electrical wiring (until the genset arrives) done, but while the connections are secure the wires are all over the place and need to be "wire tied" into need bundles.  I finished sewing the "windshield" for the dodger and got the "lift the dot" snaps installed.

Wow is it cold!  It is in the low 20's and the little electric heaters are doing their best to keep the interior temperature about 60 F.  Oh, yes, I got my stitches out they were really starting to itch.
I got one of those "air pots" the coffee dispensers where you push the lever to dispense the coffee.  I got the stainless interior rather than the glass vacuum because of concerns about breakage on the sailboat.  I mounted it next to the refrigerator in a location that is well protected, but really convenient and in a storage area that isn't good for much else because of the condensation on the side of the freezer.  It changes the way I drink tea in that I can get a small amount of hot tea rather than making a cup which soon cools off.
12/14/2010
I spent the morning tidying up all the electrical wires but it doesn't look like much in the picture.  Then I started cleaning up the boat.

12/15/2010

Believe it or not, I got the quarterberth cleaned up and ready to slide the genset through.  Not much else to do here until the genset arrives.  It is supposed to ship today, however yesterday they said they wouldn't ship it until it was paid in full... but the contract says I pay 10 days after delivery.  We'll see.

The quarterberth ready to slide the genset through it into the engine room.

Electrical & Fuel

12/7/2010
I did pretty well for a half day... I got all the fusees off the wall and wired the engine room & salon ceiling lights as well as the watermaker and primary DC-DC converter/battery charger.  I still have to wire the relays for the shaft seal pump and the stuff that starts with the genset.
     I also checked out the wind shield for the dodger, and it pretty much fit, so I can take it back and finish it.  Next time I'll put in the fasteners
12/8/2010
I got the relay and raw water pump wired so it can go on automatically with the autopilot or it can be turned on at the galley since it is the same pump as the raw water in the sink.  The raw water sink sprayer will have to be left off when not being used.

Then I started working on the fuel, and that was as much of a mess as I expected.  I think I got it figured out.  It turns out I bought almost nothing of what I needed.  So I need to find some different brass fittings.

Here is what the place looks like...

The starboard settee area.

The port settee.

Best of all, the quarterberth.

12/9/2010

A successful day!  I added a couple of feet to the Wabasto heater wires and got them hooked up to the fuse panel, so all the electrical is done except the stuff that goes on with the genset.

I also got all the fuel system parts and got it completely plumbed in.  I still have to hook up the electrical for it which is a bit complex because it can go on automatically with the genset or manually or be off.  

The fuel pump in in the foreground with the heater fuel filter strapped behind it.  The fuel can  be polished  through the filter with the electric pump or pumped out of the tank.

This shows the heater fuel pump located low to keep it primed.

The whole fuel system is going to be mounted on a strap that holds the tank in position.  If I have to move the tank to service the genset I can do it without disconnecting any fuel lines.

Exhaust & Fuel

12/1/2010
Well the sound shield from SoundWaves is finally finished and it is going over to PolarPower for testing.  Much of the work I wanted to save until the genset was here I'm going to do in advance based on my calculations and the pictures.  (I hope I don't have to take any of it out and re-do it.)  They should finish testing this week and should ship it next week.  We'll see...

I got another supprise from PolarPower.  Instead of the two small panels I was told to prepare for, they have combined them into one large panel that really doesn't fit anywhere!!  I spoke to Richard, the engineer, and he said he would separate the stuff  into three pieces which I hope I can shoe horn in around the wires.

Between stints on the phone with SoundWaves and PolarPower I got the old exhaust hose out and tested the fit of the new one.  Then I prepared the attachment for the raw water for the genset and then drilled the hole for the hose.  Then I mixed some epoxy and: coated the inside of the fresh hole; fixed some trim that had come loose; glued a reinforcing patch back in place (some reinforcing... it came loose when I removed the screws for one of the exhaust hose clamps); made some experimental epoxy "buttons" to hold the new engine room floor mat in place; and last but not least, epoxied a sleeve over the transom exhaust fitting so the larger hose would fit on it.  I'm hoping the restriction at the end of the run won't cause excessive back pressure.  If it does, I'll have to cut the fitting out and install a larger one.

12/2/2010
Well the epoxy buttons work!  The bimini is also done.  I got the exhaust hose installed, and wiggled the wires around so that the three panels needed for the genset will fit.

There won't be space left for much more equipment in the engine room.

I took the pattern for the dodger window that I made last time home and smoothed the curves and made it symmetrical.  There was too much change to sew up, so I brought the patterns back and set them up today.  Good thing I didn't sew it.  The curve of one of the pieces was significantly off.  I modified the patterns and made them symmetrical.  Getting the sizes exactly right around inside and outside curves is nearly impossible.  If I'm careful I can adjust it by changing the seam allowance around the curves... but it will take planning ahead.
12/3/10
Well I decided to replace an ugly hose for the shower and as I was cutting off the hose I thought for a second that I was cutting toward my hand and sure enough the knife slipped and I slit my wrist.  Everett was on the dock and he took me to the Inner Banks Urgent Care -- they were great!  I was in and out in half an hour and back to work in 90 minutes.  I got about 8 stitches.

Then I got the new fuse holder mounted along with the battery combiner switch and got the big connections for the power feed from the panel, grounds attached and the connection to the starter battery.