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Beta Marine - thoughts


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Firstly measure the tank length x height of the skin tank in feet

Should come to 10.8sq ft that's what the 1903 needs for full power.

If its not that big then you can add a second tank on the other swim side, Mike / Blackrose has contacts for this.

As for props Beta recommend an 18x12, you can measure the diameter of your present prop through the weedhatch but pitch nes the prop off. However it is usually stamped somewhere on the prop boss

 

Like the engine!

Edited by Loddon
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It also depends on whether or not the tank has baffles inside - divisions inside that make the water follow a path all around the tank instead of simply making a narrow stream of hot water from inlet to outlet. If there are no baffles it needs to be a lot bigger, if there are multiple baffles it can be a bit smaller, Beta assume there is just one. Our tank is only 8.5 sq ft but has 4 baffles and has so far resisted our most determined efforts to make it overheat. Unfortunately it is difficult to find out unless you can see inside the tank or can see telltale marks from where a baffle has been welded in place during its construction.

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Cheers gents, all understandable and useful advice. I shall venture in t'ole with my tape measure tomorrow.

 

How ingenious is the simple idea of baffles to slow the water flow/increase cooling capability, I love a simple and effective solution me!

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Get the engine, put it in line it up bolt it down and try it.

 

If it needs more cooling its fairly easy to sort it. Brentford is an ideal location for a test run you can push the tide upstream towards teddington and hammer it a bit. If it overheats going back to Brentford is quite straightforward :)

 

I suppose mid summer would be ideal but I think the water is still quite warm in October :unsure:

Personally I think that if the existing setup caused no problems with a BMC 1.5 it would be ok but obviously not known until tested.

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Get the engine, put it in line it up bolt it down and try it.

If it needs more cooling its fairly easy to sort it. Brentford is an ideal location for a test run you can push the tide upstream towards teddington and hammer it a bit. If it overheats going back to Brentford is quite straightforward :)

I suppose mid summer would be ideal but I think the water is still quite warm in October :unsure:Personally I think that if the existing setup caused no problems with a BMC 1.5 it would be ok but obviously not known until tested.

Not necessarily true, with our change from Perkins MC42 to Beta 43 we were warned that this change usually results in overheating despite the two engines being almost the same size, because the Beta water pump is more powerful so encourages the water to stream straight across the tank instead of wandering about, unless the tank is well baffled. I would guess that the BMC pump is weak and pathetic like the Perkins one. But as you say the best way is just to fit it in and try it. Edited by Keeping Up
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  • 2 weeks later...

So, as I have had the boat out for blacking and the old engine taken out, we have also added a secondary cooling system for when the beta goes in.

From what I can tell we have added proper keel cooling, by welding an inch and a half pipe 4ft long and with three bends (12ft in total) alongside the outside of the swim with an in and out fitting welded into the engine ole. You can see the fittings in this pic. The pipes have a bit of steel going over them for protection as well.

 

Next job - bilge clean and paint.. Then in she goes!

aNsrvCQ.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

 

Are you enquiring about lifting the engine out, or the woodruff key??

 

For the former I installed my first 2203 by sliding it along planks from the stern deck and using a crossbeam over the rear hatch and a ratchet winch lowered the whole into the engine bay. So it can be done (Mine was in the garden at the time, which made it slightly easier...)

 

As to the latter, Beta now fit poly-V belt drives and take the drive for the auxiliaries from the splines on the crankshaft (which is what they should have done years ago). The woodruff key is quite sufficient for a single alternator - even an uprated one but problematic for anything more.

That said my original arrangement lasted for ten years of cruising and consisted of a 5KW SeaPower generator and a 175amp @ 24v alternator (=350 amp at 12V) driven through 4 massive 10" v- belt pulleys. I'm amazed it lasted so long.

 

Beta tell me that the poly-v system has been in use for several years (I'm guessing 5) but the improved spline drive is only a year old. I understand it might be possible (depends on the original engine build date).

 

The reason given to me for the key failures - and it makes sense to me - is that folks charge their batteries with the engine at tickover (I certainly did as the engine seemed to be happy charging at 1,000 rpm). It's not obvious to anyone listening, but at that speed there is a certain amount of chattering - power impulses - and this wears the key and keyway with eventual failure. Hence the improved design.

 

The above indicates why I always recommend Beta. There may be not a lot of seeming difference between the various eastern industrial base units, but Beta have always been open for special projects and do make changes to their current production where changes in manufacturing technology make improvements possible. I've know them for 15 years and am continually surprised at the efforts they make.

 

Engine paint colour. Base units come from Kubota is a slate like blue colour. When Beta started production each manufacturer had their own colour - Beta reddy-brown, Lister green and so on. As Lister's share of the market declined Beta started painting their engines green (my opinion and hotly refuted by Beta). Then they discovered the colour problem for salty boats. So now they have two colours in their range as discussed above. They will spray your engine in whatever colour you want (Puce, Purple or whatever may raise some eyebrows, though!).

 

Hope this waffle is of some interest - or even some use.

 

I liked it! Interesting and informative, as I too have a Beta 43. Many thanks.

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Ours is a Beta 43 in a 50 footer as She spent her early life mostly on the Trent. No issues with the engine or Company. However she is a little over propped on an 18 x 12 so we spend a lot of time at low RPM which is not good for charging the battery bank but fuel consumption is good at 1.2 litres/hr.

When it comes time to change the prop, I'll go for a bit finer job to get the cruising revs up a bit and hopefully better acceleration/stopping.

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