Eliza Jane

Hi. Yes exhaust is well lagged, but of course only the pipe and silencer. Understood about the belts, I'm planning a change to "polly-v" when these are due to be changed.

Hi. This post is about my alternator. Ive been aware of the heat in the engine bay, although not excessively high, as it has vents either side of the hull, it is quite hot and this big alternator can chuck out 150+ A and as a result gets very hot. I'm sure that the cooler it runs the longer it should last. And for a few quid worth doing. The other consideration was that the exhaust is the same side as the alternator and as air is drawn in at the back of the alternator air has to pass the exhaust/calorifier first. I was also aware of the dust from the drive belts, which after 300 hrs running has necessitated in a new air filter. So I have constructed another duct for the engine intake to draw air from close to the other hull vent. Of course, the cooler the air entering the engine the more efficient the engine is. All theory!

Hi. Sorry this seems to have gone into my previous reply? my email is rob (at) robpendleton -dot-co-dot-uk as we are talking addresses and payments can we use email? Hi again. Im so grateful for your help. Just a little confused as to what it looks like as there are 2 different photos in the description, one is a photo the other is a line drawing. If it's the one in the photo (with the round hole) then I think it should be ok. Any idea what diameter the hole is? Although I'm sure I can adapt to my 100mm duct ok. I can get a courier to collect ok? where abouts are you? cheers. Rob.

Hi David. That was another of my Qs but I assume it's down to the fitter (me) to make the necessary "adjustment" to the housing. I have to say that the wiring could be tidier on my unit, so it would be a good opportunity to tidy things up. Thanks for your contribution. Regards Rob

Hi again. Im so grateful for your help. Just a little confused as to what it looks like as there are 2 different photos in the description, one is a photo the other is a line drawing. If it's the one in the photo (with the round hole) then I think it should be ok. Any idea what diameter the hole is? Although I'm sure I can adapt to my 100mm duct ok. I can get a courier to collect ok? where abouts are you? cheers. Rob.

Hi again. The diagonal between studs is 150mm and the pitch between studs is 105mm as near as I can measure. Had another look for model numbers and there's nothing, as far as I can tell it hadn't been painted after the factory cheers Hope this helps.

Thanks so much. It came fitted on the engine from Beta last year, new boat. Raining too much here to delve into the engine bay tonight, but I'll be in there in the morning. I have a 1M length of 100mm dia flexi duct which I intend to terminate close to the vent on the side of the hull, also a large plastic adapter for the alternator end but it wouldn't look too professional. If there was a purpose made adapter, preferably to 100mm round duct it would look better. Thanks

Hi. The only numbers I can see are on the front housing close to the adjusting bolt. I'll attach a couple of photos.

Sounds good, many thanks. I'll take a look later today and get back. Cheers. Rob

Thanks for your speedy reply, I'll bear that in mind.

Hi. We have a Bosch marine 140A alternator on our new boat (beta 43) and wondered if anyone has fitted a cool air duct to the back of the alternator. There are long threaded studs at the back of the alternator which look like they could take an air duct. Any help greatfully received. Rob

Will be in Saul tomorrow am as meeting up with the kids. Need another life jacket so may be in Saul marina.

We had a Beta 28 in 42' Stoke Boat. It came with a 14/9 which was pathetic. Changed it for a 15/10 from Midland Chandlers and the difference was amazing, especially on rivers, but didn't have the chance to try it on serious tidal links but felt much happier and more confident.

Hi Rusty. We too have stopped, in the shade just after Purton. Intend to go to Sharpness and return. We are on NB Chrissie, Blue 60' Trad. Will no doubt pass each other. Regarding the filters, I'd like to change the air regularly and know from past Beta prices the equivalent filter is so much cheaper. Cheers

Great, thanks. Will give them a try. From a very pleasant Gloucester and Sharpness Canal.

We have the latest Beta 43 with all plastic air filter case and have been trying to find a replacement equivalent element, Fram or other. Beta numbers don't seem to cross reference, these are 211-091 79 and 15103-0500 It's 135mm diameter, 86mm deep and has a 80mm hole (approx) and is blanked off one side unlike most filter cartridges. Any help much appreciated. Thanks.

Well, it's not a constant whine. It could be described as mechanical sounding, but being a motor mechanic (retired) I'm sure it isn't. If cavitation causes mechanical type noises I'm leaning towards that, and it being caused by the square edges of the prop?? Regards

Again, many thanks to all the contributors to this topic. I never imagined it would get so many useful replies, although the thread has deviated a little to prop sizes, cruising speeds and being hauled over the coals by EA which is most welcome. Prop sizes have been another issue for me and welcome any comments. Recently prop noise has been a problem after upgrading to a 15-10 from 14-9 on my 42 foot narrowboat. The 14-9 was, or felt, under sized, with no bite when needed and struggled upstream on even slow rivers at high rpm. The 15-10 is much better but there is considerable noise associated with the prop. We have plenty of clearance around the prop, no wear on stern tube etc. One thing I have done, because there was a 20mm gap around the weed hatch baffle and the baffle stopped short of the oxter by about the same 20mm, was to make a rubber sandwich plate that consists of top and bottom 6mm steel plates, one small enough to fit inside the rectangular hole in the oxter plate, and the other, with the rubber, large enough to stop it falling through into the cut. This closes off the the sides perfectly and makes the oxter flush underneath. This seems to have reduced noise, especially where there is reasonable depth of water. I tried it on a round trip from Stoke to Marple, the T&M from Stoke is (seems) deeper than the Macc and the noise was lower but still quite bad on the Macc. The prop was from midland chandlers and was quite square on the edges, no chamfering etc, so I'm wondering if I round off the edges if it might help? Any ideas please? Rob.

Thanks Nick. All great info. How big is your prop?

Many thanks Mike. I'm getting quite a few negative reports on the travel pack generator. Also some positives! I think that if I'm going to have to run the engine with a travel pack, I might as well have a big enough inverter (3kw) and use the batteries, again with the engine running. What does seem unnecessary is that the travel pack is turning whenever the engine is running, irrespective of useage. So the generator is probably turning for 90% of the time for no reason. With regard to possible harmonics, you may be right. The pulley is very big and is possibly big enough to act as a flywheel on the other end of the crank to the main flywheel, which could, (if not perfectly balanced) cause stress along the crank. It may just be though that it was securing bolt failure that caused the crank damage? As a mechanic by trade, (now retired) and building rally engines, we used to have bolt failure on flywheels at high rpm and by double doweling the flywheel to crank stopped it. The situation there was that the crank naturally "grows and shrinks" along its length when running and the flywheel resists this causing the bolts to stretch and fail, all by the by!, Cheers. Many thanks Dave, great to get feedback.

Many thanks to all that have taken the time to reply. All comments gratefully received and digested. It's as i thought really, the JD3 is an old engine, with all the old problems of fumes and vibration that I could do without! I'll be sticking to the tried and tested BETA 43. As for the travel power pack, I'll carry on reading comments from members. Cheers. Rob

Hello all. We would very much like to hear owners opinions on BETA JD3 engines. Has anybody ever fitted one? Has anybody ever fitted one in the stern engine area rather than in a dedicated engine room? Having compared torque graphs, which are much better than BETA43, and fuel consumption etc there seems little difference in fuel consumption between the JD3 and BETA 43. The JD3 runs at a much slower speed and we are wondering if the normal hospital silencers, flexible engine mountings etc would make this an interesting, and more importantly, as quiet an engine, in a new build narrowboat. Having had boats with BETA 38 and more recently a BETA 30 I'm thinking that the slower engine speed might give a more relaxed cruise over long periods. BETA have developed the JD3 for traditional "engine rooms" rather than covered over, as it's a more pretty looking engine, but we cannot justify the length taken up by an engine room. The BD3 is slightly larger over-all but should fit ok if building from scratch. There are many other Qs we have before committing to a new build, one being 12 or 24v? Another being whether to go for a "Travel Power" generator as we will be long term cruising with washing machine etc. Loads to consider, and we would welcome any thoughts. Thanks.

You could be right Bloomsberry, although I try to get as much ventilation through the floor to avoid condensation build-up, if it's dry it won't rust? Thanks George, your experienced view is much appreciated. With the state of the dredging, or not, all our boats should have shiny bottoms.

Thanks Tim. Fulbourne is just a bit older than me! Only just! I'm used to lying in puddles and working above me, I used to build rally cars and service on events for crews in all weathers, now where did I put those waterproofs? Cheers. Rob. Thanks Dave. Much appreciated, I'll try to let you know, especially how much blacking I get up my sleeves! Rob.