tillergirl
Well-Known Member
Can somebody cheer me up?
About 8 years ago, I treated myself to a new set of wind, depth and speed gear. Bought at the boat show and fitted that Spring. There's posh. Ooouuu look I know how fast I'm going, the strength of the wind and the tiller pilot steers better to windward than me!
Year 2
At the beginning of the next year, when the mast was rerigged and about a month after re-commissioning the wind readout went wrong. I never found anyone to go up the mast and so waited until the end of the season to remove the transducer. Trundled it off to a marine electrickery company who pronounced it mort due to water inside it. "Never seen one like that before sir". The good news was that they pursuaded the manufacturers to replace it free of charge but the electrickery company still charged me £40 for discovering it was dead!
In year 3, everything worked! Hurrah.
In year 4, the log started to do odd things a couple of weeks after re-commissioning and after a couple of weeks later would only register zero. I know I'm slow but......
Spoke to the manufacturers who said that there was no way to identify whether it was transducer or instrument head without sending back the instrument head for testing. I duly did so to receive a report that there was nothing wrong with this part of the device and the fault must be with the paddle wheel. Paddle wheel checked and all magnets present. Now bear with me here: I have a bronze transducer "wooden boat sir, you can't trust a plastic transducer; your wood will squeeze and snap it" So I have this boat like piece of bronze under the boat and a through hull tube into which goes a plastic insert in which there is the paddle wheel. All wires go to the bronze bit and presumably the spinning paddle wheel excites some sensitive bit in the bronze - only it doesn't if you are all still following.
Cost of being told that the instrument head is working fine is nearly £50.
At the end of year 4, I lay up afloat in my usual mud berth - you know the sort of thing we all use........ So I decide not to try to replace the transducer on the beach at fitting out between tides.
Year 5, I do without any log. The depth bit works fine.
Year 6, I've had enough. At the boat show that year, I buy a replacement bronze transducer at the boat show "bronze transducer sir, don't sell many of those". "Not bl**dy surprised at £200 after discount". "Never heard of one going wrong before, sir". "You not bl**dy helping either"
So Year 6, it works. All season. Hurrah.
Year 7, after launch. It doesn't work again. Ah but I'm clever now. I still have the old insert from the former bronze transducer (still with me?). So I try that instead of the newer one and bingo it works. Just a minute, no it doesn't. I'm not that slow. It is reading about 19/35th (I go so slow I had a chance one day to work it out) of the GPS speed.
I ring the manufacturer again. "The only thing you can do, sir, is send us the instrument head and we'll test it. Give us the previous 'repair' details".
I wait for the end of the season - well the depth still works and that's handy doing the Rays'nd. So at the end of year 8, I remove the instrument head and send it off. "We will endeavour to repair your product within ten working days" - no we'll forget about that bit cos people on these forums get their's done immediately.
So now I get a nice letter saying that they cannot replicate the fault - ie the problem is with the £200 transducer. But here is a loan instrument that we know works. See if that resolves the problem. Oh and by the way, we'll hold onto your old instrument head which we thinks works fine until you return the loan instrument and £33.92.
Umm, yes. I'm ashore. So if I rig it all back up - return a battery to the boat, wire that up, fit the instrument head and get a chum to spin the paddle wheel, what does that tell me. After all I got 19/35th registering before, so how can I determine whether it is accurate enough without launching. But I don't get launched until 8th May and the loan of the instrument head is for a month! And once I am launched and discover for certain that it is the transducer, I have to be lifted again!!!! to replace it.
Oh S*d it all.
Questions:
What is the price of scrap bronze at present?
Anybody got a piece of 1" iroko to fill in the something hole?
What's the (something) point of it all?
About 8 years ago, I treated myself to a new set of wind, depth and speed gear. Bought at the boat show and fitted that Spring. There's posh. Ooouuu look I know how fast I'm going, the strength of the wind and the tiller pilot steers better to windward than me!
Year 2
At the beginning of the next year, when the mast was rerigged and about a month after re-commissioning the wind readout went wrong. I never found anyone to go up the mast and so waited until the end of the season to remove the transducer. Trundled it off to a marine electrickery company who pronounced it mort due to water inside it. "Never seen one like that before sir". The good news was that they pursuaded the manufacturers to replace it free of charge but the electrickery company still charged me £40 for discovering it was dead!
In year 3, everything worked! Hurrah.
In year 4, the log started to do odd things a couple of weeks after re-commissioning and after a couple of weeks later would only register zero. I know I'm slow but......
Spoke to the manufacturers who said that there was no way to identify whether it was transducer or instrument head without sending back the instrument head for testing. I duly did so to receive a report that there was nothing wrong with this part of the device and the fault must be with the paddle wheel. Paddle wheel checked and all magnets present. Now bear with me here: I have a bronze transducer "wooden boat sir, you can't trust a plastic transducer; your wood will squeeze and snap it" So I have this boat like piece of bronze under the boat and a through hull tube into which goes a plastic insert in which there is the paddle wheel. All wires go to the bronze bit and presumably the spinning paddle wheel excites some sensitive bit in the bronze - only it doesn't if you are all still following.
Cost of being told that the instrument head is working fine is nearly £50.
At the end of year 4, I lay up afloat in my usual mud berth - you know the sort of thing we all use........ So I decide not to try to replace the transducer on the beach at fitting out between tides.
Year 5, I do without any log. The depth bit works fine.
Year 6, I've had enough. At the boat show that year, I buy a replacement bronze transducer at the boat show "bronze transducer sir, don't sell many of those". "Not bl**dy surprised at £200 after discount". "Never heard of one going wrong before, sir". "You not bl**dy helping either"
So Year 6, it works. All season. Hurrah.
Year 7, after launch. It doesn't work again. Ah but I'm clever now. I still have the old insert from the former bronze transducer (still with me?). So I try that instead of the newer one and bingo it works. Just a minute, no it doesn't. I'm not that slow. It is reading about 19/35th (I go so slow I had a chance one day to work it out) of the GPS speed.
I ring the manufacturer again. "The only thing you can do, sir, is send us the instrument head and we'll test it. Give us the previous 'repair' details".
I wait for the end of the season - well the depth still works and that's handy doing the Rays'nd. So at the end of year 8, I remove the instrument head and send it off. "We will endeavour to repair your product within ten working days" - no we'll forget about that bit cos people on these forums get their's done immediately.
So now I get a nice letter saying that they cannot replicate the fault - ie the problem is with the £200 transducer. But here is a loan instrument that we know works. See if that resolves the problem. Oh and by the way, we'll hold onto your old instrument head which we thinks works fine until you return the loan instrument and £33.92.
Umm, yes. I'm ashore. So if I rig it all back up - return a battery to the boat, wire that up, fit the instrument head and get a chum to spin the paddle wheel, what does that tell me. After all I got 19/35th registering before, so how can I determine whether it is accurate enough without launching. But I don't get launched until 8th May and the loan of the instrument head is for a month! And once I am launched and discover for certain that it is the transducer, I have to be lifted again!!!! to replace it.
Oh S*d it all.
Questions:
What is the price of scrap bronze at present?
Anybody got a piece of 1" iroko to fill in the something hole?
What's the (something) point of it all?
