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Overheating lister petter LPWS canal star


Chambo

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I have a problem with my Lister Petter canal star engine overheating in certain situations, if I'm just pottering about on the canal there doesn't seem to be any problems, however if I work the engine hard i.e. against the current on the river the engine gradually overheats to the point where I have to slow to tick over to let the temperature drop, coolant level is ok, oil level is ok plus the quality of the oil is good ( recent oil and filter change). The coolant system was flushed 18 months ago and the coolant replaced with distilled water and good quality antifreeze at a ratio of 40% as recommended in the Lister workshop manual, I would add that since the flush and change of coolant the boat has probably run about two months total running. I have my own theory and I'm leaning towards a faulty thermostat but would be interested to hear other opinions.

thanks 

ivan.

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Probably should have added that it is a "closed system with keel cooling" and in reply to the two replies I've already had, the system has been properly filled and vented. As to the actuall size of the skin tank without measuring it I couldn't say but prior to last year when the problem first occurred it has never been an issue.

ivan

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2 minutes ago, Chambo said:

Probably should have added that it is a "closed system with keel cooling" and in reply to the two replies I've already had, the system has been properly filled and vented. As to the actuall size of the skin tank without measuring it I couldn't say but prior to last year when the problem first occurred it has never been an issue.

ivan

And when was the hull blacked, ie how much black insulating the skin tank. How hot is the water returning from the skin tank when you have problems?

 

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9 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

And when was the hull blacked, ie how much black insulating the skin tank. How hot is the water returning from the skin tank when you have problems?

 

The hull was last blacked three years ago, I must admit I have wondered about the thickness of the blacking in the past the boat being 25years old and blacked roughly every other year, but that shouldn't be a problem now as the bottom as been grit basted back to bare metal and "two packed". I won't know if that was the problem though until I fetch it back from the boatyard. As for the temperature of the water returning from the skin tank I cannot say as I have not thought to feel the hoses when it's occurred.

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On 27/05/2018 at 23:02, Chambo said:

I have a problem with my Lister Petter canal star engine overheating in certain situations, if I'm just pottering about on the canal there doesn't seem to be any problems, however if I work the engine hard i.e. against the current on the river the engine gradually overheats to the point where I have to slow to tick over to let the temperature drop, coolant level is ok, oil level is ok plus the quality of the oil is good ( recent oil and filter change). The coolant system was flushed 18 months ago and the coolant replaced with distilled water and good quality antifreeze at a ratio of 40% as recommended in the Lister workshop manual, I would add that since the flush and change of coolant the boat has probably run about two months total running. I have my own theory and I'm leaning towards a faulty thermostat but would be interested to hear other opinions.

thanks 

ivan.

I had intermittent problems with my skin cooling system.

I narrowed it down to air bubbles accumulating in the pipework - mainly because the boats stands idle - causing air bubbles to rise in the pipes.

Flushing the air out with a hose (apart from being messy) it is not possible when cold because the thermostat is shut until the engine reaches working temperature.

I fitted a number of bleed valves in the flow and return pipes and top of each skin tank to make it easy to let the air out - as a matter of routine practice - usually just a few bubbles.

Initially however I think it was the skin tanks that were not fiilled properly (bad configuration of pipes and connections) not a blockage as such but less cooling and a source of air that got picked up during circulation, that then settled out at the high points in the pipework - to restrict flow. But once bled everything has worked OK ever since.

I also have a calorifier running off the engine to provide domestic hot water - where again there are air release valves at the high points of the pipework.

Also these valves allow me to connect a hose to flush with water if necessary.

I don't know about Lister engines but mine had belt driven water pump so although the pump works the belt might slip.

I mention it for what it is worth.

 

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5 hours ago, Horace42 said:

I had intermittent problems with my skin cooling system.

I narrowed it down to air bubbles accumulating in the pipework - mainly because the boats stands idle - causing air bubbles to rise in the pipes.

Flushing the air out with a hose (apart from being messy) it is not possible when cold because the thermostat is shut until the engine reaches working temperature.

I fitted a number of bleed valves in the flow and return pipes and top of each skin tank to make it easy to let the air out - as a matter of routine practice - usually just a few bubbles.

Initially however I think it was the skin tanks that were not fiilled properly (bad configuration of pipes and connections) not a blockage as such but less cooling and a source of air that got picked up during circulation, that then settled out at the high points in the pipework - to restrict flow. But once bled everything has worked OK ever since.

I also have a calorifier running off the engine to provide domestic hot water - where again there are air release valves at the high points of the pipework.

Also these valves allow me to connect a hose to flush with water if necessary.

I don't know about Lister engines but mine had belt driven water pump so although the pump works the belt might slip.

I mention it for what it is worth.

 

Thanks for your thoughts, when I flushed and refilled the cooling system I made sure (as is reasonably practical) to remove any air, venting from the top of the skin tank and running the engine until the thermostat opened, I'm fairly happy that I removed all the air. 

I have picked the boat up from the boat yard today after having it shot blasted and 'two packed', I questioned the boat builder as to the thickness of the paint around the skin tank area, I couldn't print his reply suffice to say the thickness was in mm's not microns. The journey home involves going against the current on the river Trent which is also carrying quite a lot of excess water, the engine consequently was working hard and the temperature gauge hardly moved, I'm reluctant to say that was the problem but I suppose I'll only find out through use.

3 hours ago, PaulG said:

Increasing the concentration of antifreeze will raise the boiling point of the coolant...

boilpt.gif

Thanks for the info, I'm currently running at about a 40% mix

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