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Pete Morrison

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Everything posted by Pete Morrison

  1. first class. I ordered four probats. cheers
  2. I need to buy a new battery bank for my boat. Looking for maybe 4x 110Ah SLA batteries. These are what I got last time and was quite happy with them - 120 quid including VAT and delivery which seems fair. https://advancedbatterysupplies.co.uk/product/platinum-leisure-battery-sd6110l-12v-110ah/ Anyone know of any better deals?
  3. Definitely the best kept secret on the network. My favourite canal too, and always quiet whenever I've been up there. While in north staffs you have to try their favourite local delicacy, OATCAKES! See feature-length documentary for details. The Old School tea rooms in Cheddleton and Hetty's Tea Shop at the end of the canal in Froghall have excellent breakfasts, scones and coffee.
  4. Ah ok, so the alternator isn't really providing resistance unless it's spinning fast enough to energise. Thanks that makes sense. Was just struggling to start so was trying to make it as easy as possible. In retrospect that didn't give me any benefit.
  5. Usually when starting the engine I'll engage neutral and put it into say 50% throttle (I don't have a rev counter but say about halfway between tickover and flat out). Alternator (obviously) usually running. I let the engine warm up for 10-20 mins (depending on how cold it is) before I either a) kick it into gear and go boating, or b) dial it back to about 25% which seems to be the sweet spot for alternator output, then let it charge my batteries and heat my water for an hour or two. I always assumed it was best to let the engine warm up for a bit before doing anything with it, but I am gathering from the above that it's not really necessary? Is that the case even when they are just starting up cold? Good reminder. I would never do this. The only time I have ever tried leaving the boat in gear while not steering is to hold it against a lock (it was someone else's technique that I was giving a go). I didn't like it, made me very nervous to leave the boat in gear. Yes it was, but i did get clear liquid diesel out of the injectors when I loosened them so I think not. Well it was just because here am I, cranking an engine for minutes on end while it's busy trying to drive an alternator. I figured the more load, the harder it would be to start. Was that a bad move for some reason? I disconnected it to give the engine an easier job, that's all. I didn't disconnect it while it was running. I let the engine warm up (at idle and without any load) to about 50 degrees (as measured by my calorifier temperature) and then switched off, reconnected the alternator, and since then the engine seems to be starting fine off of the domestic battery.
  6. I'm also confused. I am not sure how the voltage dropped at all when cranking when the starter battery earth was isolated from the domestics. I think maybe there is incorrect wiring connecting the negatives even when isolated - perhaps not thick enough to start the engine, but thick enough that the voltage didn't drop? For now I have removed the starter and just start from my domestic battery. Wow! Ok if I struggle with a cold engine in the future I'll give this a try! Yes, that's normally what I do if I am running to charge my batteries, but I understood from this thread above that it's frowned upon to increase the revs under no load. So I just let the engine idle and disconnected the alternator to let it get up to speed.
  7. Thanks everyone, I have the engine running, but I'm not sure I really understand what the problem was! I loosened the big nuts on the injectors and cranked, and lo and behold drips of diesel started leaking. I removed the air filter to expose the metal air intake pipe, and tried again (in case it was some kind of blockage) but that made no difference. For future reference, when you say a blowlamp in the air intake, do you mean blow a flame into it with a blowlamp? Directly in or just near, to warm the air? I just connected a thick positive cable from the "domestic" side of the split charge relay to the other "starter" side, essentially bypassing the split charge relay which usually separates the two positives. When I measured the voltage of the starter battery at its terminals, it was only 6V. Then I realised that there was a battery isolator switch that appears to isolate the starter battery by disconnecting the negative linkage between them (not sure the point of this). This isolator was off! When I turned the isolator on, the voltage showed my domestic battery voltage. So clearly the problem was I was trying to turn over the engine at 6V!! I'm amazed it did anything at all really. So the problem seems to be a dead starter battery. I might just get rid of it and use the domestics only. The make is supposedly a "hybrid" that is happy to act as a starter battery. Once I solved the voltage issue and I was getting a proper crank out of the starter, the engine would crank and every now and then give a little cough as if it was about to start. Lots of white smoke. It took about 3 or 4 attempts of 30second cranking (the longest I'd dared to do) before it came to life. When it did, the note was a bit more of a deeper grumble rumble than I'm used to. I'm letting the engine run for 30 mins or so (at idle and with the alternator disconnected so as not to apply load) to get it up to full temperature as suggested. I fear that my once bombproof beta might not start as easily as it used to anymore though
  8. I tried connecting my domestic battery as well to give it a bit more, but that also didn't seem to help. If there aren't other suggestions I'll go and buy a new starter battery. I can't tell from the water unfortunately, as there's rainwater in my bilge in any event. I can try to inspect the pipes though and see if there's anything. Yes - I recently serviced the engine so I'm 99% sure that it was full. I hope that the leak is external rather than internal to the engine...
  9. Thanks - you all gave me the confidence to go ahead and give it a bash. First attempt was not successfull, however. Here's what I did. Powered on glow plugs for 10s or so (I can hear the relay click on and see my voltage dip slightly, so I'm sure they're working). Held in start button and cranked the engine for 10s or so. Battery voltage was dipping below 11V while cranking so decided to not do that any more. I attached my external workshop battery charger to the starter battery +ve and the starter motor -ve I set it to its 80A "Jump Start" setting. Cranked the engine again. It turns over, but never fires up. Any suggestions for what's next? Maybe a red herring, but I did notice that my water level was quite low - it took about 2 litres of water which seems quite alarming, I don't know how it could have lost that much water just sitting idle.
  10. Great advice, thank you! Very clever idea to turn it over with the stop button engaged, so that it pumps the oil but doesn't start! And yes I will be sure to run it up to full working temperature when I do.
  11. Hello, long time lurker but new to the forum. I haven't used my boat in about 6 months due to illness. I haven't turned over the engine in all that time. I serviced the engine (oil change, new oil & fuel filters, new belts, checking antifreeze) just two weeks before putting her into storage. I realise I should have been visiting regularly to turn the engine over but what's done is done. I've reattached the battery and charged it up with mains, so that seems to be fine. Someone recommended that I remove the glow plugs and pour some engine oil directly in to the cylinders because the oil would have drained down to the sump. but I am a bit afraid to do that? As it's cold today I'm thinking I will put a heater in the engine bay for a bit and heat the calorifier with the immersion element in the hope that when the coolant starts circulating it can warm up the engine quicker. I have a full to the brim diesel tank as well (I left it full to try to minimise condensation). Should I be worried about that? Is there anything else that you recommend I do before I turn the key and see if she starts?? It's a beta 38 diesel by the way, which never gave me any issues in the past 7 years. Any advice appreciated! Pete
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