Electric set up advice

[MtB]

8 hours ago, rusty69 said:

That is a thing of beauty. Stop posting those pornographic images.

 

I disagree. It looks a clumsy and graceless design to me. If I were designing it I would instinctively put that biggest, highest power transmitting Travel Power pulley closest to the engine and the smallest pulley driving the starter alternator out on the end. 

Have they fixed that problem yet where you need a new crankshaft every six months?

[rusty69]

5 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I disagree. It looks a clumsy and graceless design to me. If I were designing it I would instinctively put that biggest, highest power transmitting Travel Power pulley closest to the engine and the smallest pulley driving the starter alternator out on the end. 

Have they fixed that problem yet where you need a new crankshaft every six months?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 

That's why mrs Rusty likes to behold me. 

[roland elsdon]

14 hours ago, rusty69 said:

Ok, i'll go first. Whats a travel pack?

[Dr Bob]

7 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Have they fixed that problem yet where you need a new crankshaft every six months?

That's what puts me off investing in one. 

[roland elsdon]

Does drinking a beer every 10 kms ruin your crankshaft then. Ive heard of brewers droop but not crankshaft ruin. No wonder theres a sex shop on every industrial estate. Still i think if you drink a beer every 10 ks on a 200 km drive then you are unlikely to worry about yer crank.

 

[Dr Bob]

17 minutes ago, roland elsdon said:

Does drinking a beer every 10 kms ruin your crankshaft then. Ive heard of brewers droop but not crankshaft ruin. No wonder theres a sex shop on every industrial estate. Still i think if you drink a beer every 10 ks on a 200 km drive then you are unlikely to worry about yer crank.

 

What's a km?

[system 4-50]

47 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

That's what puts me off investing in one. 

It shouldn't. Its history.

[Dr Bob]

2 minutes ago, system 4-50 said:

It shouldn't. Its history.

I can only go on what I have read here. Is it an issue?

[system 4-50]

1 minute ago, Dr Bob said:

I can only go on what I have read here. Is it an issue?

I have emailed BetaMarine for a definitive statement.

[MtB]

1 hour ago, Dr Bob said:

That's what puts me off investing in one. 

 

Me too. 

Well that and the fact they don't make an installation kit for a Kelvin K series diesels 

[roland elsdon]

A unit of speed and distance i believe implemented by napoleon. It allows an inflated figure of speed and speedometers that make lots of numbers. This excites the bogan element. ( chaves)

Of course true speed is the imperial measure and the colonials only changed in order to pay another bunch of public servants  to sit  around discussing implentation. It made plutocrats out of the matesof the road minister who awarded them the contracts to buy the signs from china. The australians picked kms to make everything sound bigger. In reality the habitable part of the country is just over the size of the isle of white and is not near any conurbations.

bwb at one point put speed in kms on the canal in some places.(6.2 kms) this caused a surge in sales of  grey lorry engines with exciting names like 4 iw 5 lw etc.  as the new owners were fooled once in the boat their crankshafts all went wibbly  , to go at tickover you could hear the bearings rattle as they went past and when they were put in gear the towpath was washed away along with anglers ducks walkers. The batteries also went flat coss they were turning at 400rpm with 3 alternators

thats why appalling duck is full of boats with huge grey lorry engines that dont sell. This knowledge has been passed down from the greybeards of the 90s to the present. It is fact.

Did i digress ? No , crankshafts tick kms tick battery chsrging tick

im going to sleep now maybe ive got a touch of delirium and not the tremens type. 

[Dr Bob]

Just now, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Me too. 

Well that and the fact they don't make an installation kit for a Kelvin K series diesels 

We have a beta 43 so been put off by the negative posts. I'm not that convinced it is the answer to our power generation though as you have to run the engine to get the 240v and if we run the washing machine and instant pot we can do that anyway, but not at the same time with the inverter and biggish batter bank. Travel power would help certainly but I wouldn't like to risk the engine.

i do have many negative posts on my batteries before anyone smart tries to de-rail the plot

[TheBiscuits]

4 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

i do have many negative posts on my batteries before anyone smart tries to de-rail the plot

Oh, my batteries only have one negative post each. You must have some fancy ones.

Give Beta your WOC number off your engine, and ask them if it can take a travelpower.  They changed the design of the mountings and the position of the extra pulley after the problems with Travelpowers originally.

Edited March 3, 2018 by TheBiscuits

[Errant Ewart]

Ok TP's are ok assuming they have solved the serviceability issues , the pulley comment makes sense and not just aesthetically, but you still have to run the engine and if not cruising you have to assume the revs would not be optimal for the generators ( in any set up) so the rolls royce solution is a separate gen set funds and space allowing matched to a suitable all singing and dancing control box but taking on board that there are TWO engines to maintain. I take it having an electrical motor drive to drive the under water fan set up is a complete no no,  as that does seem to off a source of considerable electrical power.Incidentally , Honda have joined the hybrid club, Civic first followed by CRV so one assumes we are seeing the onset of death of the diesel.   Ok I am going to ask that question Batteries, having  got a gen set installed wot to we store the juice in. 

Edited March 3, 2018 by Errant Ewart
Spulin

[WotEver]

40 minutes ago, Errant Ewart said:

Batteries, having  got a gen set installed wot to we store the juice in. 

 I answered that one about 100 posts ago...

 

[Errant Ewart]

Sorry not wishing to offend but despite the fact I do read all of a thread due age it don't stick as well as it did under my very grey hair and everybody has an opinion so keeping the floor open! I take all serious answers seriously and chuckle at the obvious funnies. I suppose I was actually summarizing where we had got to  , looking for any final disagreements . So again thanks to all contributors. 

[TheBiscuits]

4 minutes ago, Errant Ewart said:

Sorry not wishing to offend but despite the fact I do read all of a thread due age it don't stick as well as it did under my very grey hair and everybody has an opinion so keeping the floor open! I take all serious answers seriously and chuckle at the obvious funnies. I suppose I was actually summarizing where we had got to  , looking for any final disagreements . So again thanks to all contributors. 

WotEver wasn't joking in that linked post.  A bit tongue in cheek in presentation maybe but the facts are bob on.

On 3/2/2018 at 13:44, WotEver said:

They’re rectangular things wot hold charge. 

Dirt cheap ones won’t last even if well looked after. 

Mid quality ones will last a couple of years for a liveaboard if well looked after. The problem is always discerning the difference between these and the dirt cheap ones (price isn’t always a good indicator). 

Expensive ones will last many years but only if well cared for. 

We often get new boaters on here who kill £1000 worth of good batteries in a month.  Some dedicated souls can do it in a week.

Unless you care about battery life and understand how to care for them, and have a really good idea of your actual usage and charge cycles you will turn expensive batteries into doorstops in your first few months.

Using cheapish batteries means you are only killing £300 worth instead.  They will die too.  

That's assuming you don't go for the silent genset obviously - you only need a starter battery if you have your own power station onboard

 

[roland elsdon]

Ive decided as loads of people like vintage engines and fish and chips simply to install a slow reving lister d series as a generator attach it to a decent charger and run it 0801 to 7.59 daily. Ill run it on chip fat. Thats legal and keeps a significant number of people happy. If the national dish really is chicken tikka massala ill just get some ghee

[cuthound]

On 03/03/2018 at 10:14, Dr Bob said:

I can only go on what I have read here. Is it an issue?

Depends on what the end of your crankshaft looks like. Up to about 2006, Beta used a slot in it with a woodruff key in it to secure the pulley for the TP. The slot wore out, the key became loose and the pulley vibrated and wore the woodruff ket/slot out more... The repairs were a bodge (welding the key into the slot), so the only permanent solution was a new crankshaft (or a short engine).

Later engines had the standard Kubota crankshaft, which extends further from the engine and is splined, as it is designed to drive hydraulic pumps etc on diggers. This type of crankshaft is problem free although the bearings on the TP need periodic replacement.

[ditchcrawler]

On 03/03/2018 at 10:45, Dr Bob said:

We have a beta 43 so been put off by the negative posts. I'm not that convinced it is the answer to our power generation though as you have to run the engine to get the 240v and if we run the washing machine and instant pot we can do that anyway, but not at the same time with the inverter and biggish batter bank. Travel power would help certainly but I wouldn't like to risk the engine.

i do have many negative posts on my batteries before anyone smart tries to de-rail the plot

Here is someone with a problem http://derwent6.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/beta-4350-bottom-pulley-loose.html

[WotEver]

2 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Here is someone with a problem http://derwent6.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/beta-4350-bottom-pulley-loose.html

Yep, the keyway driven pulley again. 

[Dr Bob]

4 hours ago, cuthound said:

Depends on what the end of your crankshaft looks like. Up to about 2006, Beta used a slot in it with a woodruff key in it to secure the pulley for the TP. The slot wore out, the key became loose and the pulley vibrated and wore the woodruff ket/slot out more... The repairs were a bodge (welding the key into the slot), so the only permanent solution was a new crankshaft (or a short engine).

Later engines had the standard Kubota crankshaft, which extends further from the engine and is splined, as it is designed to drive hydraulic pumps etc on diggers. This type of crankshaft is problem free although the bearings on the TP need periodic replacement.

Thanks for that Cuthound. I will have a look but seem to recollect I have not seen a splined end. Likely the old design as it is 2003.