Hi everyone

When I bought my 312 I did not opt for a fridge, but now I am fitting a charger it could be a useful item to have. Does anyone have any thoughts or advice on this? What type do Hanse fit? Where is it positioned? Is there a better solution?

Also I want to fit gauges to the diesel, water and holding tanks so I can tell how full they are. Has anyone done this? Any recommendations? I have been looking at the Vetus gauges.

Any help you can give would be gratefully received

Regards

Alan

These two modifications are on my list for this winter too.

Fridge:
I saw that Hanse build in Isotherm units but I think that doesn't make any difference because most of the supplier (Isotherm, Frigoboat, Coolmatic) uses Danford BDF 35 Compressors. Only Kissman which is twice as expensive has an own (better?!) unit. I think I will go for the most common Coolmatic 55/54 Unit. Hanse put the unit straight under the box, which takes a lot of space. I saw a solution on a 311 next to the watertank however you need ventilation holes for the cooling.
The most important thing is the extra isolation. For that I m going to use the material from camping sleeping mat because of the better isolation than PUR. Above that it might be easier to install the isolation between the box and the plywood. But more than 30mm will be difficult!
Does anybody know how it is done from hanse with the isolation?

I also think about one single gauge for water and fuel wich I'm going to connect with a switch with to sensors. I talked to VDO and they abelive it will work. Unfortunately the sensors are very expensive! Maybe I will go for WEMA or other different supplier.

What is your building number? I bought 312/192 last fall. Let's stay in contact!

Kind Regards,

Thomas Schmidt

Hi Thomas

Thanks for that. If you want to combine the fuel and water gauge Vetus supply a double gauge - see http://www.vetus.com - http://www.vetus.com  which is purpose made.

I was also thinking of putting a gauge in the holding tank as if that gets full it overflows from the vent onto the side decks    -  not nice!! Sterling (who make the battery chargers) do a pneumatic tank gauge which sounds interesting. All that needs to be placed in the tank is a small tube. This sounds useful as there is no access hatch into the holding tank. Also there is no corrosion problem. You can find details of this gauge on http://www.sterling-power.com/index-l.htm - http://www.sterling-power.com/index-l.htm .

My hull number is 312/222. I ordered the boat in November 2003 and took delivery in April this year. Mine has a lifting keel as she is kept at Christchurch on an alongside berth up the river and sits on the bottom at low water.

Kind Regards

Alan

I fitted an Isotherm unit into the cool box, and this seems to be working fine so far. 

You can get more expensive types, that use less juice, but I tend to only put it on when I nam on shore power.

In terms of price, I bought it at the Southampton show, the cheapest source then being Force 4.

Bryan

I have all same problems.

My solution is keep cool box as is and buy portable fridge for keeping important items cool, this year I used cheap cool box ; but it drank the battery, next year I shall have proper portable fridge,and save grief on fitting insulating and noisey cooler fan, the box will be on deck when I am sleaping.

I modified fridge electric for 12 volt suply, that is heavy blue and red flex under sink near  pump and three star on fuse panel.

Fuel guage is to be old land rover sender mounted in removable panel on top of tank, this is stainless and will give to local engineer to drill, not a do in the boat job, this I shall connect to cheapest guage I can find, as when motor sailng the guage will always be hit and miss.

As I am plumber by trade the thought of going anywhere near sh*t tank at off time is strickly not on, sugest you do like the rest of us and keep emtying in the quite.

I cannot believe ther is a guage on earth the can handle the contents with out  a problem and then do you want to fix the problem.

Hi Gertha

I take your point about the sh*t tank , but have you seen the Sterling pneumatic guage? All it needs is a 3mm tube inserting through the top of the tank running down to just above the bottom. A pump then blows air into the tank and measures the back pressure from which it calculates the level. So I guess you simply need to drill a small hole in the top of the tank and epoxy a tube in place.

I had the same problem with a cheap coolbox running the battery down and not really cooling very well unless the engine was running giving it a higher voltage. I also got fed up with moving the thing around so I think I'll go for a fixed installation but maybe put the compressor under the seat by the water tank (as Thomas describes) which might keep the noise level down.

Kind Regards

Alan 

Hello Alan!

If you use Isoterm ASU SP you have a cooler that is quiet because it does not use a fan. This is because the cooling media is cooled by the seawater and not by the air. This way it is also very effektive, a lot more than air cooling of the condensor. This is highly needed in Hanses fridge bedcause of the poor isolation ( just about 20mm between the two layers of thin composites)

Kind Regards

Mats

Hanse 371/204

Hi to all

Just to say that I fitted the Isotherm Compact Classic GE80 back in the summer and have been very pleased with it.

I fitted it directly below the coolbox and to the back of the space there (ie close to the hull) The ventilation holes were already drilled in the panel towards the cooker unit so it seemed the logical place to put it. Another plus was the 12v wiring was already to hand under the sink.

I have to say that it is very quiet and is very difficult to tell when it is on even at night sleeping in the aft cabin with the cabin door open.

It is only on at the moment whilst connected to shore power but next year I am going to fit the Rutland 913 wind generator to make us completely independent whilst cruising.

We collected our 312 last April and have been totally impressed with its sailing and handling abilities.

Geoff

'Prime Time'  312/199

Hi Geoff,

Thanks for that. You say that the ventilation holes were already cut on your boat. Where exactly are they as we don't appear to have them on our boat? Also, did you put additional insulation around the box?

We met you at Hamble soon after your boat was delivered. You were fitting a rope cutter to your saildrive at the time. We spoke to you as we were awaiting delivery of our 312 two weeks later. Has your rope cutter been a success? The reason I ask is that last August we became tangled in some underwater fishing gear off the French coast just south of the Alderney Race which left us anchored by the stern to the sea bed in a strong tide. We had to be rescued by a French lifeboat with a diver on board which cost us 1100 euros (fortunately we got most of it back from our insurance company!). We were sailing at the time so a cutter probably would have been no help in this instance but we have picked up discarded fishing tackle around our prop on numerous occasions in the past, and conditions sometimes make it unsafe to swim under the boat to deal with it.

Kind Regards

Alan

Hi Alan

I have read your note regarding rope cutters. After some thought, I opted to have one fitted when the boat was delivered.

Last year, I got caught up by a pot rope while we were sailing in the Solent, which succeeded in stopping the boat.  After getting the sails down, I started the engine, and carefully engaged the saildrive.  There were a couple of bumps, which was the supposed float for the pot hitting the hull as the prop turned, then we were free, so I certainly was pleased to have fitted a cutter.

Bryan

Hello Allan

I remember talking to you, which explains why the name Muscadet seemed so familiar yet I could not place why!

The ventilation holes have been drilled in the panel supporting the left hand side of the cooker at the back and low down. I did not fit any extra insulation as I thought I would see how it performed this Summer.

As regards the rope cutter I had a 'Spurs' cutter on the last boat (which had a prop shaft) as used by the RNLI. In the Solent it was always working even if only through buches of seaweed. The first sign is the significant drop in engine revs followed by a trail of bits from the stern. In 2003 it successfully cut through blue nylon rope on three occasions. The worst incident was delivering the old boat to the new owner from the Solent to the Thames estuary and catching 2 pot lines off Beachy Head just after sunset. The severe drop in engine revs was bad enough, but the thumping on the hull will never be forgotten! Got it quickly into neutral then used forward and reverse to chop my way free. Only took a minute but was one of the longest minutes of my life. So, prime example of surviving but could have been a lot more inconvenient if no stripper fitted.

Fitted the Ambassador stripper to the 312 as Spurs did not make a saildrive version which came out tops in the Sailing Today test.

Munched through plenty of seaweed bunches(you never know what is also tangled up with it) till we left for Newhaven in July since then no incidents to report as the water in that area does not seem to have as much debris as the Solent.

You will have read Bryans account above so, I think a stripper is a must for your shopping list Allan in order to stand a reasonable chance of getting to your destination without problems.

All the best

Geoff

Prime Time

Thanks Geoff & Bryan

I hadn't realised how effective these strippers were. I think you're right, they've become essential equipment in the English Channel and the Solent. I'd better ask Father Christmas for one!  

Kind Regards

Alan