simple jobs that went bad

[bud37]

How many of you guys have had seemingly simple jobs turn into major projects.

Just this week I had to remove the battery trays from the plywood panel in the bilge to fit the new battery box I made, out of 16 screws there were 15 the right size and one an inch longer which led to removing the plywood to see if long screw had penetrated the hull ( barely touched it ), but this uncovered another problem, the panel was held in place by screws into the stringers with no caulking ( oh good).I will make a new panel now and seal the screws.

Next job, replace macerator pump on toilet....I removed it in the fall and was not thinking clearly at the time, so had cut the wires to the pump motor( no connectors ), the positive took off into the abyss under the head floor like a guitar string ( previous repair ????). Could not find wire with camera so removed the head ( refit at home where it is warm) and then had to lift the floor under the raised head floor to get the wire back, and as I thought it was cut too short and was tight. Sometimes simple aint....rant over...

[mjk1040]

Yep Bud, I think we have all been there one time or another! Mike

[Viper]

You may have just opened a Pandora's Box here but I'll try to contain myself

This sort of thing happens quite often in this industry and likely every other industry out there, and is the reason I always stress that one can't/shouldn't judge a job estimate presented in a forum unless you've had your eyes on the job at the vessel in question, nor should you trust an estimate over the phone sight unseen. Even when you do a proper on site assessment, one can't foresee what will reveal itself during and after something is dismantled....you can't see what you can't see. As a customer or DYIer, preparing for time and cost contingencies are a must. One should always expect time and cost overruns, this way you'll be prepared when it does happen. There's no way one would have expected that once the above toilet was removed, you'd need to dismantle the floor before you can put everything back together again. The thing that's hard to take when working on someone else's boat is that somehow the unforeseen issues are my fault/responsibility and that I should take the financial hit for it...rolling my eyes here!

In my experience, there's no such thing as a 5 minute job. Something as simple as installing a screw often leads to the discovery of a deeper underlying issue such as a wet transom or stringer or even when the 5 minute fastener job went well, it usually leads to spotting something else that takes time follow, assess, and report.

To make the best of it, have a 2-4 on hand, then the longer a job takes unexpectedly, the more beer you get to drink

[bud37]

When I look on the glass half full side, in the first case its good one person was too lazy to get the right screw, because without that I would not have found the other lazy person that did not bother to caulk the screws in the stringers....you should see the plywood plate, looks like a drunk with a coping saw cut it to size
The same with the other, I would never have found the lazy ,sloppy wiring under the floor.....so alls good.........going to finish it right this weekend, will take beer to boat.........

[CaptBob]

The most expensive part of a job is "while we are here, we might as well...."

Winter before last I installed a Purasan system. Since I was in the bilge a lot (while I was there) I needed to upgrade the engine room lights to LED. I went ahead and replaced all the sanitation hoses (while I was there) I rebuilt the vacuflush tank (diaphragm was leaking) and (while I was there) I upgraded it to the quiet flush vac pump. All 4 duckbill were replaced (of course, while I was there) The new Purasan system (component hold and treat) needed sensors on the holding tank, so (while I was there) I thought tank sensors for both fresh and black water tanks would be neat, I then decided the blowers were too noisy, so I changed them to squirrel cage fans (you know, while I was there.) That involved a change in breakers, and a bit of wiring, but that was ok, since (while I was there) I had added some to the panel below for the Purasan system. I wanted to add a night switch for the vacuflush (since the breaker for it is in the engine room) so that involved some wiring, a relay, and since I had the power panels off (while I was there) in the salon, I decided to add some DC USB charging ports (4 right next to each other) since that's what everything (including remote control boats!) need to charge, and that worked out so well, I added a few more to the bridge.

The Admiral was concerned with the length of time this simple upgrade involved.

I'm getting ready to replace the salon AC unit here shortly. No telling what will get fixed next.

It's not that they go bad, they just grow!

[mjk1040]

Capt. Bob; If you happen to get bored and in NY, stop in, I'll get the beer and let you loose on our boat! Upgrade away my friend! LOL Mike

[RGrew176]

B O A T, break out another thousand.

[Ramsport47]

A lot of things are because the boat or engine manufacturer doesn't think about service intervals. Working at a marina, I dread changing impellers on Mercruiser inboards. Could they possibly make it any harder to do? Look at how Volvo does it...15 minute max on a Volvo is at least an hour on a Merc! Just did impellers on a 2012 Sea Ray 450 DA with Cummins/Zues...stbd engine 15 minutes, port engine 2 hours! Why? Because Sea Ray doesn't give you access to the side of the engine that the impeller is on! Had to lay my body across the engine and reach down. Thank God I'm thin or I wouldn't have been able to even to do that! Rant over...

[mjk1040]

Yea, some days you just want grab the engineers or who ever designed these things and shove them in a bilge and say now how the **** do you expect someone to repair or service that? Mike