Today we kicked off with errands again. I had to go find the o-rings for the fuel water separator (and also a wrench for the fuel vent). I decided to try Harbor Freight for the wrench, and Lowe's for the o-rings (both in Texas City) - but unfortunately, Lowe's was a no-go, and so was the local auto parts store, so I ended up making the haul out to Kemah and hitting Blackburn's. Thankfully, they had the parts I needed and I was able to make my way back to the boat.
Once there I quickly put the fuel water separator back together, and then removed the other two fuel filters and replaced them with fresh ones. Bean and I had to do a little homework to figure out what to do with the diesel that came out of the filters... it was such a small amount we didn't want to call someone to collect it, and we didn't have a container to transport it anywhere... We ended up using some absorbent cloths and soaking it up, and then discarding it once they dried.
With that done, it was time to shift gears to the fuel pump and switch again. Unfortunately, I did not think about the 'stud size' when I picked up the original connectors - so it was off to the store again. I would normally put off new errands until the next morning - but we have a deadline now! So off I went. There was actually nothing small enough, so I bought the smallest they had and made my way back to try a couple options.
First, I tried using the dremel to grind the sides of the ring down, but that was not working well, so I decided to shift gears and use the retaining spade connectors - with a slight bend they would fit in the proper spot.
This was my first switch wiring, and of course, the switch didn't come with any instructions - so I looked up their site and followed the pictures, along with watching a couple you tube videos to make sure I understood how everything went together.
Then I climbed down into the lazarette and figured out where to mount them. I also tried to route the cable nicely over toward the battery (I'll connect that part tomorrow). That was quite a workout - holding the drill sideways, upside down, making little holes for all my screws from quite the weird angle, but I got it done! ;-)
I still wasn't quite ready to call it a day (remember that deadline?), so I decided to test and connect the return hose. It was way longer than it needed to be, so first I cut a section off and opened it up to see if the hose still looked good, or if it looked like it was aged and cracking. The rubber looked fresh and clean, still pliable and in good shape, so I cut it down to the proper length (with a little wiggle room), and reconnected it. Unfortunately, in the process, I discovered there was still some diesel in the hose... so now I am off to shower and wash my pants in dawn dish soap before relaxing for the night!
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