Bertram31.com General Bulletin Board

Uncle Vic boils it down

Posted By: Tom Pattillo
Date: Tuesday, 22 February 2005, at 11:17 p.m.

You got to love UV. He simplifies it for the masses. If only they/we would listen. The following is from another net site, enjoy:

"Vic Roy Baton Rouge, LA United States

I view Crystal as the best hot sauce in the universe and always travel with some. Most marine stores sell a kit of different sized tapered wood plugs that you might want to have on board to plug a busted hose or fitting if you left your Crystal at home.

Now let's talk about some preventative maintaince. Look over your boat - if there are any plastic fittings that are, or could be under the waterline, let's change them out to brass, bronze, or stainless. Plastic will fail under heat, vibration and UV light sooner or later, and it probably will not fail in your driveway.

Then make sure any underwater fittings are double clamped with good all stainless clamps. One clamp will do until it fails, then your odds of sinking go way up. Clamps are cheap. Oh yeah - lubricate the clamp threads with some teflon grease to keep them from binding, which is what causes most clamp failures.

Since most of our boats get little use during the winter, let's look at what usually goes bad and ruins a fishing trip. Fuel and electrical. On outboard boats, the rubber fuel lines and pump up bulbs are the usual suspects. If they are hard or have a chalky surface, change them. They are cheap. Inboard boats usually only need draining the fuel/water separator filters and changing the elements.

Now on the electrical side, most starting problems are due to corrosion at the battery terminals, especially the ground side that most folks overlook. Get some Corrosion X and take all your battery terminals apart and clean them, then shoot them with CX before you put them back on. Then follow the starter cables - both pos. and neg. - to the engine and take them loose, do the same.

Now let's go to the small electrcial. Look at the back of every switch, fuze block and harness plug. Shoot them with Corrosion X. Try to pry the harness plugs loose a little so the CX can get in there and eat up the corrosion and leave a film to prevent it from coming back. Take every electronics plug loose and shoot both sides with the CX. Do not be timid with the CX, it will not hurt anything. Shoot every knob and button with it on the front of the radio, GPS, plotter, etc. I wipe the excess off with a paper towel. I have found Corrosion X to be magic in a can both for electrical and mechanical stuff.

What I have just described may take you an hour or so to complete, maybe use $20 in materials, but it will save you a ton of aggrivation when you turn that ignition switch to go fishing.

Uncle Vic"

By the way, I'll have a case of Crystal for each of the faithful from north of the Mason Dixon, east of Alabama, or from the dark continent at UVII this year. The real southerners should know better. Get your own.-Tom P.

Messages In This Thread

Uncle Vic boils it down
Tom Pattillo -- Tuesday, 22 February 2005, at 11:17 p.m.

Re: Uncle Vic boils it down
Mack -- Wednesday, 23 February 2005, at 8:14 a.m.