December 31, 2010

This is last post of 2o1o, and is approximately the one year mark since I've had Circadian. My next post (the first for 2011) will include a summary of what I've accomplished so far.

On Thursday, I managed to squeeze a day out of the holiday visits to install one of the new ABI ports. It was clear as I worked through the problems of its installation that ABI had intended to simply screw the port into the cabin side from the inside; convenient and easy, but definitely not engineered for the strength to sustain the impact of a large wave or knockdown. In order to do a proper through-bolt installation, I had to drill the bolt holes at the bottom at an angle to allow room for the nuts to clear the angled flange.

I had only enough time to put the butyl tape around the flange as I did for the Ta Chiao ports (see November 1 post) and tighten down the bolts. Fortunately, with the larger bolts (1/4 inch), I could compress the butyl enough that the clamps were only necessary to hold the port in place while I drilled the bolt holes and inserted the bolts. If you look carefully at the interior photo, you can see where the butyl has self-welded and squeezed out around the inside mounting flange. You can also see that the port looks like it is mounted high inside; however, that is where it must be for proper exterior placement.
When the next dry work day comes up, I'll insert more butyl into the gap between the port and the cabin side and add the redundant 3M 4000 sealant.

Best wishes for a wonderful new year!

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