Eeyore

CEN offer a wide range of brushless alternators for use in dangerous situations other than military! The catalouge I have came from the Russel Newbury factory, I think they offer them as an option. Steve

Refit as per Tims instructions. Torque setting are on the middle pages of http://www.centa.info/data/products/31/int...marine03-05.pdf (please cut and paste into your browser: I cann't get the link to work this morning) You need to slacken the stern gland to make it easier to push the shaft back into place. The shaft should be a smooth slidding fit into the coupling. If its tight you may have some burring on the shaft; or your engine mounts may need a little adjustment. Steve

Have you measured the output with the original pully? This needs to be done when the batteries are low, typicaly first thing in the morning. You will need a DC clamp meter around the main alternator output lead. (and a friend who owns one) Start the engine and imediatley reduce the engine revs to as close to normal idle as possible. This will give an indication of the max available output at low revs. Increase engine speed to normal cruising revs, this will give an indication of max available output at normal cruising revs. There are many books on the black art of battery charging, and most agree that a charging rate of 10% of capacity is advisable, so anything over 55 amps at cruising revs should be ok. You may not get 100 amps, but you have probably bought extra reliability. A larger alternator running at lower speed and output should last much longer than a typical small alternator running at maximum speed and output. Steve

Quite true! But safety systems have evolved to protect those least able to appreciate the dangers. Don't forget we're talking about ordinary people who haven't a clue as to the dangers involved. Its a nanny state; sometimes you just have to bite your lip and get on with it. Steve

The simple answer to your question is yes. The RCD in the consumer unit protects you from fault conditions in circuits and appliances connected to it. The RCD in the supply protects you from fault conditions in the inverter/charger. The question to other forum members is this - should there be individual RCD protection of each shore connection? Imagine the following: a single RCD is installed between the changeover arrangement and the inverter/charger. The shore line is then connected to the front of the boat whilst the changeover arrangement is set to the back position. Is it then acceptable to have an unprotected supply running the length of the boat from the front shore connector to the changeover arrangement? I accept that this condition would not be intentional, but is possible. The basis of this question is - should the operator (boat owner) be able to bypass or negate any part of the safety arrangements during any normal operation of the system? (Most of my experience has been with repair and upgrading of existing installations, and my personal preference in those circumstances has been to provide RCBO (combined RCD & MCB) at each source of supply.) Steve

The terminals to fit the moulded plug can be found at http://click here

The temp sender wire is blue? and runs to pin 8 in the 11 way connector. (oil pressure wire is purple? and runs to pin 10 in the 11 way connector). These connections may be missing at the panel end, but can be fitted into the 11 way connector. You will need suitable spade terminations to fit into the plastic moulding. I don't know if you will need male or female ends. I have some of these somewhere, I'll post the part mumber if I can find them. Steve

Hi Tim There is probably a secondary filter close to, or in, the lift pump. Barrus list a Yanmar part no 119802-55800 for this filter. A photo of the instalation will certainly get you a few more postings. Tony Brooks has many postings on the subject of adequate filtration. Try looking for filter specialists in Yellow pages if you have difficulty finding the Yanmar filter. Steve

It may be worth looking at the engine loom to see if there are any "spare" wires included. I have a basic panel on my instalation but have found wires for both oil pressure and coolant temperature gauges folded back into the loom. It is usualy more economical to produce one loom; and then add terminations to suit the application than to produce specific looms. This is however not always the case - I would be interested to know if isuzu do it that way. Steve

Hi Tim Barrus package the HDF901 as their part No RDG3026. If the Barrus part No matches the one in your handbook its the right filter. Later shire 35 engines use an RDG2238, but unfortunetley I don't have a cross reference for it. Steve

I have a Westerbeke that uses the same Mitsubishi SL range core engine as the Vetus. The Genuine Mitsubishi part number is 30A40-00105. This imformation comes from a UK importer of Mitsubishi engines.

Take your brass filler cap to a chandlers (don't forget to put some tape over the filler for WHEN IT RAINS). The nipple you are looking for will have a tappered thread at each end. The diameter can be simply determined by holding the nipple and filler cap end to end. The thread can be checked by holding the threaded portions together and holding up to the light to see if you have the same thread pitch/TPI (treads per inch). A loctite or similar lock and seal product should be used to retain the nipple in the existing brass deck fitting - be carefull not to over tighten the nipple as there is a risk of splitting the brass fitting. Fill the recess in the brass deck fitting with mastic to stop it holding water. Fit the cap and apply suitable paint finish, job done.

Just thinking out loud - If the pully came from Thorneycroft it probably fits a Mitsubishi, and the Vetus is a Mitsubishi. Or did I miss that in between all the pictures. Steve

Again not uncommon, my 1996 built NB has the same arrangement. The important thing is that the only thing connected to the battery negative is the switch. Opening the switch (turning it off) will then disconnect battery negative from both the hull and the electrical circuits. Obviously a fault can only exist if it "can see" both sides of the battery; so in this case a switch in the negative has the same effect as one in the positive from a users point of view. The BMEA code of practice also only shows switches in the positive cabling; lets wait for the technical boys to explain the reason for that. Oh look someones already said it whilst I was still typing!

Hi Tony With thanks to John Orentas for putting my head in order, I am now getting a feel for what is normal. These "yellow" engines certainly seem to fall out side of normal. Conversations with plant and machinery contacts tell me that in thier world a heavier flywheel is usualy associated with hydraulic pump applications. The interesting part is that a torsional vibration damper is also specified in place of the normal front pully arrangement on mitsubishi engines. I know what a torsional vibration damper does, but not well enough to describe in laymans terms. Please could someone explain how it works, and if they think it would help? Thanks

We seem to be set up similarly, cruising at about 2000rpm. The easy starting and economy compared to my old BMC is a real plus point. Its still a little frustrating that with at least 40 years between them, in design terms, that the mitsi is more intrusive than the bmc. I hope the inertia ring makes yours run a little smoother.

Hi Ray I quite like automatic systems, but have you looked at making it manual and simple to operate? How about a 3 port ball valve to replace the "T" piece. They come in two basic external configurations, so you should be able to fit one. They are also available with internals to suit C/H, H/W or BOTH. Depending on the instalation you couuld either take off the handle and use an extention to the operating spindle, or drill a hole in the end of the handle and use a control cable in order to operate it. The two gate valves would be retained as balancing valves. When the ball valve is in the "BOTH" position the flow will take the route of least resistance though the shorter calorifier pipework. The H/W gate valve needs to be partialy closed to increase the flow resistance in that circuit, and allow more flow into theC/H circuit. When you find the best position for the valve you can tie the handle in position. Eeyore

Hi Rojo The Lister in my first boat, an ex hire boat, had the relays on a bracket as you describe. They had mostly been bypassed by the hire company who owned her. One of the relay casings contained electronic components and was probably a start inhibit. The other two appeared to be fairly standard relays, most probably slave (remote switching) relays for the starter solenoid and heater plugs (the larger one would probably be for the heaters). The relays allow all the high current switching to occur close to the starter and heaters: the ignition switch only sees the light current loads of the relay operating coils. There are of course other ways to start the engine if the relay fails. You will need a short length of wire and a practical demonstration from a mechanic. (I know they used to do this with a screwdriver - but the terminals aren't always in the right place) Eeyore

Hi Richard Its the one between the engine and gearbox (the one on the back of the gearbox is a cheap and cheerful R & D cream coloured disc. This has been checked and is in line) . The plates I'm thinking of are I think refered to as "2 or 3 stage" , I'm sure I had a (very expensive) centaflex one on a previous boat. I think the term "lockup" was used somewhere in its description. As you say its just a flexible coupling, probably not much I can improve in that area. It looks like I'll learn to live with it. Steve

Hi Richard gearbox is PRM150 2.09:1 as supplied with engine. Prop is 16 dia x 10 pitch as per the original instalation. (which was correct for the 31hp 3cylinder engine) Hull is 44 foot narrowboat. I realise that the boat is under under propped, and will probably remain so if I don't want to be shouted at from moored boats. John Orentas' comments on idling speed are the same as I am getting from contacts in the plant and machinery field (most of whom are supprised that it will idle at all below 1000 rpm); am I misiterpreting the purpose of the heavier flywheel fitted to this and most other marinised industrial engines? A recent thought is: do some drive plates "lockup" once the box is in gear? If so could too small a prop lead to chattering because there is insufficient load to lock it up properly? It would be nice to settle this engine down a little, and all advice is most welcome. Eeyore (Okay you can call me Steve, but I'll then have an image of my mother in mind when I read your post!)

Thanks John

Thanks Dave I am becoming "wise after the event"! The application you describe is similar to the only UK user I have had contact with. Deep water, into gear and away; no idling or low revs work. Perhaps these engines are just not set up for canal boat usage. Eeyore

Hi I have a Westerbeke engine fitted to my narrowboat, and was wondering if anyone else has any experience of these engines. They are Mitsubishi based and marinised in the USA. The UK supplier has provided consistant support through a single point of contact, but has been unable to say if these engines have been fitted to any other canal boats. The engine first came to my attention when my boss returned from the St Ives IWA show: and knowing that I was looking for a new engine presented me with a handfull of leaflets. His words continue to haunt me - "I've not heard of these, but its a Mitsubishi, you cann't go wrong with a mitsubishi" The Mitsubishi base engine is a proven engine and used by at least 3 EU based (including 1 in the UK) marinisers; but the weak US Dollar made this one attractive. My name originaly comes from the fact that I often looked gloomy for no reason, but I have a reason now! Eeyore