First sail, first problems

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RobBrown

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Went for the first run of the season on Sunday and two points arose on which assembled forum wise words would be gratefully received. First my NASA Clipper Wind showed direction but no windspeed. Looked up & lo & behold ( or in point of fact not beheld) the rotating cups had gorn orf. My question is-can one get replacement anemometer cups or does the whole unit need to be replaced? Is re-fitting anything a relatively straightforward job?
Second -toward end of the day my recently serviced Bukh 20 started to produce noticeable amounts of white/grey smoke when motoring back against a pronounced Hamble ebb stream & so working fairly hard. No other symptoms I could detect, but not usual tho, so is it indicative of any particular problems in the offing?
 
Thanks for that reassurance Steve- it was quite late in the day on Sunday and cooler than much of my usual sailing conditions as previously haven't been out much before April- we are trying to extend the season- so could well be the answer- hope so as it it sounds the least expensive!
 
It wasn't our first sail but oddly our Bukh 10 did exactly the same thing coming back into Hamble on Sunday! Lots of white smoke, mainly from the water outlet. Never done that before - weird! We also came to the conclusion that it was condensation in the pipe but welcome any other ideas?

Out of interest who services your engine and are they any good (recent events aside)?
 
I do the standard services myself, but with anything more complicated I usually go to APAS Engineering @ Shamrock Quay- they are Bukh specialists & I have always found them very helpful, friendly & reasonable. You having experienced something very similar is of great reassurance. I have a great regard for the Bukh engine- as designed for marine use from the ground up rather that just marinised, but it is 25 years old, so I am a little wary of potential problems, just as a result of anno domini.

I have to admit, I did anticipate the direction of a few replies when I made the original posting on "cups". Its difficult to tell from the distance of deck level and I've never had my hands on them, but I'd guestimate AA at the most and I'm sure there were three of them- Barbara Windsor they were not!! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Seriously, thanks for all the help & particularly to Dogwatch for his links. I think Allgadgets is a forum member, so I will follow up there first.

Cheers to all /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
Many Bukh owners find their engines give off white smoke, which is really steam. These engines do not circulate a lot of water, so in a long exhaust some of it has time to boil off. Varies according to the length of the exhaust pipe.

If however a non-steaming engine suddenly starts giving off exhaust steam, the cause needs to be found as more than likely there is a partial restriction to the coolant supply and the engine may overheat.

Nasa wind cups easily obtainable from Nasa, and easily fitted. This is a good thing because they need replacing every six months or so.
 
Thanks for that - second recommendation we've had for APAS. We were particularly grateful for our old Bukh last weekend when our batteries died and we had to hand start the engine!! Worked a treat luckily.
 
Hi Dogwatch

As you suggested in your post, I got a set of replacment cups from Alllgadgets, but on going up the mast to try & fit them yesterday, I found the downward pointing axle, on which they should fit, was missing. I guess it may have been sheared off when putting the boat back in the water , but too late to be sure. Taking up your offer of potential further help- What next? Do you know if NASA do replacement axles & if so, how they are fitted?

Rob Brown
 
You need to take the mast head unit off, and send it to Nasa. The repair costs about £25 as I recall. You can cut the cable (despite what Nasa say in the manual - I checked with them first) and then use a waterproof connector to rejoin.
 
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