Month: July 2022 Page 1 of 2

After a busy last week getting the engines out, it has slowed down this week. We have had to pump out slop from the bilges, clean them with the pressure washer, get them all dry, and put paint in the bilges before the new, clean, red engines go in. This mostly took up the beginning of the week along with some crane ops and moving/removing various items ranging from engine room parts to tools and materials. The ship is a mess with so many projects and equipment being used. Alesha and I have many side quests from Denis to install the wifi, run the POSMV wires and set up that system, run the wires for the starboard and port side cameras, reconstruct the CTD, and make new terminations on the 3-2-2 wire. We also have side quests from Jon to finish the A/C installation in  Cabin 9, make a shelf, and insulate some more A/C piping. The main mission of course right now is figuring out how to get the new engines at around 4,500 lbs onto the ship and into the engine room cleanly and safely. Then, to repower and run controls to all of the steering stations onboard. 

In the latter part of this week, I worked on making some holes in the overheads to run RJ45 wire to the two different wifi modems. I also had to mount the modems and figure out where to put the relay boxes for easier maintenance later on. 

This week was remarkably busy and tiring. On Monday, the weather was not in our favor to pop open the soft patch, breaking the watertight seal, so we began stripping everything off the starboard engine: aftercooler, exhaust manifold, raw water pump, alternator, and coolant reservoir. By Tuesday, the weather was looking better so we pulled up the decking to expose the soft patch, scraped off the 5200, and pulled off the soft patch. That was the easy part of the day. Following, we hooked the engine up with the crane and attached the Dillion tension load cell between the engine and the crane wire. Upon lifting we realized the engine still weighed 4,560 lbs., over the SWL for the extension of the crane, it was now time to remove at least 1,000 lbs. We started by removing the 6 valve covers (one for each cylinder and not one large one), followed by removing the cylinder heads, valves, injectors, and rocker body. Tuesday night I got the wonderful news that I had the opportunity to extend my internship until the middle of September and gladly accepted. By Wednesday morning, the engine was ready to be lifted again to remove it from the engine room. This time, it weighed exactly 1,000 lbs. less. We were now able to lift the engine and move the crane safely. This took some time as we had to avoid the generator that was sitting close by, as well as a seawater discharge pipe that stuck out about 4 inches from the edge of the soft patch. We were able to lower the engine in the middle of the deck, where the starboard crane would pick up the engine and place it on the dock. While the engine as placed in the middle of the deck on blocks, the oil pan was reattached. By the end of the day, the engine was blocked under an overhang to protect it from rain. By Thursday, we knew exactly what we needed to remove from the starboard engine to make it light enough for the crane. We started with breaking the head bolts and removing the heads, valves, and injectors to remove all that weight from the engine. This was all followed up by decluttering the area around the engine to be able to shift it aft without anything being in the way. By the end of the day Thursday, the engine was moved aft under the soft patch and ready to be removed Friday morning. Friday morning was started by removing a light fixture that was hanging off the soft patch, removing the decking and stairwell on top, then popping off the patch. The starboard engine was far more difficult to remove from the engine room because the hydraulic fluid tank occupied half, if not more, of the working area under the patch to more the engine around. Because of that, we had to keep problem solving ways to angle and maneuver the engine to shimmy it out. Once out of the engine room and lowering onto the dock everyone was relieved and excited. As the engines weight was removed from the crane onto the dock, the boat rose about 6 inches out of the water. With both engines out and off the boat, we removed nearly 5 tons, setting us below our lowest draft mark. Having both engines out was a fantastic way to end the work week.

This past week was full of sweat, hard work, and heavy lifting. Starting on Monday we started stripping the starboard side engine’s after cooler, exhaust manifold, coolant reservoir, raw water pump, and decouple the wiring harnesses. As the weather was favorable, on Tuesday we were ready to attempt taking the portside engine out. We had several pallets full of heavy engine parts to get off the deck and the soft patch over the engine room to bring up before we could attempt lifting the engine out of the hatch. We decided to use the Dillon Load Tester on the crane to see how much the engine weighed with the heads on as it would be the most ideal situation to leave the internal parts of the preexisting and new engines unexposed. However, upon lifting the engine we discovered that lifting the engine out with the heads on would be impossible as the crane was only rated for 3,300 lbs with the jib fully extended. The engine with the heads on weighed 4,600 lbs. So, we managed to get the engine back on blocks and started breaking the heads loose. This includes taking off the head covers, taking out the rocker body, removing the injectors, and taking off the exhaust and intake valves. Here is a picture of me with the head covers off and internal valve springs exposed:

Wednesday morning we were ready to try again and get the engine block out. It weighed 3,560 lbs with the heads off and so it was a bit sketchy when the crane moved it to the center of the deck but everyone was highly vigilant and making sure everyone stayed safe. It was a success and we put the oil pan and flat plate back on while it was on deck. It was then picked up by the second crane and moved to the pier to be taken away by the forklift. Here is a picture of Alesha and I with the engine block resting on the back deck:

On Thursday, we continued stripping the starboard side engine and removing the heads as we learned our lesson from trying to lift the other one with the heads on. We then began to move the engine aft on the A-frame. This was a bit more tricky as the hydraulic pumps and tank for the cranes was in the way to get the engine out of the soft patch. It was a long day as it had taken us two days to move the other engine back in three regroups of the A-frame, while we did this engine in one day with two regroups of the A-frame. It is pretty cool working with everyone though as it is like solving a puzzle of finding the best and safest ways to clear things in our way. It seems that ideas flow and as soon as someone is off on a mission to get the right tool or another block of wood that another idea pops up that suffices. It was a very collaborative effort made fun with jokes, music, and a little edginess of lifting something so heavy around such a cramped engine room. 

By Friday morning, we were ready to lift the soft patch and hoist the engine out which was tricky as that hydraulic pump and tank if hit or pushed up against by the engine block could shut the whole crane down. That is the same crane that we were using to lift the engine up and out of the hatch. It literally took all of the crew, Alesha and I, Ron and Lock and Ron’s son, and Don Cucchiara to figure out how to get this engine out of the hatch sharing ideas and different perspectives as we all had different aspects of what was going on and concerns. We ended up getting it out after a few hours without damaging any of the hydraulics or anyone getting hurt. Here is a picture of Jon, our Chief Engineer and previous MATE intern next to the starboard side engine on blocks:

We concluded the week by also taking out the CO2 tanks to get recertified and took a long swim on the beach as we were quite dirty and sweaty. This experience has been capitalized by a great crew, wonderful working environment, and lots of in-depth experiences on a variety of maintenance projects. I am happy and grateful to be able to extend the internship until September 13th and stick around to see the end of this engine project with the F.G. Walton Smith. There are lots of great people at RSMAS that are on the forefront of trying to make the world a better place through Coral Research and Reconstruction, Underwater Archaeology, and Hurricane Research. Here is a picture of us enjoying the weekend in Wynwood with some of our RSMAS friends:

This week was all about getting ready to remove the engines and dissembling one. To start the week, we drained the oil out of the port engine. In the process of getting a 55 gallon barrel for the coolant to be collected in, we stopped at the machine shop to clean up some space to work and put parts for when the engines arrive. To finish the day, we removed the air intake manifold on the port engine.

Tuesday was a relatively slow day, as it took some time to drain the coolant out of both engines. The drain was in a low spot were only a 1.5 gallon bucket could fit so there was a bunch of stop and start with the flow of the coolant from the engine. We removed the air intake manifold from the starboard engine, then removed the coolant reservoir for the port engine. To finish off the day we cleaned and organized the deck. Although not much was completed, all the jobs were tedious in their own way.

The rest of the week we spent disassembling various parts of the engine to lighten the weight for the crane: oil pan, turbo, aftercooler, exhaust manifold, raw water pump, and alternator. Once we set up the A-frame and were able to lift the engine a bit, we shifted it forward to disconnect the flywheel from the torque converter. By Friday afternoon, the engine was unseated, raised, and placed on blocks directly below the soft patch, ready to be removed the following week.

Later Friday evening, the new engines showed up! Fire engine red and ready to be used. I cannot wait to see them running!

New diesel Cummins engines, fire engine red for more speed.

The process of hoisting the engine on the A-frame with 2 diesel experts.

The engine project has been started as we got the other exhaust out last friday and started pulling off parts of the portside engine this week. We first had to drain the system of coolant and oil. We then proceeded to take off the coolant reservoir, air intake, turbo, aftercooler, exhaust manifold, alternator, raw water pump, oil pan, and the pick-up tube. We had to move all that we could out of the way including the raw water piping from both the diesel generator and the main engine. The engineers that are in charge of repowering the F.G. Walton Smith are two old salty guys that have been working with Cummins, Caterpillar, Detroit, and doing these engine rebuilds for an accumulated 80+ years. Their relationship is straight out of a movie and they are fun to work with, their names are Ron Cheeseman and Lockwood. Here is a picture of me working with Ron taking apart the engine: 

By today, we have finally got the port engine decoupled and up on an A-frame attached to two 3-ton chain hoists and resting on blocks prepared to move and lift through the soft patch on the aft deck. It has been great experience taking the engine apart, looking at all of the mechanical parts and understanding how they are put together and work. It is also quite impressive to see and use the equipment required to lift these engines with such experienced guys. It puts in perspective how demanding and complex of a project this is but also how it is absolutely possible to do pretty much anything. These guys take on big jobs and get them done no matter what and have been doing it for many, many years. Here is a picture of Alesha, Ron’s son, and I with the engine on blocks:

Here are some additional pictures of the engines deconstructed and me underneath unscrewing the oil pan:

This week was a short week with Monday being the 4^th of July, but it was a busy week full of different jobs. To start the week off Jon showed us how to transfer black water from the port tank to the starboard tank. All but one head discharge into the port tank, so it filled up and because were dockside we cannot dump it. We then continued the day by cleaning and organizing the dry lab, moving the medical instruments and book back to on top of the cabinet, which was moved to remove the ceiling. To finish the day, Denis explained the POS-MV (Position and Orientation System for Marine Vessels) system and how we will install it. The POS-MV is accurate enough to report our position to about 1 foot, it is more accurate than a GPS. The system has 2 antennas that are mounted off the port and starboard stacks. These antennas are used to triangulate our position from satellites.

One of the projects we have been working on is the AT&T Wi-Fi system onboard. The antenna is getting moved to a different location in hope of extending the range of service anther 5-6 miles when we are offshore. We removed the antenna from the existing mount above the winch house and had to find a new mount to attach it to. The antenna will get attached to the top of the day shapes mast, so that had to be taken down. An antenna that was on the mast already, but not in use anymore, had to be taken off too. We had to figure out a new way to mount the antenna because the old mount for the antenna that did not work, wasn’t sturdy enough. After taking about it with Jon, he recommended that we should get an aluminum plate and weld it to the top of the mast, which is what we did in the end. We ensured the antenna would fit properly and cut a hole for the cable to go through. Before we were able to weld the plate to the mast, paint had to be grinded off to reach clean aluminum, that way the welded portions would hold. After watching Jon weld the piece, Kyle and I took turns to learn and practice laying beads on some scrap metal.

To start the engine project, we removed the exhaust pipe for the engines. The helped pull the pipe after they were disconnected. This was a very tedious job for the port side, we had to pull the 15-20 feet pipe up through the watertight door. To do this, the pipe had to be lifted up into the stack enough for the other end to be swung out the door. For the starboard side, the pipe was shorter and there were additional eyes that we could attach the chain falls to, to help in the process. Pulling the exhaust pipes took 7 of us to help. But that was the start of the engine project, and there is more to coming in the next weeks.

Learning how to weld. It was beginner luck for my first bead but it went down hill from there. More practice is needed.

So we’re still awaiting the arrival of the engines on to the RSMAS campus. We have started the process of getting the engine spaces clear enough to move large engine parts through the hatch. This includes taking out the main engine exhaust headers which were awkwardly one solid piece of inch thick metal. They were heavy and it took all 7 of us to lift and manuever the exhaust piece with various chain fall, strap, and line configurations. It was very heavy, tiring, but also very rewarding to get this piece out of the engine room. A little foreshadowing into what we will have to do for the engine removal and install. 

With Denis, our Marine Tech, we went over the new POSMV system and how it will be installed, configured, and how it stores information on the network. This system is super important as it enables the Walton Smith to triangulate it’s position to the thousandth place using two main antennae and a tertiary antennae that use as many satellites that they can see and communicate with. The main part of the POSMV system is an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) which uses accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers to set a reference point on the ship accounting for yaw, pitch, and roll. This reference point is set as (0,0,0) on the x,y,z plane and when connected to the antennae automatically identifies the distance from the reference point in order to integrate the satellite data received to get an accurate representation of our postioning data. This is also important as it allows Denis to set up different reference points for the scientists in cases where coring operations or ROV operations are needed. The IMU is so important that it has to be logged that we have one, let known to the USCG, and locked away if going into international waters as this is the same kind of system that can be employed in aircraft, missiles, submarines, and satellites. Alesha and I have been tasked with figuring out how to mount the antennae and route the cables through the bulkheads, through-hull, and overheads then we will learn how to configure it onto the network and integrate it with other systems onboard. Here is a picture featuring Alesha and Denis as he explains the POSMV to us:

Another project we are working on is updating the current wifi systems onboard (there are two). This entails pulling down the day shape mast attaching a new antennae to it and figuring out a way to weatherproof one of the connections before running wires down to the Marine Tech lab where it can be hooked up to the network. The other wifi modem is being replaced with a newer model and so we learned how to configure it, add it to the network, and went through some of the administrator controls that give the marine tech options to set up VLAN, limit users, and look at bandwidth. We also received the necessary materials to finish our project setting up cameras along the side of the ship. 

While taking down the day shape mast and figuring out how we were going to rig up the wifi antennae to the top, we collaborated with Jon to use the opportunity to learn the basics of welding aluminum. Welding is an art form. It is very fun but hard as there are so many factors needed to pay attention to. Add too much heat and you will burn through the metal doing the opposite of what you’re trying to do. Add too little heat and the weld will bead up and not smoothly conjoin both pieces that you are welding. Go too fast and the weld doesn’t have time to fill in and you’re left with bubbly weld pools down the line. Go too slow and the weld pool gets too big, isn’t smoothed out, and becomes uneven. Get too close and you can melt the filler wire to the tip of the welder. Get too far away and the weld is too thin and cold. The settings of the welder’s voltage, how much shielding gas, and spool rate are also super important to a good weld. It is pretty interesting and definitely want to get better at it, which will take time and practice. Here is a picture of me learning to weld: