1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 refit

[Bob Quinn]

Very nice work! It's almost artwork
Are those all S.S. pipe fittings? If so where did you find them, I have neve seen SS t's and such like that!
Thanks,
Bob

 

[q240z]

Thanks!

Yes, they're all 304 stainless (at least, that's what the stamps on the castings say). Brass and bronze would have been easier, but this Roamer is an aluminum boat. The only places I found pitting in the hull when I started the refit were under and around copper lines and exposed bronze. So I've de-coppered the boat to the extent possible and don't care what ABYC says about it.

Unfortunately, ebay was my primary source for pipe fittings and, with the exception of the outstanding Swagelok (Made in USA) fittings I used for tubing connections, China was the supplier. Needless to say, the quality was spotty and I found it's best to run a tap or die over the threads of every single connection before attaching things. It was amazing how much material my Rigid NPT tap and die set (old school, Made in USA) removed from the brand new Chinese fittings.

I haven't drawn diesel through the system yet, so I'm still crossing my fingers that she'll be tight and dry when that day comes...which should be soon.

 

[rsmith]

Used to be this stuff called Tite Seal the aircraft mechanics used on fuel tank fittings but I haven’t seen it for years.

 

[q240z]

I got the 1/2" 304 stainless fuel supply line bent and installed on the port side. The starboard side is a shorter run, with the on-engine hose connecting directly to the distribution manifold. I also bent the two supply lines that go from the bulkhead fittings to the fuel filter inlets.


It's coming together! It's entirely possible I'll be able to splash in late October!


1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Bending & Installing Stainless Fuel Supply Tubing


Cheers,
Q

 

[q240z]

I shifted gears from the fuel system to the Fischer Panda 12kw generator, which has been sitting on the port engine stringers, same place as the original Kohler gasoline-powered unit, since 2009. I realized a few years ago that the boat was going to have a bad list to the port side because too much heavy stuff ended up being on that side. All of it--washer/dryer, air conditioners, black water holding tank--made individual sense placing them where I did, but cumulatively the port side is just too heavy. So I decided to move the genset to the other side of the boat. That raised a few engineering challenges, but I came up with an approach that I think will work well. This is an unusually text-heavy post, but there's a video at the bottom of me getting Egyptian and rolling the 420 pound genset (one-handed!) from the port to starboard stringers.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Fischer Panda Marine 12 Mini DP Genset

Cheers,
Q

 

[q240z]

With the Fischer Panda generator on the starboard side, I got busy making new vibration-isolated mounts. I'd made a set when I first craned the genset into the boat, but they were too short for what I had in mind now. Instead of being centered over the engine stringers, the new mounts offset the genset so it's further outboard. That creates space for exhaust hose routing, it moves 420 pounds even further starboard (which will help avoid the boat leaning to port), and it'll make the vented loop hose routing cleaner and out of the way. This is good progress toward splashing in October.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: New Mounts for the Panda Genset

Cheers,
Q

Before

After

 

[jim rosenthal]

Nice work. I remember seeing a F-P genset running at the Annapolis Boat Show one year. It was on a table with a tank of water to cool it. It made about as much noise as a toaster.

 

[GCSI]

What did you use on the stainless threads? We did a lot of work in the chemical industry always had problems with sealing SS pipe threads. It was a problem with the threads galling from what I remember.

Was at Depco retrieving a pump this morning. Asked about SS Threads: they use Loktite 561

 

[q240z]

Nice work. I remember seeing a F-P genset running at the Annapolis Boat Show one year. It was on a table with a tank of water to cool it. It made about as much noise as a toaster.

Thanks!

It's good to hear firsthand confirmation of what Panda's sales brochures claim.

 

[jim rosenthal]

You could not tell it was running.

Does yours have a water coil around the generator end? I've read that some do, but from what I could see of yours in the photos, I didn't think so.

 

[Captain Ralph]

You could not tell it was running.

Does yours have a water coil around the generator end? I've read that some do, but from what I could see of yours in the photos, I didn't think so.

Lets look at this; synchronous aluminum generator end, raw water cooled case., spinning at 3600 RPM.
Somewhere close by a big box full of beer can sized capacitors.
Naw, I'm sure not one of those..

 

[q240z]

Lets look at this; synchronous aluminum generator end, raw water cooled case., spinning at 3600 RPM.
Somewhere close by a big box full of beer can sized capacitors.
Naw, I'm sure not one of those..

That sounds like a fascinating scenario.

But my FP genset is asynchronous, antifreeze-cooled engine and generator case. Oh, and the capacitors are in a completely separate stainless steel case that I'll mount on the bulkhead a short distance from the genset.

 

[q240z]

You could not tell it was running.

Does yours have a water coil around the generator end? I've read that some do, but from what I could see of yours in the photos, I didn't think so.

As I understand it, very early (late 80s-early 90s) Pandas had raw water cooled generator heads, but they went to antifreeze cooling before long. And, IIRC, those were really tiny...3 to maybe 5kw. They haven't made them in a long time, and by all accounts that particular model deserved the bad reputation it quickly got.

 

[Captain Ralph]

That sounds like a fascinating scenario.

But my FP genset is asynchronous, antifreeze-cooled engine and generator case. Oh, and the capacitors are in a completely separate stainless steel case that I'll mount on the bulkhead a short distance from the genset.

I recall the Cap box was remote. it was an older 10Kw.
I was the only sucker the owner could call to work on it.

Good luck on yours.

Your work looks most excellent. Have fun.

 

[q240z]

Thanks Captain Ralph!

I'm curious--what was the problem with the Panda you mentioned? As I mentioned in a recent blog, all the Panda techs' commentary I've read in several forums suggests that Panda problems are almost always shoddy installer problems. The only OEM problems I've heard about are Teutonic over-engineering, with too many safety sensors, any one of which can shut down the whole genset.

As for mine, things are looking very good regarding de-tenting and splashing the boat in October.

I got the waterlift muffler and siphon break installed on the Panda genset. Both items should make the surveyor happy, and a happy surveyor's report will make my insurance company happy, so hopefully they'll authorize splashing the boat in October. There's a lot more going on right now, but by all signs I'm on track to get the bottom wet again within 50 days.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Panda Genset Waterlift Muffler and Siphon Break

Cheers,
Q

 

[Captain Ralph]

Thanks Captain Ralph!

I'm curious--what was the problem with the Panda you mentioned?

Older 10KW model. Never could get a manual for this exact unit.
A real cool electric throttle control. Stepper motor controlled starting and running throttle positions. wonderful schedule point; Soak it with WD40 when checking / adding oil.
Back flush the raw water passages with dock side water pressure. This unit used raw water for the alloy gen-set end.

Every 2 to 3 years, just order another beer can set of caps in the remote box.

A tiny block spinning 3600 rpm just makes my spine rattle.

Here is a pic of my first flushing

Now, I have mentioned this before, Some agree, most are in luv with their FPs.

I'm hoping you have many years of good service. We here will know, it has had a baby install and sweet environment.

 

[q240z]

My boat has cable-drive tachometers that I had restored and converted from gas to diesel RPM range (5,000 max recalibrated to 4,000). The Cummins 6CTA engines I bought also came with tach drives running off the injector pump gear. But when I went to connect the cables to the tach drives, I discovered there was a critical missing part AND the end of the cable core was incompatible with the drive output shaft. I swear, I spent more time trying to find the parts to make it all come together than I did eventually installing them. But I finally got 'em done.

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Making the Chris Craft Cable Drive Tachometers Work with Cummins 6-CTAs

Cheers,
Q

Testing the tach drive with a power drill running in the engine room.

 

[Captain Ralph]

If you reversed the drill rotation, do the hours subtract?

 

[q240z]

Only Schroedinger knows...

Things are jumping along very well toward splashing the boat in October.


I figured I should hook up the throttle cables, which is easy enough: couple of clips, a few dozen screws holding P-clamps in place, and they're done. But I was cleaning out the garage and found a brand new Accusync twin engine sychronizer sitting on the shelf. I bought it for a 1967 Chris Craft Constellation 52 we used to own, but I never installed it. The 671 Detroit Diesel engines in that boat didn't have a sender or alternator that sent an RPM signal, so I couldn't use the Accusync and it went on the shelf...until recently.


I found the perfect spot to install it in my Roamer, and my Cummins engines (by happy chance) not only have the outputs for cable-drive tachometers like mine, they also have the optional magnetic pickups used for more modern, electronic tachometers. The Accusync can use the signal from the mag pickups to synchronize throttles for both engines.


1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing Throttle Cables & Accusync Engine Synchronizer


Cheers,
Q

 

[q240z]

I'm wailing away on the boat and am still optimistic about splashing in October.

To de-tent and splash the boat, it needs to be reasonably weather-proof on the topside and absolutely water-tight on the bottom. One of the things I've been stewing over for years has been what to do about the aft stateroom bilge vents. Chris Craft used flexible hose there to route air to and from the bilge, but the hose didn't last and when it let go it allowed water from rain or washing the boat to seep into the back side of interior plywood panels. After trying one possible solution that I ended up rejecting, I recently decided to fire up my TIG welder and make vent tubes out of aluminum. They turned out pretty good, and will last at least as long as the hull itself.

So that's two water-entry points that have been resolved. And with the vent tubes installed, I can now install the mahogany porthole surrounds and FINALLY install the portholes that have been done and ready to install since 2016!

1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Aft Stateroom Vents

Cheers,
Q

Before

After