Oh Oh!!

lobsta1 · Post by **lobsta1** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 4:27 pm

Heading out the Beverly Channel just after the bridge opened on the 4th. All the yahoos are charging around, sailors showing how good they are coming off their moorings into the channel under sail(even though you can see the exhaust from the engine), lobster bouys in the middle of the channel, we've all been there. Oh Oh, no steering. Continued out using throttles to steer until I could get clear of the mess & get over to the Beverly shore & drop the hook to see what I could find.Couldn't fix out there so I headed back in. Couldn't find the leak yesterday afternoon so made a more determined effort today. Found on our old 33C's that the hose clamps on the mufflers are accesible from the cockpit hatches. Found the fuel fill for the 265 gal tank is accesible from the stb side engine room bulkhead opening. Also found that the Hynautic Synflex N2 nylon lines were all cable tied together & run over the copper line for the fuel vent. That's where ONE of the lines had chafed through. Cut every tie off except the one on the other side of the fuel fill that could not be reached. With me outside of the stb engine & another guy pulling from the hatch & the Admiral turning the wheel, we were able to isolate the one that was leaking. Disconnected from the lower helm & was able to pull enough slack to get the damaged section back to the hatch. That line went from the tee at the lower helm S port to the relief valve mounted on the center of the transom under the deck. (The P tee goes to the other port on the valve & the R port goes to the resorvoir on the fuel tank bulkhead) All the detail is to help anyone else trying to chase these lines on the older 33's. Went to two hydraulic places to find either a splice/union or a new line with fittings to replace it entirely. Montrose Hydraulic came up with a metric union they THOUGHT would work. Came home & called http://www.charment.com. Kit CF02 contains one of all the fittings needed. Also ordered HS01 helm rebuilding kit at the same time. Will be here Thur. Al 1978 33 FBC NITES OFF

lobsta1 · Post by **lobsta1** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 1:25 am

Made a mistake in my prior description. Output of the valve goes to the piston. Other side of piston to the reservoir, R port out of reservoir back to lower helm R port tee. Al 1978 33 FBC NITES OFF

franklyprice · Post by **franklyprice** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 2:08 am

Al, I had Charmen rebuild my helm pump over the winter. They seem very knowledgeable and reasonable. I understand that when you take the pump apart you have to pay attention to the timing of it. Have you done one of these before? I'm sure that being the handy guy you are, you'll have no problems but that was one thing I really didn't want to know any more about than I already did. Frank Price

captgene · Post by **captgene** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 2:26 am

All, I have the Hynautic too. The seals went on mine in Bimini. I looked around for a mechanic. Sure Mon we can fix it! (over my dead body)Even Bertram was there with one of their shootouts. Those guys are completly usless, and totally unhelpful. Even to us older Bertram owners. Tehy blew me off. I ended up at the Dive shop when I discovered their old diveboats had the same helm. Luckly they had a JW Lewis catalog and I had somebody get me a brand new helm and flew to Ft. Lauderdale and picked it up. I'll rebuild the old one in my spare time. I have found out that it's quite teadious of a project. One guy suggested to keep some endcaps around to isolate the system if a helm fails. Theat would only work on a 2 station boat though. In the case here, isolating a hose may not work if it fed both stations. Reading this website, at least one of us has fixed something major and can provide enough info for the rest of us to tackle almost anything. Gene Dugan

Post by **dougl33** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 5:43 am

Al, Are you back up and running (actually steering) yet? Regards, Doug L. 1986 33 Bertram FBC Queen Elizabeth Marblehead, MA

lobsta1 · Post by **lobsta1** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:52 am

Doug, Charman called yesterday morning & said that they were out of union fittings & that Teleflex/Hynautic were on their annual summer break. They offered to send me a new hose & I could just make an entire new line. Since I was ordering the fittings kit anyways, they gave me the hose for free. Came this morning, so I'll be at the NITES OFF tomorrow getting her fixed up. Guy I talked to was named Michael Charman. Either an owner or family member, but they struck me as a class act corp. Al 1978 33 FBC NITES OFF