48 DA Owners Club

[brewster16]

As a follow up I can now tell you that my "1000 hour" (my boat has 860 hrs) has been done.

Service for 2 QSC engines and generator is officially $15K. It was done professionally and included tear down/removal of all cooling components of these 3 engines...Heat exchangers, after coolers, fuel and transmission coolers, impellers, hoses/water tubes, hardware, serpentine belts as well as Aircep internal coalescing filter replacement and generator anti siphon hose replacement.

7 seasons since I had it done last and while I did not have any engine overheat, my cores were full of scale and debris. (pictures above) The job took about 3 weeks and included complete cleaning, acid washing, sand blasting, prepping re-painting, greasing interphases, O rings/gaskets and pressure testing all components, impellers, reassembly and re-installation. All components were carefully examined for excessive electrolysis pitting and strength. Fortunately I did not have to replace any of the cores or housings except for 1 of my "combo coolers" which was showing serious signs of degradation of solder joints.

 

[brewster16]

A few more pics....

 

[JB MARSHALL]

that’s awesome! You are good to go for many more worry free hours on the water. Well, at least until the next service issue shows up. It’s a boat… lol

 

[WIP]

Thought I would give a little update on the cloudy trim. It is coated with epoxy and very resistant to chemical strippers. Nothing from the usual suspects does much to it. The stuff that really works is highly toxic but can’t find it anymore. We used to use it to strip cars and airplanes. Paint it on and in 15 minutes the paint is on the floor.

I am sanding down to wood with 80 then 220 then 320. It looks like mahogany once stripped to bare wood. I’m debating whether to apply some mahogany stain or just go over the bare wood with a good spar varnish.

There are a couple pieces of trim that I can’t figure out how to remove. Not sure what I’m going to do there. I don’t think sanding and varnishing in place is an option. This is the trim that sits above the salon windows. Only thing I can think of is that they glued it in. No way to get to the back side so it can’t be screwed in.

Richard,
As a first project I am tackling the 5 cloudy passageway doors on my "new to me" 48 (as of 11/11/23). From past experience I concur that the finish is epoxy...sure smells like it as your sanding. However I am not going down to raw wood...yet. I am working on my first door now trying to develop a "process" that I hope will lead to a satisfactory result. After VERY careful (100/180/220) sanding I can see that the cloudiness is gone for the few spots that I have sanded thru to raw wood I am using a dye/stain that matches well and also dyes the thin layer of remaining sanded epoxy. I plan to re-coat with two part gloss automotive clear coat which has served me well with past epoxy coated mahogany wood projects.

BTW to all I have read every post on the 182 pages over the past 8 weeks. I must say what a wealth of knowledge! Thanks to everyone for sharing

 

[Captsteve427]

A few more pics....

Looks great! when replaced my gear/fuel coolers and upgraded my after coolers and to the new style, I added a fresh water flush out system by drilling and tapping my strainer covers and pipes then into a deck fitting in my stern trunk.
Flushing the engines after every run gives me additional peace of mind after spending all that money on the upgrade.

 

[Shaps]

Looks great @brewster16 !

A few more pics....

How many hours on them over those 7 seasons?

 

[rodrigoroa]

As a follow up I can now tell you that my "1000 hour" (my boat has 860 hrs) has been done.View attachment 155558View attachment 155559View attachment 155560View attachment 155561View attachment 155562View attachment 155563 Service for 2 QSC engines and generator is officially $15K. It was done professionally and included tear down/removal of all cooling components of these 3 engines...Heat exchangers, after coolers, fuel and transmission coolers, impellers, hoses/water tubes, hardware, serpentine belts as well as Aircep internal coalescing filter replacement and generator anti siphon hose replacement.

7 seasons since I had it done last and while I did not have any engine overheat, my cores were full of scale and debris. (pictures above) The job took about 3 weeks and included complete cleaning, acid washing, sand blasting, prepping re-painting, greasing interphases, O rings/gaskets and pressure testing all components, impellers, reassembly and re-installation. All components were carefully examined for excessive electrolysis pitting and strength. Fortunately I did not have to replace any of the cores or housings except for 1 of my "combo coolers" which was showing serious signs of degradation of solder joints.

wow thanks for sharing, I'm doing mine this winter as well and hoping to spend a little less....

 

[brewster16]

Looks great @brewster16 !

How many hours on them over those 7 seasons?

Hi Dave.....probably 500 hours i'm guessing. So, I also had the opportunity to ask a lot of questions of the marine diesel mechanic. He emphasized that it's not just the crap inside the cores that necessitates this service but the need to grind and prep the opposing metal interphases. He said that the green grease application after cleaning and grinding the surfaces is critical as is O ring/gasket replacements on all of the components. I also asked if Barnacle Buster is of any value to which he said it can get you to the end of a season if you've had an overheat but that's about it. He also showed me many examples of metal fatigue, degradation and electrolysis from housings and cores where the owner did not replace his pencil zincs anodes.

 

[Richard Carlisle]

Richard,
As a first project I am tackling the 5 cloudy passageway doors on my "new to me" 48 (as of 11/11/23). From past experience I concur that the finish is epoxy...sure smells like it as your sanding. However I am not going down to raw wood...yet. I am working on my first door now trying to develop a "process" that I hope will lead to a satisfactory result. After VERY careful (100/180/220) sanding I can see that the cloudiness is gone for the few spots that I have sanded thru to raw wood I am using a dye/stain that matches well and also dyes the thin layer of remaining sanded epoxy. I plan to re-coat with two part gloss automotive clear coat which has served me well with past epoxy coated mahogany wood projects.

BTW to all I have read every post on the 182 pages over the past 8 weeks. I must say what a wealth of knowledge! Thanks to everyone for sharing

I had to go all the way to the wood. The cloudiness was all the way through the the epoxy layer. Sanding to the wood, staining and coating with a good urethane did the trick. I thought about using automotive urethane clear but wasn’t sure how it would react over stained wood. I used Varethane gloss clear.

A few pieces in the master SR came odd in pieces so I’m remaking those from scratch. I took the original to the hardwood store and they are making new ones with the same profile. I’m just dealing with the trim. The pic is before.

 

[douglee25]

Cooling service looks good. Does pricing seem in line to you? Feels excessive.

 

[brewster16]

I polled the CSR guys a while back and the pricing is comparable for the job that was done. Someone paid as much as 22K to do the job. To me THAT was excessive.

 

[Blueone]

I polled the CSR guys a while back and the pricing is comparable for the job that was done. Someone paid as much as 22K to do the job. To me THAT was excessive.

Ya think ?

 

[douglee25]

I polled the CSR guys a while back and the pricing is comparable for the job that was done. Someone paid as much as 22K to do the job. To me THAT was excessive.

10-4.

I felt like the job should have costed half, but what do I know. Haha.

At least they appeared to be really thorough.

 

[rodrigoroa]

Hey group, I didn’t want to add new holes to get more light for the back seat so I found this Lumitec dual color flood light that fits perfectly to the holes already made on the plastic access cover and hardtop, i just had to do do one small hole in the middle of the plastic cover for the wires, I figure I shared since the back is very dark in our boats, Happy holidays!!!

 

[ocgrant]

View attachment 155845View attachment 155846View attachment 155847View attachment 155849


Hey group, I didn’t want to add new holes to get more light for the back seat so I found this Lumitec dual color flood light that fits perfectly to the holes already made on the plastic access cover and hardtop, i just had to do do one small hole in the middle of the plastic cover for the wires, I figure I shared since the back is very dark in our boats, Happy holidays!!!

Interesting... I agree we need more light over the table area. I want to see it at night. I was thinking about 2 of those myself one on each side but when I played with a light like that when it was facing back it was too bright in your face. I feel they need to be more down lights on the back of the top. I was going to install a couple more of the Orbits back there next time I had the roof apart to get more more light at the very back of the roof line. But yes I will have to drill holes to make that happen.

 

[ttmott]

Interesting... I agree we need more light over the table area. I want to see it at night. I was thinking about 2 of those myself one on each side but when I played with a light like that when it was facing back it was too bright in your face. I feel they need to be more down lights on the back of the top. I was going to install a couple more of the Orbits back there next time I had the roof apart to get more more light at the very back of the roof line. But yes I will have to drill holes to make that happen.

Our bridge ceilings are a pretty reflective white. Maybe try an indirect lighting arrangement. Lighting pointing up from maybe behind seating? Worth a try.....

 

[ocgrant]

So came across a Vizio 32 that is only 28.1” what is the max of what will fit in the stock location and still have the doors working. Had to lower the TV by 1 1/8” to clear the hinges on the door it is that tight. Just had to modify the shelf housing by removing 1 1/8” to allow for clearance to lower it. Cut and painted black as it is hidden now. Very happy with the final result.

 

[Jaybeaux]

@ocgrant As always, you do incredible work. While we suffer up here with winter temperatures, this project has been suggested by the Admiral. How is the original TV affixed in there? I spent just a few minutes last summer looking at it, and it seemed that it was not just sitting on the base, but rather screwed(?) in from behind. What was the first step in removing the old TV?

Thanks,

Jaybeaux

 

[ocgrant]

@ocgrant As always, you do incredible work. While we suffer up here with winter temperatures, this project has been suggested by the Admiral. How is the original TV affixed in there? I spent just a few minutes last summer looking at it, and it seemed that it was not just sitting on the base, but rather screwed(?) in from behind. What was the first step in removing the old TV?

Thanks,

Jaybeaux

Yes, the TV is just mounted to the black board and there are 4 screws (circled here in blue) and the whole thing comes out. 2 minutes and you have it apart. It is a super tight fit and you have to start the "tucking" of the doors at an angle when putting them in the storage position on their sliders to clear the TV.

Here is the link for the 32" that is the narrowest unit I could find on the market as it is "frameless". I picked up an "open box" unit for $95 at Best Buy.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/vizio-32-class-d-series-full-hd-smart-tv/6510121.p?skuId=6510121

 

[dcwjd]

I polled the CSR guys a while back and the pricing is comparable for the job that was done. Someone paid as much as 22K to do the job. To me THAT was excessive.