89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

happy fathers day to all,
we had a late night raftin catfish party last nite, managed to get into some nice shovelhead cats, this is my raftin buddy and my nephew holdin up the biggest of the year so far, that they both brought in,,,,,sorry i forgot the batteries again:facepalm:

and the admiral got a nice walley later in the am,,,, we got this one bad pic,,, without the white lights on before i dropped it off the platform,,,, oh well,,,, it was a good one though,,,, the pic is not,,,lol

we were fishing an old lock remnant( not sure but i think old lock 5 ohio river), at the upriver dropoff to the washout area,,,it usually holds fish for our entertainment
hope everyone enjoys the day with dad

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

good evening all,
i've been having a lil trouble lately,,,, seems the last few times out my voltmeter would go bonkers when running,,, didnt matter idle or cruising,,, it used to ride at 13.5 volts,,, now it goes anywhere from 12.5 to 16,,, scarry to me so i would lean on the tabs a lil and raise and lower the outdrive to try and keep the volts down when it was happening. so after running that way a few times i finally decided that i was pushing my luck too much( especially for me) so tonite i got the alternator out and took it to a freinds shop( same one that did my starter last fall so its in good hands). i should get it back tomorrow so i can install before saturdays raft up.

while i'm on the subject of electrical,,, i have 2 batteries with an a,b,a&b switch. so anyways one of my batteries is really strong and lasts 5 or 6 hours running the fridge, radio and all the lights(lol) and the second doesnt last at all in the same circumstance but serves well as a starter battery once were are finally ready to come in. so my question is how can i load test a battery to see if its beat like i think it is?
i guess i should replace the questionable battery and rest easier,,,, whadyatink?

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

update guys,,,, it seemsi'm grounded,,,i put the new alternator in and was getting a belt squeel, i thought it was cause i was charging(shorepower) both batteries,,,, including the almost dead one,, but it turns out that the pully on the new alternator is different than the reast of my set,, so it cant work till i get a new pulley,,,, yep,,, after the weekend of course,,,,

on another note i did get a group 29 deep cell to replace the weak battery,,,,wooooo.
i will search tomorrow for the right pully instead of loosing the weekend,,,, wish me luck

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

well no luck this weekend but we got the new alternator today for an evening install tomorrow. the pully looks right , now that i'm paying attention,,,lol
in any event i should get a few trial runs in before the beaver coubty boom (fireworks at the mouth of the beaver) this saturday. it will undoubtedly lead to a nice raft off party afterwards which will test that new battery cause we will be all lit up and the frige will be chillin plenty of soda pops.

on a rgb led note; the connecters i used for my install are giving me a bit of grief. it seems as tho the fingers that make the connection have loosened a bit which causes a little blinking here and there,,,, not all the time but enough to make my eye twitch.
( i think the strip is somewhat soft and the hot days in the cockpit have led to some shrink and swelling)
my resolve will be to put a dollop of solder on each connection to better adhere the fingers to the lightstrip, if that doesnt satisfy me i will lose the connecters and go all solder. we'll see what happends! its a shame cause the connecters made for a really simple install.

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

i exchanged the 1 wire alternator for the more expensive,,, multi wire one, got it installed and took her out for a test drivend all my systems are working properly,,, i can say its a beautiful thing to see 13.5 on the voltmeter.

i'm still looking at that solas 15 pitch prop, the water was smooth as glass and i was having trouble tweaking the rpm's to 3400 with my bent up spare 17 pitch prop i am currently running. my mechanic is tellin me to go for the 3 blade,,, but i was thinkin the 4. what does everyone think?

also on my L seat my rgb's were given me some trouble so last time i was on the boat i pulled the silicone dollop that i put in the connecter and put a drop of gorilla glue,,,,, lets just say,, lesson learned, i moved the wire while it was still wet with the glue and it immediately went out:facepalm:, seems the glue blocked the connection, so tonight i went old style,,, and soldered that one piece in and all is back to working correctly. it seems that that spot on my seat gets alot of movement so i guess thats why the connecter didnt do a great job. my other connecters around the boat haven't given me any grief,,,, just yet anyways,,, but they arent loacated on a seat either.

great night tonight,,,i'm back in business, so all is right with the world
hope everyones having fun

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

Just stoppin by to say WASSUUUUUUP! lol No you can't have my bud light,lol Anyway, sounds like you had some issues but are squaring them away. i have a flicker every once in a while with none of those connectors, think its more in the controller. seems to do it only on certain colors to, ohh well, figure it out later. To much boating to do,lol

I would stick with the 3 blade prop man. just my experience, have never had good luck with 4 blade props. You might also look into other models other than the solas.

also, if your running to batteries on that boat, I would try and replace both at the same time and keep the good one as a charged back-up. Its best to have both batteries be in the same condition.

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

thanks for stoppin Budd,
that flickering i'm gettin only seems to happen when someones on that particular seat,,, etc. i spliced 2 smaller runs one down each side of the boat almost right out of the controller and the side with the cubby hasn't given me any issues yet so thats why i was basing the flickering on movement,,, but who knows,,, i been wrong before,,,lol.

gotcha on the 4 blade, i was thinking that the more surface area to the prop the better lift i would get. but based upon my previous running wot rpm's i should really goto the 15 pitch 3 blade to get me closer to recommended wot rpm's, i'm not too worried about speed because my set up won't let me achieve the speed that my 17 pitch is capable of. looking around at my local shops the props were all lots more than the solas i found here on iboats. at around a hundred cheesburgers i'll still be able to pay for the gas to experiment with.i havent heard of anything bad on the solas, but i guess i havent heard anything at all, i'm running a michigan wheel currently. if i get the right pitch down i may explore the ss props, however they do make me nervous with all the submarines here on the ohio.hats your suggestion for a prop manufacturer?

as far as the batteries go, i started this year with a strong one and a weak one, and replaced the weak one.now that i have 2 good ones, my plan will be to switch batteries each time out to give them more equal running time, as well as to be able to extend the on the hook raft ups with a switch at about 4 hours at 12 volts leaving the first battery enough juice to get me started once its time to go back in. my fish finder has a very helpful setable voltage alarm that i use to keep me outa trouble and to insure i dont need the dangerous lil jumper pack that i carry," just in case". 2 good batteries should do a great job for me this upcoming vacation week starting with the beaver county boom saturday and including a trip to pittsburgh for the 4th. i'll let you all know how it goes.

 

[Ciera2450]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

Thats it.........
I'm ordering rgb's. Seriously, your lights look freakin awesome! I just keep scrolling back and forth looking at the pics...
Hope you have a great time on the water!

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

Jimmy,
JUST DO IT,,,,,,,bahaha they are one of a kind at night. we are heading to the beaver county boom in a few hours,,, and cant wait to show off the lights, besides watching the fireworks with friends on the water,,,,priceless.

i got an update today,,,,, a window ac for the boat for ue at the slip. 100 cheeseurgers at hd,,,, wooooo, i was hot in there last night and we are planin on staying over a few times this week.

and one more thing,,,,, i love vacation
hope everyone has a good weekend

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

the raft off and fireworks were awesome, we had 7 boats rafted up front and center for the festivities, we had an awesome time and i gotta add apple pie moonshine is sooooooo yummy,,,bahaha,, we stopped at home today to get the burgers,, and yep i forgot the camera,,,lol
ill get some pics uploaded tomorow.
hope everyones having a blast

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

what no pics?

we got a kyak'er to take some pics for us
im on the left

we thought he was going to get ushered outa the controlled area on the last few.
we had a great evening with some good freinds celebrating our great country

i am still having problems with video,,, someday ill figure it out.
hope everyone stays safe this holiday

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

Looks like you had a blast! No excuse in the last two pics not to have some light show going on though,lol :facepalm:

 

[BSnB]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

Great Pictures, Mark!!! Looks like you're having a ball!!! That's what this boating thing is all about!

You mentioned the heat and adding an air-conditioner. I'm tackling that project as well. I picked up a Portable 8000 BTU AC and I've started to modify the closet in the Head to accommodate it. The challenge is to vent the heat out. I've got an exhaust blower in the Head and I think I can hook up the exhaust hose from the AC unit to that and then duct the air-flow and return into the cabin. Still taking measurements and I'll let you know how I progress.

We've been out fishing and in the last 2 weeks we've caught a Coho, a Steelhead and a Chinook. A Salmon Hat-Trick!! The boat is running great. Handles p to 3 footers with ease. The 4 to 5 footers get a little rocky, but I run dry! Fortunately the water has been pretty flat most days.

Mannnn, I love the lights you and Budd have installed. I still haven't gotten to mine. Too many other things to do.

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

Thanks guys we had a blast. I like waitin till its dark before i turn dem lights on. It gets more attention that way. During the fireworks i put a slow fade on the rgbs and had the underwaters on. Afterwards we all stayed right there ans swam in the blue water and enjoyed some soda pops.lol. i like the rgbs red or budds orange cause frankly the bugs arent nearly as attracted. I bought one of those 99cheeseburger ac window unit

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

Anyway it fits right into the aft cabin window tightly. It does a descent job cooling the cabin with the help of a fan. Drops the temp about 15 degrees. Wooooooo. To bad it doesnt work underway. Ssounds like everyones having a good time.

 

[25thmustang]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

Great looking raft up! Outs was scheduled for last night, but they moved it to tonight... Too bad I have a hOuse picnic planned and will miss the fireworks and raft up!

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

We were out overnight rafting for cats but the weather bunged it all up, we only got a lil channel cat. But did have fun hangin with friends
we didnt get a pic of the lil cat but did get a pick of two of us all lit up.

and a shot closer to the water

loving the bahama blue with the pumpkin rgb's

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

on the last few trips out i noticed i was plowing longer before i got on plane, and my tabs were having lil effect on the boats attitude, so while swimming I decided to investgate a lil closer,,,,, i found a split on my hose going to my starbord trim tab, right at the nipple where it meets the cylinder, that would also explain the oily sheen i saw trailing the boat a few trips ago. anyways my plan is to check the engine compartment for slack in the hose and hopefully pull the 2 inches (necessary to reattatch back to the cylinder) through the transom hole.

since i was trying to operate the tabs after the split occurred i'm guessing i drew some water into the system, the tabs are fully retracted now so i assume that would allow the least amount of water into the cylinders. is my line of thinking correct?
and can i bleed the system while its in the water?

not sure but i was thinking that if i fill the resovoir before i cut the hose, the fluid will leak out pushing some water thru with it, whadya think? the last question i have now is what kind of oil do i refill the system with?

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

Well I got the hose fixed
turns out i had enough slack in the hose to loosen the screws on the transom fitting and pull 2" of hose thru and re hose lamp it. And to work the air outa the system I added ATF fluid and ran the tabs up and down several times. It's all better now and I got to swim a lil, bonus

I was worried about the water in the system but once I got to thinking the cylinder couldn't move once the hole happened, so I'm not going to worry about it.

Almost forgot,,,,looks like the po liked fixin stuff with electical tape,,, the hose was patched before

 

[lil buggy]

Re: 89 Fiesta Vee 250 setbacks, projects, and upgrades!

we made it up to pittsburgh finally, we headed up on the 26 mile trip( the admiral, a freind and myself) for skyblast fireworks after the pirate game saturday night. and we had a great time,,,, and streched the ol girls legs as well.
the first lock was dashields, old style lock, and spill over dam

then came emsworth lock, we had to go through the big chamber.

pulling out of emsworth,,,, next stop pittsburgh

thats when we noticed the beautiful sunset following us to the city

and my favorite

absolutely stunning