Nearly finished the SR4... - Page 2

dctucker · 23 August 2005, 18:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

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Only teething problem is that the engine kill stopped working-just a bad contact somewhere but something that'll have to be sorted out ASAP as it meant the kill lanyard stopped working too. Not good.
The flooding hull system is a bit odd-its very hard to keep below the speed limits in the harbour because at 6 knots the flooding chamber slowly empties and she starts to plane-then gets to 15 knots-with no change in throttle. The holeshot's a bit slow because of it too-I think I'll have to block the flooding chamber off.
I can see why boatster uses the smart tabs on his now.

I know for a fact that the kill switch works on my Merc... Spent 10 minutes Sunday trying to figure out why the engine wouldn't start, checking plug wires, etc. It ran great on Saturday.

Then realized I'm a complete idiot. Put the lanyard on and flicked the kill switch to the "run" position.

Started right up!

The flooding/draining threshold does take some getting used to. It is odd when the hull slowly starts to drain and the speed starts to rise. I don't seem to have an issue chugging though the harbor, so that threshold may be a bit higher in the 5.4m. Leave it be for a while, you may get used to it. After a few outings aboard, I never have that happen any more.

I have the SmartTabs on my rib as well. I think they're terrific, though I may be sacrificing a slight bit of top end speed for the better hole shot/acceleration. I have virtually no bow rise as I throttle up, whether I do it slowly or just jam the throttle wide open.

I really enjoy looking at your photos. Your boat is looks very much like mine, with the same vintage Merc 4 cylinder. Nice motor, though I think I have a sticky piston ring, which loosens up after the motor ruins for a bit. Need to take care of that. I had trouble with the PT&T at first, though I did get it sorted out. Let me know if you have questions about it, perhaps I can help. I have a spare PT&T motor and valvebody (unobtanium) in my garage. I thought the motor was shot, so I bought another complete, on eBay. Turned out I had two setups, both with bad solenoids. Oh well, not a bad spare to have lying about.

None too tidy at the moment, bt here are a couple of before and afters of my 5.4:

dctucker · 23 August 2005, 18:56

Here are the untidy afters:

Daniel · 23 August 2005, 19:26

Thats a very expensive Azimuth compass. Never should have let mine go with the last boat, i really do miss it.

dctucker · 23 August 2005, 20:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daniel

Thats a very expensive Azimuth compass. Never should have let mine go with the last boat, i really do miss it.

Unfortunately I need to tear it out and return it to KVH for service. It's let in some water and no longer works. It was great while it did work though! It was NIB on eBay for about 3/4 of retail. I'm afraid of what may happen when I send it back for warranty...

Daniel · 23 August 2005, 21:20

Sounds familar, mine failed through some of the LCD segments not working. I opened it up, cleaned and reseated the LCD and it was as new. Let me know if you want to sell it cheap

Nos4r2 · 24 August 2005, 02:33

I've got a cheap Halfords digital compass on mine-£6.50 off ebay... I just dunked it in some corrosion block before and after use. Seems to work just fine-it's next to the radio so I wanted something that would compensate for that.It seems to work OK as it shows within a couple of degrees of the gps when calibrated. I've got a ritchie compass to switch it over with if/when it dies.

Might well have to pick your brains over the PTT at some point though..... mine looks a mess but apparently it works fire while wired up(but TBH I haven't looked at it that hard quite yet). I'm just waiting for the new s/s lower ram bolts to arrive.

Nos4r2 · 25 August 2005, 14:23

Well the new stainless ram bolts have arrived.....but without the washers I needed to tig weld together to make the spacers.

Dctucker-Love the RIB. I'm not sure I 'get' these flash new ones that much-I much prefer the utilitarian look of the Avons. I love these old 4cyl 50hp mercs too, this is the 5th I've had so far, the earliest being 1964. This is the newest one-think it's 1985ish. I've got enough bits to keep it going for 10 years as well-I've dismantled 2 of them for spares,so I've got switchboxes and all... can't see me changing it for a while yet!

Nos4r2 · 29 August 2005, 09:12

Well, after a mad day yesterday out in Poole bay I'm beginning to find things I can tweak... Trimmed out one hole and she handles rough water a load better-MUST fix the PTT...and came up with a good idea for the flooding hull that seems to work quite well.I got thinking about stan_deezy's hypalon flap self-drainer-so I made a hypalon self-draining flap with 2 layers of hypalon and stuck it over the hole on the transom.The holes in the bow are left open. It slows the water ingress dramatically but doesn't stop it. The result is the same holeshot on initial startup, but a much better holeshot when you've been stationary for a few seconds and still as stable when at rest-though it takes a little longer to fill. The hull doesn't re-fill when off the plane either so I can now hold 8-10 knots on the plane happily without the constant on/off planing.

Might have to remake the flap with 2 layers all the way up and try it like that as I left it at one layer on the 'hinge' but it doesn't seem quite stiff enough-it doesn't push back against the hull with water pressure quite as well as I'd like.

I only glued this one on without roughening the transom or anything this time so I can experiment and remove it easily. When I find a result I like I'll fix it on permanently.

ollyit · 29 August 2005, 09:18

be interesting to see how you get on with all this fallpy business, I've yet to try my newly installed trimtabs, I'll tell you whats it like as I still have the flooding hull unblocked

heres my present setup

http://img355.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tt2un.jpg

Nos4r2 · 29 August 2005, 09:33

That looks good- I'd suggest you go over to the iboats forums and have a read of this though as it might help you with the setup of the tabs.
http://www.iboats.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ul...=012079#000000

It's a lot to read, but it may be useful-and Nautijohn is the guy who makes your trim tabs.
If you need any setup help or recommendations he really knows his stuff.

The flap works really well-holeshot is the same to start with but massively improved if you're not staionary for more than a few seconds. It doesn't seem to fill the hull at non-planing speeds either.

stan_deezy · 29 August 2005, 10:05

Nos if you want I can take some photos of the flapper in situ? maybe a drawing of the system?
On the SR4's we used in the past; they had "elephant trunks" so you had the choice of draining/filling (to a certain extent) and I wonder if these are available from Avon directly?
You've done a great job on resurecting that SR4: she looks really good..........
now your next mission is to find me an old SR4 that I can restore

Nos4r2 · 29 August 2005, 14:04

Elephant trunks on the flooding underfloor? That sounds a bit dodgy-how did you keep them from the prop?

A pic of the flatacraft draining system would be a help, thanks Stan!