Hello all,

I'm new to this sport (and hence the group) having bought a small
13.5foot boat with a Mercury 20hp outboard last week and had a great
time on Derwen****er at the weekend!
The boat is of an unknown make/mode and is quite old.

I look forward to doing the powerboat Level 2 course next week so
suspect that will answer a lot of my questions. In the meantime I
have some general questions I like to put to the group.

1) Is there a uk.r.b.p FAQ/website?
2) The boat has a 'mercontrol' remote with a 3-pin socket on the
front. Is this a kill-switch? If so, what woudl I connect that to on
the outboard?
3) there is a toggle switch on the front ende (not the top) of the
control - what is this usually used for?
4) The mercury outboard has a space to put a start motor - is it a
simple case of ramming one in and wiring it in or woudl the engine
have to be modified?

I'm sure I'll have many more questions along the way, but this is a
good start.

thansk in advance

Tony

Hi Tony,

One newbie to another here... so beware cause I may well be talking through
my arse...
Just wanted to show willing!

1) Sorry r.b.p?
2) Don't know if it is a kill switch but could be - do you have a plug with
3 pins to put into it? If your engine is running without anything plugged
into this then...1)It is not a kill switch 2)It is not working 3)It is not
connected.
3) From my wide ranging experience of 1 boat, it sounds like an electric
choke switch.

Is there a place for an ignition key on the control too?

4) I would guess that you wouldn't require any major mods but you should
check this out with the more experienced people...

No disrespect to the very helpful people here, try www.iboats.com and check
out their forums if you get no luck.

David



"Tony Kenny" wrote in message
om...
Hello all,

I'm new to this sport (and hence the group) having bought a small
13.5foot boat with a Mercury 20hp outboard last week and had a great
time on Derwen****er at the weekend!
The boat is of an unknown make/mode and is quite old.

I look forward to doing the powerboat Level 2 course next week so
suspect that will answer a lot of my questions. In the meantime I
have some general questions I like to put to the group.

1) Is there a uk.r.b.p FAQ/website?
2) The boat has a 'mercontrol' remote with a 3-pin socket on the
front. Is this a kill-switch? If so, what woudl I connect that to on
the outboard?
3) there is a toggle switch on the front ende (not the top) of the
control - what is this usually used for?
4) The mercury outboard has a space to put a start motor - is it a
simple case of ramming one in and wiring it in or woudl the engine
have to be modified?

I'm sure I'll have many more questions along the way, but this is a
good start.

thansk in advance

Tony

Hi,

1) r.p.b == rec.baoating.power
2) It has a cover on it, this cover revealse 3 pins but nothing in
them, I suspect it could be a kill switch but not wired in. There is
a blanking plate on the top of the control where I assume a key would
go - woudl be nice to have one too, I have an old key switch I could
mount in there (as an immobiliser only) but would need to know where
to wire this to in the engine.

That toggle switch I might use to turn on navigation lights.

checking out those forums,

Thanks again!

Tony

"David Rees" wrote in message ...
Hi Tony,

One newbie to another here... so beware cause I may well be talking through
my arse...
Just wanted to show willing!

1) Sorry r.b.p?
2) Don't know if it is a kill switch but could be - do you have a plug with
3 pins to put into it? If your engine is running without anything plugged
into this then...1)It is not a kill switch 2)It is not working 3)It is not
connected.
3) From my wide ranging experience of 1 boat, it sounds like an electric
choke switch.

Is there a place for an ignition key on the control too?

4) I would guess that you wouldn't require any major mods but you should
check this out with the more experienced people...

No disrespect to the very helpful people here, try www.iboats.com and check
out their forums if you get no luck.

David



"Tony Kenny" wrote in message
om...
Hello all,

I'm new to this sport (and hence the group) having bought a small
13.5foot boat with a Mercury 20hp outboard last week and had a great
time on Derwen****er at the weekend!
The boat is of an unknown make/mode and is quite old.

I look forward to doing the powerboat Level 2 course next week so
suspect that will answer a lot of my questions. In the meantime I
have some general questions I like to put to the group.

1) Is there a uk.r.b.p FAQ/website?
2) The boat has a 'mercontrol' remote with a 3-pin socket on the
front. Is this a kill-switch? If so, what woudl I connect that to on
the outboard?
3) there is a toggle switch on the front ende (not the top) of the
control - what is this usually used for?
4) The mercury outboard has a space to put a start motor - is it a
simple case of ramming one in and wiring it in or woudl the engine
have to be modified?

I'm sure I'll have many more questions along the way, but this is a
good start.

thansk in advance

Tony

In article , Tony Kenny
writes
Hello all,

I'm new to this sport (and hence the group) having bought a small
13.5foot boat with a Mercury 20hp outboard last week and had a great
time on Derwen****er at the weekend!

don't forget the 10mph speed limit on there!

The boat is of an unknown make/mode and is quite old.

I look forward to doing the powerboat Level 2 course next week so
suspect that will answer a lot of my questions. In the meantime I
have some general questions I like to put to the group.

1) Is there a uk.r.b.p FAQ/website?

see other post with details of the groups charter

2) The boat has a 'mercontrol' remote with a 3-pin socket on the
front. Is this a kill-switch? If so, what woudl I connect that to on
the outboard?

Usually for the connection of accessories such as a tacho and 12v supply

3) there is a toggle switch on the front ende (not the top) of the
control - what is this usually used for?

That sounds like the kill switch.

--
Nick

Nick wrote in message ...
In article , Tony Kenny
writes
Hello all,

I'm new to this sport (and hence the group) having bought a small
13.5foot boat with a Mercury 20hp outboard last week and had a great
time on Derwen****er at the weekend!

don't forget the 10mph speed limit on there!

The boat is of an unknown make/mode and is quite old.

I look forward to doing the powerboat Level 2 course next week so
suspect that will answer a lot of my questions. In the meantime I
have some general questions I like to put to the group.

1) Is there a uk.r.b.p FAQ/website?

see other post with details of the groups charter

2) The boat has a 'mercontrol' remote with a 3-pin socket on the
front. Is this a kill-switch? If so, what woudl I connect that to on
the outboard?

Usually for the connection of accessories such as a tacho and 12v supply

3) there is a toggle switch on the front ende (not the top) of the
control - what is this usually used for?

That sounds like the kill switch.


Yeah, I remembered the speed limit, which is exactly why I went to
that lake so that a) I wasn't tempted to go too fast for my abilities
and b) So I'd have no other fast moving crafts to give me hassle.

The only problme I had was estimating 10mph on water, I assume the
limit is water relative and not land relative? I have a pitot speedo
en route to me so i'll have that fittd for my next visit, along with
tacho and fuel gauge and a level 2 certificate with a bit of luck (or
hard work I should day).

Where would I wire a kill switch up to on the engine? I'd like to
connect maybe both the toggle switch AND the kill wire so if I do fall
out at least my boat wont go crashing into others at speed.

thanks

Tony

If you ground the live feed to the coil, you are in effect putting a dead
short across the supply, which sounds very dangerous. Far better for the
switch to open circuit the feed to the coil.


"Nick" wrote in message
...
In article , Tony Kenny
writes

That sounds like the kill switch.

Where would I wire a kill switch up to on the engine? I'd like to
connect maybe both the toggle switch AND the kill wire so if I do fall
out at least my boat wont go crashing into others at speed.

Are you sure it's not wired up? You would soon find out by trying it.

Anyway, it usually is connected to the live feed to the coil (ie the low
tension side). All the switch does is ground this feed which by default
kills the engine. It is possible that it works differently on different
engines, I'm sure someone else will chip in. I'm only going from
experience on monohull race boats as I had a kill switch fail on me
once. I always thought it was a stupid way of wiring it as a loose
connection means that it won't kill the engine!
--
Nick

"Nick" wrote in message
...
In article , Tony
Kenny
writes

That sounds like the kill switch.

Where would I wire a kill switch up to on the engine? I'd like to
connect maybe both the toggle switch AND the kill wire so if I do fall
out at least my boat wont go crashing into others at speed.

Are you sure it's not wired up? You would soon find out by trying it.

Anyway, it usually is connected to the live feed to the coil (ie the
low
tension side). All the switch does is ground this feed which by default
kills the engine. It is possible that it works differently on different
engines, I'm sure someone else will chip in. I'm only going from
experience on monohull race boats as I had a kill switch fail on me
once. I always thought it was a stupid way of wiring it as a loose
connection means that it won't kill the engine!
--
Nick


In article , Brian Runyard
writes
If you ground the live feed to the coil, you are in effect putting a dead
short across the supply, which sounds very dangerous. Far better for the
switch to open circuit the feed to the coil.



I quite agree. Perhaps it wasn't the coil, but it certainly worked by
grounding something. I know that because when the wire fractured, the
kill switch failed! It was the same on a 75 yam as a 70 Johnson, but
perhaps it was just the way the race boats were built...


I've seen some that ground the Contact Breaker side of the coil.

In article , Landlubber
wrote:
I have some questions which, hopefully, someone can help with. Do
we need permission to launch the boat or can we just go ahead?

Normally just go ahead - parking the car might be a bigger problem.

Are
there launch fees involved?

Not in this area.

What do we do about security? I'm imagining a scenario where we've
motored along, come to a nice stopping place - a village or such,
and want to get out and look around.

Doubt if you'll travel far enough to worry but I have seen loads of
inflatables in Millport Bay seemingly abndoned - owners in the pub or
the chippy or with a bit of luck out on a bike.

How do we stop someone nicking the boat?

A long bicycle chain will normally suffice and you can usually find
something to fix it too.

Apologies for such dumb questions - but there'll likely be more to
follow.

We were all beginners once upon a time :-)

Thanks in advance.

Nae panic.

--
A T (Sandy) Morton
on the Bicycle Island
In the Global Village
http://www.sandymillport.fsnet.co.uk