Spring starters

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pcatterall

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Following the drowning of my new starter motor( see below) I have been considering the starting issue and thought abot the old spring starters we used to use. Came across a company selling them. They caim that their 6kg spring starter will start engines up to 6Lt !!.
Is this a serious option, I will contact them but meanwhile does anyone have experience with these and any ideas about cost?
Regards
 
No experience, but remember thinking of one as a back-up before going cruising. Then checked the prices. Took a long lie down with a couple of Aspirin for me to recover!! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
Never heard of them before but they seem a great idea especially if they can be fitted as well as the electric one.

I got one of those 20 AH starting batteries from Halfords and it will not quite start my bukh 24. Nonetheless I can now start it using this plus hand cranking, "power assisted hand start" I guess you could call it. Spring sounds a better bet. Probably too expensive.
 
Used to use them regularly a good few years ago for starting gennies & dumpers. Never knew the price but they were very effective; several minutes winding and then hit the lever and let them go.
 
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How expensive? I can't seem to find any actual prices online.

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Get yourself some sedatives and a comfy place to lie down then have a look here /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Not actually sure if it gives prices, but if it does, drink the sedative!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Why not go the whole way and use compressed air? I was most impressed by an installation I saw in Malta recently starting a huge diesel. The compressor was quite small and doubled to charge SCUBA tanks when the engine was running.

Vic
 
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You have "http://" twice, unfortunately they don't give prices.

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Oh blimey!! Yes, I see it now. Must be something in my G and T!

Perhaps it's just as well the prices aren't there though, for our friend pcatterall's sake!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
We used to start our diesels with compressed air, quite common,also i belive the Deltics on the old Ton class minesweepers were started with shotgun cartriges.
 
I enquired some years ago (must have been a good 15 years back, in fact), and, if memory serves, I think it was around the £600 mark. Could well be wrong, but it was certainly way beyond any sensible level.
 
Hi Pete I reckon you should get very familiar with removing and dismantling your starter if you occasionally have a flooding problem.
They are simple enough with not much to go wrong provided it is cleaned and dried and lubricated. Then if necessary get a new/bigger battery.
Re air starting. Way back I had some contact (saw it work once) of air starting a big diesel. I believed it was a case of introducing air into the cylinders to get it all rotating then close compression lever. I don't know much about how it works if any one knows?

Re filling SCUBA tanks on the compressor... forget it. To fill ascuba tank yo0u need at least 2500PSI which is serious pressure done with a 3 stage compressor and it takes ages to get it full. (not to mention air cleaning requirements oil removal etc. A typical 100 PSI compressor would give you 1/30 of a fill or about 3 mins breathing in shallow water. If the oil doesn't get you. 100PSI will do for a hookah outfit (that is where you have a hose connected to the compressor) olewill
 
G'day Will,

The good old days on a hookah in 10 metres, two divers on the one hose with a 'T' piece on it and about 6 metres of hose to each. we were working the ribbon reefs in the Pilbara (North Western Australia for them that don't know the area).

Bill on one side me on the other with 3 turns around my weight belt because if Bill needed more hose he would yank you off your feet. Bill had a permit to collect shells and I collected anything edible.

I did find a couple of very fine cone shells one day and stuffed them into top pocket of my wet suit, only to find out later I would have been in serious trouble if one of them decided to attack me.

Are the good all gone?........... not at all.

Avagoodweekend......
PS. Sorry for the thread drift, just brought back some fond memories.
 
About 5 years ago I purchased a perkins 4/108 engine out of a road sweeper that had a hydraulic starter motor and was considering fitting an accumulator and hand pump for emergency starting but sold the engine and the starter is now in the back of my workshop.

What is really needed on a boat IMHO is both and electric and spring/air/ hydraulic starter fitted at the same time but most engines do not allow for this.
 
Yes Olewill we had a ww2 German torpedo recovery boat as a survey launch with a compressed air starter, you had to stop the engine to select reverse but you only had one go, if it didnt start then you had to hand pump the tank back up pressure then try again. Needless to say one day it didnt restart and we stopped with the aid of a concrete jetty, the jetty won and the 'Jagua' was no more!!
 
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