BMC 1500 what to look for and tips.

[Tony Brooks]

1 hour ago, TNLI said:

when I can get a new engine with a 5 year warranty for 7 to 8 grand, as a serious failure overseas can cost a real foutune to resolve due to shipping, customs and serious import taxes etc.

    

 

That makes your search for a 1.5 even more bizarre. If taking the boat overseas, which involves open sea passages, the last engine I would want is a BMC 1.5. Spares are not that easy to find in the UK, let alone overseas. I would be far happier with an engine designed as a marine engine, not a converted van job. I think you need to look at dealerships in the countries you intend to visit before deciding upon an engine and then, somehow, pay the cost.

[TNLI]

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

Er, you are aware that we are talking marine engines here, so the correct designation for start battery capacity is MCCA not CCA, although for UK inland use CCA is good enough. Unfortunately, when the 1.5 was designed there was no such thing a CCA so Ah or plate numbers was used instead.

 

More poor info. Glow plugs have a positive temperature coefficient, so they will return all but zero ohms when COLD. It is far more  reliable to check hem by current draw and the 1.5 pin plugs are typically low current compared with modern ones. Typically, about 6 amps each plug, but modern replacements may start much higher and drop as they heat up.

 

You seem to have seen something I have not in this topic in resect of 1.5s suffering from oil sludge, APART from in abused engines or those using a low detergency petrol engine oil. This seems to be a problem more in your mind than the actuality.

 

The skew gear has nothing to do with the timing chain, apart from the fact the camshaft is driven by the chain. It is on the cam shaft roughly between number 3 and 4 cylinders. Using the correct grade oil and observing the oil and filter change intervals seems to keep the strainer fairly clean, as it would do the strainer in the sump. You get sludge in engines that have not had regular oil and filter changes or have been using incorrect (non or low detergency) oil grades. You can also get thickening and sludgy oil if the engine is fitted with an engine oil cooler when it's not run hard enough for long enough - like in inland use.

 

The strainer and jet are fed from the oil gallery system, so the oil would have cooled a little in the sump and filter before being supplied to the strainer and jet, so they tend not to suffer from varnish. They run more or less at block temperature. Usually a quick wash in paraffin brings them back to bright metal.

 

We never had a timing chain failure, but our engines were fairly well maintained. If you ignore timing chan slap then you will get problems. It uses an oil fed/adjusted slipper block type tensioner. No idea what bearing you are talking about. One sprocket is on the crankshaft so it's the front main bearing and the other on the cam shaft so it's the front cam shaft bearing. You seem to be a bit confused about timing chain tensioners. Even the 2.2 tensioning sprocket did not have a bearing that wore. Are you thinking it's a cam belt?

Thanks, that is the type of info I was looking for, as I don't know much about BMC engines and need to be more familiar with what causes them to fail. 2 ohms was a fair guess for a glow plug that has not been warmed up etc. I thought the older ones were a bit prone to sludge, but that is also true of many other older diesels that have been abused in oil or oil change interval terms, so it's good to hear they might not be too bad in that respect. 

 

Many owners do not use marine batteries, even offshore for small private boats. BUT I do use good quality sealed Bosche series for start, and Volvo car batteries from a dealer for house use, as Volvo do err more towards the deep cycle side of performance. Why anyone on a canal boat uses expensive marine batteries I don't know. Just keep the votage over 12.1 and a good car battery will last just as long as one saying marine use, unless it's a German gell cell etc. Never use cheap caravan ones in a boat, as they have very thin walls and weak handles etc. Some of those so called deep cycle ones are really bad news. So I only have CCA or Amps listed on those batteries.

 

I do know the difference between a cam belt and a timing chain, but not the detailed knowledge of the BMC chain system. My concern was the rebuild folks don't seem to replace the chain etc. 

 

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by TNLI

[Tony Brooks]

2 minutes ago, TNLI said:

Thanks, that is the type of info I was looking for, as I don't know much about BMC engines and need to be more familiar with what causes them to fail. 

 

Many owners do not use marine batteries, even offshore for small private boats. BUT I do use good quality sealed Bosche series for start, and Volvo car batteries from a dealer for house use, as Volvo do err more towards the deep cycle side of performance. Why anyone on a canal boat uses expensive marine batteries I don't know. Just keep the votage over 12.1 and a good car battery will last just as long as one saying marine use, unless it's a German gell cell etc. Never use cheap caravan ones in a boat, as they have very thin walls and weak handles etc. Some of those so called deep cycle ones are really bad news. So I only have CCA or Amps listed on those batteries.

 

 

 

What causes BMC 1.5s to fail is pretty much the same for any other engine. Over revving, lack of regular maintenance, old age and wear. The number that were and in some cases still are in hire fleet use attests to their longevity. However, you have to grasp the basic design dates from the 1940s and the diesel version from the later 1950s or early 1960s. You could easily buy a 50-year-old engine for rebuilding, with all that means in terms of fatigue and wear. The same would apply to any 50 year old engine except a proper marine engine is likely to be of  a more robust design because weight is not such an issue.

 

Properly installed and marinised 1.5s are no more likely to overheat than any other engine, it's their owners who create the conditions for overheating by their inattentiveness or lack of routine maintenance. They are also no more likely to suffer lubrication problems, except the majority are now old and worn so blow by has increased from new, but regular oil and filter changes should minimise such problems.

 

For goodness’s sake, stop it. The red bit is nothing more than blatant misinformation designed to dramatically shorten the life of any lead acid battery.

 

If you had said 12.7 to 12.8 rested voltage, you would be correct. 12.1 is well below half charged so the lead sulphate on the discharged plate areas will be hardening so in not too many days it will be impossible to reconvert it to lead oxide. That means dramatic capacity loss caused by sulphation.  It also means that you are discharging the battery to a deeper degree than is compatible with optimum battery life because you will be "using up" the battery's cyclic life faster than you need to.

 

Your posts seem to be nothing more than poorly understood gleanings from the internet, possibly the drivel so often posted on Faceache and the like. Generalisations about construction are only that, I can see a Utube video being the source of such statements. If you are buying domestic batteries on the basis of CCA then they are start or dual-purpose batteries. For domestic use you need Amp hours so you can do the capacity and charging calculations to give you optimum life. Ideally, you will also have some form of battery monitoring.

[TNLI]

On 30/08/2021 at 10:58, Tony Brooks said:

 

What causes BMC 1.5s to fail is pretty much the same for any other engine. Over revving, lack of regular maintenance, old age and wear. The number that were and in some cases still are in hire fleet use attests to their longevity. However, you have to grasp the basic design dates from the 1940s and the diesel version from the later 1950s or early 1960s. You could easily buy a 50-year-old engine for rebuilding, with all that means in terms of fatigue and wear. The same would apply to any 50 year old engine except a proper marine engine is likely to be of  a more robust design because weight is not such an issue.

 

Properly installed and marinised 1.5s are no more likely to overheat than any other engine, it's their owners who create the conditions for overheating by their inattentiveness or lack of routine maintenance. They are also no more likely to suffer lubrication problems, except the majority are now old and worn so blow by has increased from new, but regular oil and filter changes should minimise such problems.

 

For goodness’s sake, stop it. The red bit is nothing more than blatant misinformation designed to dramatically shorten the life of any lead acid battery.

 

If you had said 12.7 to 12.8 rested voltage, you would be correct. 12.1 is well below half charged so the lead sulphate on the discharged plate areas will be hardening so in not too many days it will be impossible to reconvert it to lead oxide. That means dramatic capacity loss caused by sulphation.  It also means that you are discharging the battery to a deeper degree than is compatible with optimum battery life because you will be "using up" the battery's cyclic life faster than you need to.

 

Your posts seem to be nothing more than poorly understood gleanings from the internet, possibly the drivel so often posted on Faceache and the like. Generalisations about construction are only that, I can see a Utube video being the source of such statements. If you are buying domestic batteries on the basis of CCA then they are start or dual-purpose batteries. For domestic use you need Amp hours so you can do the capacity and charging calculations to give you optimum life. Ideally, you will also have some form of battery monitoring.

Most of the modern solar panel regulators have a built in voltmeter and are fairly cheap, if you feed each panel plus regulator to seperate battery, or bank, then they allow you to see a complete picture in voltage terms. It also means the failure of one system does not effect another. My lifeboat has 4 batteries, 2 start and 2 house ones, all with a panel and regulator each. 

Oddly enough the solar regulators do seem to be set a tad higher than expected at around 14.3 volts, rather than 13.6. Not too sure if that is a tad high in reality.

 

In voltage terms, the following internet article says the absolute temporary low limit is in fact 10.5 volts, although I really hate to see anything below 12.5 volts.

Do I need to completely discharge my lead acid battery before recharging it?

No, in fact you should never discharge your lead acid battery below 80% of its rated capacity. Discharging it below this point or 10.5 volts can damage it.

[TNLI]

On 30/08/2021 at 10:15, Tony Brooks said:

 

That makes your search for a 1.5 even more bizarre. If taking the boat overseas, which involves open sea passages, the last engine I would want is a BMC 1.5. Spares are not that easy to find in the UK, let alone overseas. I would be far happier with an engine designed as a marine engine, not a converted van job. I think you need to look at dealerships in the countries you intend to visit before deciding upon an engine and then, somehow, pay the cost.

I've given up on the BMC, so it's now a new BETA 38 (35hp), or a Thornycroft 40hp. 

[Tony Brooks]

7 hours ago, TNLI said:

Most of the modern solar panel regulators have a built in voltmeter and are fairly cheap, if you feed each panel plus regulator to seperate battery, or bank, then they allow you to see a complete picture in voltage terms. It also means the failure of one system does not effect another. My lifeboat has 4 batteries, 2 start and 2 house ones, all with a panel and regulator each. 

Oddly enough the solar regulators do seem to be set a tad higher than expected at around 14.3 volts, rather than 13.6. Not too sure if that is a tad high in reality.

 

In voltage terms, the following internet article says the absolute temporary low limit is in fact 10.5 volts, although I really hate to see anything below 12.5 volts.

Do I need to completely discharge my lead acid battery before recharging it?

No, in fact you should never discharge your lead acid battery below 80% of its rated capacity. Discharging it below this point or 10.5 volts can damage it.

 

More partial and misleading information.

 

1. Old controllers may have been set to 13.6 volts because they were dumb, and anything above 13.6 volts for many months and years on end is likely to damage a lead acid battery. Since about 2000 I know the controllers were not dumb. They have a high initial charging voltage, but less than typical battery gassing voltages. This is typically around the 14.4 to 14.6 volt range. Then, at the point the controller decides the batteries are fully charged, it drops the voltage to a safe long term (float) voltage of around 13.6 volts. They often go into float too early for optimum live aboard use, but 13.6 will eventually fully charge the batteries if left undisturbed for a longer period. Many controllers allow you to adjust the various voltages to suite your battery type.

 

2. By all means take your own batteries down to 10.5 volts, but do not come onto a public forum and even hint it will not damage the batteries. Whoever you quote is probably correct in that if you inadvertently do it just once and the IMMEDIATELY full  recharge  then its unlikely that you would notice the damage, but that is not what usually happens. They are not fully charged immediately and left standing this causes excess sulphation that  reduces their capacity although they will still appear to work. Your quote also fails to recognise batteries have a cyclic life and that is often quoted at a 40% depth of discharge - NOT 100%, so discharging to 100%, even just once, depletes the cyclic like giving a shorter life. To other of our less technical members reading this  topic. For optimum lead acid battery life, do not discharge to below around 50%, which is with a rested voltage of about 12.2 to 12.3 volts.

[Tracy D'arth]

Sorry TNLI, but you are a mine of incorrect information.

 

How do you parallel batteries with a separate controller and panel on each please?

Edited September 2, 2021 by Tracy D'arth

[Tony Brooks]

37 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Sorry TNLI, but you are a mine of incorrect information.

 

How do you parallel batteries with a separate controller and panel on each please?

 

I think he has two separate solar systems. One for the twin engine batteries (but why he needs two I have no idea apart from him believing the guff he posted about CCA a while ago) and another for his domestic bank.

[Tracy D'arth]

6 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

I think he has two separate solar systems. One for the twin engine batteries (but why he needs two I have no idea apart from him believing the guff he posted about CCA a while ago) and another for his domestic bank.

I hope so but that is not as I read it.

[Tony Brooks]

5 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

I hope so but that is not as I read it.

 

To be honest, it is all too easy to read anything into his posts after all the internet gleaned and believed rubbish he posts.

[TNLI]

16 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Sorry TNLI, but you are a mine of incorrect information.

 

How do you parallel batteries with a separate controller and panel on each please?

The SOLAS regs for lifeboats require 2 start batteries and an independent house battery. My boat has 2 main battery selectors not one, and although I might decide to use the both position for the house selector on occasions, I don't regards the use of the both position a good idea for start batteries. 

 

It would help the reputation of this forum if it's members could avoid negative or insulting comments at the very start of their reply, for example both of the last replies start with a mild insult:

Sorry TNLI, but you are a mine of incorrect information.

 

to be honest, it is all too easy to read anything into his posts after all the internet gleaned and believed rubbish he posts.

 

More partial and misleading information.

 

All replies tend to be partial in nature, as a complete reply would be far too long for a forum post. The reader of a post always has to decide what is, and what is not misleading. 

One point that is interesting in technical terms, is that some technical documents or articles list 12.1 rather than 12.2 or 12.3, (Never seen one list 12.2), and that might be because they are using slightly different types of lead acid batteries, or taking readings at a different part of the circuit. I will stick with 12.1 as the absolute minimum voltage that results in me starting the generator, main engine or just switching on more solar panels. 

 

Getting back to the subject of BMC 1500's, has anyone fitted a Beta, or Greenline 38, (No idea why they use 38, as they are 35hp engines), to a frame that was supporting a BMC 1500 ??

 

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by TNLI

[Tracy D'arth]

There is no mounting frame as such under a BMC 1.5D, they have front and bell housing mountings which sit directly onto the engine beds in the hull. Beta engines do have an angle iron down both sides which is then mounted on the engine beds.

As I said previous;y, the Canaline engines of similar size are the same plan layout as the BMC 1.5D and 1.8D, the former requires spacers to raise the mountings, the later is a straight swop.

 

As you don't like my comments I will do you the honour of ignoring you in future but you do spout some arrant rubbish, where you get it from I have no idea.

[Tony Brooks]

8 hours ago, TNLI said:

The SOLAS regs for lifeboats require 2 start batteries and an independent house battery. My boat has 2 main battery selectors not one, and although I might decide to use the both position for the house selector on occasions, I don't regards the use of the both position a good idea for start batteries. 

 

It would help the reputation of this forum if it's members could avoid negative or insulting comments at the very start of their reply, for example both of the last replies start with a mild insult:

Sorry TNLI, but you are a mine of incorrect information.

 

to be honest, it is all too easy to read anything into his posts after all the internet gleaned and believed rubbish he posts.

 

More partial and misleading information.

 

All replies tend to be partial in nature, as a complete reply would be far too long for a forum post. The reader of a post always has to decide what is, and what is not misleading. 

One point that is interesting in technical terms, is that some technical documents or articles list 12.1 rather than 12.2 or 12.3, (Never seen one list 12.2), and that might be because they are using slightly different types of lead acid batteries, or taking readings at a different part of the circuit. I will stick with 12.1 as the absolute minimum voltage that results in me starting the generator, main engine or just switching on more solar panels. 

 

Getting back to the subject of BMC 1500's, has anyone fitted a Beta, or Greenline 38, (No idea why they use 38, as they are 35hp engines), to a frame that was supporting a BMC 1500 ??

 

 

 

As I have implied before, you seem to be on the wrong forum. You need one that specialises in lifeboats whose members understand lifeboat regulations, not one for canal boaters (clue in the name of this forum). However, as far as I can tell, as your boat will be neither a ship's lifeboat nor a working lifeboat on station those regulations will be subservient to any other regulations like the BSS, if you bring it inland, or those a harbour authority may impose.

 

What may be common or best practice for working lifeboats does not seem to the same for the majority of leisure boats, so it's a totally different world. You will get good advice for leisure inland boats and in a large part sea boats here, but you will also get called out if your ideas do not accord with normal practice for the boats we are familiar with.

 

Now, I have another problem with your posts. On one hand you quote lifeboat practice required by Solas yet at the start you were talking about an engine that as far as I know was never approved for lifeboat use and  I suspect could never meet the requirements without serious modifications. In fact, I think the other engines you mention apart from Bukh have never been approved for lifeboat use, so what are you refitting, a lifeboat as a lifeboat or an  ex lifeboat as a leisure or work boat?

 

If it's not subject to the lifeboat regulations, then it seems clear to me that you want to install overcomplicated systems. But that is your right and I respect that. What I can't respect is when you come out with pretty firm statements that are likely to mislead members and those reading this forum.

 

In your post I quote you have proven that at least part of your certainties come from reading the internet and unless you do a lot of double-checking the reputation of those authoring the items it is far from reliable. This includes this forum. I think your 12.x figures above relate to implying the state of charge from rested battery voltage, although you do not specifically say that. At least you seem to have grasps the fact that there is very little that is absolute with lead acid batteries, so an individual judgement has to be made. The figures I quote are those generally accepted but are conservative in the interests of battery life but you have very right to use less conservative values as long as you make it clear that it is your take and not widely accepted.

 

Now, this talk of a frame for engine mounting. In all the boats I have seen the engine sits either on beds that are welded into metal boats, bolted into wooden boats or glassed into GRP boats. Some GRP boats sit the engine(s) on individual block glasses into the hull. The only time I have seen anything that could be called a frame is on our older wooden hire boats, where we did make up a pair of heavy metal plates that sat on the modified beds that were tied across the front by a bar. The reason for this was the state of the old beds and deteriorating fixings. Maybe the use of a frame is an RNLI thing, I don't know, but it is not common practice on leisure boats. All I can think is that you have seen metal beds that you think is a frame. Engine beds can be modified fairly easily, although it will have a cost, to accept virtually any similar sized engines as long as the gearbox output flange is in a similar radial position to the original. The closest to a frame you will find on most, but not all, BMC 1.5s is a cross member at the front of the engine that allows the use of  the automotive front rubber mounts to the cross member with the cross member being bolted to the beds. Although Thorneycroft used to advertise their Mitsubishi based engines had mounting points that matched the 1.5 and as Tract says, Canaline say the same, it is not likely that you will find another engine that will fit directly onto BMC 1.5 mounting points. As long as the distance between the beds are the same, you MIGHT be able to redrill the mounting bars that the Beta Greenline engine uses, but I am not sure if the same mounting system is used on the seagoing red range. Are you aware that the Greenline range is unlikely to have a raw water pump for a wet exhaust?

 

PS, if you don't want very mild rebukes, then stop posting stuff that is potentially misleading and untrue that seem to come straight from the internet with little evidence of any attempt at verification. Stick with straight questions.

Edited September 3, 2021 by Tony Brooks

[TNLI]

That last post was too long to read, BUT many BMC engines are mounted on a boat specific frame, although the shape and design of that frame varies from ones that are not much bigger than the engines dimensions, to the one in my boat, which is far longer than needed for the engine itself. the extra length was used for batteries, BUT I've moved my 4 battery system forward, to a more central location, (Under my bunk in the picture). The spare room has now been used for the main tool box with a seat on top, which although I'm going to fit a small drain valve, is watertight. That way the new frame plan can help with the unsinkability target.

 

Lots of canal boats have been built with just one battery selector and 2 batteries, often of the same type, although I expect some regular will now say that's a bad idea, I can assure you my system is far better than any new boat manufacturer normally fits, unless it's from one of the better fishing or rescue boat related manufacturers. 

 

Anyone have an opinion on the Canaline 35 diesel, as I did get one very useful reply that says it fits the same mounts, so I'm now looking at that engine with real interest, particularly as Marine Enterprises are an agent for Sole. Newish engine manufacturers do introduce a few normally minor risk factors in terms of failure rates. So it would be good to hear or find some more detailed info on potential issues with that series of new engines. Also they are painted light metallic blue, just lile a new Thornycroft 40!

Edited September 3, 2021 by TNLI

[Tony Brooks]

The engine BEDS should be longer than the engine so it spreads the load and vibrations over more of the hull. The only exceptions I have seen are the cruisers that mount on discrete blocks, and I think that is not such a bright idea.

 

Please find a photo and reference to any BMC engine mounted on a frame in a boat, unless a frame has been used to fit it onto the beds. Frame seems to be your term, not the generally accepted one, so to avoid confusion please stick with the normal terms used by the audience you are addressing.

 

FYI, few canal boats are built with battery selector switches these days because there are better options, unless you what to be able to use either bank for either purpose (start & domestic use). Such switches seem to be in favour with the sailing community. In fact, few narrowboats are nowadays built with just one alternator, the vast majority have two, one for the engine battery and one for the domestics, so no selector switch is needed. Many also have provision for paralleling the banks when under charge to combine both alternator outputs. Few, if any, canal boats are now built with just two batteries, in days gone by three would be the norm (1 engine, 2 domestic) but nowadays, it is more likely to be  five or more (assuming 110 Ah ish domestic batteries). Even in the single alternator days more canal boats used a split charge diode (ugh) or a split charge relay rather than a selector switch. I grant you, a selector switch wins over a passive split charge diode hands down UNLESS it is paired with a battery sensed alternator, which most are not.

 

Why is anyone apparently interested in reliability concerned over the paint colour - it's a 10-minute job to respray a new engine to suit.

 

The people behind Canaline were the same as ran a highly successful business marinising Isuzu engines for the inland market until it seems Isuzu decided to pull out of the market. They were installed by loads of hire fleets, so that should tell you something about the likely reliability of the marninsation.

 

 

[TNLI]

 

3 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

Yes he said something about being in bed for a 10 minute paint job ??

Here is roughly how I've repainted engines in the past:

1/ Drain the coolant below the lowest hose level.

2/ Remove all hoses

3/ Decide if you should remove the old paint

4/ Prime if required by bare metal issues

5/ 2 coats of a heat resistant paint from a good company, (Might be from the engine dealer).

6/ Refit the hoses and top up with coolant.

   Wild guess, but a total of 6 hours, spread over 2 or 3 days. Might be less if you are not using a different colour etc.

As regards battery selectors, I have skippered and deck handed several Dutch alloy fishing boats made by Striker, and they were made to a very high standard. Those boats use Plastimo ON/OFF switches that had removable keys. I quite liked the 5 on/off selectors, (One is an emegency cross feed). So I will fit 3 for the different battery bays, as follows: Bat1 to Bat 2 emergency cross feed (House pair only), Bat 1 earth and Bat 2 earth. 

  All of the 7 bilge pumps are wired to seperate batteries.

3 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

 

Edited September 3, 2021 by TNLI

[Tony Brooks]

2 hours ago, TNLI said:

 

As regards battery selectors, I have skippered and deck handed several Dutch alloy fishing boats made by Striker, and they were made to a very high standard. Those boats use Plastimo ON/OFF switches that had removable keys. I quite liked the 5 on/off selectors, (One is an emegency cross feed). So I will fit 3 for the different battery bays, as follows: Bat1 to Bat 2 emergency cross feed (House pair only), Bat 1 earth and Bat 2 earth. 

  All of the 7 bilge pumps are wired to seperate batteries.

 

 

So not employed as engineer on UK inland waterways and in typical UK narrowboats and as I said those switches are favoured by the sea going fraternity. The YBW forum is the one for you - for about the third time.

[Tracy D'arth]

Very arrogant, I don't have the time either to read your twaddle.

Edited September 3, 2021 by Tracy D'arth

[Tony Brooks]

8 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Very arrogant, I don't have the time either to read your twaddle.

 

I trust that is not directed at me. If not, I feel the same. I lay odds he has no relevant qualifications at all with which to evaluate what he reads on the net, before he spouts it with apparent certainty on here.

[Tracy D'arth]

15 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

I trust that is not directed at me. If not, I feel the same. I lay odds he has no relevant qualifications at all with which to evaluate what he reads on the net, before he spouts it with apparent certainty on here.

No Tony, not you. 

Its a shame he can't be bothered to read your long post as he may learn something sensible for a change.  Is this an RNLI lifeboat, a ships lifeboat,  a survival orange horror or a plastic one in his bath?

 

Or is it all in his imagination?

Edited September 3, 2021 by Tracy D'arth

[TNLI]

Warning, rather off topic, so no need to read if you are a regular ranter.

 

My lifeboat is a 27ft alloy one based on a sunken ships lifeboat that cost one pound, although the salvage job cost me 2 grand. I only wanted the hull and that was pretty much all I got. I gutted the boat and dumped the contents into a council skip that they allowed me to use whilst in a pub car park in Poole, (Main RNLI HQ and offshore boat factory). The engine was sold for 100 quid, as the only part worth saving was the gearbox. 

  The design I'm using is one I based on CG 36500, (US Coastguard), but modified and scaled down from 36 to 27ft, with a 9ft beam and 3ft 6in draught, so good for canals. I've not yet purchased the parts for the A frame/Lanteen rig that folds down onto a 4ft bowsprit with 2 fore and backstays, (A frame rigs do not need shrouds). 

 

  The 2 diesel fuel tanks combined with another 100 liters in 4 cans, should give a power only range of around 1000nm, that range combined with the A frame sail plan should make for a fairly fast trip back to Trinidad, although I plan to stop in both the Azores and Canary Islands to see a few old friends. Singlehanded from the last sensible port along the SW coast, probably Falmouth, and I'm not overly concerned about the time of year, although it can take ages for a good break as regards wind angle and general conditions from the final departure point.

 

If all goes well, (It never does), I will probably make a quick beach stop, (Run on groundable design), in Barbados, before heading for Trinidad or Tabago to resume armed rescue duties, mostly on station drift or heaved to waiting for yet another incident to be called in. In will pick up an armed crew in Tobago, as some folks that you rescue are not always keen on being delivered to the local Police, as they are on a serious wanted list. The CG design I like has seperate cabins for crew and survivors, which is one good idea if they cause trouble.

 

40,000 people fled Venezuela last year for Trinidad, mostly in small boats of every description. The BBC and ITV news are very unlikely to ever mention the appaling situation in the waters just South of Trinidad, as BP, Mobil and many other oil & gas sector companies are rather interested in the Venezuelan offshore oil & gas field and how it joins onto the one owned by Trinidad. Along with the Trinidad Navy, the OAG rescue boats are all in the wrong place to help with the night time mayhem in hells channel. Only the local Sharks like a 17ft great white caught by local fisherman last time I was there, think the present situation funny. The RNLI can't really help, as they have the wrong types of boat at present, and are not weapons trained anyway..

 

PS: The Penguin in the aft gunners seat on top of the main tool box has been lost, fate unknown. The Parrot is still aboard, along with a baby Penguin!

      Sail plan is the original USCG 36500 one, not the Lanteen rig one I've decided better for off the wind sailing.

[Bod]

Ah, now we know your plan's.  What you are asking is, very very remote from the British inland waterways.

Your vessel must be able to make an Atlantic crossing, not to float along a 4 foot deep canal.

As you have been advised, there are better forums for your project.

 

Bod

[TNLI]

18 minutes ago, Bod said:

Ah, now we know your plan's.  What you are asking is, very very remote from the British inland waterways.

Your vessel must be able to make an Atlantic crossing, not to float along a 4 foot deep canal.

As you have been advised, there are better forums for your project.

 

Bod

I already look at other forums, BUT I'm in need of a BMC 1500/Thornycroft 40/ Canaline 35/ Beta or Greenline 38, and those engines and their dealerships are well known in this forum. The rag and stick types tend to think the Yanmar series of inboard diesels are the only way to go, although the more sensible posters do like the Beta/ Greenline, even though they are more expensive. 

  The dual alternator game that seems to be catching on in canal boats is not the best of ideas in terms of both longer term glazing of the cylinders caused by idle or low power use, or the basic concept of how many eggs you put in one basket. The only real longer term sensible solution is to fit a small air cooled diesel generator like wot I'm thinking of doing. The very cheap diesel gen sets are now available for just over 500 quid plus extras. The real cheap ones might need dumping or returning to the seller every year due to various faults. The simple ring pull one does seem a possible contender, although a clued up friend from Sunseekers did warn that they corrode very quickly. So the gen set I'm looking at is the Hyundai boxed one, which costs around 1400 quid, depending on extras like remote controls. Anyone know of another small diesel gen set that I can mount in gimbals like a big marine cooker, as their oil system often has a 30 degree limit  ??

[StephenA]

54 minutes ago, Bod said:

Ah, now we know your plan's.  What you are asking is, very very remote from the British inland waterways.

Your vessel must be able to make an Atlantic crossing, not to float along a 4 foot deep canal.

As you have been advised, there are better forums for your project.

 

Bod

 

I'd certainly not want to rely on a BMC 1.5 to get me across the atlantic.

[Tony Brooks]

To the less experienced that read the above. If anything twin alternators in a canal boat will load the engine more than a single at the start of charging and this higher load time can be extended if they are, in some way, both linked to paralleled battery banks. After the initial hour or so in most cases the load on the engine from the charging set will be the same for a single or twin alternator boat, so the bit about twin alternators not being good for bore glazing is exceptionally questionable.

 

Running any engine at idle for long periods just charging batteries may cause bore glazing, but it can be minimised by charging at the speed that keeps the charging current as high as it will go. This will mean gradually reducing the charge as the batteries limit the charging current.

 

Using lithium batteries with their ability to accept virtually all the current the alternator can throw at them will keep the charging load high until it is time to stop charging. This also helps reduce bore glazing.

6 minutes ago, StephenA said:

 

I'd certainly not want to rely on a BMC 1.5 to get me across the atlantic.

 

Me neither, I would want a proper designed from the ground up marine engine that is designed to run for hours at higher speeds and loads.