[Dodgy tacho?]

9v AC?

 

Something very wrong there. Even if you mean DC, it should be over 13v whilst the enigne is running.

Hi Kae thanks for your input but no, ac is correct.

[Dodgy tacho?]

G’day.

 

Any advice please, as to why a friends tacho has stopped working.

 

It’s been working ok, then suddenly just stopped working.

 

The hour counter is still working.

Getting a reading of 9 volts Ac at the alternator and the same on the back of the tacho.

 

Funny thing is though, that if he turns the key to the off position,(without stopping the engine) which means the ignition light comes on and there’s no battery charging, the tacho starts working again.

 

Turn the key back to run, the light goes out, the batteries start getting a charge again but the tacho stops again.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks Rob….

[Converting Vetus stern Gear]

I know next to nowt about stern gear, hence my questions. Very specific questions hence new post.

 

I am considering "de-Vetusing" my sterngear in the future, and am doing my homework trying to get some ideas together. The shaft is 30mm, with cutless bearing/vetus "greaserless" gland and setup as per photos. R&D fitted for some reason.

 

One option might be a PSS type carbon seal which might be a fairly straight forward replacement. (I understand one builder fits them.) Anyone got these, any experience and any opinions? (I know ex-member MrSmelly had them on his trip boats and thought they were good.)

http://www.shaftseal.com/en/categories/300000001

 

Another and probably one I am leaning towards is fitting a conventional greaser arrangement and doing away with the cutless (cutlass?) bearing. Now the questions :

 

Would I need to get a new tube welded in, or is a plain bearing available that can be fitted into the existing tube? Would it need making up specially, and how would it be secured (cutless currently secured with grub screw)?

 

Would I need to screw an extension tube into where the brass fitting in picture is installed, in order to mount stuffing box? I am unsure what thread the brass fitting is (trying to find out.)

 

Would the R&D be adequate with a "solid" setup?

 

Some conventional stuffing boxes are available on flexible pipes and could possibly be a straight fit. Are they any good?

 

Sorry lots of questions but I need to get my head around the subject before making changes

Many thanks.

 

Hi Cat.

 

Can I ask why the change?

 

I've had one of these for the last seven years and never had a problem.

 

Apart from forgetting to add the blue greese once ( add greese via a syringe,evey hundred hours or so) which caused it to drip, I've had dry bilges.

 

Rob....

[Tacho' problem.]

Might be worth checking your alternator belt whilst you're at it :-)

Thanks for that Kae, you just gave me an idea.

 

If the tacho' is alternator pulsed,and the boat is on a hook up to the mains, the charger will be doing the battery charging.

Will this make the alternator redundent and give out false readings there by messing with the tacho'?

 

I'm not at the (friends boat) at the moment so next time I'll un-hook and try it again.

 

Regards Rob...

[Tacho' problem.]

Hi all.

 

Does anyone know what the correct position of the selector switch should be on a Dacton tachometer please?

 

The tacho’s connected to a Beta BD1005.

 

I'm hoping an adjustment may sort it out.

 

The needle doesn’t move from the stop until the engine is running at about 1500(?) revs and then stops at 2500 revs, when the engine is nearly flat out.

 

Thanks in advance.

Rob….

[Oil change (?)]

Just out of curiosity, do you use pattern filters, or Vetus items? Cheers.

I use Baldwin filters.

 

In fact you put me on to them in a previous post.

[Oil change (?)]

I use Morris Golden in a 4.14. Cost isn't really an issue at about £25 for 5 litres. I change it once a year like my car.

Hi Richard.

 

How many hours is that?

I run anywhere between 1000-1500 hours a year, depending on where we are going.

The cost of oil and filters 4, 5 or 6 times a year does can wear on the bank balance.

[Oil change (?)]

i asked Vetus about this for the similar M415 engine in my boat. They said to "use a good quality oil that won't hurt your pocket, whether mineral, semi, or fully synth."

 

On the subject of oil change interval, they insisted that 100hrs is the correct interval, though did say that many owners change the oil at 150 hrs.

 

I have stayed with mineral, but suspect if you move up to synth that you should stay with it? From articles that I have read, it appears that many semi-synths. are little different than mineral anyway, though I am not an authority of course.

 

Thanks Catweasel.

 

I've been changing the oil at 250 hour intervals but I am a cc’er so the engine does get run at varying speeds.

 

100 hours still seems a bit low to me even if only used for battery charging.

 

Vetus are only the maranisers. As you probably know the 4.14 and 4.17 are Mitsubishi ( SL4(?) ) units used in generators, air con plants and the like.

I can't see them getting their oil changed every 100 hours if ever at all.

 

I seem to remember reading somewhere that using a fully synthetic oil, the time between oil changes can be extended without any harmful effects.

 

Now I’m waiting to be shot down.

 

Rob...

[Oil change (?)]

Good morning everyone.

 

Thinking of changing my oil....or should I say type of oil?

 

There seems to be some good deals around at the moment on oil.

 

My engine is a Vetus 4.17.

 

I've been using 10w 40 mineral or part synthetic oil and even a mixture of the two.

 

Now thinking of changing to 5w 30 full synthetic oil.

 

Any advice/opinions?

 

Thanks in advance. Rob....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Advice please]

Hi all.

 

I'm going to be moving two boats tied together through a lock flight.

 

On boat is 57 feet, the other is 42 feet.

 

Should they be tied level, at the bow, the stern or somewhere inbetween.

 

Many thanks for any advice given.

 

Rob....

[Anyone have experience of cat liveaboard]

Hi.

We moved onto the boat seven years ago and brought JO our cat with us....our choice not his.

Thankfully he seems to like it.

He knows if he likes somewhere as soon as we stop.

If he likes it he's off as soon as we stop, but never goes very far. If not he'll just sit in the bow and look out.

He has never been encouraged to go out at night ( if he fell in we wouldn't know ) and usually settles down on the bed once it gets dark.

He has been "swimming" many times and thankfully we've been around to get him out with the use of a towel to grab hold of, a fishing landing net we keep on the roof for just that purpose or if he's close enough we just grab hold of him.

BUT where ever we moor, especially if the canal has piling both sides of the cut, we ALWAYS leave a rope fender down either side of the bow.

Several times we haven't heard a splash but we have heard him screaming while clinging to the fender.

Although we have a dog as well - they are the best of friends - we try not to moor to close to other boats with dogs especially greyhounds or lurchers.

Would we have another cat?

At the moment I would say no but that's only because we worry too much about him and sometimes travel further than we wanted to, to find ( in our opinion ) a safe mooring.

[JABSCO TOILET]

About 14 months ago I fitted a new Jabsco electric toilet to the boat.

On Sunday evening, while in use, one side of the seat broke clean in half. Neither SWMBO or myself are big people.

Monday morning I phoned Jabsco and told them what happened.

They said that the toilet seat and lid are not covered under the warranty, which has run out anyway. New seat and lid cost £42.50 plus vat plus carriage.

But agreed that it shouldn't have broken and could I send them an email so that they have something in writing.

This I did, together with (a friends details just in case) and a photo of said broken seat.

So......Sunday evening seat breaks. Phone Monday morning. Tuesday morning my friend receives a new seat, lid and hinges F.O.C.

How good is that. Nice to see that there are still companies about, that care about their customers.

Well done Jabsco.

Rob....

[Alternator or battery charger?]

Just to point out that although no damage should be done there is a potential catch in using both. During the initial stage of charging it will be fine with a potential charge of 140 amps although I would suspect a bit less. However once that stage has passed you might find a multi-stage charger raises the charging voltage above the alternator's regulated voltage and if it does th hen the alternator may shut down although it could still be bale to deliver 60 or 80 amps into the batteries. The way to do it is to try it and see with and without the charger. If the current stays as high with as it did without the charger then use both and gain an advantage. If the current with the charger on drops then only use the charger until that drop point in time.

 

Once the alternator (on its own) output drops to 30 amps or less a multi-stage charger will probably be more efficient at maximising the charging current.

 

Thanks Tony.

 

I think that from what you're saying, it should be ok.

 

My smartgauge is usualy showing 64%-68% when I start charging the batteries.

 

At 1000 revs, 14.4 volts the alternator is putting out 55 amps.

10 minutes later the amps drop to 36 amps.

Another 10 mins and they are down to 24 amps.

After an hour it's only putting out 8 amps.

 

All the volt readings were 14.4 volts.

The soc goes from 68% to 82%.

 

I'll give the charger a go and see what happens.

Thanks again.

Rob....

[Alternator or battery charger?]

Why not both? Alternator will probably dominate to start with since it can supply lots of current, then later (depending on the voltage of the charger) the charger may be able to elevate the voltage, thus getting a good full charge. This is what we do (175A alternator and MV Combi via Travelpower)

 

Thanks for that.

I did wonder about running both together but wasn't sure if I should.

Would it still be ok when cruising for 5-6 hours?

Rob....

[Alternator or battery charger?]

Hello again.

4 x 110 Ah sealed batteries.

Running for around 2-3 hours a day.

Which would be more beneficial?

Charge the batteries from the 110 amp alternator or from a 30 amp battery charger via a Travel Power unit?

Thanks for any thoughts or input.

Rob....

[Am a bit upset]

I know it won't make you feel any better but...

 

Bending over to tie off to a newly inserted pin on Sunday evening at Dapdune - SPLOSH - Midland G7 Walkie Talkie slides gracefully out of oilie pocket directly into the Wey.

 

Anybody want one walkie talkie??

 

Annoying thing, hardly ever use them. Only because it was tipping down and we didn't want to faff about, I dispatched 'Er Indoors up the towpath to find a place for the night as I followed on.

 

Could have been worse - she suggested using the mobile phones! Glad it wasn't a new'ish iPhone 5 making the splash...

 

On the original topic I have brought a number of mobiles back from the dead just by long, slow gentle drying. The airing cupboard being my favourite place.

 

Good luck!!

 

Yeah! Friend of mine......his a single hander.

[BATTERY POWER]

Where would the shopkeeper get an authentic supply of 125Ah labels from? Normally the batteries are different dimensions for differing capacities (of the same type) so it would normally be possible to detect if the wrong label was on the battery anyway. Also note that 'branded' batteries tend to have a distinct colour scheme, and cheaper batteries are plain black or clear casings.

 

It doesn't have to be intentionally, I've opened a tin of soup before that was labeled Tomato soup, only to find chicken soup inside...I hate chicken soup.

As for the size, my friend's 110 Ah batteries are 2 inches taller than mine but the same length and width.

[BATTERY POWER]

1. No

 

2. You could fully charge them then put a known smallish load on them an d time how long it takes for the voltage to drop to (I think) 11.8 - or is it 10.8 volts. Then multiply the current by the time. However unless the load was of the exact value to discharge over 20 hours exactly the answer will only be an approximation.

 

Some may suggest a high rate discharge tester. This might damage some battery types, the load it puts on the battery MUST be suitable for the battery capacity, and the battery must be fully charged. This really means such a test is not a very good one. In any case I doubt it would distinguish between an unsulphated battery and one 30% sulphated.

 

So. We have to take the word of the retailer that the label on the battery is the correct one for that battery and not swapped for a more expensive one.

i.e.: 125 Ah label on a 110 Ah battery......cynical or what.

[BATTERY POWER]

Good morning.

When buying new batteries, is there a test you can do on them ( in the shop ) to make sure "they do what they say on the tin"?

eg: 110 amp battery, there are 110 amps available.

If there is, could the same test be used on batteries that are a couple of years old, to determine how much power is available then?

Thanks Rob....

[Vetus Fuel Filter]

Now that's one I've not tryed. Where do you get the braces?

 

OP. Did you win in the end?

 

Yeah! Won in the end thanks to Cat.

But did try at first to hold the filter and spin the boat round but the boat is 57 feet long and the cut was only 40 feet wide.

Couldn't use the winding hole as there were share boaters parked there.

[Vetus Fuel Filter]

Same problem on my Vetus; the beggars get stuck for some reason. I use a trouser belt wound around a steel pipe with a tommy bar through it (bit like an old fashioned box spanner/spark plug wrench.) Best at bottom of filter. I use the same device for the other fuel and oil filter too. Never fails, but have to wear braces whilst doing the job.

 

Etide to add they are "normal" threads, not left handed.

 

What an idiot.

Been using the filter wrench wrongly.

I've been putting the rubber band of the wrench, round the filter, instead of round my trousers and using my belt on the filter.

Now I know...... it works a treat.

Thanks Cat.

[Vetus Fuel Filter]

Morning all.

 

Vetus 4.17. Spin on fuel filter.

 

Should read "Stuck" on fuel filter.

 

Tried a filter wrench but it's just distorting the case.

Tried tightening first as well and tried jarring it........but still stuck.

 

Any ideas to loosen it please, before I ram a couple of screwdrivers in it and hope I don't tear the case right off?

 

P.S I'm assuming the're not left handed threads.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Rob....

[2 banks of batteries or just 1 big one?]

 

 

So given that you say "strong possibility" - so a bit like my reply - why do you think that?

 

As a battery discharges its terminal voltage will fall so supposing the AGMs did discharge faster their voltage would not be sufficient to push as much current out of the batteries as the higher traction cells. This means the AGMs would then discharge less fast while the traction ones discharged faster. This suggests to me that they would both end up at a similar state of charge UNLESS for any given state of discharge each type provided a different terminal voltage. I can see that as Gibbo says some AGM acids are not just sulphuric this could be the case but even then would they still not tend to even their discharges out.

 

I can see that the charging side of things may be different if both types accept a charge at any given voltage at different rated but again I feel they will even themselves out as one's terminal voltage rise above the other. I can see that you could ruin one type if the charging voltage had to be reduced to suit the other but again would that not only imply a longer charging time to get both banks to the same level of charge.

 

Discuss:

 

Have I missed something? Where is Gibbo? Well I hope.

[Another Gulper Question]

To save any problems take the basin waste straight through the side of the hull.

 

 

Can't. The basin is inboard ie. not on the external wall.

this

 

I don't know why you would want to have to run a pump to empty a basin.

 

The basin is inboard.

 

The waste pipe runs under the floor (below the water line) then up, to exit out of the hull, above the water line.

 

This leaves a loop - like a water trap- and sometimes takes a while to empty.

 

Rob....

[Another Gulper Question]

'Evening all.

I have a Whale Gulper that empties the shower tray.

If I use a "T" or a "Y" piece to join the basin waste pipe into the shower waste pipe will the Gulper still empty the shower or basin, when one or the other pipe is empty?

Thanks in advance for your advice/comments.

Rob....