Anyone here with experience repowering a Wly Sealord/Oceanlord with a Beta 43?

[Frank Holden]

My 37 year old MD17D has , I feel, come to the end of the road so to speak.
Interested in a few things.

First response from Beta, they want to know the 'drop' between the base of the current mounts and the centre of the prop shaft, can't for the life of me see how to measure that accurately. I imagine this would be common to all S'lord/Oceanlords.
Also they say the alternator is machine sensed. I always thought they were very inefficient and I currently have a battery sensed alt on the engine. Are people fitting Sterling regulators downstream?
I see you can fit an oil cooler so you can run a left handed prop , is this worth doing?

This - I feel - is going to be quite a project what with boat being in Chile.
Last Q? Is it better to buy a Beta ex US or ex UK?

 

[john_morris_uk]

I fitted a Beta 38 to our Sealord last summer. The engine beds had previously been hacked about to fit a Volvo 2040B and I had to rebuild them back to more or less what they were originally. I’ll try and find some photos.

 

[Poecheng]

I cannot help you with the main question save that I liked the Beta engine I had.
As to the alternator, on mine (20hp) the alternator was good and produced a proper charging voltage and unlike the previous generation of alternators. On a previous boat I had fitted an Adverc but, even though I had an Adverc available, never felt the need to fit it. I cannot precisely recall the voltage being produced but if it was less than 14.2v I would have acted differently for my LA bank.
I spoke to Adverc last week. They have been bought out. They used to sell 1k a month and now it is a handful a year because of the performance of modern alternators.

 

[Frank Holden]

'Drop' measurenment complicated by gearbox having 7º or 8º 'down angle. Sigh..

 

[Tranona]

This has all the dimensions for the C version - don't think the D would be fundamentally different.
www.nordic-gensets-motors.se/motorbyte-volvo-penta-md17c/

You can check the drop by taking a rigid batten from the top of the engine beds aft past the gearbox and measure down.

Not sure it is worth going to the 43hp if it is a Sealord as the 38 will comfortably give hull speed. However according to Sailboatdata the Oceanlord is nearly 1 tonne heavier so better going up to the 43. The 38 is a higher revving engine at 3600 than the 43 which is 2l as opposed to 1,5l is 2800rpm. That would be better if you did a lot of motoring.

 

[Frank Holden]

The 43 better if doing lots of motoring? I like the idea of slow revving.
That would be us---- 11 days of the last 28 days at sea coming down from Ecuador.
Found - eventually - the dimensions of the old Volvo. Have sent it off to Beta.

 

[john_morris_uk]

For better or worse here’s the first of a few photos of my engine fitting in our Sealord.










Note the wooden pads under the feet that I needed to fabricate to raise the engine slightly. Alignment isn’t an issue as we have s Halyard Aquadrive.

I’ll try and find some pictures of the modifying/rebuilding of the engine beds.

38hp is perfectly adequate. We weigh over 11 tonnes on the crane.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Our old engine beds as had been previously modified from the original to fit a Volvo 2040B. (First engine fitted at build was a Volvo 2000 series.)



Previous modifications removed. Scrubbing out the bilges. The foam in the left in the photo (starboard side) had to be complete dug out as it proved to be entirely sodden with oil and bilge water. Foam was replaced.



New Iroko bearers being test fitted. Note the grp dust EVERYWHERE from grinding back the GRP.



New iroko bearers glassed in with epoxy and glass matting.



Bearers all painted up. Note the heads of the coach bolts I added as belt and braces to ensure the new engine didn’t ever rip the iroko bearers out of the boat. The bolts go through the iroko into the thick grp walls that remained of the original build.

Note also the new stainless fuel tank…

 

[Frank Holden]

Wow!!!! Thanks John, was hoping for input from you, just what I was looking for.
Took the MD17D out that way 20 years ago for a rebuild but had to take the top of it first - rebuilt it in the cockpit - a very dry SE Australian summer.
I plan to replace the fuel tank as well.
How many revs do you normally run at?

 

[john_morris_uk]

Wow!!!! Thanks John, was hoping for input from you, just what I was looking for.
Took the MD17D out that way 20 years ago for a rebuild but had to take the top of it first - rebuilt it in the cockpit - a very dry SE Australian summer.
I plan to replace the fuel tank as well.
How many revs do you normally run at?

2200 or up to 2500 if we’re in a hurry and feeling generous with the fuel.

The engine’s slightly choked at the moment as I didn’t have time to upgrade the exhaust from 40mm to 45mm ID. (It’s slightly annoying as I’d previously changed the exhaust from 45mm to 40mm to match the previous engine and we need 7 metres of the stuff. I’ve tried to source it locally here in Martinique but the only place that’s got 7 metres is the Volvo dealer and he wants €89 a metre…! (It’s £28/metre from ASAP in the UK)

 

[Frank Holden]

Just had another email from Andrew Growcoot at Beta. He is suggesting a 35 which has been fitted to a few Oceanlords.
Slower revving, sounds better again.
Looking at your photos, how do you access your stern gland?
Re the exhaust hose... no friends coming out from the UK in the near future?
I have been running my Volvo at between 1600 and 1800... any more than that it isn't fuel consumption that bothers me , lub oil consumption goes through the roof, even then it is a litre every 24 hours. Just one of many reasons for the repower.

 

[Ammonite]

Just had another email from Andrew Growcoot at Beta. He is suggesting a 35 which has been fitted to a few Oceanlords.
Slower revving, sounds better again.
Looking at your photos, how do you access your stern gland?
Re the exhaust hose... no friends coming out from the UK in the near future?
I have been running my Volvo at between 1600 and 1800... any more than that it isn't fuel consumption that bothers me , lub oil consumption goes through the roof, even then it is a litre every 24 hours. Just one of many reasons for the repower.

I suspect that is information relayed to him by a Scott at TS Marine who they work very closely with and are the largest installer of Beta's in the UK, who advocates going with the 35hp over the 38hp due to it revving to 3000rpm (edit: that should have been 2800rpm) rather than 3600rpm and delivering more usable power at cruising speeds.

 

[ChromeDome]

Sorry for the language but does this help?:

Motorbyte – Volvo Penta MD17C – Nordic Genset & Motors AB

 

[Tranona]

Just had another email from Andrew Growcoot at Beta. He is suggesting a 35 which has been fitted to a few Oceanlords.
Slower revving, sounds better again.
Looking at your photos, how do you access your stern gland?
Re the exhaust hose... no friends coming out from the UK in the near future?
I have been running my Volvo at between 1600 and 1800... any more than that it isn't fuel consumption that bothers me , lub oil consumption goes through the roof, even then it is a litre every 24 hours. Just one of many reasons for the repower.

The 35 is the same engine as the 38 but governed down to 3000rpm. You will miss out a bit in maximum speed but your cruising revs will be the same as a 38. You need roughly 20hp for cruising at 5.5 knots and if you look at the power curves that is 2200rpm with either engine (but 1500 with a 43!). Those revs tie in with John's experience with his 38. Personally I would go with the 38.

 

[Tranona]

Sorry for the language but does this help?:

Motorbyte – Volvo Penta MD17C – Nordic Genset & Motors AB

See post#5

 

[john_morris_uk]

The 35 is the same engine as the 38 but governed down to 3000rpm. You will miss out a bit in maximum speed but your cruising revs will be the same as a 38. You need roughly 20hp for cruising at 5.5 knots and if you look at the power curves that is 2200rpm with either engine (but 1500 with a 43!). Those revs tie in with John's experience with his 38. Personally I would go with the 38.

We were replacing a nominally 40 HP motor so 38 seemed like a reasonable choice. We’ve not been disappointed. It’s a four cylinder but fairly compact and all the service components are very easy to reach.

Only real problem has been that we shredded an impeller when motoring in the Spanish Rias. The intake picked up a suspected weed or plastic bag blockage and the Beta overheat alarm sounded but the impeller was already shredded. I’ve now fitted an additional exhaust temperature alarm and that sounds the instant cooling water stops. In fact it was initially in the top of the exhaust pipe from engine to water trap but that proved too sensitive so I’ve had to rotate the exhaust a bit to keep the sensor splashed a bit more.,,

 

[Ammonite]

The 35 is the same engine as the 38 but governed down to 3000rpm. You will miss out a bit in maximum speed but your cruising revs will be the same as a 38. You need roughly 20hp for cruising at 5.5 knots and if you look at the power curves that is 2200rpm with either engine (but 1500 with a 43!). Those revs tie in with John's experience with his 38. Personally I would go with the 38.

To be fair there's not much in it (about 100rpm) but the 35hp generates marginally more torque and power at 2000rpm than the 38hp. You have to run the 38hp at 2100rpm to achieve the same outputs.
https://betamarine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/B35-HE-Power-Graph.pdf
https://betamarine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/B38-HE-Power-Graph.pdf

 

[john_morris_uk]

Just had another email from Andrew Growcoot at Beta. He is suggesting a 35 which has been fitted to a few Oceanlords.
Slower revving, sounds better again.
Looking at your photos, how do you access your stern gland?
Re the exhaust hose... no friends coming out from the UK in the near future?
I have been running my Volvo at between 1600 and 1800... any more than that it isn't fuel consumption that bothers me , lub oil consumption goes through the roof, even then it is a litre every 24 hours. Just one of many reasons for the repower.

The stern gland is a PSS Shaft Seal and is just about accessible. In fact I’m changing it in Grenada when we haul out. The SS collar has got crevice corrosion on its face and needs renewing after 17 years of trouble free operation. Adjustment is just possible in the gap available but to change it I’ll remove the Aquadrive. Access is very easy then.

 

[john_morris_uk]

I suspect that is information relayed to him by a Scott at TS Marine who they work very closely with and are the largest installer of Beta's in the UK, who advocates going with the 35hp over the 38hp due to it revving to 3000rpm (edit: that should have been 2800rpm) rather than 3600rpm and delivering more usable power at cruising speeds.

Except that it’s so close/marginal that you wouldn’t notice…

 

[Ammonite]

Except that it’s so close/marginal that you wouldn’t notice…

I agree but when I spoke with Scott about 18 months ago he was adamant that the 35hp was the better choice were I to replace the MD2040 in my Moody 36 and Beta suggested going with his advice given the number of installs they do. I suspect either would be absolutely fine.