| Easter On Rockhopper - continued |
Refilling the coolant system used almost the same amount as the system held, so the system appeared to
have drained almost completely. After refilling the system, Frank checked it periodically and it seemed to
have a very slow leak - however, since it had had a very slow leak before, he wasn't overly worried about it -
worried, but not overly worried.
The raw water pump was soon off and inspection proved that the impeller had, in fact, come apart. Frank
knew that he had the spare pump SOMEWHERE - now all he had to do was find it. It was, of course, in the
lowest portion of the "nastiest-to-get-to" locker, under the floor of the aft cabin. As he dug through the
supplies there, Frank came across several pump impeller rebuild kits and he brought one along to the
cockpit, just in case it was the correct kit - one never knows with the previous owner's supplies.
Getting the old impeller out had been covered in Frank's class in some degree, using four or five different
pumps. Frank had done well in this part of the class - however, none of THOSE impellers had been stuck in
with nasty pieces of extra impeller wedged in place. The shop manual was not particularly helpful here and,
when the handle of one of Frank's picks pulled off, he knew he was going to have to pull out the big guns.
Choosing the largest pair of Channel-locks he had and wedging the pump under his feet, the impeller proved
no match.
Now, in Frank's class, one of the things the instructor had stressed was, after the impeller tears itself up, you
have to find all of the pieces of the blades, in case parts had gone through the system and were stuck in the
down stream heat exchanger. Good idea in practice, but when you have to pull the impeller out with
Channel-locks, the game gets a little trickier. It turned out that MOST of the parts were there and Frank
decided that, since he was going to have to take the fresh water side of the cooling system apart anyway, he
would live with the possibility that a piece had gotten away.
The impeller kit that Frank had found in the locker looked sort of like the impeller he had pulled out, but it
had a different insert. Frank opened up the spare pump and verified that the impeller was in good shape.
have drained almost completely. After refilling the system, Frank checked it periodically and it seemed to
have a very slow leak - however, since it had had a very slow leak before, he wasn't overly worried about it -
worried, but not overly worried.
The raw water pump was soon off and inspection proved that the impeller had, in fact, come apart. Frank
knew that he had the spare pump SOMEWHERE - now all he had to do was find it. It was, of course, in the
lowest portion of the "nastiest-to-get-to" locker, under the floor of the aft cabin. As he dug through the
supplies there, Frank came across several pump impeller rebuild kits and he brought one along to the
cockpit, just in case it was the correct kit - one never knows with the previous owner's supplies.
Getting the old impeller out had been covered in Frank's class in some degree, using four or five different
pumps. Frank had done well in this part of the class - however, none of THOSE impellers had been stuck in
with nasty pieces of extra impeller wedged in place. The shop manual was not particularly helpful here and,
when the handle of one of Frank's picks pulled off, he knew he was going to have to pull out the big guns.
Choosing the largest pair of Channel-locks he had and wedging the pump under his feet, the impeller proved
no match.
Now, in Frank's class, one of the things the instructor had stressed was, after the impeller tears itself up, you
have to find all of the pieces of the blades, in case parts had gone through the system and were stuck in the
down stream heat exchanger. Good idea in practice, but when you have to pull the impeller out with
Channel-locks, the game gets a little trickier. It turned out that MOST of the parts were there and Frank
decided that, since he was going to have to take the fresh water side of the cooling system apart anyway, he
would live with the possibility that a piece had gotten away.
The impeller kit that Frank had found in the locker looked sort of like the impeller he had pulled out, but it
had a different insert. Frank opened up the spare pump and verified that the impeller was in good shape.
Penguin Dreams
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