Dashwood

Hi thanks for the replies especially you Tony as you are always so helpful. I have now fitted the panel and connected it briefly to the solar charge controller, a hot sunny day last Sunday and it was showing 20volts input. I have not explored what the parameters have been set at by Sunshine Solar ( I will get back to them) I was reluctant to connect to the batteries until I have explored that further. When I do wire it up to the three leisure batteries that are connected in parallel I assume in only need to connect the output charge to one of the batteries in the bank as they are connected together? I have seen in the past individual wiring to each battery that seemed a bit odd.

Hi, I bought a Sunshine Solar 200 watt single panel kit some time ago to fit on my boat and only now have the time to fit it. I have no problem with the mounting and basic wiring however: I already have installed in the boat a Victron combined charger and inverter, I also have 240v on my mooring for charging domestic use etc. My question is this, If I wire up the solar panel to charge the leisure batteries which are three 110amp hour wired in parallel using the supplied charge controller from sunshine solar, do I have to be careful not to use the Victron charger at the same time that I am connected to the solar panel? is there a risk that some damage may occur somewhere with both connected and charging at the same time? Thanks for an help and advice.

So almost a year on from the gearbox debacle and after bloody lockdown I am now tackling the alternator. I have fitted the new unit and tried to establish the wiring. The main leads to the + and - sides of the battery bank are straight forward as is the lead to the ignition warning lamp (WL). However I am left with a few wires that were connected to the old unit in the following way that I do not have any idea yet where they ft he new unit if at all, See the attached photo. The old unit is an A133 Lucas that has been 'marinised'. A spade terminal has been fixed inside the casing to the point in the picture. and a wire was also attached to the S terminal that i cant fond any reference to anywhere on the threads. Any advise gratefully received as to what these terminals might be? thanks Tony

So almost a year on from the gearbox debacle and after bloody lockdown I am now tackling the alternator. I have fitted the new unit and tried to establish the wiring. The main leads to the + and - sides of the battery bank are straight forward as is the lead to the ignition warning lamp (WL). However I am left with a few wires that were connected to the old unit in the following way that I do not have any idea yet where they ft he new unit if at all, See the attached photo. The old unit is an A133 Lucas that has been 'marinised'. A spade terminal has been fixed inside the casing to the point in the picture. and a wire was also attached to the S terminal that i cant fond any reference to anywhere on the threads. Any advise gratefully received as to what these terminals might be?

Quite! any way as it turned out it was useful to crack off the gearbox, clean out the bell housing and fit a drain plug, greas all of the universal joints on the propshaft and of course remove the offending tyre. To be fair the vibration fooled a couple of the geezers at my mooring as it apperaed to be coming from the gearbox, but hey lesson learned and all back together and well greased!

It will be a few weeks before I try,I would like to find out who's it is and return it as a frisbee!!

Quite, bit embarrassing though

Bloody hell I have tyre around my prop, after all that. I guess thsts good news.

So... I have had the gearbox on my bench and set it up to be driven with an electric drill through the output shaft and all seems well. I have had a quote to for new clutch plates and a general overhaul so I will probably have this done any way as the box has been on there for 30 years, hopefully thats all it will be. I have asked a friend to lift my weed hatch and have a feel around as I cant get to the boat for a while, just to determine if this after all was the problem.

Hi Fitter Kieron thanks, I have now heard back from R&D and they think that my drive plate is ok but they are quoting for a replacement anyway. So Im exploring if its the gearbox which is sitting on my bench. Rotating it by hand all and going ahead and astern all seems ok so tomorrow I'm going to spin the output shaft with an electric drill and see if there are any untoward noises.I'l also drain the ATF and see if there are any metal elements in there. If its not either the gearbox or drive plate then I'm wondering if the prop' has been bent or damaged if I hit something underwater when I went astern and maybe catching on something or thrown out of balance, in which case its a dry docking job. With hindsight I should have run the engine up and tested the gearbox with the prop shaft disconnected, there would have been no load but I might perhaps given me some more clues. I maybe also should have opened the weed hatch and had a feel around the prop'. Ahh well, what else would I be doing?

Hi yes but the prm iIwas looking at is a prm 125 d3 so not up to the job

So Beta also helpful but cant really assess the box any better than I can, lift and rotate check bearings on input and output shafts check for grinding etc, so it seems I will have to check it over myself and bolt it back together with the new drive plats and hope.

Ok so I spent 3 hours yesterday cracking off the gearbox and drive plate. First thing, a couple of pints of oil had accumulated in the bell housing, my hands look a right state as a result as the bottom two bolts had to be eased off as they are trapped behind the gearbox with oil dripping on to my hands. I had to chop away part of a bulkhead as the boat has been built around the engine. Thankfully all of the bolts associated came off easily. The drive plate is an RandD special it seems, having spoken to them they are very helpful I must say. I have sent pictures and they will get back to me with there assessment and price for a replacement. I have explored the PRM gearbox and from what I have been told by the guy at Calcutt it wont be up to the job and the Hurth HBW2502R I have is apparently a better box than the run of the mill Hurth zf boxes. So assuming its only the drive plats at fault I will get a direct or more robust replacement and bolt back together. Beta marine are near me so I may see if they will have a look at my box and check it over update soon.

new prm box for sale for £400 tempting

Its a Hurth, having read up on the various blogs, the problem sounds like ' a bag of spanners' so Im pretty confident now that its the drive plate, especially as I think I might have hit bottomewhen i went in to astern, strip down on the way.

Bloody hell!! Picked Dashwood up after blacking anodes and survey, 2 hour cruise, 5 minutes from home mooring went into astern and crunch, limped on to mooring, lifted bilge boards checked drive shaft bearings all ok, gearbox still engages so I suspect the drive plate has come adrift or started to disintegrate. Just what I needed after spending 1300 quid today. At least it's easy to get to, so next job drop prop shaft, unbolt gearbox and bell housing and see what's happened. Alternator will have to wait. I just hope it's an easily sourced drive plate and NOT the gearbox that's gone bang. BOATS!!!!

Ok, I have managed to get a brand new A127 marine alternator on ebay for £50, so will be fitting that soon and testing the system as suggested. Dashwood has just been relaunched having been surveyed and blacked. Survey AOK a big relief, in fact the surveyor was very complimentary about the overall condition of the boat. I bought her two years ago with no survey but having known quite a lot of the history but still a gamble I was prepared to take having admired the boat for a few years. Incidentally I was chatting to a guy cleaning his boat on at Saul Junction who recommended BULLET Carnuba wax. I have used Craftmaster in the past to good effect but have bought some Bullet to try it out. update soon - Paul

Yes I guessed he must be getting on a bit by now. However my dad didn't stop working until 90!!! Yes thanks I'm tracking a 70 amp marine one on ebay.

The RH in my boat was originally from a crane according to the details that came with the engine from Ray Hooley who is the expert on these in the UK, I have tried to contact him but with no success.

all very useful Im grateful for the advice - thanks you I will report back when I have done those various checks - Paul

BEngo- thanks for that , the Thames is nearest, il give it a go when Im next down there. Another Issue I noticed last week not specific to the engine but alternator charging. When at the mooring I have a Victron charger connected to the mains to top up the batteries. When leaving the mooring the charging light pulses on and off with the voltmeter pulsing between 13 and 15 volts accordingly despite the Victron having been on overnight. This seems weird as the batteries should be fully charged from the Victron? After a few hours cruising the charge light glows slightly but not brightly and will not go off completely the voltmeter will show no more than 13 volts under any conditions. After 10 days out this remains the same despite the batteries being used overnight to power the fridge tv lights etc. I would have imagined that on start up after an evening of entertainment the alternator would be charging at 15 volts until the batteries are topped up, not the case, cant get more than 13 volts under any conditions once away on a cruise. I checked the tension on the belt drive to the alternator seems ok. Checked and cleaned all battery connections and distilled water, checked for any obvious loose connections throughout the system. I'm assuming the alternator is failing and the diodes probably shot. Its a standard Lucas A133 50amp unit probably from a Range Rover so I am considering upgrading to a 70amp unit brand new to see if this solves the problem. There are 4 X 110amp hour newish leisure batteries and a new 110amp hour cranking battery that is isolated when ignition is off. Another annoying issue is one of voltage control. Imagine watching TV and the fridge or water pump kicks in, TV goes off with a pop and then comes back on when the voltage is stabilised. Any ideas how one might stabilise the voltage to preclude such an issue? I have a 200watt solar panel that I intend to fit this winter to aid charging.

Thanks Phil, yes Im very pleased with it, it generally starts easily and is happy chugging away all day long. However, it was noted when it was originally supplied by Ray Hooley in 1990 that it was a little smokey until warm, and indeed the many thousands of hours use over the last 30 years may or may not have added to that problem. It can be quite unpleasant when the wind is in the wrong direction and given what is now known about the impact pf particulates from diesel fumes on the human lung it does bother me a little. So once started RH warms up fairly quickly given that there is no obvious water pump to circulate cooling water. There is an electronic temperature gauge that shows about 60 degrees when warmed and the calorifier heats water very effectively. It seems that the outlet from the block goes first to the calorifier then to the skin tank then returns. There is a header tank that I keep topped up with water and blue antifreeze. I assume then that the circulation is via convection only. There is a valve which I can use to shut off or control the flow through the system. I have read on the site that some have fitted a three way Lada thermostat to aid warm up, and I'm not convinced that a quicker warm up would solve the 'smokiness', so I doubt I would bother with the faff, Smoke does improve a little when the engine is warmed up but I don't really know how much smokiness to expect from a 1950s engine. The other thing I note is that the fuel is supplied by an electric fuel pump that was fitted shortly before I took ownership of the boat and i wonder if this could be over fuelling the engine causing more smoke that necessary. Any thoughts advice gratefully received - Paul

Hi all, I am the proud owner of Dashwood a 62' Colecraft fitted with an RH 2VSH. I bought the boat 2 years ago as soon as she came up for sale having admired her for a few years. I'm particularly pleased with the engine that I have now got to know quite well. I have been around boats all my life so I knew exact what I wanted, in a trad' engine and the RH has it. There are a few questions I will ask over the next few weeks regarding the RH, and hope that those of you who are familiar with these engines will have some ideas. I have read the threads listed with interest. Paul