The last straw

Or, I should say, the last metering stem has finally snapped on the diesel stove.

Actually, this happened last week but we weren't going to be spending the night in cold weather aboard so I didn't think to mention it. Mandy was reassembling the fuel metering assembly on our troublesome diesel stove when the long stem valve that controls the fuel flow into the burner snapped off... apparently (apparently! right!) it was already bent and when she attempted to re-insert it the stem just broke right off.

This was mixed news; I had long anticipated that our problems with fuel flow would only be solved with a replacement metering valve and this pretty much forced the issue. I had priced them out around $160, which is more than we really want to spend at the moment, but necessity is the mother of large credit card balances. My only question was which replacement metering assembly to purchase; the website at Fisheries Supply showed three, one for diesel, one for kerosene, and one labeled "stove." Well, we have a stove, and it burns both diesel and kerosene, so it wasn't clear which we would need.

Today after we got back from the peninsula, we had to go pick my truck up at Shilshole, so we decided to stop in at Fisheries and ask. We found a nice gentleman named Mike back in the galley department to help us. He was very friendly, warned us up front that he wasn't their stove expert, who was at lunch, but that if we could wait around fifteen minutes, the expert, Dwight, would be back to help. Despite claiming he didn't know much about it, Mike took some time while we were waiting and looked into it and thought he might have found the part we needed, available by itself, for only $15. That was welcome news, particularly since he informed us that the whole valve assembly would be around $180, not the $160 listed on the website. We decided at his recommendation to wait for Dwight and the expert perspective, however, so we did.

Dwight started off on the wrong foot when he showed up and told us it was impossible to be doing something that we had done quite succesfully for nearly five years already. We must have missed the memo. Things went downhill from there. He told us that the part was the wrong one anyway (we had called it the wrong name) and that he was no longer able to order those parts separately anyway and we'd have to buy the whole package. Leaving aside why they were all available in the system, with separate prices, even if they couldn't be ordered (systems can be wrong, I know as well as anyone), we tried to find out whether a dealership or repair center could still get them, and how we might at least try to get just the piece we needed, but Dwight didn't want to countenance the idea. "If you got the wrong thing and put it in and burned the boat down, who are you gonna sue?" he asked. I said it didn't matter much if it was a small part or the whole assembly, if it was the wrong one or got installed wrong, the boat was still going to burn, and the sort of person who would sue would still sue over it. But we at least got a phone number for Dickinson from Mike, and thanked them and left.

Dwight was a lot more interested in telling us what couldn't be done about the problem than what could, and showing off his expertise rather than listening to our needs and helping us with them. Consequently, Fisheries blew off $180 in sales today... I doubt they'll miss it, they cater to a more professional crowd anyway, and I have heard before that the way to get good service from them is simply to be there a lot and be in the business, get to know the staff. If that's what works for them, swell; on the other hand, Seattle Marine Supply also caters to professionals, and they've been nothing but helpful any time we have been in there, despite what must seem very piddly little boat problems compared to what the big crab boat crews come in with.

I am sure that this is an individual problem, since the first gentleman, Mike, was great; but it's a problem I've had with Fisheries before, too, so it seems there is something systemic about it as well. I don't understand it, frankly, particularly in this economic climate: why on earth is anyone making it more difficult for me to give them money? I was all set to drop $160 in there today, and would probably have gone up to $180 if someone had simply talked me through the options instead of shutting it all down with a blanket "Can't do it." Instead, if I do have to buy the whole assembly, I'm going to get it online from someone else for $150, all because of one blowhard. How many times does that happen a day, you wonder?

So that's my... let's see, what is the opposite of a plug? A slug? That's my slug for Fisheries Supply. Strike two!

And I'll put in another plug for Second Wave while I am at it. We stopped there after Fisheries, and they had a whole replacement stove for less than Fisheries wanted for the metering valve. It would be cheaper to buy and strip the parts we need and re-sell the rest. We're still holding out on a conversation with Dickinson, however, or any authorized repairmen or installers we can find in the area. I didn't look at it but Mandy said it looks like the stem simply unscrews; if that's the case then surely we can find a used one or a repairman with a spare that will be cheaper. Failling that, there is a rebuild kit for $50 available online at several chandleries, and I might spring for that just to see if it includes the part (it might be worthwhile for the other spares involved anyway).