TWL: Blisters
Mark Stypinski writes:
<<Our 1974 Willard had some blisters below and above the water line. ---- One
surveyor said the older Willards were almost all blistered due to the resin
used. Another said in most cases the blisters were simply a money maker for
the yard and a giant lever for the purchaser to renegotiate the price. That's
what happened in
our case.>>
Apparently this is true. Willards of that era were constructed of a fire
retardent resin, similar to that used for their military boats, and mandated
by government regulation. The boats won't burn but they will blister because
the fire retardent compounds incorporated in the resin absorb moisture.
Fortunately Willard builds a very sturdy hull and blistering, although
cosmetically unsightly, does not usually pose a structural threat. The best
fix is to excavate the blisters, dry, patch with fiberglass reinforced epoxy,
and barrier coat the hull. Peeling and refiberglassing is rarely justified.
I'm sure Patrick Gerety of Willard will have something to say about this.
Larry Z
Question for all:
I have two fresh water tanks total 150 gallons. I have
an 18 gallon hot water heater. How exactly does the
hot water system work? Does water fill the heater when
its available and wait to be heated? Does it wait to
fill when the heater is switched on? Is water replaced
in the heater when some is used? Or, does it empty
totally then refill??
Dan
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As you draw hot water, it is immediately replaced with cold water. You will
find the inlet to your hot water tank is downstream of the pump which also
pushes the cold water to you.
Murphy's law says your tank should start to leak shortly after you start
thinking about it. Too bad you asked the question. The leak will appear to
be coming from under the tank and your first challenge will be determining
whether it is leaking coolant (which heats the tank when underway) or fresh
water.
The heating coil (from the engine) is designed such that when it lets go, it
doesn't pollute the fresh water in your hot water tank but it is still a
good idea to avoid drinking any water from the hot water side of your
circuit. Something about antifreeze being difficult to digest. Of course,
if you grew up in Northwestern Ontario as I did, you might weigh that off
against the advantage of not freezing stiff when hitchhiking home from your
girlfriend's house in the middle of January. It's a good thing she left my
engine running... but I digress.
Your hot water tank should be installed in the most difficult possible
location to access.
Oh yes, they have a neat piece of stainless steel wrapped around them.
Don't throw it away, you never now when it will come in handy.
Shaun Sweeney
aboard Rana III
GB 46' Alaskan #27
Lying Nanaimo Harbour
BC Canada
At 05:08 PM 12/07/2001 -0800, Shaun Sweeney wrote:
Of course if you grew up in Northwestern Ontario as I did, you might weigh
that off
against the advantage of not freezing stiff when hitchhiking home from your
girlfriend's house in the middle of January. It's a good thing she left my
engine running... but I digress.
REPLY
Nyet!
Shaun you must be confusing Siberia with Northern Ontario. Same cold
snowy climate and dark northern woods.
In Siberia we drink the antifreeze because it is Vodka which is cheaper
than imported antifreeze.
In northern Ontario the tax on booze is so much that antifreeze is
cheaper than Russina Vodka. :-)))
Mind you for a while it would be easy to confuse the two places since
you could see many russian built Lada's driving around town in both
countries.
Come to think of it, boaters in Southern Ontario still use booze for
antifreeze in the drinking water system. ;-}
Cheers
Arild Jensen
The Electronic Navigator
elnav@uniserve.com writes:
Come to think of it, boaters in Southern Ontario still use booze for
antifreeze in the drinking water system. ;-}
Oops I knew I forgot something. Winterized my Farymann today, drained
all it's blood and replaced it with that green embalming fluid. What
I forgot was to do the antifreeze thing to my watertank. Living in
Southern Ontario, I suppose you were referring to an earlier post of
mine, extolling the virtues of using 99% Isopropyl alcohol in my
drinking watersystem (now in my seventh year and still alive).
TTYL George of Scaramouche1, Frenchman's Bay, Ontario.
Murphy's law says your tank should start to leak
shortly after you start
thinking about it. Too bad you asked the question.
Well I think I got Murhpy beat! It started to leak
twice now, yet one more thing the surveyor missed.
Easy fix, hose clamp was bent. Couldnt tighten it down
any more. So after I pulled it off and got a faceful
of (luckily) cold water and water everywehre, I was
able to get a new hose clamp on.
Leak #2 was also simple one. Two places at the same
time rattled loose. Orange coolant steadily dripped
until I went down with my flathead.
Lets hope there is no number three.
My heater is not mounted anyplace really. Sound
strange? Its kind of just "set down". Guess whomever
thought the weight of it would keep it from moving.
Maybe they are right. Its a heavy sucker.
Dan
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