Moonlighter
29-09-2013, 06:01 PM
Noticed a few issues on boat and trailer last weekend when we went out pre-dawn to check the crab pots:
1. Trailer side lights (led red at rear and white at front) not working
2. Cabin LED light on under-side of hardtop roof not working
3. One of the under-gunwale LED's - only half of the led's in light were working
4. All-round white "anchor" light on rocket launcher not working
5. Original springs on trailer, which weren't galvanized, rusted and needing to be replaced
6. Also wanted to install a new, longer NMEA interface adapter cable so that the connection to my Suzuki engine interface could be moved up behind the dash.
Prep involved:
finding the same LED gunwale light on eBay and ordering one early in the week. It arrived the next day! $28.
Then researching gal springs and eventually decided to give the single-leaf parabolic gal springs a go. Rated to 1400kg which will suit my trailer fine. $65 for pair, Active Fab's at Beenleigh.
Then buying some new cable and plugs to make up a new SDS adapter cable. Jaycar! $15. But got caught by their clever marketing plan (put attractive, tempting items at the checkout!) and bought a new high def Go-Pro knockoff action camera they had on sale! $149.
Spring replacement
Jacked the trailer up then put 2 car stands under the frame so the axle assembly was hanging free. Took wheel off, loosened the front slipper bolt attaching the springs to the trailer, then undid the 4 nuts on the U bolt. Jack now gently supporting axle. Removed the slipper bolt, lowered jack a bit and slid old springs out! Phew, that was easy! Have never replaced springs on a trailer before so was taking it steady and being careful.
Slid the new spring into position, and put the jack under the axle to lift it up into position. Took some jiggling and prodding to get the little lug on the top of the spring to slot into the hole under the axle, but it eventually popped in and all that remained was to tighten up the U bolts and slipper bolt again, luckily the U bolts had enough thread on them so I could tighten them properly. Reused existing u bolts and fish plates because they were fine.
Repeated this on the other side, a bit more quickly now that I knew what I was doing. All up, a bit over 2.5 hours and this job was finished.
Trailer side lights and all-round white anchor light
These were, as expected, an easy fix. The positive wire had fallen out in the plug that connects to the car. Flat 7 pin plug so it was a 5 minute job to open the plug and put the wire back in, tighten all the connections while I was there, and put it back together.
The all-round white had blown the bulb, so replaced that.
Roof LED light and under-gunwale LED
Undid the 3 screws holding the round roof light in place and immediately the problem was evident - a corroded and broken positive wire at the join. Cut both - and + wires, stripped back until I found good clean core, went into garage and tested the light on the bench and it worked fine. So went back out and soldered and heat-shrunk new joins. Tested. Light didn't work! Hmmmm.... Checked fuse, blown, so installed new one and all good.
Under-gunwale LED was easy to remove and the new identical one was simply connected up with wires soldered and heat shrunk, then screwed back into place. Tested, fine.
New SDS adapter cable install
Bit of a job here. First have to take cowl off the Suzuki DF115 and also remove the starboard side engine cover. Then undo the clamp holding the grommet for the rigging tube. Disconnected old cable from SDS port, and taped the end of the new cable to it with duct-tape and sprayed it with silicon, then pulled it thru from inside the transom. This way, the old cable pulls the new one thru.
Disconnected the engine interface cable and extension cable, then got a roll of split tube and slid it over the new adapter cable, and installed the cable up under the gunwale, where Surtees had, in most helpful fashion, made a series of small holes for the cable ties. Good work guys!
Plugged the interface cable into the T piece on the network behind the dash and then connected it to the new SDS adapter cable. With everything plugged in, turned on the power and turned the engine key on and checked that the network was " seeing" the interface and that engine data was coming thru. All good! Bewdy! Job finished in about 2 hrs. Clean up and put away tools. Put boat back in shed.
Sometime soon I intend to replace the allround white with a LED fitting.
She's like new again, so I can now relax and go fishing!
Cheers
ML
1. Trailer side lights (led red at rear and white at front) not working
2. Cabin LED light on under-side of hardtop roof not working
3. One of the under-gunwale LED's - only half of the led's in light were working
4. All-round white "anchor" light on rocket launcher not working
5. Original springs on trailer, which weren't galvanized, rusted and needing to be replaced
6. Also wanted to install a new, longer NMEA interface adapter cable so that the connection to my Suzuki engine interface could be moved up behind the dash.
Prep involved:
finding the same LED gunwale light on eBay and ordering one early in the week. It arrived the next day! $28.
Then researching gal springs and eventually decided to give the single-leaf parabolic gal springs a go. Rated to 1400kg which will suit my trailer fine. $65 for pair, Active Fab's at Beenleigh.
Then buying some new cable and plugs to make up a new SDS adapter cable. Jaycar! $15. But got caught by their clever marketing plan (put attractive, tempting items at the checkout!) and bought a new high def Go-Pro knockoff action camera they had on sale! $149.
Spring replacement
Jacked the trailer up then put 2 car stands under the frame so the axle assembly was hanging free. Took wheel off, loosened the front slipper bolt attaching the springs to the trailer, then undid the 4 nuts on the U bolt. Jack now gently supporting axle. Removed the slipper bolt, lowered jack a bit and slid old springs out! Phew, that was easy! Have never replaced springs on a trailer before so was taking it steady and being careful.
Slid the new spring into position, and put the jack under the axle to lift it up into position. Took some jiggling and prodding to get the little lug on the top of the spring to slot into the hole under the axle, but it eventually popped in and all that remained was to tighten up the U bolts and slipper bolt again, luckily the U bolts had enough thread on them so I could tighten them properly. Reused existing u bolts and fish plates because they were fine.
Repeated this on the other side, a bit more quickly now that I knew what I was doing. All up, a bit over 2.5 hours and this job was finished.
Trailer side lights and all-round white anchor light
These were, as expected, an easy fix. The positive wire had fallen out in the plug that connects to the car. Flat 7 pin plug so it was a 5 minute job to open the plug and put the wire back in, tighten all the connections while I was there, and put it back together.
The all-round white had blown the bulb, so replaced that.
Roof LED light and under-gunwale LED
Undid the 3 screws holding the round roof light in place and immediately the problem was evident - a corroded and broken positive wire at the join. Cut both - and + wires, stripped back until I found good clean core, went into garage and tested the light on the bench and it worked fine. So went back out and soldered and heat-shrunk new joins. Tested. Light didn't work! Hmmmm.... Checked fuse, blown, so installed new one and all good.
Under-gunwale LED was easy to remove and the new identical one was simply connected up with wires soldered and heat shrunk, then screwed back into place. Tested, fine.
New SDS adapter cable install
Bit of a job here. First have to take cowl off the Suzuki DF115 and also remove the starboard side engine cover. Then undo the clamp holding the grommet for the rigging tube. Disconnected old cable from SDS port, and taped the end of the new cable to it with duct-tape and sprayed it with silicon, then pulled it thru from inside the transom. This way, the old cable pulls the new one thru.
Disconnected the engine interface cable and extension cable, then got a roll of split tube and slid it over the new adapter cable, and installed the cable up under the gunwale, where Surtees had, in most helpful fashion, made a series of small holes for the cable ties. Good work guys!
Plugged the interface cable into the T piece on the network behind the dash and then connected it to the new SDS adapter cable. With everything plugged in, turned on the power and turned the engine key on and checked that the network was " seeing" the interface and that engine data was coming thru. All good! Bewdy! Job finished in about 2 hrs. Clean up and put away tools. Put boat back in shed.
Sometime soon I intend to replace the allround white with a LED fitting.
She's like new again, so I can now relax and go fishing!
Cheers
ML