!8: Purchase 12 Volt Heat Tape: December 2011

!±8± The Onboard Toolbox

As all boat owners are probably aware, simply owning the boat is the first base goal: Next, if you don't want the thing to collapse gently around you and finally sink, you have got to keep it in good order. In other words, you have to maintain it. Usually, the end result is that the boat stays safe and keeps going, a bit like your car.

Whilst the word 'maintenance' is synonymous with 'work' there is usually the hard way to approach it or the easy way. The hard way is to grovel around in the dark, without the proper gear, using a kitchen knife to attempt to undo a screw that has been screwed tight enough to stop the undercarriage dropping off a Jumbo jet! This will not do. We have to be fully prepared for most scenarios and this is where a bloody good logical, sensible, onboard tool kit comes into the picture. I might add here, the emphasis is onboard. Not under any circumstances, to be taken ashore, to double up as gear for fixing the lawnmower or, God forbid, the fridge. This primary 'piece of equipment' may save you and your boat at some point in the future so it must always be at arm's reach, night and day, a friend in need, as it were.

If you were to take any two boats in a marina and do a spot check on their tool kits you may be in for a shock. All owners appear to have differing priorities when it comes to D.I.Y. onboard. Remember too, we learn as we live. If you see something that might save your bacon on a terrible night, buy it and add it to the stash without a second thought.

SOME BASICS (NOT NECESSARILY IN ORDER OF PRIORITY!)

Lighting - A rechargeable torch from someone like 'Kambrook' with thousands of candlepower units that can light every corner with stunning brilliance...even in daylight.

More lighting! - A 'miners lamp' type of headset torch can leave the hands free even in rough weather for tricky jobs.

Knife - A good sharp knife is a must. It matters not if the blade folds or is open, as long as it can cut well. A device for sharpening the blade is a must, like a Swiss tungsten steel 'Istor' for example (To be found in good hardware stores).

Scissors - In fact several different sizes, some throwaway, some good steel, they come in handy for all sorts of things and cut wire in a pinch.

Pliers - I like electrician's heavy-duty, insulated handles with cutting blades made from good steel. They are expensive but invaluable. A good back up are needle nose pliers at least four inches long.

Screwdrivers - Every one has a screwdriver on board, don't they? Trouble is, they are always too long, too short, bent and covered in grease or paint. Get a full-boxed set, flat bladed and Philips head and make sure they are at least 'Stanley' quality. Some people like reversible bladed types but beware the 'Taiwan terrors' that melt on contact with a screw head. Oh oh! Don't forget a small set of watchmaker's screwdrivers for those maddenly tiny screws that live in the back of electronic gear.

Hammers - Four different hammers are a priority. A nylon/rubber headed type for inflicting blows without damage, a small ball peen 'toffee hammer' type and a pointed 'ice pick' or welder's hammer for rust and scale. The last is a good heavy sensible hammer for serious thumping when required.

Vice Grips - Two pairs, one eight inch, good quality stainless and a small pair of needle nosed type for awkward corners. Don't be tempted to buy cheapo here, you will always regret the decision later.

Wrenches or adjustable spanners - Two or three types needed here. Cheapos wear quickly and allow play to ruin the holding quality of these tools. Two roughly the same size allow a nut and bolt to be undone. One really large one is handy for unexpected jobs such as loosening a tightening the gland nut on the stern tube or even the prop nut.

Drills - Two types here. One a cordless drill with a charger. Always use a keyless chuck. A drill without a chuck key is about as useless as the Titanic with an outboard motor. Note: If you have a cordless drill that the battery has died on, you can revive it by soldering two wires, positive and negative, onto the two battery terminals inside the drill handle. These wires can incorporate two alligator clips and be attached to a battery and the drill be used anywhere. Ensure the leads are at least a metre long. Finally, a decent set of metal twist drills with at least two spare small size drills should complete the set up for drilling. You can, if room allows, bring a hand drill for emergency use.

Spanners - It always seems like you have never got enough of the things. Ring spanners, metric and imperial, good quality, on a folding roll.

Electrical nylon ties - What a great invention these things are! Ensure you have several sizes from 30 cms to 5 cms long. They are lifesavers for just about every job where things need to be secured either permanently or temporarily. A quick snip with the pliers frees them instantly. I actually invested five bucks on a packet of 're-usable' ones but the ones I bought from Bunnings actually work loose... a great idea, but no cigar this time!

Adhesives - Several types are a must. Super glue tubes, at least two or three. A tube of silicon or similar. Also a tube of 3M 5200 marine glue. I have also found that the two-pack waterproof epoxy all purpose 'knead it' by Selleys is superb for all kinds of quick repairs. Especially in wet areas, it will even cure underwater... a must! (Note: They have several in their 'knead it' range so make sure you get the one that states AQUA for wet areas).

Tape - Masking tape, electrical, brown parcel tape and self-amalgamating tape for those 'must be dry' jobs.

Axe - A good axe for severing ropes, cables and breaking free in an emergency.

Lubricant - A can of grease and a can of moisture displacing lubricant like WD40. Also a small jar of petroleum jelly for such jobs as reluctant 'O' rings and hose pipes.

Hose Clamps - A plastic box bull of various size stainless steel hose clamps... as many as you can afford.

Electrical requirements - These can be many and varied but you can't go wrong with the basics. Good quality electrical connectors and crimping tools pay huge dividends in the long term reliability. A good pair of 'side cutters' with insulated handles for all size cables is also important for quick and efficient repairs. Red and black electrical cables (different amperages) and the means to solder them is really important, especially if cruising. A small butane or propane soldering torch (refillable) is advisable. Don't forget heat shrink tubing for waterproof joins and it is really important that an electrical 'multimeter' be purchased and a good book on how to identify and fix onboard electrical problems. (Don Casey's book on boat electrics called 'Sailboat Electrics Simplified' published by International Marine - McGraw Hill available from Boatbooks, (Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne would be a good guide). A working knowledge of how to understand and fix basic electrical faults could be the difference between disaster and success on any offshore trip. Also, don't forget the soldering wire, self fluxing is good for fast, efficient joins.

Today we are lucky to have access to really good cheap 240/12 volt invertors to run your power tools. The usual power tools can be carried onboard but we won't go into too much detail in this article about what to carry. Number one on my list however, would be an angle grinder/sander.

Hardware - This can vary enormously but should contain some of the following:

· Stainless wood screws (assorted)

· Stainless nuts, bolts and washers (assorted)

· Stainless split pins (assorted)

· Spare small size drills

· Fuses (if applicable)

· Bulbs for lights and torches

· Files, metal and assorted (needle files too)

· Iron or steel wire

· Plastic spring clips (large and small)

· G-clamps (assorted sizes)

Before you start writing.....I know that each and every person may have priorities but I have left to the very end two additions to the above so they may stick in your mind. One is a total must, the other a luxury, but nevertheless, worthy of note.

The absolute must is a set of serious bolt cutters for disengaging fallen rigging along with a good hacksaw and blades.

The luxury item that I love above all is my variable speed, Ryobi and Bosch grinder and sander. I can say they have saved me more time and effort sanding, cutting and repairing boats that I care to think of.....

Your onboard tool kit is more than a convenience, it is a total number one priority to be treated with respect and care. Ask a mate of mine, Kenny, who foolishly balanced his tool kit on the coaming whilst he unlocked a hatch after a break down at sea. After realising what the huge splash was, Kenny drifted for two days until he was discovered by chance. Kenny (whose box of tea bags went down with the tools) ruefully recalls that "Most people don't realise you can get fifteen cups of tea from a used tea bag"..... Personally, I think he was lucky, very lucky!

If you liked the cut of this article and would like Terry to write one for your magazine or newsletter simply contact http://www.dolphinboatplans.com or if you would like to read similar articles go to http://www.ezinearticles.com

The Onboard Toolbox

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!±8± How To Restore Picture Tube Without application a crt tester, restorer or rejuvenator

Picture become weak or dim usually happen after the monitor have been used for many years. Again it depends on the quality of the picture tube or cathode ray tube (CRT). Some grade A CRT can last for many years, but for the lower grade one it can only last for couples of year. Don’t be surprise that I do come across picture tube that had gone dim in less than a year! If you switch on your monitor for 24 hours without turning it off, then expect the tube to become dim fast. Besides dim (weak emission) , CRT may also develop many problems such as open filament, short between cathode and heater, G1 and G2 short, poor gamma performance, stripped cathode and focus and G2 short. In this article, I’m going to touch on the weak emission problem only and show you a possible way to brighten up the picture tube.

The cathode ray determines the brightness and sharpness of a picture tube. Its electrons are emitted from the cathode surface into the cathode ray tube’s vacuum. The electrons then strike the screen in the form of a ray and cause it to shine. Weak or used up cathodes produce few electrons and emit weak electron rays. This causes the picture to become dark and fuzzy. Sometimes the cathode emission ceased due to a layer of contamination coating covers the cathode surface. This contamination prevents the electrons from leaving the cathode’s surface thus you get a dim picture.

In order to identify whether is the tube that cause the dim or from bad components, one can always use a CRT tester/meter to check it. Some call it CRT rejuvenator, CRT restorer and others named it as CRT regenerator. These testers are designed to test and check CRT and fix it if the picture tubes have problems. I personally owned two CRT testers- the BMR 2005 Muter regenerator and a less feature one I bought from Thailand. With the help of CRT tester, I can know if a picture tube is working or not. If you do not have one, don’t worry because by checking the voltage at the CRT socket pin outs, you will have some ideas if the CRT is good or bad.

From my experienced, I noticed that the older tube can be brightening up with the help of CRT tester but not for tubes that was made in the year 1994 and above. I suspect the getter (made of barium) inside the tube have been used up. The functions of getter inside the tube are to absorb gas that was release when the cathodes are heat up. If the getter fails to absorb the gas, then there is no point to restore a picture tube. I have brightened up many picture tubes with the help of CRT tester and some looks like a new tube. But somehow after one or two days the picture tube get dim again because the getter cannot absorb the gas and the gas will travels back to the cathode surface and turn it into carbonate. Electron emission will cease again. I even have tried some home made CRT restorer downloaded from the internet and the result is still the same-the picture tube will dim back after couples of days.

After done some research and experiment, I found that the best way to brighten up the tube is to increase the heater voltage. Normal heater or filament voltage is about 6.3 volt and if you increase the voltage to about 8 to 9 volts, this means the cathode will produce more electrons and thus the screen will become brighter. Bare in mind that do not apply any voltage that is higher than 9 volts to the heater otherwise the internal filament will burn out and broken. Once it is open then there will be no way to rescue it.

If the picture tube is heading to rubbish dump then there is no harm to try to restore it. About how long it will last, I cannot guarantee it. Some will last even more than two years and some only couples of weeks. Recently there was a badge of Compaq and Hp 15” monitor that have the symptom of blur display with bright picture. No matter how hard you try to adjust the focus adjustment at the back of flyback transformer, the picture still look slightly blurs. Using the methods above I had saved lots of picture tube (I don’t need to replace a second hand one to customer).

It is a simple modification and this only applies to the 14 and 15” monitor picture tube only. First you need to find which secondary output that have output from 12 to 15 volts. Once you have locate it, then solder a wire at the cathode pin of the diode and join it to the input pin of 7808 (output 8Volts) voltage regulator. Please don’t tap from the B+ voltage which is usually 45 volts and above and this may kill the 7808 IC because this IC can only withstand voltage up to 38 volts maximum. The current drawn from the 14 and 15” picture tube is less than the 17” tube and if you use this way to brighten up the 17” tube, the power supply may go into shutdown mode and sometimes will even lead to power blink.

I do know some technicians like to use the method of turning few rounds of wire at the flyback ferrite core to restore the brightness. This method can work in Television but not in Monitor. Computer monitors runs in many resolution and the higher the resolution the higher the B+ voltage and thus making the output voltage at the wire increased. This will lead to a sudden brightness and may shutdown the monitor. Even if it didn’t shutdown, the customer may get annoyed with the Monitor brightness (raster) whenever the customer change the monitor resolution.

Now solder the pin 2 of 7808 IC to cold ground and the output of 7808 IC pin 3 to the CRT heater point as shown in the picture. Remember to cut off the 6.3 volt supply line from the power supply because you don’t need it anymore. What you need is the 8 Volt supply to the filament in the picture tube. You can also connect a low ohm protection resistor in series to the heater point. Just in case if any short circuit happens the resistor will open circuit. Make sure you attach the 7808 IC to the heatsink, preferable the heatsink at the flyback transformer.

This method only work for tube that is slightly blur and not too dim picture. If a picture is very dim even if you raise the heater voltage to 12 volt, you still would not see a bright picture. As mentioned above there is no harm trying to modify it and who knows the tube can be brought to life and serve the customer for many years. Hope you enjoy the article.