John_d_Smith
Well-Known Member
Decided to fit some screen washers this winter but can't decide whether to run them off the main water tank or have a dedicated reservoir in order to be able to put some soapy stuff in. Any suggestions?
Screen washers
- Thread starter John_d_Smith
- Start date
alt
Well-Known Member
Very good idea I must admit. Sorry I cant give any advise but do keep us updated as you make progress. Personally, i'd feed off the existing water tank. Generally, the worst you'll have on your windscreen is salt which will dilute nicely with fresh water. It's not as if you're going to have many flies or mud splattered on your windscreen
A_8
Well-Known Member
I've got it fitted from new and it has its own tank.
rosssavage
Well-Known Member
Mine (fitted by Princess at manufacture) run from main water tank. Only really use them to remove salt spray when at sea, in which case you dont need soapy stuff
PCUK
Well-Known Member
I used a standard car screen washer pump and spray heads, and feed them from an old (well washed) white spirit container.
Took about an hour to fit, cost less than a tenner and works well in all conditions.
Took about an hour to fit, cost less than a tenner and works well in all conditions.
Haven't-a-Clue
Well-Known Member
I've got to ask this: do mods like these add or detract from a boat in standard condition. I say this 'cos I've drilled 5 holes in my boat for the purposes of mounting a fishfinder. Am I worrying needlessly about devaluing my craft if I can't return it to standard for re-sale? Should I undertake more modifcations to increase re-sale value? Currently, anything (bar the f/f) that I've done involves using sticky hooks etc. What's the view of the panel? As usual, all answers funny useful (insulting my intelligence! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif) welcome! Thanks in advance.
(Edit): Boat is MerryFisher 625, and what would the panel consider essential, useful, frivolous etc.
(Edit): Boat is MerryFisher 625, and what would the panel consider essential, useful, frivolous etc.
rosssavage
Well-Known Member
Learn how to do gelcoat repairs!! (Not half as difficult as people say!) Then you can repair any holes left if you remove equipment when you sell. I have made many changes to my boat, but would not really consider removing equipment when I sell. I have added 2 chartplotters, a heating timer, AIS receiver, inverter, stereo speakers etc etc.. but I would consider these to be part of the boat now. It does not increase the value of the boat, but it may help to attract a buyer if your boat is better equipped than a similar boat in the same overall condition as yours - this, of course, is only true if the installation is professional, correctly wired / fused and looks tidy. In terms of what you need, it depends what and where you use the boat for.. I go to sea fairly often and have a flybridge boat, so two chartplotters are a modern neccessity, the AIS is also v.useful for this. I also spend months at a time on the boat, so the heating timer makes sure the boat is toasty when I get home from work in the winter months. If you only do day trips in your local area in good weather then you wont really need those items...
As for useful / frivolous etc.. as I said above, chartplotters are very useful (even if not venturing far - big display of boat speed, time, tides etc..) and a budget colour unit can be obtained for a couple of hundred quid these days, radar is nice but probably frivolous if you never go out in fog or the dark, and of course they're still the wrong side of £1k, even cheapish ones. A cheaper option would be AIS, and combined with a shiny new plotter will give basic large ship (collosion) avoidance and show where the wet stuff stops..
As for useful / frivolous etc.. as I said above, chartplotters are very useful (even if not venturing far - big display of boat speed, time, tides etc..) and a budget colour unit can be obtained for a couple of hundred quid these days, radar is nice but probably frivolous if you never go out in fog or the dark, and of course they're still the wrong side of £1k, even cheapish ones. A cheaper option would be AIS, and combined with a shiny new plotter will give basic large ship (collosion) avoidance and show where the wet stuff stops..
PCUK
Well-Known Member
I believe that as long you make the installation as professional as possible there will be no loss of resale value.
Haven't-a-Clue
Well-Known Member
Many thanks for the advice. I will be looking for a basic chartplotter come the new year so ( oh boy, what am I starting here!) any particular advice on makes, features etc. And where would be a good place to look for best value?
whisper
Well-Known Member
Go and have a look at one or both of the boat shows this winter - probably get a deal there. Also look in MBM adverts of MES or Cactus for example - they always seem to have something on offer.
Personally think that a Compass plus basic GPS plus FF is all you really need. A plotter is not vital - if you can read charts - but is a very convenient piece of kit.
I think the IPC mags have done a test on basic plotters over the last year or so so perhaps do a search on this site.
Personally think that a Compass plus basic GPS plus FF is all you really need. A plotter is not vital - if you can read charts - but is a very convenient piece of kit.
I think the IPC mags have done a test on basic plotters over the last year or so so perhaps do a search on this site.
rosssavage
Well-Known Member
Another vote for MES and their deals. I bought both my plotters (Raymarine RC425) from them as end of line items - I paid £400 for both, the replacement RC435 is £600 (each!!), so I bought two older generation units for less than the price of one new one /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Personal recomendation would be raymarine, but unless you get a good deal as per above, it is not cheap kit! Whisper is correct in that you don't need a chartplotter if you can read charts, but I got mine for less than a basic GPS only unit - no brainer (as they rather irritatingly say..
Personal recomendation would be raymarine, but unless you get a good deal as per above, it is not cheap kit! Whisper is correct in that you don't need a chartplotter if you can read charts, but I got mine for less than a basic GPS only unit - no brainer (as they rather irritatingly say..
Petrolia
Well-Known Member
I think more important than whether soapy or not is the positioning of the spray heads.
My boat has them on the wipers and to be honest they are rubbish.
It occured to me that putting them in a row above the windscreen would be better but then I realised that if you were either going fast or into the wind the water wouldn't run down the screen. So then I though maybe put them in a row at the bottom of the windscreen.
So then I thought maybe do both with independent switches so as to be covered for all eventualities.
Maybe my ideas are rubbish but I know that the way they are at the moment is rubbish. Must be a better way.
My boat has them on the wipers and to be honest they are rubbish.
It occured to me that putting them in a row above the windscreen would be better but then I realised that if you were either going fast or into the wind the water wouldn't run down the screen. So then I though maybe put them in a row at the bottom of the windscreen.
So then I thought maybe do both with independent switches so as to be covered for all eventualities.
Maybe my ideas are rubbish but I know that the way they are at the moment is rubbish. Must be a better way.
PCUK
Well-Known Member
Mine are mounted at the top and work fine. If you use a really high powered pump it will overcome normal wind conditions.
Haven't-a-Clue
Well-Known Member
Thats what I use at the moment and don't find it very difficult to find my position, but depending on conditions, can take 30 seconds to get an accurate fix on the chart and if on the plane (rare, I'll admit) I usually slow down in case I'm about to hit Bramble bank or whatever! If I do get a c/p, I'll still probably check on the chart. Speaking of which, is it absolutely, strictly necessary to update charts every year? If I have to, I will.
Petrolia
Well-Known Member
Interesting. Thanks .
whisper
Well-Known Member
Re. chart updates.
I used to religiously update mine every month/quarter from either the Admiralty or Imray notices - I've got about 50 of them - and used to enjoy doing it as it kept me turned on to chartwork.
A couple of years ago I decided that it was getting too tiresome/time consuming so now I only do the ones that are for my local area and which I regularly use.
If I am going to go somewhere different - say a charter in Scotland, for example, then I'll bite the bullet and buy a new chart before I go.
I used to religiously update mine every month/quarter from either the Admiralty or Imray notices - I've got about 50 of them - and used to enjoy doing it as it kept me turned on to chartwork.
A couple of years ago I decided that it was getting too tiresome/time consuming so now I only do the ones that are for my local area and which I regularly use.
If I am going to go somewhere different - say a charter in Scotland, for example, then I'll bite the bullet and buy a new chart before I go.