[Rhodes22-list] ALICE WEISZ - comments by Paul and Rik

[Rik Sandberg]

Ed,

Sorry, I don't do manuals. anything I tell you is hands on, seat of the 
pants, in the field (literally), have to get it going somehow, right 
now, experience.

Rik

Ayn Rand was a prophet - - it isn't my fault



Tootle wrote:
> Paul and Rik
>
> Excellent comments.  Now for some pictures?  or page references in a manual?  
>
> Again, great posts to add to everyone's knowledge.
>
> Ed K
> Greenville, SC, USA
> attachment:
> http://www.nabble.com/file/p19032113/Bolivian%2BRhodes.jpg
> Bolivian+Rhodes.jpg 
>
>
>
> Paul Krawitz wrote:
>   
>> Alice,
>> I too expressed distressed helplessness, directly to
>> Stan, when my engine died on me a minute AFTER
>> starting, leaving me a dead duck on my mooring.
>> And I'm out frequently - three times per week - so
>> all the disuse/old gas explanations didn't apply.
>>
>> And like you, I used to be "hands off" with the engine.
>>
>> I've done less than you, but with the guidance of the
>> good Rhodies and my Yamaha mechanic, have figured
>> out the problem with these Yamaha 4-stroke engines
>> (Stan previously used the 9.9, but is now using the 8HP).
>>
>> Previous posts have correctly noted that Ethanol, (ethyl
>> alcohol), binds with water, resulting in a gas-water separation,
>> with water at the bottom where the hose rests in your tank.
>> This is primarily a problem with lengthy cold weather storage
>> of incompletely filled tanks.
>>
>> But because Ethanol is a small
>> molecule<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol#Physical_properties>with
>> a small carbon chain,
>> it acts not only as a water soluble solvent but also as an organic
>> solvent.
>> This latter characteristic is why Ethanol is able to dissolve crud
>> and old plastics, dispersing the material in small
>> particles<http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/westadvisor/10001/-1/10001/Gasoline-EthanolYourBoat.htm>that
>> foul up the engine.
>>
>> Now here is the Achilles heel in the whole system...
>>
>> Unlike two stroke engines, which have large jets
>> that vacuum the gas/oil mix into the carburetor, those on the
>> four-stroke engines are so narrow that my mechanic cannot even
>> use his normal tools to clean them out. Instead, as he showed
>> me yesterday, he burns the end off of a twist tie and uses that
>> to thread through the carburetor jets.
>>
>> The jets are so narrow that holding them up to the sky,
>> I could barely see daylight through them. And that was
>> after they were cleaned out.
>>
>> The bottom line?
>>
>> You could clean out the fuel line, filter, and carburetor itself
>> till you were blue in the face, and fail to fix your problem.
>>
>> In fact, my engine, which failed me for the second time
>> this weekend, had NOTHING VISIBLE blocking the the
>> gas flow. But after my mechanic threaded the twist ties through the
>> carburetor - Voila! It started.
>>
>> Once the jets are cleaned out, the answer to reduce these incidents is
>> to get an inline filter that fits immediately after the gas tank.
>> My mechanic said he would have recommended a 10 micron
>> filter, such as this one previously
>> posted<http://www.crockersmarinestore.com/servlet/the-44/Yamaha-10-Micron-Fuel/Detail>,
>> but that "because
>> my boat was so small," he'd put on a tiny one inch filter instead.
>>
>> That's not a problem, I told him. Give me the big sucker.
>> Thanks to the excellent design of my Rhodes
>> 22<http://www.rhodes22.com/contruction_detail.html>,
>> I've got plenty
>> of room below my cockpit bench.
>>
>> He's actually recommending another filter that's similar, but
>> not identical. Apparently, the Yamaha filter isn't entirely
>> aluminum. The screw of the top rusts inside; he showed me one
>> that this happened to.
>>
>> My mechanic said that new boats should be installed with
>> the filter already in place and that the ethanol related fuel
>> problems are ubiquitous on four stroke engines, both large
>> and small.
>>
>> I expect that this filter will reduce, but not eliminate the
>> starting problems that I've had. It's a system destined for
>> failure, with the constant battle raging on between the
>> Ethanol-laced gasoline and those puny carburetor jets.
>> And I hate feeling so  paralyzed on a day that I really
>> want to get out and simply sail. After all, one of the
>> characteristics of Rhodes 22 sailors <http://www.rhodes22.org> is that we
>> actually
>> use our boats.
>>
>> Now don't laugh, but during my second painful fiasco,
>> I entertained the idea of having a backup electric battery outboard
>> motor, such as the Torqeedo electric
>> outboard<http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/producte/10001/-1/10001/265317/377%20710%20884/0/Electric%20Outboards/Primary%20Search/mode%20matchallpartial/0/0?N=377%20710%20884&Ne=0&Ntt=Electric%20Outboards&Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&page=CategoryDisplayLevel1&isLTokenURL=true&storeNum=5005&subdeptNum=10&classNum=820>.
>> It's portable,
>> takes only a few minutes to assemble, and would be terrific
>> insurance. Unfortunately, even the long shaft version, which I
>> envisioned hanging off the transom while my outboard gets its next
>> inevitable
>> service call, is too short as described on the Torqeedo web
>> site<http://www.torqeedo.com/us/hn/products/base-travel/technical-data-measures.html>
>> .
>>
>> A final recommendation about the choke on these engines from
>> my mechanic. He said not to try to start them with the choke
>> fully open unless the weather was cold. First, try starting
>> them with the choke closed. Next, start it with the choke
>> closed and during the cranking, open the choke for three seconds
>> before closing it again. If that doesn't work, open the choke halfway.
>> Only
>> as a last step should you start with the choke fully open.
>>
>> One more note to SS: The technique of putting the throttle
>> in gear and opening the throttle back and forth a few times
>> before putting it in neutral and starting doesn't work on the 8 HP engine
>> because there is no accelerator pump in the carburetor on that engine
>> (per my crusty old Yamaha mechanic).
>>
>> The bottom line? We're going to all have to take measures to reduce
>> these engine failures. But be prepared for more frustrations, because the
>> engines are not yet designed to counteract the minefield of gasohol.
>>
>> Paul Krawitz
>> __________________________________________________
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>>
>>     
> http://www.nabble.com/file/p19032113/Bolivian%2BRhodes.jpg
> Bolivian+Rhodes.jpg 
>