Good Ideas That Have Gone Bad

[Hudson Force]

Back in 2001 I had become a fan of spun fiberglass firewall matting that could be purchased at performance automotive shops for $1/square foot. Sheets of this material are sandwiched between layers of flexible aluminum foil and the matting can be cut and formed to fit as insulation.

My use of this material was to line the bulkheads surrounding my diesel generator as an inexpensive means of sound attenuation.

Over the years this material seemed to perform moderately well, but today I've discovered the "dark side". The presence of some gaps between the matting and the bulkheads tended to collect moisture and the foil coverings have disintegrated. The matting that I had placed behind my generator turned to a dust cake at the lower portion that was out of view. The air space and ventilation at the back side of generator was decreased and this seems to have promoted corrosion. I think I would be better off today if I had not used this automotive firewall material.

Cleaning it up has been a challenge. I think a sound attenuation plan for a generator would be best if it left more ventilation around the mechanics.

I have a huge collection of successes and mistakes made over decades of boating. This is just one that came up today. 'any other once good ideas that turned out bad?

[jongleur]

Sound needs something dense to
attenuate it. Specialized sound
barriers work best.

Sorry to hear of your problem.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by jongleur

.......................
Sorry to hear of your problem.

Thanks, but it's just another job. I used to start early and work late at a job that thrilled me before I retired. Messing around with my boat is never a problem.

[Fiveslide]

This isn't related to boats, but I have one.

I have a serious resentment with my Television provider, their equipment and, in particular, one function that is so badly executed it makes me want to kick the morons behind it.

I'm talking about the "Locate Remote" function.

Sounds like a great idea, right? How many times, years ago, have you wished for just such a button? And, how could they have messed it up so badly?

Let me tell you how. You lose your remote, first you have to get down on your hands and knees in front of the receiver and find the little "locate remote" button. You hit the little button and wait, and listen. Sometimes it doesn't work the first time you press it, press it again, wait. Finally the beeping starts, it's only been a few seconds since the button has been successfully pressed but it was just long enough to make you wonder if it needed to be pressed again.

Now your remote is beeping. You will soon find out you have a whole new problem. When you hear the first in a series of beeps, you get excited. It sounded like it was coming from the couch cushions. Great, you start to step toward the couch when the second pair of beeps come. They are a totally different tone and volume than the first. That pair of beeps sounded like it came from another piece of furniture that could have eaten your remote. You start to step toward that piece of furniture and retrieve your remote when the third pair of beeps comes. They are a totally different tone and volume than all the beeps you've heard so far, those beeps sound like they aren't even in the same room.*

You finally find your remote after you've crawled around on the floor like a blind dog in a new house, lost and bumping into everything, looking a different direction with every beep. It may have been in the vicinity of some beeps you heard but you can't remember which ones in the series of beeps and will go through the same process again, tomorrow. It doesn't get any easier.

I will admit that your chances of finding your remote are higher than without this function, but only slightly, and you have to find it before you go insane.

YMMV, but I'm busy thinking of clever, non-violent revenge for the people that are responsible for this function on my TV remote.


Sent from my XT1080 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[SVrider44224]

I thought this string would be WAY more entertaining....

[paxfish]

Originally Posted by Fiveslide

This isn't related to boats, but I have one.

I have a serious resentment with my Television provider, their equipment and, in particular, one function that is so badly executed it makes me want to kick the morons behind it.

I'm talking about the "Locate Remote" function.

Sounds like a great idea, right? How many times, years ago, have you wished for just such a button? And, how could they have messed it up so badly?

Let me tell you how. You lose your remote, first you have to get down on your hands and knees in front of the receiver and find the little "locate remote" button. You hit the little button and wait, and listen. Sometimes it doesn't work the first time you press it, press it again, wait. Finally the beeping starts, it's only been a few seconds since the button has been successfully pressed but it was just long enough to make you wonder if it needed to be pressed again.

Now your remote is beeping. You will soon find out you have a whole new problem. When you hear the first in a series of beeps, you get excited. It sounded like it was coming from the couch cushions. Great, you start to step toward the couch when the second pair of beeps come. They are a totally different tone and volume than the first. That pair of beeps sounded like it came from another piece of furniture that could have eaten your remote. You start to step toward that piece of furniture and retrieve your remote when the third pair of beeps comes. They are a totally different tone and volume than all the beeps you've heard so far, those beeps sound like they aren't even in the same room.*

You finally find your remote after you've crawled around on the floor like a blind dog in a new house, lost and bumping into everything, looking a different direction with every beep. It may have been in the vicinity of some beeps you heard but you can't remember which ones in the series of beeps and will go through the same process again, tomorrow. It doesn't get any easier.

I will admit that your chances of finding your remote are higher than without this function, but only slightly, and you have to find it before you go insane.

YMMV, but I'm busy thinking of clever, non-violent revenge for the people that are responsible for this function on my TV remote.


Sent from my XT1080 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

What are you doing watching television? Geesh!

[Scaramanga F25]

Use "Sounddown" accoustic insulation.
Works well in my boat.

[redhead]

One my worst days I might say buying this boat....today is one of those days....EVERYTHING I touch is broken or breaking.

[lateral]

Relying on a surveyor's report buying a boat and listening to the admiral on subject.
Relying on current eddy to hold my dingy against ramp in lieu of tying up.
(Cost a round of rums)
Anchoring with a jammed masthead sheave and headsail hoisted with current 90° to wind in a dodgy channel with hazards.
Flying to senses rather than instruments.

All the above, bar the first, only dented my pride.

The quicker the solution the less likely it will be a good idea!

[Cheechako]

Boat related- although things never "went bad" on this.... I once eliminated a bunch of thru hulls on a boat I had. Too much reading I think. So I manifolded some large thru hulls and routed hoses and Tees etc throughout the boat to get to those manifolds. By the time I was done I worried far more about all those clamps, long hoses, manifold weight on the seacocks running throughout the boat than I worried about the wonderful solid bronze seacocks and short hose runs I got rid of!
Yes, you can read too much of other's wild ideas......

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by Scaramanga F25

Use "Sounddown" accoustic insulation.
Works well in my boat.

I was all ready to defend my purchase of the performance auto firewall about 15 years ago for the $1/foot price. I expected the purpose designed marine insulation too be extremely expensive as I had compared back then, but I was surprised by Scaramanga's suggestion. I found the "Sound Down" insulation he recommended for just $2.70/foot. Now, 15 years later, this sounds like a great possibility.

Still, if I were to reapply insulation, I would make sure it didn't block ventilation around mechanical devices. I'd incorporate a small blower or pair of passive vents.

[Sailshabby]

Buying a project boat, despite walking away from it the first time I saw it. Love her now, but it took us awhile to come to terms...

[bailsout]

Sail shabby, I hear you. I'm three months into my new project boat(fortunately, I have my Columbia 29 for sailing). Today, I explored the keelbolts that got poopooed by the surveyor. These are 1966 bolts on a an H-28 wood boat, cast iron ballast and like bolt nuts. I started chiseling thru the rust. I knocked two of the bolts right off! One of them sat on an inch of empty bolt that started a small spring. Oh happy days!

[Hard Rock Candy]

I was sitting in the Bahamas outside of George town, waiting for the races to start. I had torn all the carpet out and was smoothing up the inside of the hull to paint it. In front of the head door there was a small dark bump that stuck up kind of sharp. I thought it was a rock that someone had thrown into the hull when they laid it up. so I took a handy screw driver and commenced to pound it on the piece of rock to see if I could get it out. It popped out and water immediately started running down the floor into the bilge. It was just a small leak but I figured that it might grow, so I needed to fix it. I sanded the paint off all around the leak and covered it with some glass cloth and epoxy. Well the water still had pressure on it and it just pushed the glass and resin off. so i ground a small groove from the leak down aways on the floor. I laid a small WD40 red tube in the groove to drain the pressure off. then I epoxied the whole are with about a half inch of glass and resin. I let it harden and then I screwed a stainless screw in the opening where the red tube was inserted. four years later while on the hard, repainting the bottom. I found that someone in the past had hit something hard enough to punch a hole through the hull. They had done a terrible job of patching the hole. I ground it out with a long taper. to about 20 inches around and layered it with cloth all the way out to the natural curve of the hull. Some mistakes are fairly Innocuous. Mac

[David M]

Failure: All the wasted time spent varnishing teak. One day I decided to paint it all and have never regretted doing so. It took me a long time to figure out that my time is more important than trying to impress others.