New posts offseason

[99Parker2520]

Its great to see the activity picking up here on Classic Parker but that unfortunately means the offseason. Lets see the off season projects and so far mine is new batteries but not yet....spring time I will buy them! Watch that little date sticker if you believe it.

 

[vancepe]

Good morning. Joined the forum this morning. Put my ‘99 2520 in the water for the first time yesterday, it went hilariously awry.
New batteries, bilge pump and float switch on the menu for today along with misc stuff.
Based on your username, I’ll have a lot of questions for you. Lol.

 

[pelagic2530]

Good morning. Joined the forum this morning. Put my ‘99 2520 in the water for the first time yesterday, it went hilariously awry.
New batteries, bilge pump and float switch on the menu for today along with misc stuff.
Based on your username, I’ll have a lot of questions for you. Lol.

Welcome aboard, sorry to hear your launch went a bit off the rails. What problems did you encounter?

Be aware that in many cases where batteries “die”, there are contributing factors other than simply old batteries. If you don’t fix the underlying issues, the new ones will die just as soon.

 

[vancepe]

Boat had not been in the water in 3 yrs.
The shop recommended by previous owner only services engines, misunderstanding on my part.
Dropped in water to see if it would float… check.
Motors fired up… check
Short 15 min ride to friends’ dock… not so check.

The I/O conversion to twin 225’s put a decent amount of weight on the stern. Bow rise is pretty comical on launch. Porpoising is pretty bad for this novice to remedy.

And now for the best part. Old cap for live well line disintegrated about 1 min after we are at speed and water starts to pour in. Access to the shut off valve requires disassembly of multiple pieces, bilge pump was inoperable and I would not figure these things out until we had made it to our friends’ dock.

It was interesting to say the least. I’ll post pics later. Yesterday was productive and informative.

 

[pelagic2530]

Boat had not been in the water in 3 yrs.
The shop recommended by previous owner only services engines, misunderstanding on my part.
Dropped in water to see if it would float… check.
Motors fired up… check
Short 15 min ride to friends’ dock… not so check.

The I/O conversion to twin 225’s put a decent amount of weight on the stern. Bow rise is pretty comical on launch. Porpoising is pretty bad for this novice to remedy.

And now for the best part. Old cap for live well line disintegrated about 1 min after we are at speed and water starts to pour in. Access to the shut off valve requires disassembly of multiple pieces, bilge pump was inoperable and I would not figure these things out until we had made it to our friends’ dock.

It was interesting to say the least. I’ll post pics later. Yesterday was productive and informative.

Sounds like the access to your seacock needs to be reconfigured. ABYC standards require that it be readily accessible without the use of tools, for situations exactly like this one. While you’re at it, I’d inspect or replace all the components of that system, as they’re likely the same vintage. Check your hose clamps, make sure that they’re actually stainless (both band AND screw assembly) and that they’re tight, with double clamps on all underwater connections if there’s room for them. Consider replacing them with non-perforated, solid 316SS clamps like the ABA ones from Scandvik (note that you’ll need a 7mm nut driver for these, but they’re the highest quality ones I’ve found). I’ve pulled these off 10 years after installing them and they still looked brand new.

Glad you made it there safely, and hopefully you get your system issues sorted out soon! It’s a good feeling to know that all your systems are working correctly.