Boat Cookies!

 I finally re-installed the EZ-Bake oven on Mystic Star, just in time for cruising season!

This is the 'After' shot, so let's back up a bit....

The previous owner ripped out the oven (due to a propane leak) and had a dorm fridge in the oven's place.  He kept all the mounting hardware, hoses, and fittings, so the only guesswork for me was how to route the new propane hose....

After wrestling with an electrician's fish pole kit from hazard fraught (and breaking one), we figured out the best way to run the propane hose is NOT the original port side void (using the same hanging locker  hole as the solenoid wires) , but rather in the overhead C-channel in the aft bunk (shown with the hand-drawn red arrow):

This is looking up at the port overhead in the aft bunk, looking aft.

As for re-rigging the propane locker, I purchased a vapor-tight through fitting by Trident Marine.  It was tricky to mount it, as the bezel/retaining nut requires access to the back side of the propane locker (not reachable with human hands).   So after boring out the hole with the dremel, I cut a notch through in the bottom of the new hole so I could slide the backing nut in sideways, twist it back to the bulkhead, and glue it to the backside with epoxy putty.  I tied a ruslter's hitch to the nut with whipping twine just in case the putty let go while setting.  If you look closely at the keyhole you can see the threads of the backing nut, neatly glued in place with the threads still clean:   

After an hour to let the putty dry, I screwed the bulkhead fitting to the backing nut, filled the clocking notch with some more putty, and made the bulkhead fitting wrench tight:

This is what the line looks like in the locker after we ran the hose and before I put the tank back in.  I ordered the 20' length of Trident Marine propane hose since the original length was 18 feet.

The Shutoff solenoid is still on order, but I leak checked the propane line with soap bubbles at either end, and confirmed proper operation of the stove using heaping amounts of butter and chocolate chips:

tag: C&C 30 Mark II Propane line route

Breaker, Breaker 1-9 (actually 3-0)

 My inboard AC Shore power breaker (in the cockpit locker) was continuously tripping during the last few months.  Never would stay shut for more than a few hours, then trip.  

....Then I returned to the boat the following weekend with no shore power and crossed my fingers that the 6 year-old batteries were still good.

Using the principle of 'Occam's Razor', I attacked the problem 1 layer at a time, in order of fault probability:

1. Old Batteries (2016)- Replace them.  
2. Bad Battery Charger-  Monitor or replace it.   Battery charger is from circa 2005.
3. Bad AC Shore Power breaker.  Probably original equipment from 1987.
4. AC Grounds inboard.

#1 was pretty straightforward.  Went to West Marine and bought 2 batteries of the same form factor (Group 27).   $350 later and the breaker still tripped after a few hours :(    At least I have fresh batteries onboard now.

#2 was easy to check.  I bought an AC power 'snitch' from Amazon and plugged the Xantrex battery charger in to this socket.   The charger was only drawing 0.3 to 0.7 AC Amps, which should NOT be tripping what is supposed to be a 30 Amps AC feeder breaker:

#3.  Replace the AC breaker.  I bought the DPST Blue Sea Systems breaker from Defender.com and swapped it out. Of note, the breaker did not come with the 'tie bar' to gang the two poles together :(   Fortunately our friends at SD Marine Exchange had a tie bar available, along with some 10 gage wire lugs.  Breaker swap was straightforward, just took a while to replace the box and crimp lugs on to the AC wiring.

Here's the original breaker.  Was wired as single pole interrupt with a GFCI (which did not appear to be connected to the load side):

Here's the brand spanking new breaker after install.  Has held for 6 hours so far... will check on it in a week to see if my AC is still 'ON' in the boat:

Here's the look before I made all the connections... someone learned how to crimp!