[alberg30] Re: waste holding tank

[Bob Johns]

 Lorelei,

>Any suggestions for replacing that flip-up basin and hand pump in the head.
>The pump is so old, I'm told it isn't made anymore.


I kept the folding basin and converted the pump into a plain rotating spout
and installed a foot pump. The foot pump barely squeezed in but it did.
(I'll see if I can see the brand when I go aboard next, and also see what I
did to the hand pump.

>My boat has an Atomic 4 engine.  It runs great but I am told I should replace
>it with a
>diesel engine.  The A4 is old, two cylinders show low compression and it uses
>a little oil but my main complaint is the smell of gas in the cabin/salon.
>Any recommendations?
>

You don't  need to convert to diesel but you must find the cause of the gas
leak (or the boat might blow up!). When we first got Wind Call I had a gas
leak that was caused by a sticky float valve in the carburetor. I could put
a finger under the carburetor near the flame arrestor and it came away wet
with gasoline. I found a powdery substance in the float chamber and also in
the fuel pump. I cleaned out everything back to the filter that a previous
owner had installed and that fixed the problem. Quite a while later, after
a long, wild spinnaker run I smelled gas after running the blower as we
prepared enter a harbor. We anchored under sail and I took the carburetor
apart and found no problem. I readjusted the float valve to drop the level
of  gas in the float chamber and we have never had any gas leak problems
again (in 24 years).

The big problem with a gas engine like the Atomic 4 is that it uses
gasoline, which is explosive. On the other hand, if you have a diesel and
carry your dinghy outboard and a gas can in the lazerette you probably have
just as much of blowing yourself up. (I had a friend that converted to
diesel because 'it is safer', and found that he did just that.) With a gas
engine you are aware of the safety problem and take precautions to avoid
the problem. The other positive advantage of a diesel is that it uses less
fuel.

A 4 cylinder gas engine is smoother and quieter than a 4 cylinder diesel
and much s & q than a 3, 2 or1 cylinder diesel. The gas exhaust doesn't
smell good, but it is nothing compared to the diesel smell. We have often
gone east down Long Island Sound at 5  knots with a west wind blowing 5
knots so we were sitting in a cloud of exhaust.

I hope  that this is of some help. I'm sure that others will disagree with
some of these thoughts. Just my opinions.

Regards,
	Bob Johns, Wind Call, #397



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