RE: TWL: 6 Volt Batteries and Amps
Hi Bob:
5" diameter !!
That must be some kind of hydraulic system!
Can you elaborate a little (I'm an ex - hydraulics guy). Did you have
someone do the basic design and develop a schematic for you? Most good
dealers will do this for free if you buy all the pumps, valves and hoses
from them. Spencer Fluid Power seems to be good at this in our area and in
Seattle.
Properly sized, industrial hydraulic systems should last about forever.
Joe & Debbie Engel
Marine Computer Services & JRE Consulting, Inc.
MV Freda Fly - 40' Tollycraft Tri-cabin
Portland, OR
-----Original Message-----
From: Bob & Debbie Huddleston [mailto:huddlestonB_D@email.msn.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2000 7:49 PM
To: Daniel Lobera; trawler-world-list@samurai.com; Arild Jensen
Subject: Re: TWL: 6 Volt Batteries and Amps
Arild writes:
Dan brings up a good point.
When you buy a new product you should be able to expect that product to
work as designed and intended.
So why doesn't it?
So what can you do as a boat owner?
This list is a good step in the right direction. Building up a
comprehensive manual on your own boat is another.
Being knowledgeable or at least finding a trustworthy service shop to do
the work for you is another good step.
Does anyone else have any some stories about disasters or near
disasters
which began with a minor failure that escalated due to lack of knowledge.
Cheers
Arild
To Arild and All:
"Dum dee Dum Dum---The names and places have been changed to protect the
innocent. No manufacturers or installation personnel shall be named. And of
course I am referring to the experiences of a friend. Therefore, I CANNOT
ATTEST AS TO THE VERACITY OF THESE "FACTS".
Two more logic representations:
From henceforward," I" equals "my friend".
" " , "my friend" does not equal "I".
I feel that I am a knowledgeable boat owner. I have put in electrical
systems, rigged masts and booms, put in an engine, heating systems, heads
and done all of my general maintenance. About one year ago I decided that I
wanted
a hydraulic bow thruster
a " windlass
Hydraulic stabilizers.
Now comes the confession. I did not know anything about hydraulics except
that they could be powerful and that they would not "time out " as
electrical motors are apt to do. I had not the foggiest idea of the
magnitude (or the space) that this project would entail. And the people who
sold it to me gave me no indication. I spent hundreds of hours drilling 4"
holes , modifying cabinets and pulling about 300 feet of 2" to 5" diameter
hydraulic hose throughout the boat. Then I pulled all of the wiring
harnesses for the system. I thought this might reduce the original cost
estimate. Not so! My efforts must have been a hinderance as the bill ROSE to
$50,000.
O.K., So now I have a system --sort of. After every day of use, the system
failed for a year. We always got service, but "they" could not get anyone
here for 2 to 6 weeks. We lost one full year of boat usage screwing around
with the installation and the people we were dealing with. All of our
letters went unanswered to this day.
Back to the main point. If I had been a very technically competent person to
deal with hydraulic system questions, I think this may have gone better.
Rather than hire an independent "general contractor", I relied on the
equipment manufacturer--Bad idea!
I hpoe this helps someone.
Cheers!
Hi All,
How big must the pump be for a 5" hose? What kind of power would it
take to get any pressure? And then how many thousand gallons would the
reservoir need to be? Karl
First I wish we could change the subject line when we bring up a unrelated
topic such as this. It is hard enough to search the archives now and this is
a good example.
Second I am very confused to as who started this thread. It appears some one
was sending private post and decide to publish it on the web to illustrate a
problem. This is good.
What did I get out of reading this story.
One - Even with a very good mechanical aptitude there are few of us boat
owners qualified to do this type of job.
Two - it does not appear that there was a contract for this project that
spelled out in detail saying what work was expected for the money and what
type of performance the installed equipment was to do. If one is to spend
$25 -45 thousand dollars on hydraulic equiptment (this is not a unrealistic
figure for the work described) you better damn well have a very clear
contract and not a handshake.
Some of this reminds me of the sign in the shop which raises the labor rate
if you watch or help.
Three - It does not appear that this individual did enough homework on the
chosen company to see if what he was buying was possible and what was the
cost from comparable bids on this project. In addition did he verify that
the company had done this type of work previously and did they do it well
and service it well. Good companies will have lots of good references. He
also claims if he had hired a "general contractor" rather then the depending
on the hydraulic company it would have been OK. He does not realize it but
HE was acting as his own general contractor. He should have had a shipyard
do the work in the first place and one that could have advised him on the
finer points.
I am currently gathering info for my project boat on hydraulic
bowthrusters, stabilizers and anchor windlass. I was e-mail a story from a
certain boat owners association relating a similar story. That is this owner
bought the stabilizers and did his own installation and spent $25,000 for
the system and it works fine. He used a well known company and it was also
near his boat, so he was able to go to the plant and get advice as he went.
We are not all this lucky.
Like Dirty Harry once said " a man has just got to know his limits" or words
to that effect. It seems that this onwer in the pursuit of saving a few
bucks was his own worst enemy. I don't know all the details but that how I
see it from here
David Keese
Houma, La
alabat
----- Original Message -----
From.
"Dum dee Dum Dum---The names and places have been changed to protect the
innocent. No manufacturers or installation personnel shall be named. And
of
course I am referring to the experiences of a friend. Therefore, I CANNOT
ATTEST AS TO THE VERACITY OF THESE "FACTS".
Two more logic representations:
From henceforward," I" equals "my friend".
" " , "my friend" does not equal "I".
I feel that I am a knowledgeable boat owner. I have put in electrical
systems, rigged masts and booms, put in an engine, heating systems, heads
and done all of my general maintenance. About one year ago I decided that
I
wanted
a hydraulic bow thruster
a " windlass
Hydraulic stabilizers.
Now comes the confession. I did not know anything about hydraulics except
that they could be powerful and that they would not "time out " as
electrical motors are apt to do. I had not the foggiest idea of the
magnitude (or the space) that this project would entail. And the people
who
sold it to me gave me no indication. I spent hundreds of hours drilling 4"
holes , modifying cabinets and pulling about 300 feet of 2" to 5" diameter
hydraulic hose throughout the boat. Then I pulled all of the wiring
harnesses for the system. I thought this might reduce the original cost
estimate. Not so! My efforts must have been a hinderance as the bill ROSE
to
$50,000.
O.K., So now I have a system --sort of. After every day of use, the system
failed for a year. We always got service, but "they" could not get anyone
here for 2 to 6 weeks. We lost one full year of boat usage screwing around
with the installation and the people we were dealing with. All of our
letters went unanswered to this day.
Back to the main point. If I had been a very technically competent person
to
deal with hydraulic system questions, I think this may have gone better.
Rather than hire an independent "general contractor", I relied on the
equipment manufacturer--Bad idea!
I hpoe this helps someone.
Cheers!