Day 196 Good News!

We got the final report on our new transmission.  It is perfectly natural for the propeller to spin slowly while the engine is running even if it is in neutral.  It's the nature of the beast.  I spoke with the transmission manufacturer and their response was that it was normal for a Paragon transmission to do what it is doing.  As it gets broken in, this will slowly stop, but as a new one, it is fine.  It will not move fast enough to move the boat as heavy as Zephyr is and causes no stress on it.  Since it can be stopped by simply applying pressure with a hand, it is not really in gear, it is just picking so residual power from the pressure plate inside on the engine.  Good news!

They also told us that when the engine is place in neutral, it is natural for the propeller to continue to spin.  I explained about our Maxprop and it's feathering feature. He advised us to call the manufacturer.  I did so and their comment was to stop the engine while it is still in gear and the prop will feather just fine.  The pressure on  the shaft will cause the prop to rotate back to its "0" drag position.  It won't if it is in neutral when the engine is stopped.   Good news all around.  They won't have to rip out the transmission!!

My back is still upset with me.  I'm just taking it slow and see what happens.  A hot water bottle sure makes it feel better.  It will just take some time to get over it.

Jack, the electrician, made me a diagram of my electrical system so that I will have a better understanding of its workings.  I'm getting a better handle in it every day.  

The "diversion" load gizmo--also known as a "sock warmer"came in yesterday.  This thing is used to "bleed off" excess energy from the wind/electric generator.  Once the batteries get to a full charge, the extra power that is being made has to be gotten rid of and this is the thing that does it.  Some people install an extra heating element in their water heaters to  allow it to heat their water.  At the age of my water heater, I'm reluctant to cut any kind of opening into it to install a new element.  I'll mount it in the engine compartment and let it get rid of the excess energy there.   

The weather forecast still remains bleak.  It rained last night and there is more in the future.  The wind was hitting 40+ knots late last night.  The forecast had been for guts up to 60!!  It's relatively calm now.  Tracy added an extra dock line just to make sure Zephyr stays put.  She also checked the lines on the other boats at the dock just to make sure they stay put also.

The fix of the forward head worked fine.  It no longer leaks water back into the bowl.  Glad that problem is solved.

Today, into the stern head to get its macerater fixed.  It's a good thing my nose isn't tremendously sensitive to bad smells.  Since the tank was pumped out, there shouldn't be a big problem getting it fixed.  Out with the old and in with the new.  That should solve the problem.

The folks at Sure Pumps are going to ship me a new fresh water pump in the next week or so.  They have to wait until one comes in so they can ship it out to me.  The one I installed back in May just keeps wanting to run and run.  Slowly but still run.  Each time it runs, it uses more battery power and while we are at anchor, that power could be used for something else.  There is a pressure switch installed in it that is supposed to shut itself off when it reaches 40psi.  It doesn't shut off.

More things to do.