Cruisair & Tranny Maintenance

While I’m still trying (unsuccessfully thus far) to get a tech out to the boat to diagnose the dead stern thruster, we finally did get some much-needed repairs & maintenance done on the Cruisair tempered water A/C system this week.  We engaged Captain Ed’s Marine Service here in the FMY area (does good work – Cruisair certified, deliberate & reliable).  

Old Nasty A/C Sea Strainer

First & foremost was replacing a bad board in the guest stateroom’s air handler, finally bringing that back to life.  We also replaced the original (cheap & leaking) A/C sea strainer (see pic) with a new Groco unit, plus performed a much-needed flush of the sea water circuit with a barnacle-buster cleaner.

While we were at it we fixed a couple of sticking air handler valves and re-clamped some leaky chiller hoses.  The remaining to-do is to bring up the propylene glycol levels in the fresh water circuit – not so much for the anti-freeze properties, but more for the desired lubricating effects.

 Finally, I also got the oil & filter changed for the main engine’s ZF transmission at its scheduled 1,000 hour / 1 year interval.  The most difficult part of that process was getting the damned oil-filler nut removed, which required (1) a special ¾” hex socket tool, and (2) an inordinate amount of torque (with a breaker / extension bar), even after pre-soaking with Kroil & a heat gun.  The startling noise it made when it did break loose sounded like a small bomb going off in the engine room.  But the only injury was a bruise on my butt from a hard landing on the engine room floor.