Gil Johnson writes: >Has anyone located their primary fuel filter vacumn gauge at the helm >station? >If you have done so with an electronic vacumn sending unit, where did you get >the sending unit and remote display? I don't really want to extent the >actual >vacumn line, but would really like to see the current vacumn reading without >having to visit the engine room. This will be part of my winter project of >replacing a single Racor unit with a dual unit. May I make a low cost/high performance suggestion? Put in a Murphy gauge. These are very simply mechanical gauges with very simple adjustable mechanical switches. You put the gauge in the engine room and then a warning light/buzzer at the helm. Best of all, they are very, very inexpensive (about $50 per gauge). I put in a complete duplicate instrument panel in the engine room using Murphy gauges and the total cost was under $500. This also means that when I get a funny reading from the electric gauges I have a mechanical backup. See http://www.fwmurphy.com/products/pressure_vacuum/20v_25v_a20v_a25v.htm for details. Scott Welch Product Manager, FirstClass Group "If we continue to take an eye for an eye, then surely the whole world will go blind." - Gandhi

"Brent Hodges" writes: >We're building a desktop computer for my boat. Anyone know of an adapter >that allows you to use a wifi card that usually plugs right into a laptop in >the desktop? > >If I'm not using the right terminology to say this, forgive me. I'm not very >computer savvy. And, it won't do any good to try to talk me into getting a >laptop instead of the desk top. It's already bought. Brent, You could get an adapter that allows you to use a laptop-style card in your desktop, but instead I'd recommend a wireless card designed for a desktop machine. Here's an example, the D-Link WDA-1320, which is $37.99 at Best Buy: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7650543&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat25300050002&id=1134699413703 The antennas on the desktop cards are quite a bit bigger and hence better than the ones in the laptop cards. Scott Welch Product Manager, FirstClass Group "If we continue to take an eye for an eye, then surely the whole world will go blind." - Gandhi

rudy sechez writes: >Other >than searching the True Values and Cheapo-Depts, any one have a >source? I would check Rockler Hardware (www.rockler.com) and Taco Metals (http://www.tacometals.com) Scott Welch Product Manager, FirstClass Group "If we continue to take an eye for an eye, then surely the whole world will go blind." - Gandhi

Gil Johnson writes: >When I posted a message to the list I received the following email response: >------------------------- >Sorry. Your message could not be delivered to: >scott_welch@coolstuff.firstclass.com,Internet (You do not have send access) >------------------------- >Make any sense to anyone out there? Oops! Mea culpa! I subscribe to T&T (obviously) and in my real life I'm product manger for an advanced email system. Two days ago I needed a source for a bunch of relatively innocuous but real messages to test some "naughty word filtering" we're putting in place for our educational customers. "Ah ha", I though, "I'll use T&T messages" (the naughty word I searched for was Volvo... I worked for several years as a Volvo mechanic and let me tell you I used some real naughty words then!). And it worked pretty well, too, except I made a small mistake in the setup and so a bunch of you have received error messages. I'm really sorry for the inconvenience. I've removed the setup and all is back to normal. Scott Welch Product Manager, FirstClass Group "If we continue to take an eye for an eye, then surely the whole world will go blind." - Gandhi

"Bob Clinkenbeard" writes: >Now if only I could find a single split gauge for both tanks....since I >don't have a lot of helm space. One simple solution is a single gauge with a toggle switch. Since you'll only be burning fuel from a single tank, you don't really need two active gauges. Scott Welch Product Manager, FirstClass Group "If we continue to take an eye for an eye, then surely the whole world will go blind." - Gandhi

My two cents worth here: There are a bunch of solutions which are both costly & expensive. However, if your onboard power requirements are modest (e.g. no air conditioning, no dryer, no water heater) and can be handled entirely by your existing inverter, there is also a very simple, inexpensive solution: get a "universal input" battery charger such as the Xantrex XC5012 or XC2524. This puppy will take pretty well any power in the world with no user setup required. You can then use this to keep the house bank topped up, while supplying all of the onboard loads through the inverter. Not perfect if you want to run really heavy loads, but can't be beat from a price/performance perspective. Scott Welch Product Manager, FirstClass Group "If we continue to take an eye for an eye, then surely the whole world will go blind." - Gandhi Scott Welch Product Manager, FirstClass Group "If we continue to take an eye for an eye, then surely the whole world will go blind." - Gandhi

"Al Thomason" writes: >This is the approach I am taking, but I actually use a 2nd inverter/charger. >In this way I have a backup inverter, and when used like you pointed out >below can deal with the 50/60hz issue. You need to be very careful about this. Many inverter/chargers are also automatic 110V switches as well. When they see good AC power, they switch the load over to the incoming power instead of running the inverter. You don't want that to happen, or else you'll be supplying 50Hz to the boat. Scott Welch Product Manager, FirstClass Group "If we continue to take an eye for an eye, then surely the whole world will go blind." - Gandhi

"Robin" writes: >...Now I'm getting e-mails criticizing my post saying in effect batteries >should be protected from extreme cold Well, let me first say that I am neither a chemist nor a battery engineer. But I worked for 5 years on a boat in the arctic, and I also maintained 4 generators and an industrial-size Bombardier snowmobile powered by a Chrysler 318. I can state state unequivocal that you can leave a fully charged wet lead-acid battery out in the cold (like -60F cold) for six months at a time with no noticeable ill effects. Usually we didn't even have to charge them in the spring. The boat had a pair of 8-D Surettes for each engine (Volvo TMP-40 diesels). Your mileage may vary, etc. etc. etc., but the long and short of it is that winter in Michigan is not going to hurt your batteries. Think of it this way: it's a darn sight warmer than North Dakota, and last I checked the folks in ND still get their cars to start. Just as an aside, you you do have to watch out for is anything filled with water. The plumbing, of course. But there are less obvious things. For example, closed seacocks often have water trapped in the barrel. Drain lines for your fridge. Buckets in the lazarette. Cans of pop. Bottles of Evian. The pump in your toilet. The black water tank pump. All of these things will burst, and of course you won't notice until it's waaayyyy too late. Of course, if you do elect to use heated storage, you still need to winterize. If you read the fine print, I'll bet dollars to donuts there is an "act of god" clause that absolves the marina from damages should the heat go off. All it will take is a good ice storm with the power off for a few days and the temperature could easily drop below freezing. Scott Welch Product Manager, FirstClass Group "If we continue to take an eye for an eye, then surely the whole world will go blind." - Gandhi

"Robin" writes: >High end racers are still being cold molded in the US: I saw a 175 foot >sailboat, hull inverted, in East Boothbay Maine two or three years ago.... at >Hodgkin Bros boat builders, I believe. What a sight!!!! If anyone is seriously interested in building trawler of any type, I would hi ghly recommend that you have a chat with Tad Roberts, who worked at Bruce Kin g Yacht Design and designed Antonisa, a 124 foot cold-molded vessel built by Hodgdon's. He was also the designer of the Hinckley picnic boats and a slew o f other spectacular vessels. His web site is www.tadroberts.ca , it's worth h aving a peek around. He's designed extensively in traditional wood, cold mold ed, and metal. No connection other than as a satisfied client, he did most of the design wor k for Island Eagle. Scott Welch Product Manager, FirstClass Group "If we continue to take an eye for an eye, then surely the whole world will g o blind." - Gandhi

"Keith" writes: >Nobeltec has their own line of USB to serial converters: >http://www.nobeltec.com/products/prod_accessories_serial.asp They do, and at $700 for the 8-port version they are way overpriced. I got a Qatec 8 port unit, $369 and it works flawlessly with my Nobeltec. One great advantage of so many ports is that you don't have to futz around hardwiring various devices. You can just run them all into the Qatec and then use the NMEA repeater software in Nobeltec to send the desired data out the desired port (e.g. route the compass and GPS data to the autopilot, route the GSP data to the external radar, etc.) Scott Welch Product Manager, FirstClass Group "If we continue to take an eye for an eye, then surely the whole world will go blind." - Gandhi