Hout Bay Marina today

This is winter in the Western Cape, South Africa.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

I was fortunate enough to spend a good part of the day down there servicing various items on the Dix 43 which is the yacht with the tan main sail up.

Winter is the perfect season to do maintainance on a boat here, as in between the rains we get days of calm and sunny weather. The white mark on the mainsail and halfway up is salt, it will wash off with clean water.

The boat and marina berth are for sale, contact me for the inventory etc.

Roy

Why does my 12 volt soldering iron not melt?

Note, please understand that the soldering tip worked fine, my question was related to the fact that with 110 amps and around 13.6 volts dc, why does the entire soldering iron kit not just melt and fuse???

A mail to an electrical expert I know is below:

Notty,

I have a teaser for you?

When I use the 12 volt soldering iron I have in the past connected to an Ellies220v ac to12v dc power source with a max rating of 5 amps, which works fine.

The same power source is upstairs and so when I want to solder on the bench downstairs I have to unplug it, switching power off to the VHF and the SSB radios, a bit of a mission downstairs then back upstairs etc.

I needed to solder yesterday and used a massive motive battery, 110 amps and charged to over 13.6 volts, a gift and a nice one too.

Question, why does the soldering iron not just melt!

Whats in the yellow handle I wonder, a resistor ?

Regards

Roy

Notty has replied as I hoped he would.

Hi Roy,

The soldering iron is designed to work from a nominal 12-volt D.C. supply. Nominal means that there is a safety margin designed in usually around at least 10 percent. In any case the element that causes the tip to heat up is similar to the element in your electric fire or kettle. Suitable for the purpose would be a high resistant alloy of metals used so that the tip gets hot enough to melt solder but does not glow red, that would be too hot and burn the job.

You would need to up the voltage to around 18-volts D.C. to cause serious damage but there is probably a fusible link built in to fuse at that level. If you hear the iron clicking now and then it will have bi-metallic link to control the temp of the tip within 10 degree or less, the more expensive irons are temp controlled by electronics in the iron or its base station.

Hope that helps.

Notty

Thanks Notty!

And just in from Justin:

! I understand – I suppose it’s the same reason 12v light bulb doesn’t melt – the current allowed through is determined by the resistance – plus of course the factors Notty mentioned like thermostats etc.

Roy

How to rebuild a Perkins 4108 Jabsco water pump

The Perkins 4108 in use has around 1900 hours on it, that is after about thirty years or so of use.

In the past fifteen years the pump has never given problems or shown signs of needing any service, I note now a small water leak.

With a nice spare pump in stock its quite easy to change the lip seals and bearing, the impellor looks fine anyway.

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

The cover plate and screws are missing from this image.

With the two lip seals removed and the bearing still on the shaft I can now source the new parts, do the rebuild and change the refurbished pump over for the one on the engine now.

I will buy two sets of new parts, then service the second pump which can go onto the Perkins 4108 engine it came off, that still needs a rebuild and will then be for sale.

How hard can this be?

Roy

Model yacht and boat kits

We have looked at this idea in the past, it would seem that a licence to copy existing plans could be the issue with current designs?

One that is free to use will be the Optimist class racing dinghy, so we will start with that one first.

This was an Optimist built from one of our CKD Boats cc kits.

The kit will be cut in A4 sized panels, so posting it to you world wide will not be an issue.
The jig will be included.

If we also include our fourteen page builders guide you can work as if the build is the real thing
prior to ordering and then building a full sized one.

How easy is that !

Roy

Sailing in the Hout Bay area waters

The picture shows the Admirals Sword fleet sailing in Chapmans Bay, Hout Bay being to the left of the fleet.

Click on the picture to enlarge it.

A fantastic shot and I will credit the person who took it when I have found out.

This is the news on who took the picture and what camera too.

BTW – the picture of yachts from recent Admirals was one of the set I compiled for the club website – unfortunately we didn’t have a dedicated race photographer so I snapped a few from the mark-boat, with my G12 as it happens.

 They can be found in the “Photos” section of the website – under Admirals 2015. Actually the photos from Admirals 2014 are WAY BETTER – use them as you please.

Cheers

Justin Phillips HBYC member and mark layer on the day.

Roy

The Dudley Dix web site can now be accessed via the App's listed below.

Dudley Dix goes live, please click on the link below that is in pink http://dixdesign.com/mobile/

DDYD Mobile Website

Last night we went live with a new section of our website, optimised for mobile devices. You can access it via a link to it on our desktop home page or via the direct addresshttp://dixdesign.com/mobile.

A new Hillman Imp for sale

Hillman Imps have been around for some fifty two years (52) and I have had the pleasure and good fortune to have owned my first Imp around fifty years (50) ago, so my understanding of them is vast.

Now and again I am asked to re build or service them, the last re build was a year in the making but much of that time was done as outworks. A new one will of course not be possible but a totally rebuilt one should be.

Rootes Car Co, Scotland press release picture.

The problem now is not finding the spares, it is finding the car to rebuild, there are maybe one or two that I know of in South Africa that may be for sale, bare shells and that kind of thing.

The picture of the blue car shows the last Imp Saloon done by me, its is a 1971 model and a one owner Hillman Imp Deluxe. The car was turned upside down for a number of months while the bottom of the car was restored, plus the cars suspensions.

No expense was saved on this cars restoration, we had a very good body and floor pan, suspension mounts, the original engine and transaxle so all numbers match, plus as a one owner car the buyer will become only the second licenced owner in 43 years!

Upgrades such front a disc brakes are all undertaken.

The red car interior is the car being worked on now, some eleven ( 11 ) months on and while the car is a daily driver if required, it is not quite complete, this one is a 1967 Hillman Imp Californian coupe, it is said there are less than sixty coupe's left world wide , if that as some say there may be fifty five left ( 55 ) only?

This Imp Californian is my own car, one other coupe exists in South Africa that I know of, it may be for sale?

Contact me if your wanting a restored Hillman Imp.

Roy