Tag: maintenance
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Fixing a broken Whale pump
The other weekend, when K and I went to Blue Opal to spend the night (so we could go sailing before the club opened the next day), I used the head and pumped to the tank. There was a bong (which is normal for the tank), and then I heard water dripping. Alas, I very…
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Winch greasing
Noticed last week that the winch on the coachroof sounded “graunchy” when winching the main up. Realised I probably hadn’t done anything to the winches since I bought Blue Opal, so it would be a good idea to to something about that. Ordered some Lewmar winch grease (research showed it might not be cheap, but…
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How to check the masthead light without a dinghy
Having re-done some of my navigation lights, I figured it was a good idea to make sure I’d wired everything correctly. The LED lights don’t draw many amps, and so it can be hard to tell if the light has actually turned on. In the past, I’ve waited for nightfall, tied up alongside at the…
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Relaying a solenoid
As mentioned in a previous post, Blue Opal has had issues with the starter motor for several years – turn the switch, press the button, and nothing more than a click is heard from the solenoid. It’s intermittent, but I’d prefer to know that the engine will turn over on the first push. A proposed…
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Engine musings
Sunday saw me on Blue Opal for the afternoon doing an oil change, and then staying on board overnight to make the early tide to Malahide (to get the damage from launching dealt with). A bit of cleaning and tidying occurred too! I was in Malahide by 1030 hours on Monday (having left just after…
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Plumbing adventures
Since the renovation in 2019, the cylinder-fed hot water supply in the house has had air in it. Constantly. Every day. So I’d go to take a shower, and have to clear a bunch of air out of the feed before the shower would be happy. Worse, it would occasionally feed air mid-shower too, which…