48 LRC Owners - blige and high water alarms

[utspak]

48 LRC owners,

I am new to the 48 LRC so still on a steep learning curve. I started checking my bilge pumps and high water alarms only to find out some are very difficult to get too, mainly the ones forward of the engine. The port engine my be possible with a lot of swearing but the starboard looks impossible, especially since there is a PTO on the stbd engine.

As I said I am new to the LRC but it seems this is an overbuild situation. What does everyone else do or have done with especially the engine bilges. The aft and forward are easy, the stateroom are ok, except the previous owner carpeted over the access to the port bilge so I have to redo that but once done I think it will be ok.

It is the engine bilges that seem nearly impossible to fix or replace or even get to.

We have gone on 3 trips, about 350 miles in all and now wanting to make changes but don't want to reinvent the wheel.

Thanks for you comments.

Next topic is going to be battery config.


Stuart
Bed Boat & Beyond

 

[cb48lrc]

I have checked all my bilge pumps to make sure they are working, I am with you. Engine bilge pumps are not going to be easy to replace. Are yours working?

 

[utspak]

Yes, all my bilge pumps are working. I was working more on the high water alarm. Since this is an open system if a circuit is broken then the alarm goes off and I have been trying to find that broken circuit. (just like xmas tree lights) Found it this morning, and of course, in front of the stbd engine. Clipped the wires, tied together and viola the problem solved, bilge light out and no alarm on the system monitor. I will probably replace the forward and aft and stateroom high water alarms with a closed system and tie off the engine room high water alarms. Just keep the bilge pumps there.

This brings me to another question. All my bilges are dry except the starboard engine room which has fresh water but not sure where it is coming from? I suspect the refrigerator but not sure any ideas from the 48 LRC guys.

Stuart

 

[cb48lrc]

How about the drain from the galley or master state room ac, under the dinette in the pilot house.

 

[Pete]

Stuart, a few overall thoughts after owning our 48 LRC for 11 years. First, they are great boats, probably the most copied styling to this day and built far better than all the copy cats. It is a 12 volt boat, which is more and more important as time goes by, and the boat is easily handled by a couple. The layout gets fully utilized by a couple, and the master stateroom is ideally located.

Having said that, the boat does have a few design problems that will drive someone who does their own maintenance, to repeatedly use foul language. By this I mean, every time you need to get to the areas you wonder what genius thought up this design. You have discovered one of these. The forward engine room bilges just can not be accessed, period. At least unless you get determined. I did, and jacked a small beam to hold the salon sole such that I could, one at a time, remove the 2x4 uprights that normally serve this purpose. This requires the removal or tie off of many items mounted on these uprights. While in this condition I cleaned the area. painted all exposed areas, and installed two new pumps and float switches. Put it all back together and hope it all works for a long time.

The next puzzle is the placement of the four air conditioning compressors on a rack between the port engine and port hull side including totally covering up the port drainage sea chest. The clearance between the port engine exhaust manifold and this rack has to be six inches in a non stand up engine room. The entire port side of the port engine needs to be removed, exhaust riser, exhaust manifold, everything attached to the engine blower, and unless you want to spear yourself repeatedly, remove the head studs for the exhaust manifold. Even with this work completed you have to figure out how to get your arm around the compressor rack and work on the sea cheat with one hand. I should mention that my hull is 316 and I did see hull 324 where this rack was not present and all compressors were on plywood at stringer level. Definitely better.

Finally, the fresh water in the engine room forward bilge is usually associated with flow back through the drainage sea chest to the engine room bilge pump attached to it. I happen to have a similar problem on the port side that I do not fully understand. Mine seems to be associated with rain events, so there are likely multiple sources.

Good luck with your great boat.

Pete