420/44 DB Owners Club

[Jaybeaux]

Thanks for that info. In the 14x 14 grey box in front of the starboard?

No, just on the bulkhead

 

[Mark.60]

Mark, Yes we replaced the flooring in those areas. The dinette portion comes out as one pc, may have some silicone holding it in place & also bolts & screws at base of table leg. Dinette step silicone only. Galley is all on one pc of plywood with a few screws coming up from holds underneath, if I remember correctly I had to break the floor into pcs to get it out of that area. View attachment 142485View attachment 142486

Nice job

Mark, Yes we replaced the flooring in those areas. The dinette portion comes out as one pc, may have some silicone holding it in place & also bolts & screws at base of table leg. Dinette step silicone only. Galley is all on one pc of plywood with a few screws coming up from holds underneath, if I remember correctly I had to break the floor into pcs to get it out of that area. View attachment 142485View attachment 142486

Very nice job , that took some time.what did you use for the edges to hide end grain ?

 

[Irie308]

Looking to install a filter on the fresh water system. Curious on others setup. My thought is to install a single cartridge filter right near the water manifold. This would filter shore hookup and water from the freshwater tank.

 

[AEO]

Looking to install a filter on the fresh water system. Curious on others setup. My thought is to install a single cartridge filter right near the water manifold. This would filter shore hookup and water from the freshwater tank.

Mine is near the water pump under the stairs. I suspect it was a SR factory fit (I’ve attached an old pic). Is your pump under the stairs or mid galley hatch?

 

[Irie308]

Mine is near the water pump under the stairs. I suspect it was a SR factory fit (I’ve attached an old pic). Is your pump under the stairs or mid galley hatch?

Similar location. But with my accumulator tank I have no room there. Can’t tell your plumbing from the pic though.

 

[bajturner]

Mine is near the water pump under the stairs. I suspect it was a SR factory fit (I’ve attached an old pic). Is your pump under the stairs or mid galley hatch?

I have the same blue filter housing as shown on the right side of these pictures. It is mounted on a vertical support on the left side under the stairs, as in these pics. It is a factory install, on the outlet side of the pump, before the manifold.

I also have a coarse inline filter on the pump inlet. Here is a picture of it from when I replaced the pump a few years ago. Note the high-tech method to prevent water from continuing to leak out!

AEO, I'm curious about the white tubing. Is that from a watermaker?

 

[Pura Vida dos]

Thanks, Mark
Floor is made of 3/4” 3-ply Bamboo, we feel the edges add a nice accent so no need to hide. Added benefit of using this product!
Steve

 

[AEO]

I have the same blue filter housing as shown on the right side of these pictures. It is mounted on a vertical support on the left side under the stairs, as in these pics. It is a factory install, on the outlet side of the pump, before the manifold.

I also have a coarse inline filter on the pump inlet. Here is a picture of it from when I replaced the pump a few years ago. Note the high-tech method to prevent water from continuing to leak out!

View attachment 142628

AEO, I'm curious about the white tubing. Is that from a watermaker?

Yes your right, the white tubing is from the water maker.

 

[boaterholic]

Speaking of filters, I added an undercounted RO filter with a tap on the counter next to galley sink faucet. As mentioned before when I asked about this, the space under sink is sufficient but the opening to it is not. So I took the cabinet door off which gave me the space I needed to get my upper body in if I turned sideways.
I put the water tap where I did so as to minimize it being in the way of usable counter space or opening the coffee cabinet doors.

 

[boaterholic]

I also installed a watermaker for our future trips to Bahamas and elsewhere when anchored out.
I used some of BruceSea’s ideas and otherwise what worked for me. The first pics are the priming pump and connections to it. I installed a shutoff valve on the line from strainer to AC pump, along with a “T” so I could feed the primer pump. Then at pump I installed a three way valve on the intake so I could use the water supply from strainer for normal ops, or from a hose that I can put in bucket for pickling, or shut off. The primer pump is installed under the generator shelf on the inside of starboard stringer.

 

[boaterholic]

I moved the thruster batteries closer to inboard side of starboard stringer so I could make room for the filter assembly between thruster batteries and exhaust tube.
The high pressure pump mounted on outboard side of exhaust tube like BruceSea did.

 

[boaterholic]

Picture of the filter cage I made out of pvc which lets me easily remove the assembly out of the area if I need to do maintenance or need access to work on something in that area. Also you can see I mounted the control panel similarly to BruceSea. And the brine waste line is plumbed in via a compact “T” put in the hatch drain starboard side of lazarette hatch.

 

[boaterholic]

The freshwater line I ran from the control panel across to under the stairs, pulled the cockpit fridge out from under stairs for access, pulled the water line and sent it behind port sofa back cushions to the water fill line for the onboard water tank. Rather than try cutting the line to install a “T” with the access so restricted, I tried drilling a hole in the waterfill line ever slightly smaller the the water maker line and pushed the line in a few inches and put a dab of silicone around it. So far the couple times I put a hose from the dock supply it has not leaked.

 

[Alex F]

Did anyone replace shaft seals water pickup hose barbs? One of mine is getting rusty, so I want to replace it. I was hoping that someone could share a source and/or the part number.

 

[Bruce SEA 993]

Last call,

I have the original canvas from the cockpit area and will give it to anyone that wants it. I am not going to ship it on my nickel though!

It could be a spare for somebody.

Cheers!

 

[Bruce SEA 993]

I could use a little help. I searched but that does not "help".

Replacing engine zincs. Any tips for the Port engine port side? I got the larger upper ones but cannot reach the lowers.

I still text with Mark, the previous owner, and vicariously keep him in the loop. He said lay across the stringer and the prop shaft, with a pillow, and you can reach the rear one. The front one you just have to reach. I tried and could not.

Maybe I should take some Alice in Wonderland pills and make me smaller.

Thanks!!

 

[JNMNL52]

Thinking about changing my stock Searay plow anchor to a Fortress FX-23.
I found myself dragging a few times at night when the wind kicked up above 20 kts while anchored in various spots on the Chesapeake Bay. It is time for a change. Doing some research it appears the Fortress has very good reviews when used on the Chesapeake Bay mud/clay bottom. Does anyone have any experience with the Fortress FX-23? Will it fit on a 44DB without any modifications? Appreciate your thoughts.

 

[Flix2]

Questions about house battery.

I've done the search but still need some help and clarification. My 2008 DB44 has 4D West Marine AGM batteries x 4 on the portside, and gp 31 lead acid x 2 for the thrusters on starboard. The 4D's are over 5 years old and need to be replaced. The boat is docked at our house and constantly connected to the 50 amp charger. We do day trips 99% of the time. We may anchor out 1 or 2 nights a year. Do I really need so many of these heavy and expensive 4D's? Are we safe to replace them with 4 gp 31's or 2 4D's? I wish I could replace them with the lighter Li battery but don't think I know enough about chargers and alterators for Li.

 

[bajturner]

Questions about house battery.

I've done the search but still need some help and clarification. My 2008 DB44 has 4D West Marine AGM batteries x 4 on the portside, and gp 31 lead acid x 2 for the thrusters on starboard. The 4D's are over 5 years old and need to be replaced. The boat is docked at our house and constantly connected to the 50 amp charger. We do day trips 99% of the time. We may anchor out 1 or 2 nights a year. Do I really need so many of these heavy and expensive 4D's? Are we safe to replace them with 4 gp 31's or 2 4D's? I wish I could replace them with the lighter Li battery but don't think I know enough about chargers and alterators for Li.

From the factory, the 44DB had three pairs of GRP31 batteries. A bank of 2 wired in parallel (12V) for starting the port engine, starting the generator, and for house loads. This is called the port battery. Another bank of 2 wired in parallel (12V) for starting the starboard engine, helm electronics, and a few other miscellaneous low amperage loads. This is called the starboard battery. Both the port and starboard pairs were located on the port side of the boat. The third pair is a bank of 2 wired in series (24V) for the thruster(s), located as you describe on the starboard side.

The starting and starting/house banks were sized for sufficient CCA, I believe. I switched the port and starboard batteries to GRP31 AGM and added 2 more to the port bank (total of 4) for more house capacity.

It seems 2x4D for the starboard battery is overkill, unless perhaps other modifications were made to the electrical system. There are a lot of different batteries with different specs, but from what I have seen, a 4D battery provides similar CCA to a starting or combo GRP31, and a little less than twice as many Amp-hours, but is very heavy and difficult to move.

Your concerns about Li are valid. Great technology but you would presumably need to replace your charger/converter and also implement a solution for managing the alternator charging, both for extremely high charge load and zero load when fully charged.

 

[Mark.60]

I could use a little help. I searched but that does not "help".

Replacing engine zincs. Any tips for the Port engine port side? I got the larger upper ones but cannot reach the lowers.

I still text with Mark, the previous owner, and vicariously keep him in the loop. He said lay across the stringer and the prop shaft, with a pillow, and you can reach the rear one. The front one you just have to reach. I tried and could not.

Maybe I should take some Alice in Wonderland pills and make me smaller.

Thanks!!

Wait until you have to remove port side after cooler and fuel cooler for maintenance.