Chalky
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Posts posted by Chalky
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On the B series petrol engines (I think the diesel is a common base engine) there is a drain hole between the bearings. This usually weeps if the bearings / seals are on their way out. I suspect the pump needs replacing.
What's interesting is why it only leaks when the pressure cap is off. It suggests that the partial vacuum created by the cap (no air entry) is holding the water in and that the whole system can't hold pressure.
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I've had cast iron parts welded in the past. You need to find a specialist welder who can do the job. The repair I had was on a cylinder head and I think he welded it with a nickel filler rod (probably wrong, usually only so silicon!)
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If you can take it along to a motor factors (not a big chain store). They might be able to identify it and find a replacement or at the worst find something that is the right shape to fill the hole.
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I was asked by BW about 2 years ago to move my boat so they could dredge the mooring! We moor at a wharf and before the dredging I couldn't leave the mooring after about 10:00 in the morning as the pound level had dropped - depth about 2'. After the dredging I put the pole down and couldn't feel the bottom at 8'. Obviously BW must know where the puddling starts...
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I've used mega fuses from Littelfuse MEGA to fuse both my domestic and starter batteries. 200A for domestic and 400A for the engine starter. The fuse is to protect the cable (although mine all run inside convolute tube) and the cables are 50mm csa. I'm thinking about adding a fuse on the alternator cable to protect that (automotive practice). Remember to allow for worst case cold cranking currents when the sizing the starter fuse.
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WE had a dark blue roof on the boat for a number of years. It was too hot to walk on and made the cabin hot as well. Changed it to a cream colour which helped the temperature. Now it gets dirty easily and in bright sun the glare means you need to wear sunglasses!
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I paid £100 last year. I contacted the examiner and arranged for him to drop in when he was next in the area so it saved me the travelling costs. Unfortunately he's now moved to the other end of the country...
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If you can use the pink antifreeze its a better option - look for OAT (Organic Acid Technology). It's got a life of 5 years compared to the usual 2, but it does cost more. Not all engines can work with it, however my Isuzu is cast iron and it's been ok for 7 years. Tends to be used by many car manufacturers since its got several advantages over glycol (I did get an explanation of a cooling system expert once but I can't remember why, just that its better),
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What's the voltage across the batteries with the engine running and no inverter and with the engine running and the inverter? This would give you an indication if the alternator can produce the current. If it can't I'd look for a mechanical solution first - drive belt etc. The charge warning light tells you that the alternator can produce enough power to self excite, it doesn't tell you that it can charge the batteries.
Also have you tried pulling the domestic fuses/turning off the domestic power and just leaving the inverter on with the engine running. This would give you a clue if you've got something in the domestic system that's causing a problem. If things are OK then put the fuses back in 1 at a time until the problem returns - that will show you the problem circuit.
If you've not got an ammeter sometimes the battery cables can have sufficient volt drop to act as shunts and allow you to measure the current, however if you can use that trick your cables are too small.
You say that you have a split charge using a relay and that both battery banks go flat. Is there a voltage sensitive relay controlling the split charge relay or not. If not then adding one should at least stop the starter battery going flat.
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That's radiated emissions. A spark gap transmits broad band interference - that's why it upsets the TV. I think Paul has a conducted transient problem and Allan's suggestion of a 46p transient suppressor is the most likely fix. If that doesn't work then he's into more "interesting" EMC fixes.
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The suppressor might work if its conducted emissions, if its radiated it would require a different solution. Has it always done it or is it recent? If it's recent I'd go looking for a missing earth.
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High voltage spike caused by the igniter is probably causing the other units to lock up. You need to fit some form of transient supression to it. Could use a large ferrite coil and wrap the power feed to the igniter round it a couple of times. Alternatively you could use an inductive supressor that you can get for car radios and feed the igniter through that.
On the same subject do the wires to the igniter run in the same bundle as the wires to the other loads? If they do have you tried moving them away - it might be coupling that way and moving them might fix it.
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Silly question but have you checked the alternator belt? I've seen this before on a car where it would start at night to go home from work, but not the next morning. The reason was that at night there was a heavy load on the alternator (headlights, heated rear window & fans) and the alternator couldn't charge the battery. In the morning it was light and the the loads weren't on. It charged ok. Your inverter & batteries along with the batteries could be presenting the same load. The belt did not appear to be slipping but when replaced and re-tightened it was fixed. Took me ages to get to the bottom of that one.
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Have you tried Microsoft Visio? More powerful than pagemaker and can occasionally be found as a time limited trial version. It allows you to draw any size you want and then scale the print to fit. I've got a full size drawing (40" in visio) of the boat that prints on A4. It also lets you manipulate pictures (basic stuff), shade colours etc. Basically a 2D cad package.
Alternators & load balance
in Living Afloat
Posted · Edited by Chalky
I'm about to replace the batteries in my domestic bank since they're just about dead. Before I replace them with a new set I'd like to sort out the charging system since I think (know) this has been the cause of their demise. The engine is an 33hp Isuzu fitted with 2 A127 70A Alternators producing 14.3V (might need to change alternator cable). I asked for the charge / engine speed curves when the engine was fitted and they show that at 1000rpm the alternators are producing 40A & 45A. A 110A alternator (If I'd taken the option) would be producing 90A at the same speed.
Typical daily load is approx 100Ah and is taken from a 400 Ah battery bank. This is mainly goes to power a 600W inverter to run a fridge and the usual lights / pumps (12V). The boat is usually used as a holiday boat and cruises for 6 to 8 hours a day, however Senior Management likes to stop for several days at a time (can be up to a week) and this obviously causes load balance problems.
I've just invested in a battery monitor (wrong one, not a SG!) and although the ammeter and voltmeter are good the state of charge indicator is c**p. A set of dice would be more accurate - the algorithm seems to "reset" itself based upon battery voltage after a power is used once charging has finished. Nice idea, however it doesn't work with partly sulphated batteries! When cruising the ammeter shows about 28A into the battery, the rest going the the fridge and the items that the children tend to connect when the engines running - DVD player, chargers etc. I have a small 5W solar panel to try to overcome self discharge when the boat is left - probably too small.
My basic problem is lack of amps and I believe I have several options.
Fit a bigger alternator.
Fit smaller pulley on the domestic alternator
Parallel Alternators
I can find some of the answers however I've got a few that I'd appreciate help with:-
Is a more powerful version of the A127 available?
Can I replace it with an A127i? - 100A & 120A are available
If they are not interchangeable what are the issues?
Would I need to use a poly V belt or will the standard V belt be OK?
Is there a crank shaft pulley available to fit a poly V belt on the 4LB33 engine or how easy is it to modify one?
If I use the V standard belt how much shorter will its life expectancy be?
At the moment I keep the batteries in the garage at home, charge them and fit them before we use the boat. This means that they are in a reasonable state of charge at the start of the holiday, but completely wrecked after a few days.
Any suggestions before I take the final decisions.