Re: INDIFFERENCE -Single engine operation
Vince: as you figured out there is almost no difference operating with one
or two engines. That is why most trawlers are equipped with only one main
engine. There is a loss of 1kt of speed which adds about 40 hrs to the longest
leg (Bermuda to Azores) only a day and a half. Having one engine down for 6 hrs
periods allow for maintenance without losing substantial speed. The single
engine trawlers do shut down the main for maintenance and use their wing engine
(if equipped) but proceed at approx 4kts(as per the notes from the NAR). Our
Ford Lehman engines are pretty tough and the extra 100-150 rpms don't change
much in terms of temperature or wear and tear. In the end it all equals out
e.g. our port engine hours are 23 more than the starboard. Regards. Leonard
Stern, Indifference
There has been some discussion about single engine operation and services for long journeys.
After discussion with the Lugger representative at the beginning of the NAR in Fort Lauderdale we did the following:
We did NOT turn the engine off while under way. Therefore we ran about 260 hours of continuous operation - this was not a problem for the Lugger which has a 22 quart oil pan. It does reduce the risk of having a non starting engine in mid ocean.
The oil in the engine is checked on a regular basis by referring to a scribed line on the back of the dipstick which is placed there after checking the oil level after 60 minutes or so of operation with a know full oil level.
Our routine was once a day, (more if you think it needed) we would reduce the engine to idle - check the engine oil level - go to neutral - check the gear box oil level - and resume cruise speed. The whole operation takes between 60 and 90 seconds if no oil is needed, or add 30 to 60 seconds if a little oil is needed.
We found that we used less than 2 quarts of engine oil in the trip from Bermuda to the Azores (2,100 nm) and less than .1 qts of gear box oil.
Some may question not changing oil every 100 or 200 hours. The Lugger view is that there is more wear added to the engine by stopping, changing and re - starting than there is by the additional hours of use. I did not ask the upper limit to this thinking - in hours. Since our range is limited to about 3,000 miles I guess that I would have no trouble going the 350 or 400 hours until the next fillup before being concerned about changing oil.
Note that every oil changing always gets a oil filter change on our boat.
Comments welcome as to your practices.
John Harris
"World Odd @ Sea"
"there is more wear added to the engine by stopping, changing and re - starting"
This has been the policy of all diesel manufacturers for industrial
engines for years.
On Tue, 21 Dec 2004 16:32:03 -0700, John Harris JohnPH@comcast.net wrote:
There has been some discussion about single engine operation and services
for long journeys.
After discussion with the Lugger representative at the beginning of the NAR
in Fort Lauderdale we did the following:
We did NOT turn the engine off while under way. Therefore we ran about 260
hours of continuous operation - this was not a problem for the Lugger which
has a 22 quart oil pan. It does reduce the risk of having a non starting
engine in mid ocean.
The oil in the engine is checked on a regular basis by referring to a
scribed line on the back of the dipstick which is placed there after
checking the oil level after 60 minutes or so of operation with a know full
oil level.
Our routine was once a day, (more if you think it needed) we would reduce
the engine to idle - check the engine oil level - go to neutral - check the
gear box oil level - and resume cruise speed. The whole operation takes
between 60 and 90 seconds if no oil is needed, or add 30 to 60 seconds if a
little oil is needed.
We found that we used less than 2 quarts of engine oil in the trip from
Bermuda to the Azores (2,100 nm) and less than .1 qts of gear box oil.
Some may question not changing oil every 100 or 200 hours. The Lugger view
is that there is more wear added to the engine by stopping, changing and re
- starting than there is by the additional hours of use. I did not ask the
upper limit to this thinking - in hours. Since our range is limited to about
3,000 miles I guess that I would have no trouble going the 350 or 400 hours
until the next fillup before being concerned about changing oil.
Note that every oil changing always gets a oil filter change on our boat.
Comments welcome as to your practices.
John Harris
"World Odd @ Sea"
Passagemaking-Under-Power Mailing List
--
Michael Slavitch
Ottawa, Ontario Canada
At 10:03 PM 12/21/04 -0500, someone wrote:
The oil in the engine is checked on a regular basis by referring to a
scribed line on the back of the dipstick which is placed there after
checking the oil level after 60 minutes or so of operation with a know full
oil level.
When crossing the Pacific from Tahiti to Panama we sometimes shut down the
single engine. This was a Lehman 275 hp turbo engine. There was not enough
oil showing on the dipstick even at idle and the amount that did show was
splattered on the dipstick where it did show. Even a quick in and out was
of little use. We were using enough oil that we were reluctant to go more
than 3 days without a shutdown.
You can be sure that we were pretty nervous about this shutting down
business. There is little wind near the equator and if the engine had not
restarted, we would have been in quite a pickle.
We considered putting in oil every day in the amount that seemed to be
being used, but that would only lengthen the time between checks and
suppose the engine started using substantially more oil during the period.
We estimated that we would rather an engine that would turn over and was
not froze up, but the starter would not start. Than an engine that the
starter worked, but the engine was damaged from scoring or other oil
related damage.
After all, we might have been able to get the starter to turn over after
working on it than that we could get an engine damaged and frozen up to
work again from lack of oil. I forget but I think we had an extra starter.
On that note, some engines will support installing 2 starters on the same
flywheel. One on each side of the engine.
Mike
Capt. Mike Maurice
Tualatin(Portland), Oregon
I have just received the NAR CD from PAE. I requested it by email last week
and it arrived from the West Coast today. As John said, this is an
extraordinary set of documents customized for each Nordhavn vessel and
owner - not even by class of vessel, but individual boat.
Frankly, I found the checklists intimidating as there are so many valid
things to check. I went into detail on the Nordhavn 40 as the closest vessel
in length to mine and learned many things including a few which could be
incorporated in my boat. If I knew what I was looking at (a slight
exageration) it would take days to complete the inspection. If you are
crossing the Atlantic or similar body of water, you would want to check
everything on the list.
I didn't even get to Agreement Appendix C which has mandatory and optional
safety items and the requirement to install an on loan Skymate transceiver.
This CD is instructive and gives you a solid departure point for performing
similar check prior to undertaking an ocean voyage. I recommend this CD to
others and respect the effort that Nordhavn put into each customized
spreadsheet. These folks were thorough.
Ron Rogers
Willard 40 AIRBORNE
Lying Annapolis until next week.