Sail Life - A backup to Volvo's 💩 MDI problem. The DOOMSDAY box!
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- Опубліковано 26 лют 2022
- Want engine start, oil pressure, and temperature monitoring with a dead MDI box - meet the doomsday box! Volvo's MDI boxes have a reputation for being unreliable. Mine died last summer - it took weeks to find a replacement and cost $600. This simple fix will allow you to continue using your engine with a dead MDI box. More details on www.saillifechannel.com
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I have always found sliding a old grocery bag over the oil filter before breaking it loose to change it and just letting the filter fall into the bag is an easy way to keep the mess down to a minimum of just a drop or two
I’m not sure if you plan on sailing Athena or taking her to the Moon. However, I’m a gadget kind of guy and smile every time you add another gizmo to your home. As far as having Ava clean the engine room……my wife says good luck with that. As usual we have enjoyed your latest offering. Looking forward to next week. Stay safe!
Reducing anything electric/electronic aboard from "the showstopper" to a minor inconvenience, like bypassing the MDI from the beginning, is more of an essential, life saving approach than Madsical gizmoism ....
I’m really impressed that you’re emphasizing the need for Ava to be as knowledgeable about all maintenance, mechanical and electrical operational aspects of the systems aboard Athena. This is really important when both of you will be handling the boat on an open ocean passage. In time, she’ll become as proficient as you are in handling the boat.
I have to constantly remind my wife of this. My answer is always, "If get hurt or some other medical emergency do I die on the water or do you get me to shore? " I may just be that serious some day.
As Mads is exceptionally knowledgeable about the boat systems, it is intimidating to try to catch up. Teaching to or learning from a spouse is an even bigger challenge. There’s a whole mine field of potential errors we can make that will kill progress for a long time. I know, as I’ve stepped on most of them. :-)
I’m also a complete boat nerd, which my girl isn’t. We solve it by just adding little pieces of knowledge whenever it fits in, without putting even the slightest bit of pressure or importance on it. The lightness lowers the barrier. The most important clue, though, is that the initiative to go into learning mode should almost always come from the one who wants to learn.
If the most skilled person takes any level of initiative, it triggers various resistance issues. It doesn’t matter which gender is on either side of this. I’ve never seen a relationship without this, and I have looked… This means that the taking initiative for learning is the first item to develop. Curiosity and experiencing accomplishment from a gained skill are the best starting points.
@@SteinVarjord Interesting. My reaction answering the more or less stubborn, widespread reluctance to learn about anything one would need to survive out there was another one: I singlehand. I do take out the occasional lady guest, but they come and stay as lady guests. If I die out there, they will, too, out of their (self chosen) sheer lack of knowledge.
Hi, i’am a geek with a sailboat. Pls standby whilst i watch all your videos and press the like button. 😍 Thank you so much for sharing such valuable information.
I really love your passion for function and redundancy. It will be a comforting feeling when you guys are 1000 miles from anywhere.
One day you’re going to sell this boat. I’d suggest you start on the user manual now, so you’ve got a few years to finish it. : )
wow. this is another level of DIY , Very detailed , well done thoroughly enjoyable !
Ava has quite a challenge. Athena is the most complicated Space Vehicle in this part of the galaxy :-)
She sports (Athena, that is! ;-) also the most orderly organized and best labelled collection of gizmos upon the seven seas .....
Simple is always best. KISS.
Hi Mads, for Ava you should have a engine start up procedure list on the bulk head - in case something happens to you and she can start it . Like check the discharge from the engine after start up etc.
Good idea Alex.
Mads, make check lists /written procedures of all the important system functions for Ava until she learns them. I operate in a business of checklists and procedures and they are invaluable!!!
Great work and videos as usual.
with a little bad memory for millions of details, I plan to do exactly this on the boat I'm going to purchase. labels and detailed descriptions ... for me as well as others that might sail with me.
Thank you for giving Volvo a serious safety warning - their MDI box is a dreadful design. In theory it defaults to dangerous!! Come on Volvo wake up before we have a disaster.
I’m on my 4th MDI box - it’s a disgraceful and potentially life threatening design flaw. I’ve only paid for one at £500. The previous one lasted less than a year. SeaStart had run out of stock - and that was nothing to do with the global silicon shortage. Thanks for shining a light on this Madds. Great video as always.
@@stevejmorrow It's a pension plan for Volvo executives, nothing else.
Mads just showed how to get rid of it. It would be better to not start with a Volvo Penta in he first place, but that's another story ....
check out Zatara having to replace the starter every time the water pump leaks on his volvo engines
Only suckers wait for Volvo to fix the systematic problems which include but are not limited to the MDI. I say you are far better off eliminating the MDI and replace them with start/guage monitoring controls ....Mad's has you about 50% there with this video.
Hi Mass, brilliant idea, just go 1 step further and throw away the MDI, you are capable of building a reliable alternative.
If you are blessed with a Mads Jr or little Madison, will we be watching you rebuild a catamaran?
Why do I chuckle everytime I hear Mas say, "somewhat extensive refit..." in the intro ?
This helped me to identify some switches in my cockpit which seemingly had no purpose. They’re a doomsday hack! I just repowered my Volvo D2-40 with… Another D2-40! And I didn’t know what the extra wires to the alternator were for. Turns out, the previous owner installed a doomsday box even though the MDI works just fine. For now. Thanks!
Those adapter plate thingies also come with fittings that allow the filter to be remote mounted where they’re easier to access and can be mounted upright so the oil doesn’t spill when you change them
Ava you pointed to the wrong dipstick. Yes secondary you are correct. Primary was holding the camera. Your a great sport.
Permanently mounting the oil drain pump is a brilliant idea ! Now it is both properly stowed and ready for action !! Worst case, make an extension for the yellow hose.
BTW, add a replacement impellor for that pump to your "spares" stock pile.
Ava is the prettiest marine diesel mechanic on youtube!
Relentless innovation will make your sailing more pleasurable.
Lovely to see Ava getting involved but I think you are going to have to clean the engine compartment yourself Mads and maybe buy her flowers/ take her to Gunwharf for dinner for that comment 🙂
Now, you need to use another port on the adapter plate for an oil bypass filter. Extend your oil life and time between changes! Check out Amsoil’s bypass filter. Highly recommended.
Of all your videos, this one is No.1.
Very cool upgrades!
That dedicated oil pipe goes to the bottom of the sump so you can use a larger suction hose and Just connect it to the top of that tube - sucking the oil out is much quicker and fully drained.
My favorite video of the week, such a treat to watch the both of you on this journey. Safe Travels
Great info as always!
Your technical savvy impresses me !
Another reason to have warm engine oil is that the heat will drive off any moisture that occurs when atmospheric moisture condenses inside the engine after it has been shut off. Not just a question of lower viscosity. And engines should be run for a long enough period of time so to drive off any moisture, even if not prepping for an oil change.
Very nice work!!!
Mads ,you and Ava are amazing.
What you call a mess is so much better then I've seen on other Dyi jobs on most sailboats on utube. Johan from Rans sailing is so much like you about doing the job right. You two would get along and would become fast friends . Ava is special 💓, willing to take on jobs to learn all she can about maintaining the boat. I'm sure she's way out of her comfort zone but she's still willing to learn . Good for you Ava!!!!.
Nice work.
love your show, one of my new favorites
What a professional job you are doing👌
Smart job, great idea.
I am forever impressed with your electrical knowledge. It seems to come naturally as if it’s your profession.
You got great knowledge
Another great video Mads and Ava .
Impressive knowledge and ingenuity Mads! You seem to thrive on challenging yourself in coming up with good solutions. Also having Eva being able to handle the maintenance is great. She must also be able to handle the sailing part as well. Also docking is really a woman's job as we manfolks are generally more able to do line handling, As always sad to see the end of a video and the next one is a week away!
I agree here - a week is a long time sometimes. Your videos are enjoyable and refrishing while having interesting content.
One thing, concider putting square (or round) bar stock of the appropriate size inside the inner square section on the solar bridge before tightening the bolts on the adaptors you made - thus avoiding crushing the inner tubing and weakening the hold of the bolts.
Ava is doing an excellent job on the oil change. It's a perfect idea that you both are well aware of all the crazy systems Mads has put in place. So naturally, Mads has it set up, so he is one step ahead. I suggest that Ava create some particular task for Mads to balance it out a bit. Cheers.
Haha, I'm sure she's up for that :D
Hi guys, I know nothing about boats, but yours looks just perfect to me.
Nice spice rack by the way. Take care you guys.
Good job! See you next week😉
I am very glad to see you are including Ava in the basic operations and maintenance of the boat this is very wise. You make a great team and knowing you can rely on each other will be your biggest asset sailing . Very impressive mod of the brain box for your engine and your install is always top notch.
Great video!
Love the Gadgets, Gizmos and Doohickeys!
Damn man, I learn so much from you. The part I like the most is that you are so meticulous and do things right the first time, that makes me do the same.
Great video.
didn't actually know this is a thing! checking my MDI box tomorrow :))
great vid .. again !
I'm just going to throw this in, somewhat off-topic. But it's well past time sailboats start using electric engines as a general rule.
Spending so much time elbow deep in grease and oil when your main engine is the wind... it's just crazy.
Still, another great DYI episode :)
Stay healthy and we'll see you next week.
The website is GREAT. It took me an hour last month to find the video where you talked about where you purchased your lithium batteries. With the new website, I found it in a couple of minutes!!! And only because I was busy checking out how you (Ava?) set it up. Thank you so much.
Mads, you are a legend
Thx for a great video
About to take possession of a new-to-us boat with a D2-40 and this was our biggest worry. You're a god!!!
Very slick work around for the trouble prone Volvo piece. Peace of mind can be invaluable when facing an ocean crossing or simply being in a place where parts are hard to find at any price. Well done Mads.
I really like that box you built. I'm planning to DIY one similar in the future, for my much older MD 21A.
super video. very informative and good length, without getting wayyy to detailed and technical. make more. ! really good content and well made.!
Very great video! Very helpful as I just had my first MDI box failure. Learned so much from you and the video was excellent quality! Thanks.
I found Wago Nuts about 9 months ago and fell in love with them! So much better than acorn nuts when merging wires together.
Very smart. La Vagabond have had loads of issues with this!
Very neat stuff! Pretty dang cool installation as well! 😎👍🏽
I very much support these devices and simple system you have put together to deal with this potentially dangerous situation of the likely failure of Volvo's MIDI control box.
Great job captain !
Your a gadget genius !
Sail on !
Cheers
This is such a great idea.
My mdi started playing up recently this video is great. I am getting the component inspected by a pcb repair shop and then mounting it off the engine. Redundancy like this will be on my list to do also! Thanks a lot for your video
Nice video👍I agree all crew should learn every job on the boat in case of an emergency
Congratulations on your marriage! May you two have many many good years.
That was such an informative episode... I got alot from it!! Athena is really looking spiffy!! Thanks for sharing your lives with us ... Fare winds an following sea's guy's ✌🏼💗😊❣️
Good to know where the bits are and what to do
Dine videoer er de bedste!
New intro “my wife” happy sailing 🥰🎯
There's a good video from Sailing Magic Carpet out at the moment. All, well part of it, about the electrical system of boats. Well worth a look.
If a guy were Derrick over at VGG he'd be really impressed with your choice of oil. It's got all the extra vitamins and minerals a hard working engine needs.
Athena has more wiring systems than a Nuclear Power Station.
Old tech is amazing. My first backup to my diesel is any power to the motor. Any wire (providing it don't burn :P ) will do. Second backup is a hand crank! Though I don't think I'd ever have the strength to hand crank her up... I do have a short handle for manual turnover for priming if I need to in winter (it just feels kinder doing it by hand than motor in those conditions :P ).
PS, for emergencies a little wire on a pulley is usually nice to have for easy access to the "stop" lever. Depends where the engine is facing, to how you would setup the wire and pulley/handle, but should be simple, and would allow you to pull it *quick* with access without even needing to open the engine bay (could put the handle on the wall). My engine stop is wired mechanically to the controls, but I sit just above the engine in my tiny boat. It is very helpful if the engine springs a leak (oil or fuel or water if fed directly from the crank shaft and thus you want to stop her quick) etc.
Great work as always guys. This is one spiffy boat and getting spiffier by the minute…. Andy UK
Nice doomsday setup, hopefully the MDI box will last longer not being mounted on the engine. If the temp sensor isn't accurate enough mounted on the rubber hose I found quick reading attaching (with stainless zip tie) a sensor to the thermostat housing. I also have a sensor on the alternator, all monitored and logged w/ SensESP/SignalK/Influxdb & Grafana.
Loved the way Ava pointed the hose to her face as she opened the valve, reminds me of the old clown water on water off gag.
Love the new pretty dang spiffy stuff Mads, and the T-shirt.👍👍💚⛵
Ya!
Nice video as always ... love your doomsday box .... 👍👍😁
My husband the plumber says you can use something called blue monster for plumbing fixture for drinking water…
Mads you really are a bad ass. I'm reminded of the model airplane engineer in the movie "Flight of the Phoenix," or let's say you are the Robinson Caruso of DIY plastic boat outfitting, well done, chap!
additional small servo and your doomsday box may have a kill-switch feature ...
Well done Ava spiffy oil removal service oh and Madds you did ok too
Im probably nr 100 on this ball, but the oildrain tube you found, can be used to have han hose just clamped over the tube, as the tube it self is the lowest point in the oilpan. Belive the drainplug i acually connected via this tube in the bottom. Keep up the great videos!
wonderful video and work, as usual very well done in the standards and very clever ... it is true that volvo engines are more capricious than some brands like Yanmar which almost never has problems ... I am very surprised to see at the end of the video that the support with the steps does not have sound insulation, it is nevertheless what we find on all sailboats and it would considerably reduce the noise...! moreover, there are now much more profitable insulations in terms of noise, with little thickness and covered with an aluminum film... good luck for the rest...!
First thing to do when changing the oil Ava, is to pull your hair back so it doesn't get dirty. Engine oil is not the most pleasant thing to have in your hair. Great job with the backup to the Volvo MDI box. Certainly a way to get their attention if everyone can build one and their MDI sales tank. Good on you Mads.
solid work - and redundancy BEFORE you leave the dock is well thought through ;) - I might have skipped the solder on those connections, and gone crimp only, but that's just a preference ;)
You might find that the load of the high output alternator at very low rpm with low batteries and other loads. On our boat we have separate on off for high loads on the alternator… this eliminates low rpm high load conditions that can potentially stall the engine in some slow speed docking situations.
It is always a good idea to put a schematic inside your project boxes. So if anyone other than you needs to know what the "heck" is going on inside the box can figure it out. I also find that it helps me if I ever need to open the box more than one day after I built it.
Great film and failsafe idea. One thing I noticed Ava started the engine from cold by pushing the start button and holding it until it started (the Cockpit start button), and it cranks cold for a few turns before firing - no doubt once the automatic glowplugs have heated. We found with ours that momenarily pushing tyhe start button then releasing it for say 5 seconds then pushing it again allowed the glowplugs to run without cranking the engine; then the button is pushed again and held and the engine starts first crank - less wear on the starter motor etc. I suppose one advantage of just holding it means oil moves arround the engine prior to firing but we always did it the way I described over 10 years and it always started imediately with no other issues.
See you 👍🏽
It looks like the Box on Mad Max when he arms it . And yes relays are fun to play with.
Practice has made you a master in -" Do it once ,Do it well !!! w.r.t DIY boat installs /projects Mass. A pleasure to watch as always.Cheers
Its occurred to me that living vicariously aboard Athena these past years is what I look forward to most each week. I've decided therefore that you're not allowed to ever stop. :-P Thanks again for all the videos you two!
Hi Mads have you considered installing some type of automatic fire suppression system for the technical compartment?
DIY HERO 👍🏻👏🏻
Doomsday box. Very apt at the moment 😀
SUGGESTION ONLY. Add a momentary n/c switch from oil pressure switch to monitor for starting only. Simply hold switch or button while starting to let oil pressure come up (second or two normally) without blowing eardrums. I also like to add a momentary button for emergency kill (to solenoid only, it's only for emergencies) by using fifth pole (n/c) of 100 - 150a relay powered from main switch. On commercial boats I also add a dpdt switch to swap from main power switch to source power feeding the emergency kill (isolation) in event of burned wire short or stuck main relay etc. (Absolutely none of it's mandatory but adds a measure of safe redundancy and on commercial boats, helps pass safety/insurance.
It's just a Perkins thats used in many other plant, We used them in Pumps and have everything you need on them to set it up like you did, you only need a 5 pin relay a push switch and some wire and you could of set it up that it would switched off on it's own if there was a high temp or low oil pressure. I also have here some low coolant switches that we used on generators that are 1/2" bsp thread ;)
Infact I'm down in Gosport this week at some point if I can find where I put them and you would like one (a low coolant switch), your more than welcome to one.