24 February 2021

Heater project - PEX hoses finally conquered

After two days spent on the mast pad replacement, we return to the PEX hose problem.

We use some more flexible black rubber hose to test whether we can pass a hose behind the hot water service, then through the locker in the head, then into the area under the chart table, and conclude that we can. More holes are cut with the hole saw in the sides of the various cupboards and walls along the way. Then we start from the burner end, and using the black rubber hose as a "mouse", we push and pull the stiffer PEX hose through the shed lockers, along the back of the HWS, through the shed locker across the back of the small drawers in the chart table, across the back of the map drawers where it dives down to go under the cupboard on the left of the chart table and into the area under the sea berth where the water tank is located.

We already have a length of PEX hose coming past the water tank and into the area under the chart table, so from this point on we can get the long run of hose to follow this hose, which will become the shorter length running between the two outlets. By lunchtime we finally succeed in getting a single run of PEX hose from the back of the shed to the forward outlet under the sea berth. We heave a sigh of relief and go for some lunch.

Our plan for the section of hose from the burner to the first outlet under the chart table is now to have this follow the same path as the long return run of hose. Once again we use the more flexible black rubber hose to make sure there is room for a second hose to pass through the various holes, and in particular to go behind the HWS. After a bit of shoving we find that yes, it can be done. But first we have to extract the PEX hose that we'd mianaged to get under the floors of shed and head and round to the chart table before giving up on Sunday because we realised we couldn't possibly get a second hose all the way via that route. It proves to be just as difficult to pull out as it was to put in, and we have to repair the red cover of the insulating material with duct tape in lots of places where it's been torn as it is pulled in and out.

Once we've patched it up, we start from the chart table leading it back above the return hose the back of the drawers, through the head locker, behind the HWS, through the other shed lockers to the burner. We employ the same technique using the black hose we'd already used to test that the space was big enough to lead the PEX hose through. Again it's a tough job, with each of us moving back and forth from one to push and pull in different spots, usually doing so in a kneeling position with one's head in a cupboard. At one stage we think the hose is irretrievably stuck, but then the engineer takes the cover off the Sani-Loo, allowing us to reach in behind it and get a bit more purchase on the hose near where it is jamming.

At about 6pm this hose reaches the burner, and we now have the three sections of hose where we need them, after a very solid day's work. However the boat is now absolute chaos. All the drawers have been removed from the chart table. Most of these are in the front cabin, with one on the saloon table. The  cupboard under the chart table is the home of an assortment of safety equipment, all now located under the saloon table. The base and back of the seaberth have been removed, and are also in the front cabin. Almost everything has been taken out of the shed lockers, including the shelves, and added to the piles of stuff already in the guest cabin. The chart table is covered in tools and a big box of heater parts. Lengths of hose yet to be used lie here and there, and there are a few metres of PEX hose that are now surplus to requirements.

For the next hour we put in a concerted effort to impose a degree of order, so that we at least have clear spaces in which to eat our evening meal and sleep. That involves putting back into place the seaberth seat and back, bits of the cabin sole and all the chart table drawers, Tidying the cockpit, emptying the guest cabin floor, clearing the chart table and restoring the contents of the shed will have to wait for another day. Then the engineer will be able to start on the more interesting part of the project: connecting everything together.

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