Female Speaker: On gasoline engine powered vessels, an inline filter such as this screw-on type is always necessary for a season’s worth of boating. On diesel-powered yachts, you’ll need a more complex system of at least two filters. Generally, a pre-filter such as this Racor removes both contaminants and water. It’s installed prior to and on-engine filter. In this manner, the Racor filter will actually do most of the work, beating your on-engine filter to act more as a backup. Fuel injectors will not tolerate fuel that contains even tiny amounts of dirt or water and their high compression.
A tiny amount of water will literally blow the tip right off an injector. Unfortunately, diesel fuel is contaminated by bacteria growth and water accumulation in fuel tanks. Adding a biocide with each clean fuel fill up is the best way to avoid these problems. By leaving your tanks topped up at the end of the season, you’ll avoid water condensing in them. Change your fuel filters as often as recommended and dispose off the properly.
If diesel fuel becomes very contaminated, you’ll have to hire a professional to pump out the entire tank, and then refill it with clean fuel. Sometimes, if the fuel is not too dirty, they can recirculate it through a complex system of filters and then pump it right back into your tank. Try not to forget the biocide; it’s a lot cheaper. A closed treated fresh water system will lessen internal engine corrosion. A thermostat regulates the engine water temperature and it’s best to replace it every two or three years. To stop the engine fresh water from boiling over requires a heat exchanger. This removes heat by conduction from the internal fresh water to the core outside intake water constantly flowing through the heat exchanger. The heat of the external water is expelled through the exhaust system. Make sure the entire system of seacocks, strainers, hoses, double clamps, and exhaust muffler are all watertight and in good condition.
Exhaust leaks can be dangerous. And in the case of gasoline engines, it may release deadly carbon monoxide gas into your cabin areas. Check exhaust for leaks. Make sure all hoses are in good condition and double clamped. Exhaust need to be properly installed to prevent backflow into the engine. Engine belts and fluids are critical components that must be checked regularly. Replace worn belt immediately and check them for tightness. Belts spin components such as alternators and internal water pumps. Without these components functioning properly, you’ll not get very far from the dock. Check your belt often and carry a spare. When cruising, all engine fluid such as oil and water-cooling levels must be checked on a daily basis. Change your oil at recommended intervals and before storage. Put in an anticorrosion additive to your fresh water-cooling system if it’s not already protected by antifreeze that contains one.
Inboard engines require an uninterrupted flow of debris-free water to cool the engine. This comes via a strainer and a through hole fitting kept off by a seacock. Take apart and lubricate all seacocks at a haul-out time and clean strainers when necessary. Any blockage caused by barnacles or other debris will result in serious problems to your engine cooling system. Flooding plastic bags are notorious for blocking water intakes. When the engine is running, your alternator is the device that charges your batteries and supplies current for house demands.
An alternator needs little maintenance other than making sure the dry belt has the right tension, and the electrical connections are sound and clean. Size the alternator to your batter capacity and cruising requirements. To recharge batteries, most alternators that come with engines are not powerful enough for cruising yachtsmens, who demand high electrical output at low engine RPM. Skippers of advanced skills hence stow high out put alternators.
Most vessels have either mechanical or hydraulic steering systems. Hydraulic systems used in larger vessels require more expensive gear and professional installation. A boater with advance skills can usually instal mechanical systems. Both systems require matching to size and type for your vessels. And in the case of hydraulics, it can be complex and expensive especially if multiple steering stations on a twin-screw vessel are required. Check the hydraulic reservoir often to make sure the right quantity of fluid is available and that the pressure is adequate. Huge forces are exhorted by the rudder on the steering system so make sure you do not forget to check out the entire system each season. Both the gear and paddle levers control the actions of the engines. Steering stations can be many meters away, and long table ones with push pull systems often cause stiff and awkward control lever movements. Electronic system such as this microcommander unit solves many problems by controlling the engine electronically via multi-conductor cables.
Soaky smooth control levers send electric signals over these cables to a control box located near the engine. From here, it’s just a short cable wire to connect with the engine pedal and gear shift levers. This is a big plus for large yachts as electronic systems have the ability to function with up to five remote control stations. The prime drawback is cost and a professional must do the installation. The two main engine gauges that you want to monitor at all times are the oil pressure and water temperature gauges.
Any malfunction in either of the oil pressure or water temperature will require an immediate shut down of your engine or you risk the total loss of that unit. To properly monitor these conditions both an audible and visual gauge is necessary. Generally at start up you’ll hear the oil pressure alarm go off for a few seconds until the oil pressure builds up. This is a good way to test your alarm system each time you start the engine. Do not install a kill switch on the audible systems, as you will surely forget to move it to the correct position and thus lose this important warning signal.
In an enclosed engine room, it’s prudent to install an automatic fire extinguisher that has no alarm feature. Automatic fire extinguishers activate with a loud bang similar to a gunshot. This is not something that you really want to hear. On inboard-powered boats, props and running gear are out of sight and out of mind. To perform well, props must be clean and dirt-free. Cruising boats often carry a spare prop in case of grounding or hitting a submerged object. Twin-engine boats have right hand and left hand props. Be sure you put the correct prop on both the starboard and port engines or you’ll have a real mess. Here is an easy way to distinguish a starboard prop from a port prop.
Duel engine boats have counter rotating props to offset the sideways force of rotation. At haul-out time, inspect running gear, props and rudders for alignment, nix bearing seal’s indents, replace sacrificial zincs on running gear, rudders and trim trabs when half worn. Zinc sacrificial anodes protect underwater metals from corrosion by electrolysis because zinc is the less noble metal.
Galvanic corrosion occurs by immersing different metals such as your stainless steel shaft and bronze prop. In an electrolyte, seawater, replace your zincs before your expensive props resemble Swiss cheese. At the end of the season or whenever you leave an engine idle for a month or more, always change the oil. In cold climate, you’ll also have your cooling system according to your engine manual. If your engine is cold with salt water, you should also replace this with fresh water, because dried salt crystals on things such as pumping pillars cause havoc when you restart the engine. Here is an easy way to rig up an engine fresh water flesh. They can also be used for adding antifreeze. First, close the intake seacock. Fill a five-gallon pail with fresh water or antifreeze and insert the intake tube coming from a T on the water strainer. Open the seacock on the T, insert the intake hose into the five-gallon pail and start your engine. Fresh water will begin to flow through your engine. Reverse the seacock procedure before cruising. And in generally, always close off all seacocks on leaving the boat for extended periods, as a broken hose will quickly sink your boat.
Changing your engine oil at the recommended intervals in the cheapest interest you can buy for an engine. In addition, you should change the oil right before a long way up. Never leave dirty oil in your engine for months at a time because assets in the dirty oil can cause internal corrosion. Getting the oil out of your engine can be a bare or a dream. Install an electric oil change pump if you do not already have one. As you’re moving oil by a hand pump is a bare.
To remove dirty oil, make sure it’s warm by running the engine for ten minutes. Then put the oil pump switch and smile. Dispose of the old dirty oil and many oil filters at an approved recycling center. Refill with clean oil of the recommended grade and start your engine. Check for leaks.
Always keep an absorbant cloth beneath your engine to take care of oil and fuel drips. An engine needs lots of air to operate properly; diesels engines in particular. Your engine room must have the ability to deliver large quantities of air that’s free from water or spray. Make sure your boat has the proper size bins installed in such manner that water cannot enter. 12v power blowers are usually used for ventilation.
It’s better to have the blower that sucks the air in by blowing still air out rather than the other way around, 1 or 2 or 4 inch blowers are usually ample for an average size engine room.
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