Volvo MD11c Not run in a few years, How to see if it runs

JumbleDuck said:
Electric is definitely worth trying, if you can life with the restricted "fuel" capacity. Anybody who claims that it's a dead duck hasn't understood twenty plus years of developments in motors (Lynch motors are small and powerful, electronics (solid state control of DC motors is cheap, compact, reliable and efficient) or batteries (Li-ion is pricey, but coming down fast).

I know someone who has converted a Victoria 800 to electric. It hasn't been a cheap option, but apart from making long passages of 4+ hours under power he can do everything in his boat that I can in mine, silently and at a fraction of the running cost.
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Rather like the example in the video quoting one person who is prepared to accept the limitations of electric power in a cruising boat is hardly evidence of some kind of step change in its suitability. What has been done in these examples could have been done (indeed was) many years ago. Size and power of motors has never been a barrier, nor has the ability to control speed. Despite the developments in batteries they have still not resulted in an economically viable means of overcoming the basic problems of generation and storage of energy.

If your requirements are short range at low speed and you have an external source of electricity then (as hundreds of boats on lakes and canals have shown for years), electric power is indeed feasible - and economical. However, fitting it to a serious cruising boat like a Longbow changes the boat into a marina bound day sailer.

Seems a bit perverse to me.
 
Tranona said:
Rather like the example in the video quoting one person who is prepared to accept the limitations of electric power in a cruising boat is hardly evidence of some kind of step change in its suitability. What has been done in these examples could have been done (indeed was) many years ago. Size and power of motors has never been a barrier, nor has the ability to control speed. Despite the developments in batteries they have still not resulted in an economically viable means of overcoming the basic problems of generation and storage of energy.

If your requirements are short range at low speed and you have an external source of electricity then (as hundreds of boats on lakes and canals have shown for years), electric power is indeed feasible - and economical. However, fitting it to a serious cruising boat like a Longbow changes the boat into a marina bound day sailer.
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I am sure that your chosen solution suits you well, just as other people's chosen solutions suit them well.
 
KellysEye said:
>I think you will find that certain key parts are no longer available - e.g. Oil Pumps - at least that was the case for my old MB2B.

It's a MD series not MB.
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That seems to be the case, I would say to the OP, walk away, there are thousands of production line boats like that with better engines, dont get hung up on any one particular boat.
It just isn't feasible, timewise as well as financially, to keep an obsolete Volvo going unless you have good reason, are well versed in old engines, handy with spanners and solvent, even then you will run up against daunting problems of spares availability.
Believe me, I'm running a 45 yr old MD3B...Bob
 
I should make it clear I will own this longbow regardless of the condition of the current Volvo unit. The price I'll be paying takes into consideration the cost of total repower even of a brand new engine!!! All of the other jobs on the boat are similar to that on the jouster I have just completed and I learned alot of what to do as well as not what to do.

I would be interested in the reasons why I would be stuck to day sailing out of a marina should I follow the Uma route.
Surely the opposite would be the case as manouvers in marinas and mooring are the main reason for some sort of power in a sail boat if you really restrict your motor use to the absolute essential.
Everything else is simply about the convenience of having an engine available.
 
And towing with a dinghy I know only a remark but in reality an entire Electrical power system could be installed for £1500 including the solar charging which is about the cost of a suitable dinghy and outboard
 
thesaintlyone said:
I should make it clear I will own this longbow regardless of the condition of the current Volvo unit. The price I'll be paying takes into consideration the cost of total repower even of a brand new engine!!! All of the other jobs on the boat are similar to that on the jouster I have just completed and I learned alot of what to do as well as not what to do.

I would be interested in the reasons why I would be stuck to day sailing out of a marina should I follow the Uma route.
Surely the opposite would be the case as manouvers in marinas and mooring are the main reason for some sort of power in a sail boat if you really restrict your motor use to the absolute essential.
Everything else is simply about the convenience of having an engine available.
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If your intention is to seriously cruise your boat, particularly in our environment you will find yourself severely restricted in what you can do if you do not have reliable auxiliary power. You are unlikely to be able to generate enough electrical power with solar to do much more than keep up with your domestic consumption, let alone top up your supply to your engine - even if you can find space for enough batteries to give you any range.

That video was very misleading about power consumption. You need very little power to move a boat in flat water at 3 knots. As soon as you try and get any sort of usable speed the power requirement shoots up and you end up with flat batteries very quickly. No different from the "mainstream" small electric cars which are only suitable for short runs close to charging points.

So rather than having a go anywhere cruising boat you will have a boat that is dependent on regular and frequent visits to a berth with a mains charging point. Just do the sums to see how much energy you can store in the space of a 100l diesel tank (which will give you something like 60 hours running) and the equivalent space in batteries to power your electric motor.
 
JumbleDuck said:
I am sure that your chosen solution suits you well, just as other people's chosen solutions suit them well.
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Not about my chosen solution - but just about every cruising sailboat over 25'

If it really was such a great idea - cheap, easy to use, etc then surely there would be a stampede to fit electric motors and manufacturers would be pouring money into development. As it is we see the odd person trying it, only to discover the theoretical deficiencies work out in practice and they have nothing to show for their efforts.

BTW note you are not planning to replace your trusty Yanmar with an electric motor.
 
thesaintlyone said:
And towing with a dinghy I know only a remark but in reality an entire Electrical power system could be installed for £1500 including the solar charging which is about the cost of a suitable dinghy and outboard
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But if you are going cruising you need a dinghy (and possibly an outboard) anyway.

Of course, I might be wrong and you want a marina based houseboat that you can take to sea on the odd day out.
 
But you're probably going to need a dinghy anyway. I usually row mine out to my mooring but an outboard is useful sometimes (like going ashore from the visitors pontoon at Dale).
 
You are right Tranona Electrical Systems will not replace diesel because of the points you suggest but If I as a sailor wish to get out of the marina and put the sails up fairly quickly and SAILto the carribean then its not gonna be an issue
Its a question of use and reliance.
 
Tranona said:
BTW note you are not planning to replace your trusty Yanmar with an electric motor.
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If electric was a similar price to a new Nanni I would seriously consider it. Even at twice the price would be worth thinking about, but Li-ion batteries have a fair bit to come down yet.

I'm keeping my sails, even though they have been outdated for a hundred years and are used on hardly any boats over 25' long.
 
Prepare the engine for starting it. Check engine oil, and check diesel flow to the filter. Open the decompression levers and turn the engine by Hand, either hand crank handle or turn the flywheel. Then crank it with the starter for 2 to 3 seconds, then spray a bit of Easystart in the air intake, close the decompression levers and attempt to start it. If it starts and works well then just use it until it becomes unreliable; it could after 10 months or could be after 10 years. My original MD11C works well; I change oil (I always use synthetic; my personal preference) and filters every season.
 
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thesaintlyone said:
You are right Tranona Electrical Systems will not replace diesel because of the points you suggest but If I as a sailor wish to get out of the marina and put the sails up fairly quickly and SAILto the carribean then its not gonna be an issue
Its a question of use and reliance.
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That is what you might think - but those that have tried it find that they really limit themselves by not having auxiliary power. You are highly unlikely to have any significant battery power left when you get to the other side as even in the tropics you cannot generate enough through wind and solar to do more than keep up with domestic demand - unless of course you also do without electrics for domestic and navigation use and use all you generate for propulsion.
 
In general I think the idea of electric propulsion has yet to gain much traction because of the limited capacity of currently available batteries. I looked at the Uma site and would note that they have been cruising the ICW, hardly the most demanding environment. They also state that they wait for favourable winds before moving, which is fine with their lifestyle but may not suit the average leisure sailor.
Translate the project to the UK or a transatlantic crossing. Firstly, solar panels simply won't generate their stated output in the prevailing weather in the UK, so charging time to top up the battery becomes longer. Then dealing with tidal currents will sap the available power, as you need to increase thrust to overcome the tide: yes, you can in theory plan your sailing to make best use of tidal flows but you need to be able to cope with the unexpected and running out of battery power before you can reach a safe haven is something you need to bear in mind.
I think that the boat on the Uma site is a great concept but it lacks any redundancy in the system. Loose your ability to generate power and you're in deep,trouble. Not too serious a problem on the ICW but a real problem approaching a Caribbean island where you need power to negotiate the reefs before you can drop anchor because the wind changed from that forecast.
If the op is determined to go down the electric propulsion route, then if it were me, I'd be looking to fit or carry a generator so that at the very least I could produce some power if the solar/wind got put out of action for some reason.
 
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