The official "What did you do to your jet boat today" thread.

[Geiger41]

Cool, I guess if you perceive it as not as loud then that is all that matters.

 

[Ronnie]

That is what I tell myself whenever I feel any residual back pain from the installation.

 

[SCSTWG]

Cool, I guess if you perceive it as not as loud then that is all that matters.

When I am running that boat at any speed above "no wake" I can't hear my wife talk. Given this, I have decided to keep it just the way it is and use "no wake" as little as possible.

 

[jetboater4life]

Got all of my seadek installed. (happened yesterday) but didn't have time to post

https://jetboaters.net/threads/snow-camo-seadek-install-pictures.2887/

 

[jetboater4life]

I decided to tackle a couple more projects this evening. I installed a bulb seal which was some 1/2" pipe foam all the way around the boat's engine hatch and I added some wiring from the batteries through the vent under the rear facing seat backs so that I can plug both batteries into my pulsetech X2 charger very easily after I back into the garage.

 

[smthng]

Finished installing my Garmin 546s, just need to test the transducer before epoxying that in.

 

[sysinu]

I put on @jeremy0011 's tower tow point adapter and Navisafe light on my tower. Sucky cell phone pictures, but they will have to do for now. Going to try and get some night time ones later.

 

[jdonalds]

Well not today but two days ago...

It seems it was fix-things day. We took the boat out Friday.

Brake Issue
After I backed the boat into the driveway I saw lots of wheel bearing grease all over the right rear wheel. I pulled the bearing buddy bra off and more grease mixed with water squirted out. The wheel was very hot. I took the hose and sprayed it on the wheel; the spray of water turned to steam as the water hit the hub and it hissed. I sprayed water onto the caliper and the same thing happened. I already knew this brake was in need of replacement but normally it is just hot after our 9 or 15 mile drive to/from the two nearby lakes. It had finally gone bad. Sure enough when I jacked the wheel up it dragged so it was hard to turn by hand.

I already had two new calipers in a box in the garage. I checked the invoice in the box. I had purchased two calipers in July 2011. It took no more than an hour to do all of the repair on the wheel and hub, replacing the caliper. But it took longer than that to bleed the brakes using the do-it-yourself-alone method (http://www.etrailer.com/tv-FAQ-Bleeding-Brakes.aspx). I had to go to the local hardware store to buy plastic tubing, I set up my backup camera (Swift Hitch) so I could clearly see the air bubbles in the tube from my camera remote display, and I had to find an article about how to pump the MFI trailer plunger which turned out to be very easy on this model. It didn't take more than 10 minutes to actually bleed the brakes, it was the preparation and cleanup that took the time.

The second thing that I found broken was one of my front seat cushions. Huh!

Cushion issue
Two years ago a very heavy friend sat on our bow filler cushion and broke it's back. I managed to reset the two parts so they matched (makes me think of resetting a bone). I applied 3M 5200 to both edges. Then I put a couple of 1 1/2" square pieces of wood across the crack which I glued and screwed in place. I think I've used that bow filler once since; it just doesn't get a lot of use on our boat.

A while back I read where some had discovered broken bow seat cushions. The assumption was when people stepped into the boat from the dock they broke the white back of the cushion. So, being smart I thought, I did a preemptive maintenance process on both front cushions. I used the same technique as the bow filler. I glued and screwed a couple of lengths of 1 1/2" wood, painted white, across the back of the cushions. I was quite surprised when I discovered my port cushion was broken. We never load or unload people from the bow, and I bring the starboard side to a dock about 99% of the time anyway.

I now have concluded two things. First my preemptive maintenance process may actually have made things worse. The break occurred right at the end of the two additional supports. My fix wasn't allowing the material to flex and bow. All of the weight was transferred to the end of the pieces of wood where the material of the back of the cushion gave out. Second I'm now convinced that the white material used on the back of the cushions is inadequate for these applications.

I bought some exterior grade plywood. I'll primer it and paint it white, then roughly cut it a couple of inches larger than the final fit. Then I'll take the wood and the cushion to my very good local upholsterer and have him pull it apart and replace the broken white stuff with the plywood.

 

[justason]

"FINALLY" drilled that 2" hole in the side of the boat after staring at it in every conceivable angle possible........finished just as the storms rolled in for about an hour....then screwed and glued the power port in.........Very happy with the results !! climbing into the boat with a collapsed tower in the garage to remove a seat was a bit of a chore...

One thing learned here: The pilot hole for the screws are pretty much the same as the screws major diameter, Not the root dimension as commonly used in other applications.

 

[sysinu]

Today was fun . My intake spacers came in (that was quick, like 2 days is all) so I picked them up and got to work replacing the "ribbon" that is part of the air intake. Now I just need to add a backfire flame suppresser (we'll see if that ever happens).

What I hear is it's about 200 RPM improvement and overall much better air flow. And for ~80$ I'll take it! It was daunting at first, I am not the mechanical type but I gave it a whirl. Decided to make a video of the process as well in case others were holding of on doing this because... if it was daunting to me, it might be to someone else. Kind of like being the guy in the crowd that asks the "stupid question" that everyone had on their minds.

So without further a due... please don't make fun of my ratcheting skills (or lack thereof):

 

[txav8r]

Last week, the day I left for our gathering at Broken Bow lake, I installed my second Group 27 AGM in a box like the other one, installed all 2GA tinned marine cable, along with the Blue Sea 5511e switch and ACR. I also installed two busses, a ground and an ACC, both 150A Blue Sea busses with covers.

 

[txav8r]

Tomorrow, I am picking up my new stereo upgrade equipment!

 

[jdonalds]

My upholsterer finished fixing my bow seat cushion. I purchased a 4' x 8' sheet of 1/2" exterior grade plywood, rough cut it to the shape of the seat cushion, painted it white, and took it in to him. He did a great job as always but did one extra step.

He re-installed the wooden braces that I had put on the back of the cushion. I believe it was those braces that actually caused my cushion back to break, not allowing the white plastic material to flex. So I didn't say anything to him but took the braces off when I got home.

So the boat is back in lake ready condition. We're just not getting out much this year. I've spent more time fixing the trailer and doing things to the boat than boating I think. Bummer

 

[Julian]

I replaced the old mirror with an awesome one from Wakemakers....

 

[txav8r]

I picked up my stereo gear!!! I changed my mind too and that is rare, so @PEARCE , I will bring the beer the next get together. Because of your prompting, I actually thought about it and considered the differences again on infinite baffle vs acoustic suspension subwoofers. So guys, instead of IB...I am going AS and sandwiching the wall with a tuned box and the woofer, the JL M10W5. I am adding 4 additional speakers and replacing the existing 4 with JL MX650's. And the power behind all that...the JL M600/6 and the JL M500/3. Having all that gear on the workbench and not yet in the boat makes one antsy!

 

[Ronnie]

@justason , nice work on the power port, now that the first big one is out of the way drilling another one for a 10" sub woofer should be easy, right?

@sysinu , on the 230 series boats the ribbons needed to be removed in order to install velocity stacks but the aftermarket mesh air filters doubled as flame suppressors that were uscg approved/stamped. I'd bet that if you replace your stock paper element air filters with aftermarket mesh ones you would meet the flame suppression requirement. This is what I did when I owned a 230 and is on my 242 mod list for next year. My guess is $200 to $300 for a pair of them (aftermarket reusable mesh air filters).

 

[Helipilot11]

@txav8r I am getting the same setup but going with the JL M1000/6 plus adding tower speakers. I know you don't have the tower but I'm sure it will great. My boat goes in tomorrow to get the install. I can't wait. Where are you installing the enclosed sub? My installer insisted on the steering wheel compartment.

 

[txav8r]

The helm compartment is tempting, but it would suffer at least a 50% loss of sound going forward in that walk-thru. So it is going in either the port or starboard seat compartment and facing into the isle. Depending on research, I might find I can get an enclosure behind the wall below the throttles but that is a stretch.

 

[Helipilot11]

Thats what I thought but the installer said he has done it like that before and it sounds great. He is facing the sub down and mounting it to the floor. I guess we will see how the sound is and vent the compartment if needed. I rather not cut a brand new boat tho.

 

[txav8r]

@Helipilot11 , I think I have a better picture. Your mounting it under the steering wheel under the dash? Interesting.