Welcome back to the faithful documentation of the unimportant. This past month has been a difficult time, The challenges have been vast. The solutions have been half vast (heh, heh). I suppose I'll get used to it. If all those improvisations work, I'll be happy. I do not want to make another stab at the problems. It will take sea trials to evaluate the successes. I do not want to have to re-do anything. The trepidation will only dissipate with a successful sea trial. Proof that I did things correctly only becomes apparent in real world situations.
It turns out that the motor controls were backward. I wanted to do like Will Smith did in the movie "Independence day". Remember, he taped a piece of paper to the alien spaceship he was piloting. When he tried to go backward, it went forward and he un-taped the paper and turned it around. Yard guru Robbie said I shouldn't do that, lest an untrained individual pilot my boat. Oh, poo, that's me. It was cold Tuesday and my numb fingers removed thecontrols from the boat. I took the control home and worked it on a table where it was warm. I had to make a trip and get grease, de-grease, bolts and a new library book.
I must have liked disassembling and reassembling it as I did It a few times. Finally it was mostly right. The forward direction would shift the motors into forward gear. That took up the majority of the afternoon. Wednesday morning, I did it one more time to tweak it again. I wander through the forest of arcane knowledge carefully mapping a path through obstacles I will not traverse again.
Hey, no leftover extraneous parts.
While I was waiting for the weather to warm, I spent $21 to organize my $2 garage sale socket set. This set has a few half sizes, like 4.5 mm and 5.5 mm. Someday I will find a 4.5 mm bolt and I'll be ready.
Then the whole damn think wouldn't fit. Budge designed it to work one way. I thought about the solution. This cogitation required a nap, a long walk soliloquy waving my hands about, several misguided epiphanies, an overnight, a couple beers and a bit of creative linguistics. I marked the area that needed to be removed.
I cut away what I could access with a router.
I cut the rest out with a multitool.
There!
I finally got it cut out and coated with epoxy and paint.
After one failed attempt requiring a panel re-coat, I labeled the start panel. Did I spell iol right? I figured penmanship was less important than the message.
I flipped back and forth from the motors to the start panel. I drew up a wiring diagram. There were wires that I have no clue about what they do. I think there's a temperature sensor. One motor has a wire that disappears under the motor somewhere and one motor has the wire cut off tight to the sensor. Great!
Now up to the start panel. The back looks exactly like the diagram I drew up there ↑. The idea is that I can turn on the start buttons with a toggle. No I don't have a key switch. I would only lose the key.
OK, OK the black toggle switch on top turns on the panel and activates the green lights beside them signifying that the panel is on. The orange "start" lights are activated by the neutral safety switch and indicate that the motors are in neutral and the fat black push buttons are hot and will start the motor. The red "oil" lights are the oil pressure indicators that operate off the oil sensor. Man I need more lights. Those are cool.
The Music♫: The Dubliners "The Sick Note"
Some days things just don't go right even when you attempt to work smarter rather than harder.
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