The Official 450 Express Bridge Owners Club

[Forrestkk]

So, I think this is going on my list. Having used NVGs for 17 years of flying, I sorely miss the capability on the boat. I know that a FlIR is an option, but this seems like it will get the job done nicely.

https://www.sionyx.com/pages/boating

 

[Shoyrtt]

Working on a few items on my winter list, I finally got around to the horns. I noticed over the past few months that they started getting weaker. We use them quite a bit here on the West coast. For fun on Catalina it is traditional to sound them at 5:00 pm “cocktail time” and we do get some fairly thick fog and a good horn is a necessity.

My horns and I’m guessing they are the model used on all 450s are the AFI/Marinco Concealed Dual Trumpets.

As the horns got weaker, they finally stopped working about two weeks ago. My hunch was that the compressor gave up, but I had no idea where it was housed. With the horns being on the starboard side and the air hose going aft, I started my search and found the compressor in the tv cabinet in the master stateroom.

I pulled it out and noticed the label that says it needs to be oiled every four to five months. My first thought turned to the Sea Ray engineers. Why burry a part that needs frequent maintenance??? I bench tested it and to my surprise, it was working perfectly!

 

[Shoyrtt]

The horns are accessible through the bow locker and held in with four screws. You need a stubby screwdriver to get them out.

The air hoses are on a stepped barb inlet and pull off easily. Once the horns were out I tried to blow into them but they were clearly plugged up.

To disassemble them, there are five screws that hold on the back cap and the bracket. The cap was stuck on, so I did need to use a small screwdriver to tap them out. The inlet takes a 10mm to remove.

The culprit was pretty nasty. This is with the clear plastic diaphragm in place.

And with the diaphragm removed.

I took an old small flat blade screwdriver and was able to chisel out all of the salt in both of the horns. I also used some sandpaper to get them nice and clean. The results were mixed. One of the horn diaphragms was cracked and I couldn’t get it to work. The other one cleaned up and sounds good. I ended up ordering just one replacement horn and the compressor from Marinco on Amazon. I bought both because they did not offer the purchase of the horn alone. Next weekend we can sound the 5:00 cocktail time horns once again.

 

[Forrestkk]

The horns are accessible through the bow locker and held in with four screws. You need a stubby screwdriver to get them out.
View attachment 117753
The air hoses are on a stepped barb inlet and pull off easily. Once the horns were out I tried to blow into them but they were clearly plugged up.
View attachment 117755
To disassemble them, there are five screws that hold on the back cap and the bracket. The cap was stuck on, so I did need to use a small screwdriver to tap them out. The inlet takes a 10mm to remove.
View attachment 117754
The culprit was pretty nasty. This is with the clear plastic diaphragm in place.
View attachment 117756
And with the diaphragm removed.
View attachment 117757
I took an old small flat blade screwdriver and was able to chisel out all of the salt in both of the horns. I also used some sandpaper to get them nice and clean. The results were mixed. One of the horn diaphragms was cracked and I couldn’t get it to work. The other one cleaned up and sounds good. I ended up ordering just one replacement horn and the compressor from Marinco on Amazon. I bought both because they did not offer the purchase of the horn alone. Next weekend we can sound the 5:00 cocktail time horns once again.

I had found the compressor after I removed all of my TVs, will be oiling mine...good tip. Our horns are still working great. We use them a lot too. There is an armada of rental boats and jet skis around here paired with southern cocktail hour, 800 AM on the weekends and 1200 PM weekdays...lol. Or, you know, vacation cocktail hour which is all the time.

Side story, took some friends fishing and we have to go through Destin pass and Crab Island is there (pontoon central) and one of my neighbors has a center console and he exclaimed, "I had no idea how small boaters get too close to big boats. I'll be giving you guys more space now!"

He didn't realize how our rudders are nearly useless in "no wake" zones and it is all asymetric thrust steering.

 

[Forrestkk]

Rub Rail re-seating???

Hi All,
Has anyone done a re-seating of their rub rails?

I finally found my ER leaks after spending 2 hours in my ER with the hatch closed. Yikes! This this the port side, you can see the outermost swim platform bolts. Same issue on starboard, but not as bad.

 

[Shoyrtt]

Rub Rail re-seating???

Hi All,
Has anyone done a re-seating of their rub rails?

I finally found my ER leaks after spending 2 hours in my ER with the hatch closed. Yikes! This this the port side, you can see the outermost swim platform bolts. Same issue on starboard, but not as bad.

View attachment 117790

View attachment 117791

I'm glad you finally found the leaks! I spent a lot of hours in my ER this past weekend. We got a lot of rain in the past few weeks and for the first time I had quite a bit of water under my starboard engine. Our new slip in Alamitos Bay is significantly wider than our previous slip. Before the storms hit, I tied the boat up close to the starboard side so that the lines were fairly taught and the port lines had a little slack. I believe my leak was caused by rainwater on the cockpit that flowed into the ER hatch channel. Because the starboard lines were taught, the boat was listing slightly to starboard and the rain water overflowed the channel, maybe never making it to the drain hole on the port side. I moved the boat to the port side of the slip which cured the list, but I still would like to have some sort of a cover made for the cockpit to keep the rain out.

I'll check out the rub rails and will follow your lead on re-seating them if necessary.

 

[Forrestkk]

I'm glad you finally found the leaks! I spent a lot of hours in my ER this past weekend. We got a lot of rain in the past few weeks and for the first time I had quite a bit of water under my starboard engine. Our new slip in Alamitos Bay is significantly wider than our previous slip. Before the storms hit, I tied the boat up close to the starboard side so that the lines were fairly taught and the port lines had a little slack. I believe my leak was caused by rainwater on the cockpit that flowed into the ER hatch channel. Because the starboard lines were taught, the boat was listing slightly to starboard and the rain water overflowed the channel, maybe never making it to the drain hole on the port side. I moved the boat to the port side of the slip which cured the list, but I still would like to have some sort of a cover made for the cockpit to keep the rain out.

I'll check out the rub rails and will follow your lead on re-seating them if necessary.

Our boat had a cockpit cover at some point based on all the snaps. I am planning on new canvas this spring so may add that to the order. https://www.boatswains-locker.com/ was the OEM for our boat and they quoted $8,500 for a whole new set (25% discount to do it all vs. puece meal), will need to see of they have the specs for the cockpit cover. Of course, cockpit cover doesn't fix a rub rail leak...lol.

 

[Shoyrtt]

I started a "shitty" job on the boat this past weekend. Our macerator locked up and stopped pumping out the poop a month or so ago. I had bought a replacement for it over a year ago to keep as a spare but was dreading the task. Here is the old unit that I believe was original.

When we got the boat in August of 2020, it had been in fresh water for around 14 years and the macerator was probably never used. The thru-hull seacock was stuck and it took several days to get it to finally open.
Removal started with confirming the thru-hull was closed and then closing the t-valves down stream of the two black water tanks.

Next was the part I was dreading, removal of the waste line at the inlet of the pump. With rubber gloves in place along with a trusty Home Depot bucket and lots of paper towels and garbage bags, I loosened the two hose clamps and quickly placed the hose in the bucket.

It actually wasn't too bad. I pulled the pump and placed some paper towel in the hose to the thru-hull and the inlet hose and there was very little that hit the floor. I used both paper towels and disinfectant wipes to clean the area, but it was still a shit job.

 

[Forrestkk]

I started a "shitty" job on the boat this past weekend. Our macerator locked up and stopped pumping out the poop a month or so ago. I had bought a replacement for it over a year ago to keep as a spare but was dreading the task. Here is the old unit that I believe was original.
View attachment 117936

When we got the boat in August of 2020, it had been in fresh water for around 14 years and the macerator was probably never used. The thru-hull seacock was stuck and it took several days to get it to finally open.
Removal started with confirming the thru-hull was closed and then closing the t-valves down stream of the two black water tanks.
View attachment 117937

View attachment 117938

Next was the part I was dreading, removal of the waste line at the inlet of the pump. With rubber gloves in place along with a trusty Home Depot bucket and lots of paper towels and garbage bags, I loosened the two hose clamps and quickly placed the hose in the bucket.
View attachment 117940
It actually wasn't too bad. I pulled the pump and placed some paper towel in the hose to the thru-hull and the inlet hose and there was very little that hit the floor. I used both paper towels and disinfectant wipes to clean the area, but it was still a shit job.

Know that pain, had to do the master head pump this summer...not fun!

 

[Shoyrtt]

Here is the Dometic model number and info on the label for the new pump.

Out with the old and in with the new. Although they look different, the length, height and virtually all of the dimensions are the same.

As you can see, Sea Ray mounted the pump on two hoses (like they did on the water pumps). I wasn't able to reuse these, so I picked up some new clear hose. Once I had everything back in place and secure, I opened up the t-valves and the sea cock and I heard a gurgling sound. I had cracked the 1.5" hose on the outlet side and it was leaking. I quickly closed all of the valves and made it to West Marine before they closed at 6 on Sunday. More cleaning with paper towels, simple green and the wipes were needed before I put the new hose in place. I forgot to take a final picture, but I should be back on the boat this Friday.

 

[Art]

The horns are accessible through the bow locker and held in with four screws. You need a stubby screwdriver to get them out.
View attachment 117753
The air hoses are on a stepped barb inlet and pull off easily. Once the horns were out I tried to blow into them but they were clearly plugged up.
View attachment 117755
To disassemble them, there are five screws that hold on the back cap and the bracket. The cap was stuck on, so I did need to use a small screwdriver to tap them out. The inlet takes a 10mm to remove.
View attachment 117754
The culprit was pretty nasty. This is with the clear plastic diaphragm in place.
View attachment 117756
And with the diaphragm removed.
View attachment 117757
I took an old small flat blade screwdriver and was able to chisel out all of the salt in both of the horns. I also used some sandpaper to get them nice and clean. The results were mixed. One of the horn diaphragms was cracked and I couldn’t get it to work. The other one cleaned up and sounds good. I ended up ordering just one replacement horn and the compressor from Marinco on Amazon. I bought both because they did not offer the purchase of the horn alone. Next weekend we can sound the 5:00 cocktail time horns once again.

I'm impressed, you must be incredibly patient and flexible to remove and replace those $%#@& trumpets. Even more so if you are right-handed. Congrats!!!!

 

[Shoyrtt]

I'm impressed, you must be incredibly patient and flexible to remove and replace those $%#@& trumpets. Even more so if you are right-handed. Congrats!!!!

Nothing to be impressed about. Somedays I'm a wanna be boat mechanic and other days I have to be a contortionist. When all else fails, I call my real mechanic who can squeeze into places where my 6'2" 220lbs body can't make it. Luckily the contortionist ruled the day.

 

[Shoyrtt]

Back on the boat for the weekend. Here is a picture of the new macerator in place.

 

[The Bill Collector]

Back on the boat for the weekend. Here is a picture of the new macerator in place.
View attachment 118111

Getting shit done !!!

 

[Forrestkk]

Well boys, 22 years of being behind the belt tensioner was too much for my torx driver. This was the last bolt to get my tstat housing out on the port engine.

 

[Jack O'Brien]

Back on the boat for the weekend. Here is a picture of the new macerator in place.
View attachment 118111

Purpose of the clear hose mounting? Vibration absorb? I should look at mine...haven't even tried using it. I'm sure seacock is closed. Pump out each fuel fill.

 

[Shoyrtt]

Purpose of the clear hose mounting? Vibration absorb? I should look at mine...haven't even tried using it. I'm sure seacock is closed. Pump out each fuel fill.

Jack,
The hose mounting I believe was Sea Ray's attempt to deal with vibration with mounting pumps to the hull. My original fresh water pumps were also mounted on tubing. When I replaced the fresh water pumps, I was able to reuse the OEM tubing. Unfortunately when I replaced the macerator pump, the bolts that were used to hold down the original pump were corroded. Instead of fighting with them, I just picked up new hose and stainless hardware.
Here are the fresh water pumps:

 

[Forrestkk]

Jack,
The hose mounting I believe was Sea Ray's attempt to deal with vibration with mounting pumps to the hull. My original fresh water pumps were also mounted on tubing. When I replaced the fresh water pumps, I was able to reuse the OEM tubing. Unfortunately when I replaced the macerator pump, the bolts that were used to hold down the original pump were corroded. Instead of fighting with them, I just picked up new hose and stainless hardware.
Here are the fresh water pumps:
View attachment 118387

I've tested mine, it works. Don't use it much unless we get out far enough when fishing.

Guessing Jim uses his on the way home from Catalina???

 

[Shoyrtt]

I've tested mine, it works. Don't use it much unless we get out far enough when fishing.

Guessing Jim uses his on the way home from Catalina???

We use it normally at the end of a weekend to Catalina or Newport. So long as we are past the three mile line, it is an easy way to dump the tanks.
I'm not certain about this, but I believe a pump out through the sewage cap on the starboard side of the boat is not as efficient as the macerator pump. The starboard pump out has a black sewage line that goes directly into the starboard black water tank. The port black water tank is connected to the starboard tank the best that I can tell by a line that passes under the battery box. There is a T fitting in the middle of the line under the battery box that goes to the macerator pump and the through hull. So follow the shit (literally) a pump out with the cap requires the waste in the port tank to go downhill through the first port t-valve shut off, then through the crossover hose to the to the starboard t-valve shut off and then into the starboard tank before being suctioned out the cap. Whereas a pump out with the macerator draws evenly from both tanks. I know this is anecdotal evidence of my theory, but in my boat the starboard side tank appears to be cleaner than the port side. When I have used the sewage cap to pump out, I also have on occasion filled it with fresh water to try to get it nice and clean. I think this leads to the starboard tank getting the bulk of the fresh water and in turn a cleaner tank over the neglected port tank.

One more thought after spending some time looking at the black water system, I want to say the head in the master bathroom dumps directly into the port side black water tank and the midship head dumps into the starboard. In the past, I would do my No-Flex digestor treatment by placing the daily scoop into the midship head only. I'm now thinking I need to add a scoop daily to both heads to make sure the digestor can work its magic. Sorry about the all of the waste talk, I must have shit on the brain.

 

[Forrestkk]

We use it normally at the end of a weekend to Catalina or Newport. So long as we are past the three mile line, it is an easy way to dump the tanks.
I'm not certain about this, but I believe a pump out through the sewage cap on the starboard side of the boat is not as efficient as the macerator pump. The starboard pump out has a black sewage line that goes directly into the starboard black water tank. The port black water tank is connected to the starboard tank the best that I can tell by a line that passes under the battery box. There is a T fitting in the middle of the line under the battery box that goes to the macerator pump and the through hull. So follow the shit (literally) a pump out with the cap requires the waste in the port tank to go downhill through the first port t-valve shut off, then through the crossover hose to the to the starboard t-valve shut off and then into the starboard tank before being suctioned out the cap. Whereas a pump out with the macerator draws evenly from both tanks. I know this is anecdotal evidence of my theory, but in my boat the starboard side tank appears to be cleaner than the port side. When I have used the sewage cap to pump out, I also have on occasion filled it with fresh water to try to get it nice and clean. I think this leads to the starboard tank getting the bulk of the fresh water and in turn a cleaner tank over the neglected port tank.

One more thought after spending some time looking at the black water system, I want to say the head in the master bathroom dumps directly into the port side black water tank and the midship head dumps into the starboard. In the past, I would do my No-Flex digestor treatment by placing the daily scoop into the midship head only. I'm now thinking I need to add a scoop daily to both heads to make sure the digestor can work its magic. Sorry about the all of the waste talk, I must have shit on the brain.

I definitely do digester in both heads to get it in both tanks (but only once per tank of shit) for the reason you point out. I also believe in letting the tanks get at least to half before I pump. This came from my time at my dad's RV biz.

If black water tanks don't have enough liquid to slosh a bit and let waste decompose they get sludge from paper and shit. With the carbon filters we have on the vent lines, you can let the slosh work for you a little bit without the worry of deck odor. My $0.02.