Again, I spent the week working on the house. By the time Sunday came around I was burnt out and needed to get away, so I headed for Circadian and the Delta, hauling my kayak and a few other things with me. The drive was pleasant, and there were fields of yellow flowers in bloom. Someone told me once what the crop was, but I've forgotten. So if any of you recognize it, please let me know what it is.
By the time I arrived at Hidden Harbor, I realized once again that being on the boat and in a boating community is where I'm happiest. The big project for the day was to complete the installation of the propane heater/fireplace. That entailed finishing up the wiring for the fan, mounting the old aluminum propane tank that came with the boat, and plumbing the propane supply line. Luck was with me initially, but Murphy showed up soon and it ended up being a 12-hour day. I started by connecting a length of low pressure propane hose that came with the boat to the fireplace and then seeing if I could route it neatly and securely to where I planned to mount the propane tank. It was exactly the right length, so I secured it with nylon wire clamps. To get it through the fiberglass to the tank outside, I needed to drill a hole at the base of the windshield large enough for the vapor-tight fitting I had gotten. Naturally I had every drill bit but the size required. At least the new ferry was operating for a change, so I could get into town to the hardware store. Once I got the hole drilled, I discovered that the hole was still about 1/32 inch too small and the glass was so thick (at least 1/2") that the new fitting wasn't quite long enough to allow the securing nut to thread on. Sigh. I also needed a brass reducing bushing to complete the connection to the pressure regulator and gauge. (Again, I had both the size larger and the size smaller than the one needed right at hand, but not the one I needed.) A second trip to town got me the bushing and a rotary file for the drill to enlarge the hole slightly. Grinding away a little 'glass would allow the vapor-tight fitting to be assembled. Unfortunately, by this time someone had hit a power pole, and the electricity was out all over the island. No way to power my grinder. Sigh. Okay, time to switch to mounting the tank securely in place. Because of the funky, non-standard configuration of the tank, I had to through-bolt a couple of cleats and a hold-down strap in place in addition to the two normal mounting bolts to ensure a secure installation. I did get it done without any problems, at least. By that time, the electricity was back, and I got the grinding done. With a considerable amount of trial and error, I got the vapor-tight fitting mounted. Unfortunately, the hose was a bit small to allow the fitting to clamp down on it tightly and make a good seal. So, I filled the gap with silicone and secured the hose aligned through the center of the fitting. After the silicone cures, I'll tighten down the fitting. Should make a good tight seal. It was time to check the connections for leaks, so I opened up the valve on the propane tank. Propane shot forcefully out of the vent on the regulator. I immediately closed the valve and discovered that due to lack of paying attention, I had connected the regulator backwards. Sigh. Once I got it straightened out, it held pressure fine. That was what I expected, of course, since per ABYC standards, the only connections were at the appliance (below deck) and the tank (above deck). I had also used a trick that a friend who worked on high-end RVs told me about: using non-hardening Permatex on all the joints.
Now that the propane was at least operational, if not technically in its final finished state, it was time to finish up the electrical. Although that required some contortions in the engine room, at least I had everything I needed and there were no unpleasant surprises. When I was done, I tried out the fan and it worked fine. It was time to try lighting her up and seeing how it worked.
It all functioned just fine. The fireplace puts out a lot of heat, and the fan blows it downward through the louver in the front above the flame-viewing window. But even in just the few minutes it was operating, the chimney pipe and cap in the doghouse got pretty hot, so for safety it's clear I'll need to add some more guards at some time in the future. But it will be worth it to sit in the warmth and watch the flickering flames on those cold foggy nights and mornings!While I was happy that my fireplace installation was essentially completed, I was beat, I was running late and I still had to clean up and get the kayak and other gear on board. I did what I had to, and headed home exhausted, but content.
Quite a treasure of a post, the outcome being some very very beautiful flowers and to smell the earth of brown. But that fireplace really wins. Though its summer, the picture invites me into a winter morning. Turned out very nice, Capt G.
ReplyDeleteI do have to laugh a bit at the hardware trips - what I call false hardware runs. We are all guilty of em. That's where you need something and go back and forth having to figure out some solution in the middle of a project. The other side is spending 3x what you expected because you pick u the wrong size part or try and find something close if they don't have something. Or forget the exact size you were looking for, and buy 4-5 different kinds/sizes.
I imagine this is where the entropy is in boat maintenance - lost hours, gas money, part costs, and so on - totally unable to be estimated.
You are right on about those "false hardware runs." Just can't beat that second law of thermodynamics! I often buy more than what I think I need (if it's a small item), so that in case I'm wrong, I still might have what I need and also to accumulate extra bits over time. That's why I now have so much at hand.
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