alegood

I was walking the towpath between Kintbury Wharf and Shepherds Bridge yesterrday (15th March) and there is a burnt out boat called Megan. I can't find any mention of it anywhere at all. Does anyone know what happened? I hope the owners are okay. It's quite a way from any road access.

Evening Leo, Is your system a grid tie inverter then? I think they are built with immersion heaters in mind. How big is your cylinder? How long does it take for a 1Kw element to heat the tank? Evening Bazza. My cylinder has a boss on the top for an immersion. I had it built in when I ordered the tank. Thank you though. I've posted my query on the Outback forum. I will see what their thoughts are. In the meantime, anyone else's opinion would be most welcome.

Okay. Many thanks Thought it might be a bit tricky! I will definitely ask the Outback forum. I will report back if there is a way of doing it. Alegood.

Thanks Robbo. The inverter in this setup is going to be left on 24/7. Would it be possible to use a relay from the Outback to switch on the 1.5Kw immersion circuit? And wire the second 2Kw immersion from the shoreline feed ? Alegood Good idea Robbo, I will ask on the Outback forum as well later today. Alegood

Thanks for replying. It does have a diversion output, which is 12v. The outback wiring diagram shows it connected to a relay. The immersion I want to use is 230v. So I am at a bit of a loss as to how this is all wired together. You can adjust float voltage, absorbtion voltage and time, and you can adjust the equalisation values of the Outback. Alegood.

Okay so this is my setup. 1050 watts of solar panels Outback Flexmax 80 1000 amp 2v traction batteries at 12v system voltage Victron 12/3000 Multiplus 26 (?) Gallon (1050x450) Calorifier. I'd like to add the following immersion heater. https://www.advancedwater.co.uk/prod-232-255-2721.html What is the best way to do this? Many thanks

Tony, thanks for your concern, don't worry though Because I didn't pressure test the injector outisde of the engine. I know full well about how high the fuel pressure is. After watching the video carefully several times, I removed the injector from the engine block, and took the nozzle off of the main body of the injector. I then copied the video, and then I rinsed all the toothpaste out using petrol, and left it to dry thoroughly... The pintle moved up and down in the nozzle, which it didn't before, (as it was all carbonned up) but there was still some friction. I reassembled it back into the engine block and ran the engine. Better, but not much. So I bought new ones. No, I don't have a pop tester, or anything like that. I didn't change anything else on the injector. And one further thought, I had a good, careful, look at the injector, and could see no other holes that might be blocked. They were definitely pintle injectors, not pintaux. Anyway. Just thought it was worth a shot. It didn't work for me, but It may work for other people though. Regarding the Injector pump, I had expert advice as to why the pump was leaking diesel. I have repaced the pump with an overhauled one. No more leaks. I am happy with the explanation I was given. Take care, Ollie.

Had an interesting conversation with T W Marine this week. Did an engine service on a DV20, and the owner had been using 20 w 50. I told them this was wrong and to use SAE 30 (which is what I had been using) HOWEVER, on speaking to T W Marine whilst ordering bits, discovered that the correct oil is SAE 20. This makes starting the engine far easier in winter apparently. You can use SAE 30 in the summer, but SAE 20 API CC or API CD is recommended for all year round use. This applies to the gearbox as well. SAE 20 API CC / CD all the way. (The workshop manual specifies SAE 10 for air temperatures below 5 degrees celsius, but I haven't been able to find any) AND this applies to ALL Bukhs, Dv10, DV20, and DV30. Hope this is of interest to people. Ollie.

Good evening. Really sorry for the long delay in providing you with an update. Firstly, the injector pump was replaced with a reconditioned unit because it was dripping fuel. Modern red diesel is low in sulphur and doesn't lubicate the O rings, so they go hard, and let diesel bypass them, so it leaks out. I tried cleaning number two injector with some toothpaste (see ) Unfortunately this didn't work particularly well. So I ordered a set of reconditioned injectors. They only came on Tuesday, and I fitted them yesterday. Bled and ran the engine, took the boat for a four mile run. No more smoke. Apparently the pintle can get stuck open in the injector nozzle and cause overfuelling. This would account for the amount of white exhaust smoke, and (I am guessing here) exhaust gas would go back into the injector, giving the same symptoms as of an air leak and impossibility to bleed the fuel clear of bubbles. Anyway, the boat is running really well now. Thanks for everyones advice. Ollie.

I did wonder that Richard, but I have been assured by various mechanics that because the pump has a master spline you cannot get it wrong. I've just been talking to somebody and they suggest I get number 2 injector tested. I will take it off and have it tested next week. Unfortunately I am busy all weekend, and the local diesel specialist is, I believe, closed at weekends. Thanks. Will keep you posted. Forgot to say that it actually doesn't run too bad and seems to have plenty of power. Though it does feel a little bit lumpy, so that would point to a faulty injector.

Hello. I have just fitted a reconditioned injector pump. With the etched line on the pump housing in line with the arrow marking on the casting, the engine smokes really badly. White/blue smoke on tick over, and clouds of it with revs. I have spent the best part of two days rotating the injector pump body to various places and re-trying and though I can reduce the amount of smoke, I can not eliminate it, even with the pump fully rotated clockwise. What shall I try next? I'm not sure if this is related, but when bleeding the injectors, no's 1, 3 and 4 all bleed through clear, but no 2 injector seems to have a steady stream of air bubbles which again, I cannot stop. Any suggestions as to the cause of this, I've tried tightening the injector pipe union on the pump, and that seems okay, as does the bolt that holds the injector pipe whatsit (technical term) to the pump body. (no 2 whatsit is the one on the top of the body adjascent to the engine block, and does not have the bleed screw in the whatsit). (hope you understand what I mean by whatsit!) Thanks.

Hello. To all those who helped me a little while back in re-powering my boat - MANY THANKS !! The Bukh DV20 is a many splendid thing and I would highly recommend it. I did have a long running gearbox oil leak issue with it though and I thought I would share the following. After every cruise I would find a puddle of oil underneath the gearbox which led me to believe that the gearbox input oil seal was failing. Sometimes it would leak a lot, other times hardly anything. Puzzled. So I proceded to take the box off and replace the seal. For those who don't know this is accessed from INSIDE the box, so you need to undo the allan bolts and take the end plate off. I then dug out the old seal, which didn't actually appear to be to bad. I put the new one in, however I didn't have the right tool and so I struggled to get it in, as it is such a tight fit, and I was a little worried that I had damaged it. Nevertheless I put the gearbox back on and reconnected everything. The same thing was occurring, variable amounts of oil under the box. I concluded that either I had damaged the new seal, or that it wasn't in quite straight. So I bought a new one and T W Marine kindly lent me their seal replacement tool (which worked a treat). I put the box back on, refilled it and started the engine. With the boat tied to the bank and in gear, perfect - hooray. I took the boat for a spin and then back to my mooring. I looked in the engine bay and there was oil under the box. I was beginning to suspect the output seal (although there was no sign of oil from it at all), which I hadn't changed, or as a worst case a cracked casing. I put the boat back in gear and, with it still tied to the bank, revved it quite hard. No leak. I put it in reverse and, again, revved it quite hard. GEARBOX DIPSTICK POPPING UP AND DOWN !!!!!!!!!! So after all that hassle, the leak was caused by the two little 'O' rings on the dipstick filler being worn meaning that the dipstick is loose enough to pop out. But it only does it in reverse, I suppose when that shaft is engaged and spinning underneath it it must cause some sort of pressure. I hope this is of some help to anyone, and that it saves them a lot of time and effort and money!!!! Take care. Ollie

Have rung Bob. He's going to look at it on Monday. If anybody has one we could potentially buy if it's a no-go with this one then please let me know!! Thanks. Ollie.

Thanks. I'll do that now.

Hello. The Bruce Trust, www.brucetrust.org.uk, which provides holidays for the dissabled, have a boat with a Lister HR3 and a Hurth HBW360-2l gearbox, ratios 2.13 A, 2.10 B. The gearbox is, basically, knackered. ZF do not support this box. The boat was built in 1988 with a new engine and gearbox. As far as I understand it was one of the last gearboxes to be built by Hurth and was then dropped when ZF took over Hurth. The closest box is a zf25, but using this means having to lower the engine to allign with the prop. There isn't space to fit an aquadrive or equivalent. Modifying and alligning the engine is a huge task. Does anybody have an HBW360-2l, or any ideas, or anything? Help.