Cleaning out my "new to me" 1986 Com-Pac 27

[BoatTreble]

Well my son and I managed to get everything left inboard Zoe by the previous owner packed off the boat and stashed in a room in my apartment. Filled the room pretty good too. Now begins the task of sorting items both for what I'm going to keep and for it's purpose: deck maintenance, electrical/electronic maintenance, engine maintenance, sail maintenance, general purpose. Each category will get its own bin so it is organized and not spread all over the boat as it was in separate shopping style bags. Then begins cleaning of the inside of the boat. And troubleshooting a problem with the depth sounder. I haven't had her in the water yet to test it but the previous owner said that it was "stuck" between 2' and 4'. I may end up just replacing the whole thing. It is pretty old and sun faded in the cockpit.
Well I hope everyone has a great Sunday!

Al

[Pete7]

Previous owners left everything on board too. We were grateful for the piles of spares some of which we are still working through after 17 years, though now stored in a shed in the garden.

There will some things you are not sure about, if so ditch it. Fan belts and old pieces of hose have no value and just age with time. Reduce it down to the minium and enjoy the new waterline.

Repeat annually too.

Pete

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Al.

A Depth Sounder measures a timed pulse, being sent through the transducer cable. If a previous owner trimmed the length of the cable, the timing of the pulse has shifted, and the depth reading will be inaccurate.

The life expectancy of a depth transducer is about 15 years, and I wouldn’t waste any time/money on a sounder, older than about 8 years.
Earlier failure modes include: water intrusion due to failed seals, connection failures due to poor soldering, and cracking due to excessive stress.

Originally Posted by Pete7

...There will some things you are not sure about, if so ditch it. Fan belts and old pieces of hose have no value and just age with time. Reduce it down to the minium and enjoy the new waterline.
Repeat annually too.
Pete

Note & record past numbers, sizes etc, for future reference, prior to disposal.

[BoatTreble]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Previous owners left everything on board too. We were grateful for the piles of spares some of which we are still working through after 17 years, though now stored in a shed in the garden.

There will some things you are not sure about, if so ditch it. Fan belts and old pieces of hose have no value and just age with time. Reduce it down to the minium and enjoy the new waterline.

Repeat annually too.

Pete

Thanks Pete. Yeah there are a good number of spare parts I'm glad to have. And there is a fair amount of stuff I will dispense with. And I definitely intend to do a yearly go through of what is in board Zoe.

Al

[BoatTreble]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Al.

A Depth Sounder measures a timed pulse, being sent through the transducer cable. If a previous owner trimmed the length of the cable, the timing of the pulse has shifted, and the depth reading will be inaccurate.

The life expectancy of a depth transducer is about 15 years, and I wouldn’t waste any time/money on a sounder, older than about 8 years.
Earlier failure modes include: water intrusion due to failed seals, connection failures due to poor soldering, and cracking due to excessive stress.



Note & record past numbers, sizes etc, for future reference, prior to disposal.

Thanks for the info on the depth sounder and the tip about recording numbers. I'll probably just replace the whole depth sounding unit. And I already have a log for recording part numbers and other pertinent info.

Al

[SailingHarmonie]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Al.

A Depth Sounder measures a timed pulse, being sent through the transducer cable. If a previous owner trimmed the length of the cable, the timing of the pulse has shifted, and the depth reading will be inaccurate.

This is total nonsense.

The length of the cable has no bearing. The usual warning about changing the length of a cable in this kind of system is because manufacturers know that the average consumer is incapable of making the kinds of connections needed to carry high bandwidth signals reliably.

The speed of sound in water is ~1500 meters per second. It is three orders of magnitude slower than the speed of an electronic signal in a copper cable, which is roughly the speed of light, 3,000,000 meters/sec. Adding or deleting 1 or 10 or 1000 meters of cable in the system have ZERO PRACTICAL EFFECT, assuming the signal strength is within limits.

[BoatTreble]

Originally Posted by SailingHarmonie

This is total nonsense.

The length of the cable has no bearing. The usual warning about changing the length of a cable in this kind of system is because manufacturers know that the average consumer is incapable of making the kinds of connections needed to carry high bandwidth signals reliably.

The speed of sound in water is ~1500 meters per second. It is three orders of magnitude slower than the speed of an electronic signal in a copper cable, which is roughly the speed of light, 3,000,000 meters/sec. Adding or deleting 1 or 10 or 1000 meters of cable in the system have ZERO PRACTICAL EFFECT, assuming the signal strength is within limits.

Thanks for the info SailingHarmonie. I'm pretty sure the unit is just shot and I need to buy a more updated one.

Al