Using high speed engines inland

[Guest]

An interesting point emerged from the "Engine on/off" thread below which was about whether to run on one engine in a twin engined boat during prolonged spells at slow speeds.

As conventional wisdom says that running a high speed diesel at slow speeds for lengthy periods is bad for them - glazed bores, turbos never used, etc, I just wonder if people who have done long trips through European canals with fast boats have had experience of problems with engines after a bit, especially when returning to the sea. Are there words of wisdom available?

In MBM or MBY, can't remember which, I have followed the trips of Darius, a Monnraker, which seems to have covered more European waterways than most. As I recall, these boats were fitted with Perkins T6.354's which I think were turbo charged (I could be wrong here). As these are pretty ancient now, it can't have done them too much harm!

The only canal work I have ever done is basically the Crinan which can be negotiated in a day if you are in a hurry but more likely a leisurely two days with an overnight sampling the delights of one of the restuarants along the way (especially a the Crinan Hotel!). My boat ran OK through it but when I hit the sea again, opening the throttles laid a very embarrassing smoke screen worthy of a Destroyer flotilla!.

Nick

 

[Guest]

Hi Nick T6 354 The T does stand for Turbo the 6 for six cylinders 3 for series 3, 54 for 5400cc
I have two on the Broom 37 Crown I bought last November, which apart from the first two years
of its life (when it went to Russia), spent I am told 16 yrs on the Thames.
When I sailed down to Brighton last Jan I fully expected problems like glazed bores etc, as I had been warned
but the only prob so far was the starboard engine sucking up 16 yrs of accumilated crap from the bottom
of the tank as we entered the busy tidal Thames. Since then spent a year on south coast, with no
obvious ill effects. Engine hrs are 1680 approx.


cneighbour

 

[byron]

The HT6.354 & T6.354 is a superb engine (ah they don't make 'em like that anymore) and will go on for years to come.
I digress. Glazing.. when I first came on the Thames I too worried about this. I was told not to worry as long as the boat had a good burn up at sea once a year glazing would not be a problem, advice which has turned out to be right. I do know of boats that tie them selves to a tree once a year and open the engines up for a half hour or so to achieve the same effect. Whether this works or not I have no idea.

ô¿ô

 

[Guest]

Yes running the engines while tied up is a good thing to do .The correct term being on springs ,obviously it pays to have more than usual ropes out and fenders .The golden rule is stay in the wheel house because things can go wrong and normally do when your casually wandering about .
The narrow boat I had when I lived in London had a 1.5 bmc fitted .You cant open an engine up on the canal so on a regular basis I would run it up on springs for an hour of high revs .
Mick

 

[Guest]

Tied a customers boat to a pontoon to warm up engines, customer was with me, opened them up a bit, pontoon was not tied on very well, ended up taking pontoon for a ride!.
Paul js.

 

[Guest]

You learn something every day. I thought 354 was the number of cubic inches (vis v-107 and 4-108)

 

[Chris_d]

You are right 354cubic inches = approx 5600cc, if the numbers sort of fit then a new myth is born if repeated enough times.
Ever heard of a 6154 or 6254, or though now you mention it!