I can deal with leaking hydraulic systems, stalling in reverse, smelly heads, discombobulated cutlass bearings but not a refrigerator that doesn't work! A few days ago I noticed that some leftovers were a bit fuzzy, so out they went. Then Bob discovered the cherries we bought just a few days ago were rotten. I cursed the grocery store for selling old produce. Then I noticed the water in the fridge wasn't quite as cold as it usually is. Bob checked the thermometer -- 70 degrees! Our refrigerator turned oven! Ack! This is a deal breaker! I was thinking of bailing. I figured I could call my friend Mel, she would pick me up and I would fly back to Colorado. The good news was that the freezer still worked very well.
I found more food that had gone south. Salad greens were wilted and yucky. The cauliflower had black spots, parsnips were mushy and disgusting (Bob didn't mind throwing these out). When we started out in mid June, we noticed that some things in the frig on the upper shelves froze and we turned down the thermostat to the 3 position. Maybe we turned it down too much. Bob cranked it up to 6, the highest position, and we hoped for the best.
That night I roasted most of the surviving vegetables. Not too bad considering the circumstances. I went to bed with visions of dollars flying out the window with the purchase of a new refrigerator. We got up and checked the temperature in the frig -- 56 degrees. Not cold enough. A refrigerator should be about 40 degrees to keep food from rotting. We pulled the refrigerator out from the wall being very careful not to scratch the wood of the floor. Behind the frig was fairly clean so dust on the coils was not the issue. We cleaned out the space anyway. By midday, the temp was down to 46 degrees. We are making progress. By evening the temp was down to 42 -- a level that is very acceptable. I stopped looking for flight information!
BOB'S UPDATE ON THE CUTLESS BEARING ISSUE
So I logged onto the Monk website and threw out the question about a tight bearing. Several responses showed up within hours. Yes, this was a known and fixable issue, whew!!!
As it turns out (cutlass bearing pun intended) these are prone to failure after a certain number of years, and VELOMER is of a certain age, with the same symptoms we had experienced: the bearings are rubber and dry out , crack, and stop functioning as needed over time. The bearings are 1 3/4 ID, 2 3/8 OD SAE standard and sold by Kellogg. So two (@$177.88 each- ouch!) are on their way to arrive Tuesday and installed , hopefully, by Wednesday. We launch again Wednesday and can be on our way Thursday.
The Erie Canal is still in repair status but open to Lock 12 going west and from Lock 17 to Oneida Lake going west; many of the boats causing the traffic jam at Waterford, the junction of the Erie and Champlain Canals, have moved west or north so we should be good to continue on this grand tour the end of the week.
Boat life is a constant entertainment and while some days it is hard to recall what consumed the hours, we never have down time; there is always something to do and always something more to do. I have to admit, I sometimes get started then find something more immediate to repair or change or replace and so often I have 2 or 3 projects going simultaneously, and I really love it. It is always interesting to figure out the issue and so so so satisfying to fix it.
I am tackling rebuilding the heads soon so look for a really great description by PM.
No comments:
Post a Comment