500/520 DB official thread

[j98052]

Anyone replace the coolant on their QSM11s? Mine was last done 5 years/500 hours ago, when Cummins did some warranty repair that required the coolant to be drained. My records show about 8 gallons of coolant per engine, using the Fleetguard CC2825 blue coolant. The product info page for the coolant says 4000 hour service life, the QSM 11 service schedule says replace it every 1500 hours, mechanic says every 3 years, 5 tops.

I believe there are test strips the measure the health of the coolant, but mechanic says dont bother, just replace it.

Opinions?

 

[ttmott]

Anyone replace the coolant on their QSM11s? Mine was last done 5 years/500 hours ago, when Cummins did some warranty repair that required the coolant to be drained. My records show about 8 gallons of coolant per engine, using the Fleetguard CC2825 blue coolant. The product info page for the coolant says 4000 hour service life, the QSM 11 service schedule says replace it every 1500 hours, mechanic says every 3 years, 5 tops.

I believe there are test strips the measure the health of the coolant, but mechanic says dont bother, just replace it.

Opinions?

I would measure it. That way you will be able to determine which coolant filter to get. There are three filters with different levels of additives.

 

[j98052]

Any suggestions on test strips? I see the Fleetguard strips on Amazon.

 

[rlynch03]

Anyone ever seen or painted our boats bottom with Red Bottom paint? Any pics?

Some boats look great with red and others…. Thoughts?

 

[techmitch]

Anyone ever seen or painted our boats bottom with Red Bottom paint? Any pics?

Some boats look great with red and others…. Thoughts?

No personal experience here, but I only like it on dark colored hulls, sometimes it looks really sharp.

 

[Alex F]

Any suggestions on test strips? I see the Fleetguard strips on Amazon.

I use them all the time.

 

[Jeremygavin]

My salon AC has always struggled with freezing up when it gets warm and humid. Mostly when we leave the slider open but if it is really hot and steamy it will freeze up even with the door closed all day. I have had the AC guy out a few times to diagnose and he has checked the refrigerant and everything on the unit checks out each time. I have opened up the return air openings knowing that is usually low air flow or low refrigerant that causes icing. I will even run it with the couch seats off to eliminate all air flow questions and It still freezes so time for a new unit.
I Got a quote from the AC guy for $9700 installed which seemed high to me so I bought a new unit from a Florida distributor for $6k delivered and it came last week.
Today was a rainy so good day to get the old one out and compare them. Only took about 2 hours to remove everything out of the salon couches, remove the couches and remove the unit itself. I am still on the hard waiting for the bottom to be soda blasted so put it on the swim platform and used that to lower it into my truck bed. Next weekend the new one will go back in. Not a bad job at all so far and I don’t think putting the new one back in will be any harder. The salon is a disaster right now though.

 

[ttmott]

Hey Jeremy - there is a drain in that fiberglass depressed area where the HVAC unit installs. It is a secondary drain in case the unit's pan drain plugs up. Make sure to clear and get some chlorine down it. Near impossible to get to it after everything is back in place. If I remember that drain collects up with the other HVAC condensate drains and routes to the sump box.
Also when you are in that deep - pull an HDMI cable up through to the mid cabin and extend your NMEA 2000 backbone into that area.
Last but not least and what I should have done is replace the ductwork. Mine occasionally will blow some black soot looking stuff which I have found out to be mold. A job for this fall. Reach up the ductwork with a damp rag and wipe it and look at what is on the rag.

 

[Jeremygavin]

Hey Jeremy - there is a drain in that fiberglass depressed area where the HVAC unit installs. It is a secondary drain in case the unit's pan drain plugs up. Make sure to clear and get some chlorine down it. Near impossible to get to it after everything is back in place. If I remember that drain collects up with the other HVAC condensate drains and routes to the sump box.
Also when you are in that deep - pull an HDMI cable up through to the mid cabin and extend your NMEA 2000 backbone into that area.
Last but not least and what I should have done is replace the ductwork. Mine occasionally will blow some black soot looking stuff which I have found out to be mold. A job for this fall. Reach up the ductwork with a damp rag and wipe it and look at what is on the rag.

I saw the drain you are taking about. I will check it out before I install the new unit. I already have a backbone in that area so good with that. I was thinking about hard plumbing the ductwork because as you point out the flexible ductwork harbors all kinds of nastiness as well as slowing the rate of flow down as well. I may get down there before next weekend and see what I need to hard pipe it.
Thanks for the ideas.

 

[ttmott]

I saw the drain you are taking about. I will check it out before I install the new unit. I already have a backbone in that area so good with that. I was thinking about hard plumbing the ductwork because as you point out the flexible ductwork harbors all kinds of nastiness as well as slowing the rate of flow down as well. I may get down there before next weekend and see what I need to hard pipe it.
Thanks for the ideas.

Oh yea - one other thing; I put a PVC hose adapter union in the raw water discharge hose and extended the hose so I could reach it from the couch by removing the back cushion. This allows me to hook up the descaler and circulate through the HVAC unit. Otherwise access to that hose is through the locker under the bridge stairs on the other side of the wall in an impossible location.

 

[Jeremygavin]

Oh yea - one other thing; I put a PVC hose adapter union in the raw water discharge hose and extended the hose so I could reach it from the couch by removing the back cushion. This allows me to hook up the descaler and circulate through the HVAC unit. Otherwise access to that hose is through the locker under the bridge stairs on the other side of the wall in an impossible location.

Sounds like a good plan. I will do the same. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Charlesoceanone]

My salon AC has always struggled with freezing up when it gets warm and humid. Mostly when we leave the slider open but if it is really hot and steamy it will freeze up even with the door closed all day. I have had the AC guy out a few times to diagnose and he has checked the refrigerant and everything on the unit checks out each time. I have opened up the return air openings knowing that is usually low air flow or low refrigerant that causes icing. I will even run it with the couch seats off to eliminate all air flow questions and It still freezes so time for a new unit.
I Got a quote from the AC guy for $9700 installed which seemed high to me so I bought a new unit from a Florida distributor for $6k delivered and it came last week.
Today was a rainy so good day to get the old one out and compare them. Only took about 2 hours to remove everything out of the salon couches, remove the couches and remove the unit itself. I am still on the hard waiting for the bottom to be soda blasted so put it on the swim platform and used that to lower it into my truck bed. Next weekend the new one will go back in. Not a bad job at all so far and I don’t think putting the new one back in will be any harder. The salon is a disaster right now though.
View attachment 143650 View attachment 143651 View attachment 143652
View attachment 143653

I always thought since the hardwood is under the sofa and it looks nice it would be more comfortable to put a couple of small recliners or anything else more comfortable then those couches. Just a thought.

 

[ttmott]

This is the vent in the MSR head. Ever since I've owned the boat it seems to leak a little water from somewhere. The "clamshell" cover on the hull is intact. Before I go on a tear-it-apart rampage anyone else have the same situation?
Tom

 

[rlynch03]

This is the vent in the MSR head. Ever since I've owned the boat it seems to leak a little water from somewhere. The "clamshell" cover on the hull is intact. Before I go on a tear-it-apart rampage anyone else have the same situation?
Tom
View attachment 143832

Mine does not leak moisture.

 

[rlynch03]

This is the vent in the MSR head. Ever since I've owned the boat it seems to leak a little water from somewhere. The "clamshell" cover on the hull is intact. Before I go on a tear-it-apart rampage anyone else have the same situation?
Tom
View attachment 143832

I cant think why that would leak. Even from the clam shell that would be a hard path I would think unless you had/have some sideways driving rain or rough seas.

Also noticed you updated the head. Worth the improvement or necessary replacement?

 

[ttmott]

I cant think why that would leak. Even from the clam shell that would be a hard path I would think unless you had/have some sideways driving rain or rough seas.

Also noticed you updated the head. Worth the improvement or necessary replacement?

I'm thinking possibly the window is leaking; that stain occurs wither the boat is moving or not. I pulled the guest head window and discovered the hole was bigger than the window's gasket. Maybe the same here and water is running down to the vent hose then to the vent opening. The fan is behind the cabinet above the sink so maybe I'll start by pulling that cabinet and take a look....

Re the head - that's OEM with the boat.

 

[ttmott]

View attachment 134241 View attachment 134242

Where did you purchase your Skylla charger?

 

[Jeremygavin]

The Salon AC is installed. Total time for removal and install was about 5hrs. The new unit is much more quiet and with the smart start it doesn’t have the hard hit when the unit starts. It also comes with a stainless steel pan so maybe not as much rust in the pan.

 

[rlynch03]

Where did you purchase your Skylla charger?

Local place in Annapolis MD however you can order online through them. They are fair at technical support; a gent named Peter… https://shop.pkys.com/

 

[tshannoz]

Does anyone know if I can get an Ethernet cable from the bridge stereo area to the starboard A Pillar, through the hole for the 12V CO detector?

I would like to position my WiFi Ranger router in this position (it’s ideal to pick up my marina’s signal), with a direct Ethernet connection to control the Fusion stereo, since the WiFi connection can be iffy at times. Is there an existing run that I can take advantage of from these two locations? Or certain panels that need to be removed to see a pathway? Here are pics of where I want the Ethernet cable to run:

From here:

To here:

Thanks so much.