New stack art on Ed and Mary Ann McChain's Thistle 37VT47. It was done by Creative Design in White Stone, VA, (804) 435-2382.
The McChains are hosting the East Coast Rendezvous 7-9 June in Urbanna, VA (on the Rappahannock river). Come join us!
Saturday, April 20, 2019
Tug Spotting
What's better than a Lord Nelson Victory Tug? Two LNVTs at the same dock!
Bob Allnut, who owns Victory, the 2nd LNVT produced, offered his dock and
some wonderful hospitality to us. Kenny enjoyed the tour of his expansive
shop, including a multitude of tools for wood and metal working. Bob spent
34 years working for National Geographic, retiring as the head of the photo
lab. Truly a little slice of heaven in Saint Inigoes, MD.
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Progress on Titan 37VT31
Jerry Jones writes:
Titan is on the hard now getting the bottom blasted and epoxy coated and new bottom paint. I hope to splash her and move her back to Manteo later this week or early next week. Hopefully then finish the electronics upgrade and a couple other projects and get some cruising under my belt.
I'm planning the installation of a Wave WiFi MBR 550 router,
And a cellular antenna kit, and a Wave Rogue Reach WiFi antenna,
Replacing Sole Lights with LEDs
By Matt Ashenden, Miss Willoughby 37VT05
mashenden@comcast.net
Tool and parts list:
- Flat head screwdriver
- Phillips head screwdriver
- Hot glue gun (or other means to secure the new LEDs to black plate)
- Solder gun – optional.
- Qty 2 - Red 12v 10mm LEDs (diffused) with leads – $6 for a bundle of 20 on eBay
- Qty 2 - White 12v 10mm LEDs (diffused) with leads – $6 for a bundle of 20 on eBay
- Qty 3 - 3M blue butt connectors
Instructions:
1. Turn off the breakers for the Sole Lights and Red Sole Lights at your DC panel
2. Remove brass cover and lens (4 screws)
3. Remove 2 screws (Philips head) holding black plate with bulbs
4. Pull black plate out and cut wires (3). The wire that connects to the 4 side posts is “Ground”. The other two are “12v white”, and “12v red”. For reasons I do not understand, the unit in the V berth only had red lights – 2 wires, not 3. When cutting the wires I did not bother to label them but it would probably save a bit of time during the reinstallation.
This is the back side of the black plate after it’s removed:
5. Cut off all of the gray wires that connect to the old hardware.
6. Remove the sockets from the black plate.
7. Check the LEDs to be installed by pulling on the leads to make sure that they are secure. I had a few fall off after they were glued in place. Kinda frustrating…
8. Install the new LEDs (2 red and 2 white, diagonally across) into the black plate. I used a hot glue gun and a jig that I made by drilling holes into a 2x4, mainly to hold the LEDs at the right depth while the glue dries. I liked the glue gun approach since it hardens in minutes.
9. Trim the insulation off the leads and connect as follows:
- 4 black wires that will connect to ground
- 2 red wires from the white LEDs
- 2 red wires from the red LEDs
10. I soldered the ends of the 3 connections so that there was no chance of them coming apart when putting them into a butt connector, but I don’t think that is an absolute necessity if a solder iron is not available. I do recommend using 3M butt connectors because they have glue in the shrink part that seals them tight so moisture cannot get in.
11. I also suggest testing them before installation if a 12v source is available. While the old incandescent bulbs are not polarity sensitive, LEDs are polarity sensitive. They need to be connected red to positive and black to ground (negative). If they do not work, switch the wires to see if reversing the polarity solves the problem.
12. Connect the 3 leads to the wires that were snipped in the boat using butt connectors.
13. After confirming that they work by turning on the breakers at your DC panel, the last step is to reinstall the black plate (2 screws) and brass lens cover (4 screws).
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