Tony Brooks

Tempted to suggest it may be a self drilling ACR

I am assuming this is the engine water pump and not a rubber impeller "raw" water pump. I can't see Thorneycroft welding up a special pulley. It's a BMC part and, I think, common across all the BMC B series engines, like an MGB. 6" across the flange makes little sense, the water pump flange is more like 3" I think with the outer diameter more like 4". The standard one is pressed and spot welded steel. I think Calcutt can supply a standard one. Thorneycroft may have fabricated one if it's a wide polyV belt or a special fitment.

As was mine, charging 430 Ah of batteries via a split charge system. Nothing wrong with the system, it's users realistic expectations that need addressing - - - - - - - - unless he changes to Lithium batteries.

Here we go again. Simply fitting a higher output alternator will NOT make a significant difference to the overall fully charged time. It may make a small difference to the charge to 80% time. That and your perceived charger problem are a result of the way lead acid batteries charge. After the first half hour of charging on a tolerably well-designed system it is the batteries that control the charging current and not the alternator. From that point onwards, the charging current starts to drop until it is only a few amps towards the batteries being fully charged.

I think that you may be wrong there if it's a split charge diode. If both diodes are open circuit then no charge can get to the batteries and if the alternator energises there may well be enough voltage/current to illuminate the warning lamp from the field diodes and flowing back through the light to try to charge that batteries via the ignition switch - flowing backwards to the normal way. I am assuming the warning lamp has a decent bulb in it and not a grain of wheat or an LED so photo of warning lamp as well.

I understand what you mean, but the bed could be on legs or a box set back underneath from the side so your feet fitted under the bed.

Before we can go any further, you really need to answer the question about the type of charge splitter I asked within half an hour of your original question. A photo will go along way to help identify it. The wiring for different type of charge splitters is different, so we can't work out a likely fail point until we know what you have. Right, now the guessing begins. Single alternator boat in London probably means an elderly boat that may well have an ancient split charge diode. Charging to both battery banks pass through diodes, so not only does that cause a loss of charging voltage, but also one failed diode would prevent one bank charging and two would prevent both banks charging. Ditto loose or dirty connections or terminals at the diode. A split charge relay or a VSR has the alternator connected directly to one bank, so in that case a failure only prevents the other bank charging. Split charge diodes have three thick battery cables connected to them A split charge relay has two thick cables and two thin ones. A Voltage sensitive relay has tow thick cables and one thin cable. I am discounting the possibility you may have an Alternator to Battery charger fitted because they are newish and expensive. I don't think that you have identified the alternator. Some have more wires on them than others, all of which are required for correct operation. Can we please have a photo of the alternator, especially the end with the wires on? Finally, if this is a newish boat, you may have a big multi-pin connector in the wiring harness that runs from engine to control panel. They are notorious for playing up and giving all sorts of odd symptoms.

Thanks. I have never seen a hydraulic pump like that and think it MIGHT have swash pump control but I am not familiar with those systems. A swash plate pump can alter the volume of oil delivered by altering the angle of the swash plate, so if the angle is less in ahead, it would deliver less oil. Thus, the engine will rev higher and the prop would turn slower than with the full swash plate angle. I think that kind of fits your ahead symptoms. It may be getting full angle in reverse and a lower angle in ahead. I agree, disconnect the gear linkage at the pump and manually put it into the ahead position. It sounds like there may be lost movement in the control system that has been adjusted so reverse acts well.

No photo!

Some users swear by 12V car coolant circulation pumps that run when the engine has been stopped to allow the hot parts of the engine to be cooled. Sorry, I don't have a ink.

This may only be applicable to spool valve control, where my experience is and it assumes a clean, good condition prop. A prop in reverse is less efficient than one in ahead, so would present a smaller load on the engine, so a difference in performance between ahead and astern does not surprise me, but the extent of what you describe does. Can you clarify what you mean about a slow pickup in ahead? Is this a slow pickup of boat speed with a fast pickup of engine speed, or a slow pickup of both engine and boat speed? If the former, it sounds to me as if the prop load is so large the hydraulic pressure is enough to keep the PRV venting. We had that when we experimented with a larger prop to try to make the hydraulic drive system seem less rev happy that they normally were when compared to shaft drive boats. The dip in speed makes me feel the prop might be on the large size for the hydraulic reduction ratio (pump volume to motor volume) and that may well make the PRV blow under high load. You should not simply assume that adjusting the PRV is the way to go unless you know the safe working pressure of the components, especially the hoses. Ideally you would couple a pressure gauge to the system and monitor the pressures. I can promise you that the last thing you want is for a hydraulic hose to split or free itself from the end fitting. Do not take this in any way definitive, to be more sure I would need pressure readings, pump, motor and PRV data to say more. I leave the prop sizing to specialists.

Just a pointer - compressor 12V fridges have a horrendous start up surge current, so if you intend to use one, please use the cable size recommended by the compressor maker. That is basically 1 sq mm CCSA for each metre run between battery and fridge, use the same for the return. FWIW I had a case of an advertised "professional" inland wiring harness maker who got the fridge cable wrong because they thought their calculations trumped the compressor manufacturer.

Many I have met also have not grasped the problem with volt drop over long cable runs. They probably know the science but rarely, if ever, have had to use it in the vehicle world. As long as the OP takes that and the need for insulated return wiring, he is far better equipped than many, including some "professional" boat fiitters.

Proper boat shaped wide beams, a fair bit on the Thames, where even a wide beam "narrowboat" will handle well enough. Otherwise just following them on smaller rivers and wide beam southern canals. It is what I have observed.

I think it is also true that on many waterways that seem wide enough when it comes to actual boating, wide beams see far harder to move. They tend to crawl along and zig-zag as well.

So they might be halogens or filament lamps. Both types use filaments, so need no voltage regulation or inverter circuit between the boat system and the "bulb". Sometimes filament bulbs flicker when the filament so broken and keeps making - breaking the circuit, but a new bulb would normally fix that so it is probably something different, what could that be? Wrong new bulb (e.g. an SCC bulb when an SBC bulb is required). Bulb loose in holder. Faulty switch. Loose connection to bulb holder. Loose terminal on cable. Loose/dirty fuse Faulty circuit breaker Loose connection/ terminal on main fuse box and so on. Turn the master switch off and remove the fitting from the wall so you can see the switch terminal etc. Turn switch back on and move things to see if the flickering alters.

I am sure the gearbox should be bolted straight on the back of a Bea 43 so it seems that either your boat is very non-standard or the gearbox is loose on its bolts. This may well have damaged the drive plate. Job 1 is to tighten all the gearbox to adaptor plate and adaptor plate to flywheel housing bolts. Job 2 is to post a photo in case it is non-standard.

That is why I asked him in his first reply, but he has decided not to answer. If they are fluorests they may need a new fitting/inverter, The OP really needs to answer questions, even if he thinks they are not relevant.

I would suspect a drive plate because the gears are always running in mesh and clutches tend not to make graunching noises, they just slip. This is not definitive, not enough info.

Must be an odd alternator to require a puller to remove the pulley. The usual difficulty is getting the nut undone, then at the worst a couple of screwdrivers will usually shift the pulley.

I would suggest that you stay with the Smartguage as long as you understand it will overestimate the state of charge DURING charging, but will soon show the correct reading after stopping. Just don't stop charging as soon as it says 100% Personally, with the advent of solar and now an inverter charger, I would use a VSR rather than the Smartbank UNLESS the Smartbank can sense and react to solar and shore line charging.

I have known a number of those Ford down draft carburettors leak fuel from around the throttle spindle after stopping, and that is unsafe. Best work the cost of a carb. Overhaul/new cab into the price. Good Freeman specialist at Moulsford on Thames with gearbox expertise - Sheridan Marine.

When mine did it, it was the igniter. It senses the resistance to the spark, so when the spark is in a flame the resistance drops, so the igniter turns itself off - or something like that. It senses the resistance of a flame.