Stuck Paddle Wheel in speed sensor - Sealine 240

[petermills]

I replaced the (broken) paddle wheel in my Sealine just over a year ago whilst it was out of the water. I am getting no reading at the present so I'm assuming that its got stuck over the winter. I have no plan for taking the boat out of the water so I'm contemplating removing the paddle wheel from within the boat whilst afloat. 'The Book' says that this is possible but I'm a bit worried about doing it as the access to it is almost under the engine and there is limited space in the engine compartment.
Has anyone out there performed this operation and if so, how fraught is it?!
(Incidentally, when the wheel has stuck before, it is usually possible to free it by a burst astern. This does'nt work on this occasion)

 

[neale]

Depends on the make I suppose but most removable paddle wheels have a flap the closes off the hole when the log is extracted. You should then have a blanking plug to screw back on to stop water ingress completely as the flap only slows it down, albeit very well.

 

[rosssavage]

How brave are you?? I did it on my old Sealine 255 (very similar layout to your 240...) and it IS possible, but, by god, you get a lot of water coming in very quickly!

Have the blanking plug in your other hand ready as you withdraw the paddle wheel, and very calmy (yeah, right..!) push it into the geyser of water that has already soaked your ankles after three whole seconds... The calmly bit is key, as the water really, really does rush in, and this (in my case..) caused a little bit of alarm and more than a bit of fumbling getting the spare blank in the hole.

To be honest, it was succesful, but I don't think I'd ever try it again - if you get it wrong for more than 30 seconds you will already be trying to do it under water.

My sensor always cleared with a burst of astern - have you tried putting one engine in fwd and the other (the one in line with the paddlewheel..) a really good blast of astern? I know you say you've tried this, but sometimes you need to try a few times for it to work...

PS Old Stowe log - didn't have the flap inside the tube... As neale says, if you are sure yours does have a flap, that should make it a lot easier...

 

[Richard10002]

As long as you have a blanking plug, it should be fine.

It looks like a lot of water but, as long as you get the plug in within a few seconds, not much water can get in through a hole that's only about 2in diameter.

I used to be frightened of it, but do it with confidence now.

You might find you've put in the wrong way... mine has an arrow and some lugs which mean it can only go in 2 ways.

Keep a wooden bung of the right size handy while you are doing it, and you shouldnt come to much harm

easy for me to say

 

[yankeebloke]

I did this on my sealine 218 about 3 weeks ago.

Have the blanking plug ready, but you will get about 3 inches of water comming in.

I discoved my stowe sensor was completely shot.............new sensor cost £95.

Then i saw stowe put one on ebay............which i got for £26! result.

So i did the entire action again, got less water in second time round! it was harder running the wiring from the sensor to the display.

so dont be to concerned.

regards

John

 

[[2068]]

I did this once with the boat still in the water.

Never again!

I lost about 6 months off my lifespan due to increased stress caused by quite a lot of water coming in quickly. Being logical, it wasn't really that much, and the blanking plug fitted within a few seconds, but the human mind doesn't always work that way. I was dreaming about trying to save the Titanic for weeks afterwards.

 

[John100156]

Not the same boat, but I did this many times on my Targa 34 - not that much water! Get the plug ready and just relax, use the water to clean the bilges after!

When you think about it, the waterline is generally just over 3ft above the sensor, so the pressure developed can only be around 9kpa, or say 1.3 psi. Easy to plug or hold back in an emergency!

If you're really that scared and if there is enough room, you could make ready a large diameter tube to fit snuggly over the hull fitting in case of emergency, say just over 1m long, that you would lift up vertically above the water line then tighten the clip! But this really is IMHO OTT - Nothing to worry about - just do it and don't panic!