[Monster Mash]

Help, left my paddle wheel in to long and now it has tiny crawly things growing in it. Is there a washing or rinsing solution that is available to kill those critters?
thx

[LeoV]

I believe vinegar will soften shells...

[Moonduster]

Once you pull the transducer, you should be able to push the metal pin out and remove the paddle wheel. Once it's all taken apart, it's usually pretty easy to clean with a putty knife - all that crap scrapes off the plastic fairly easily.

I use an awl to push the pin out - I can push it about 1/8 inch easily and then I grab the protruding end with a pair of needle nose pliers. I've seen some models where the pin seems to be tapered and will only push out in one direction - so if it won't budge, try pushing from the other end.

If you're near a boat yard, it's pretty easy to bum a table spoon of bottom paint from someone doing their boat and a light coat with thinned paint really helps.

Good luck!

[DDW]

The best way is to scrape it clean, very carefully buff it, then store it permanently under your bed at home. That way it stays nice and clean and accurate. Paddle wheel speedos are a horrible invention for anything but a dry sailed boat. If you have the cash, try one of those ultrasonic ones.

[167149]

DDW, on Jun 4 2009, 09:30 PM, said:

The best way is to scrape it clean, very carefully buff it, then store it permanently under your bed at home. That way it stays nice and clean and accurate. Paddle wheel speedos are a horrible invention for anything but a dry sailed boat. If you have the cash, try one of those ultrasonic ones.

+1

[Moonduster]

Oh come on ... paddle wheels aren't that bad, you just have to use your boat! Mine worked great all the way across the Pacific ...

[Monster Mash]

Thanks Moonduster
Pulled the pin and cleaned the paddels as suggested. As predicted the pin only goes in one way.
Cheers
mm

[DDW]

Moonduster, on Jun 5 2009, 01:33 AM, said:

Oh come on ... paddle wheels aren't that bad, you just have to use your boat! Mine worked great all the way across the Pacific ...

Well, that is the point isn't it. As long as the boat is in constant motion, the little buggers can't get hold of the vanes and it works. Don't sit at anchor very long though....

I still say they suck.

[akasideshow]

if you remove the pin and soak plastic parts in coke in a cup standing up in a bucket overnight

just like teeth the coral dissapears like magic

[Monster Mash]

akasideshow, on Jun 6 2009, 05:24 AM, said:

if you remove the pin and soak plastic parts in coke in a cup standing up in a bucket overnight

just like teeth the coral dissapears like magic

I was thinking along the same lines but how about a mild solution of bleach and water?

[Gouvernail]

Dipping the cleaned wheel in a freshly shaken VC 17 can does wonders.

There is no copper in unmixed VC 17 but the Teflon slippery components are pretty good all by themselves.

Around here, sailors bring their little wheels by all the time for a quick coating.

Whci we do right after lunch.

Good guys who buy us lunch get their wheels done properly after same lunch with a tad of copper powder mixed with the VC 17 vehicle.

Of course those who don't mention taking Alfonso and me to lunch are told..."OH gee we seem to be out of VC 17 right now"

Sure we could do the job for our hourly rate...maybe $50 for the half hour and $2 for materials and 7.5% state tax would be fair.

Unless it is a same day rush job that interrupts our work flow...in which case the price would be lots higher.

Of course we always stop for lunch and while we are already stopped...

if you don't get it by now.....

[equivocator]

The worm shells are calcium carbonate, which dissoves in acidic compounds like coke, vinegar, or lemon juice. Use a old toothbrush to clean out the crevices.

[walterbshaffer]

After taking delivery of my boat I pulled the speedo and it was covered in junk; cleaned it with a toothbrush, then left it to soak in a very (like maybe 40:1) mild bleach solution. However technical book from mfgr says don't use bleach or corrosive materials, so I'm stopping that. Is coke considered a corrosive material? I'm assuming mfgr is not concerned about corrosion on the plastic/abs bits but the pin on which the wheel rotates, yes?

New method is to pull speedo after sailing if I won't be out sailing for another week or so. It takes 60 seconds and I keep a shamwow in the hold to soak up the water that comes in.

I'm new to all this so I have a related question: should I be cleaning the depth too? Or is it likely the bottom cleaning guys are getting this?

[FastBottoms]

walterbshaffer, on Jun 9 2009, 08:49 AM, said:

I'm new to all this so I have a related question: should I be cleaning the depth too? Or is it likely the bottom cleaning guys are getting this?

You're paying them to clean everything below the waterline, transducers included. So they oughta be.

[akasideshow]

walterbshaffer, on Jun 10 2009, 01:49 AM, said:

After taking delivery of my boat I pulled the speedo and it was covered in junk; cleaned it with a toothbrush, then left it to soak in a very (like maybe 40:1) mild bleach solution. However technical book from mfgr says don't use bleach or corrosive materials, so I'm stopping that. Is coke considered a corrosive material? I'm assuming mfgr is not concerned about corrosion on the plastic/abs bits but the pin on which the wheel rotates, yes?

New method is to pull speedo after sailing if I won't be out sailing for another week or so. It takes 60 seconds and I keep a shamwow in the hold to soak up the water that comes in.

I'm new to all this so I have a related question: should I be cleaning the depth too? Or is it likely the bottom cleaning guys are getting this?

to remove the shell you will need an acid. acids are corrosive. coke is a cheap effective and available solution

the plastic wont react i wouldnt worry about the pin either really

the sounder is usually flush to the hull so bottom cleaning will keep it clean
i would not trust a diver to clean the log of your boat

they will ignore it or hit it with a scraper
and after the scratches i have found left by divers on hulls of boats, need i say more

not saying all boat cleaners do the wrong thing but there is a reason why they get the job done so quickly

[Bump-n-Grind]

and once you get it clean, remember to pull it and put the blank back in whenever you get back to your dock or mooring

[DDW]

I woudn't worry greatly about the pin. The one in mine was just 1/16 or 3/32 SS rod, I replaced the slightly corroded one with a bit of like sized 316 welding rod, one 36" stick will keep you good for a lifetime of cleaning those damn things.....

Go solid state. Never clean it again.

[DoRag]

DDW, on Jun 4 2009, 02:30 PM, said:

The best way is to scrape it clean, very carefully buff it, then store it permanently under your bed at home. That way it stays nice and clean and accurate. Paddle wheel speedos are a horrible invention for anything but a dry sailed boat. If you have the cash, try one of those ultrasonic ones.

That will tell you how fast your bed is going!

[NyJboat]

Bump-n-Grind, on Jun 11 2009, 03:17 PM, said:

and once you get it clean, remember to pull it and put the blank back in whenever you get back to your dock or mooring

+1 We never leave the transducer in if the boat isnt going to be sailed the next day. Only takes one min to do.

[SW Sailor]

DDW, on Jun 12 2009, 08:03 PM, said:

I woudn't worry greatly about the pin. The one in mine was just 1/16 or 3/32 SS rod, I replaced the slightly corroded one with a bit of like sized 316 welding rod, one 36" stick will keep you good for a lifetime of cleaning those damn things.....

Go solid state. Never clean it again.

My instrumentation guy works on most all the high end campaigns in the area, very knowledgeable, and does not recommend going solid state - I think accuracy is the reason as it drives all sorts of other critical data, all calculated. We calibrate the speedo to the 1/100 of a knot to make sure all derived data is as accurate as possible.

[DDW]

SW Sailor, on Jun 18 2009, 07:41 PM, said:

DDW, on Jun 12 2009, 08:03 PM, said:

I woudn't worry greatly about the pin. The one in mine was just 1/16 or 3/32 SS rod, I replaced the slightly corroded one with a bit of like sized 316 welding rod, one 36" stick will keep you good for a lifetime of cleaning those damn things.....

Go solid state. Never clean it again.

My instrumentation guy works on most all the high end campaigns in the area, very knowledgeable, and does not recommend going solid state - I think accuracy is the reason as it drives all sorts of other critical data, all calculated. We calibrate the speedo to the 1/100 of a knot to make sure all derived data is as accurate as possible.

Someone would have to prove to me, backed up with a great deal of data, that calibration of a paddlewheel speedometer is possible to 1/100 of a knot. Most of them have variations of as much as 0.5 knots just tacking from port to starboard, the slightest piece of material on the paddlewheel, the hull ahead of the paddlewheel, boat trim, even water temperature is going to affect the calibration more than that. In fact I doubt that many water tunnels exist in the world with flow velocity that could be guaranteed to 1/100 of a knot.

I know that the instrument will give you a way to punch in a correction factor to 2 decimal places - both my Raymarine and Navico systems do. However to claim the result is accurate to 1/100 of a knot over more than one hour and more than one sailing condition is quite an extraordinary claim which is going to require extraordinary proof before I believe it. WAAS corrected GPS is accurate to 0.1 knots 90% of the time, Radar guns are accurate to 0.1 knots if correctly set up and recently calibrated. If you are running time over a measured mile, how do you know there wasn't 1/100 of a knot surface current, or the speed of the boat did not vary more than say 1/500 of a knot +/- during the run? In short, the instrument is not that accurate, and even if is was, there is no way to calibrate it to that accuracy.

[SW Sailor]

DDW, on Jun 20 2009, 02:59 PM, said:

SW Sailor, on Jun 18 2009, 07:41 PM, said:

DDW, on Jun 12 2009, 08:03 PM, said:

I woudn't worry greatly about the pin. The one in mine was just 1/16 or 3/32 SS rod, I replaced the slightly corroded one with a bit of like sized 316 welding rod, one 36" stick will keep you good for a lifetime of cleaning those damn things.....

Go solid state. Never clean it again.

My instrumentation guy works on most all the high end campaigns in the area, very knowledgeable, and does not recommend going solid state - I think accuracy is the reason as it drives all sorts of other critical data, all calculated. We calibrate the speedo to the 1/100 of a knot to make sure all derived data is as accurate as possible.

Someone would have to prove to me, backed up with a great deal of data, that calibration of a paddlewheel speedometer is possible to 1/100 of a knot. Most of them have variations of as much as 0.5 knots just tacking from port to starboard, the slightest piece of material on the paddlewheel, the hull ahead of the paddlewheel, boat trim, even water temperature is going to affect the calibration more than that. In fact I doubt that many water tunnels exist in the world with flow velocity that could be guaranteed to 1/100 of a knot.

I know that the instrument will give you a way to punch in a correction factor to 2 decimal places - both my Raymarine and Navico systems do. However to claim the result is accurate to 1/100 of a knot over more than one hour and more than one sailing condition is quite an extraordinary claim which is going to require extraordinary proof before I believe it. WAAS corrected GPS is accurate to 0.1 knots 90% of the time, Radar guns are accurate to 0.1 knots if correctly set up and recently calibrated. If you are running time over a measured mile, how do you know there wasn't 1/100 of a knot surface current, or the speed of the boat did not vary more than say 1/500 of a knot +/- during the run? In short, the instrument is not that accurate, and even if is was, there is no way to calibrate it to that accuracy.

Correction - meant to say 1/10 of a knot, calibrated with a measured mile three times both directions in an estuary at slack tide.

[DDW]

SW Sailor, on Jun 21 2009, 12:20 PM, said:

Correction - meant to say 1/10 of a knot, calibrated with a measured mile three times both directions in an estuary at slack tide.

OK, well 1/10 of a knot I can believe, as long as the paddlewheel is clean room clean and is kept is a vacuum sealed velvet lined box whenever the speed drops to zero, nothing at all is changed on the boat, it is frequently calibrated at all speeds achievable, and nobody on the boat farts.

I still say that ordinary people will see a lot more accuracy out of the ultrasonic transducer, and without the continuous maintenance. Probably most racers too. You can use the same calibration mechanisms with the ultrasonic.