Playing Whack-a-Mole
17 February 2016 | Gulf Harbor Marina, Fort Myers, FL
Jill
Well yes, the generator seems to be fixed. But last night Bud ran out of propane while fixing dinner. That seemed too soon to have used up the 20-pound tank, and when he went to switch tanks he smelled propane in the locker. So we contacted Pete and Sharon who said they could come over this morning and take us to West Marine to get a new propane solenoid.
This morning Bud and I were both uncomfortably inserted in small spaces trying to get the old assembly out when the marina guys arrived to pump out our holding tanks. The aft tank emptied fine, but the forward tank wouldn't pump out. Bud kept having to let air in the tank through the pump-out fitting; obviously the vent wasn't working.
We finally got the holding tank empty and got the propane solenoid and regulator out just as Pete and Sharon arrived at the dock. We took our empty propane tank and the old assembly and they took us to West Marine for parts and to Ace Hardware to get the propane filled. The four of us went out to lunch at a nearby Moose Lodge, at least that was fun. After they dropped us off again we reinserted ourselves in small spaces and put the new assembly in. $250 later that problem is fixed.
Next Bud tackled the vent, which had been working a week ago. The hull fitting was free, but the hose to the tank was plugged. Bud undid the hose from the deck fitting and an elbow that screwed into a pipe that led through the bulkhead under the sink to the tank. The hose was free. Bud tried to work an Allen wrench into the elbow to clean it, but that wouldn't work, so he tried to take the elbow out to clean it. The elbow disintegrated. You can see the filthy end of it in the photo just at the end of the hose now disconnected from it. We applied PB Blaster to the fitting. (PB Blaster is like WD-40 on steroids.) Bud can only reach it with his left hand. I can get a good grip on it with my right hand, so tomorrow, after the PB Blaster has a chance to work, I will try to get pliers on it and get it out. If I can't, Bud thinks we need to remove the sink so he can reach the broken part better.
I hope it doesn't come to that because I'm sure some other part will break doing that and our game of Whack-a-Mole with repairs will keep on going!