maxi
Well-Known Member
Replaced my Volvo with a Beta & have just clocked up 1000 hours. Absolutely no regrets, cheaper to run, more robust & good product support.
Volvo vs Beta
- Thread starter LeonF
- Start date
KellysEye
Well-Known Member
i've said before I asked a number of repair shops in the Caribbean which engine they least have to repair the yellow jersey went to Yanmar with no other engine close.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
The impression I have got is that Beta are OK, but pretty cheaply done. There always seem to be threads about problems with heat exchangers, for example.
It still amazes me that a 14 - 16hp marine diesel costs about 1/2 the price of a basic family car.
alahol2
Well-Known Member
Very few of the Beta engine threads are anything to do with something that has actually 'broken'. Most heat exchanger threads are to do with the rate at which anodes decompose and the difficulty in removing the heat exchanger stack when it hasn't been touched for a few years.
I remove and clean the heat exchanger stack every year and, to be honest, the only thing I usually find are bits of grass that have managed to get through both of my raw water strainers. I suspect if anyone bothered to look inside a Nanni exchanger stack they would find it very similar. It's just that Nanni don't suggest looking at it (I presume?).
Hydrozoan
Well-Known Member
sailorman
Well-Known Member
My Nanni does not have anodes in the H /E but the replacement aluminium exhaust elbow does, the previous cast iron one didnt
pvb
Well-Known Member
The reality is that Beta is a tiny company, selling relatively few engines, so logically there will be far fewer threads on forums like this about Beta problems. This thread is titled "Volvo vs Beta", so it's worth looking at comparisons. Volvo Penta sales are about £600 million a year; Beta sales are about £8 million. Volvo Penta has 1400 employees; Beta has 38. That's how Volvo Penta can provide unrivalled aftersales support, and hence why so many boat manufacturers specify VP engines.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
They (Frances 26, Victoria 26, Victoria 800) do. It's only the deck moulding and interior which differs.
Eyore
Well-Known Member
How about comparing like with like? Volvo as compared to Kubota is like comparing Beta to Volvo. Beta are simply licenced marinising agents just the same as Nanni.Kubota are the biggest diesel engine manufacturers in the world, hardly a two bit operation even if the successful Gloucester company are tiny compared to Volvo.
pvb
Well-Known Member
Yes, but you're not buying from Kubota, you're buying from Beta. And it's usually the marinising bits which give problems.
Eyore
Well-Known Member
Agree on the first part ,but I have to say I am on my third Beta engine boat (two of which I fitted new, and the third which came with the boat)and have genuinely never had to do anything bar routine oil/filter/anode/belt type service.
pvb
Well-Known Member
That's good. I'm on my sixth VP engine in around 40 years, and apart from replacing an oil cooler and mounts on a 22 year old 2003T, I've only had routine bits replaced.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
Which is why the reports of heat exchanger problems worry me.
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
So how come their spares are so expensive? They should be able to get a lot of economies of scale.
pvb
Well-Known Member
A couple of years ago, my 22 year old VP engine developed corrosion in the oil cooler. The engine was the 2003T, so not sold in enormous quantities, and the oil cooler was a custom-made VP part, specific to that engine. They stopped making the engine in 1993, about 20 years earlier. Despite this, within 24 hours, I was able to get a genuine brand-new oil cooler from my local VP dealer. That typifies the VP support - spares being on the shelf for 20 year old engines. To do that requires big investment, and big commitment. And that comes at a cost.
It would seem fair that, as engines get even older, parts prices should rise, to reflect the holding cost of parts on shelves for many years. But many spares for more recent engines are quite reasonably priced. In another thread, there was mention of an exhaust elbow for a VP D2-40 engine, which was less than £200 from VP dealers, but aftermarket alternative parts were more expensive. And prices for routine filters, belts, etc, are all much of a muchness regardless of engine make.
LittleSister
Well-Known Member
We have a Beta 14 in our 7 metre long keeler, 2.5 tons (but likely more in reality). The engine is amply powerful (10hp would probably have been adequate), so I guess 14 would suit your boat OK. (I think Beta also do a 16hp). Our engine is now nearly 10 years old, and about 700 hours, including occasional continuous motoring for long periods (I recall 22 hours on one occasion).
We are really pleased with the engine, and have found Beta very helpful. Ring up and you're straight through to someone who knows exactly what you're talking about, has all the spares to hand, and will have the spares you want in the post that day for delivery next. (Not at all what I've heard about Nanni spares, but I've no direct experience myself.)
Servicing has been easy, including the heat exchanger. Anode not a problem. I think most of the posts about heat exchangers are people trying to understand how it fits together (obvious when you've done it once), or trying to remove the end-caps when they been on for years since new, but I think the design has changed more recently anyway. If I were re-engining another boat a Beta would be my starting point, and I would only get something else if I found some major price or other advantage, and could be sure to get something with equal quality and service back up.
We are really pleased with the engine, and have found Beta very helpful. Ring up and you're straight through to someone who knows exactly what you're talking about, has all the spares to hand, and will have the spares you want in the post that day for delivery next. (Not at all what I've heard about Nanni spares, but I've no direct experience myself.)
Servicing has been easy, including the heat exchanger. Anode not a problem. I think most of the posts about heat exchangers are people trying to understand how it fits together (obvious when you've done it once), or trying to remove the end-caps when they been on for years since new, but I think the design has changed more recently anyway. If I were re-engining another boat a Beta would be my starting point, and I would only get something else if I found some major price or other advantage, and could be sure to get something with equal quality and service back up.
G12
Well-Known Member
Having had a Beta BZ482 (13.5hp) I can say that the base engine was fine but the heat exchanger was ****, I was forever cleaning the thing. Nanni have a much better marinisation of the same base engine and this is what I would use next time.
By the way, there are tons of bits you can get for Beta's/Nanni at tractor spares places..... Starter motor for example is about 50% less than from Beta as the engine is also used in small diggers etc.
EDIT: On the plus side, Beta's service was good as mentioned by others.
By the way, there are tons of bits you can get for Beta's/Nanni at tractor spares places..... Starter motor for example is about 50% less than from Beta as the engine is also used in small diggers etc.
EDIT: On the plus side, Beta's service was good as mentioned by others.
LeonF
Well-Known Member
Thanks for all your comments. It seems to me that if a heat exchanger is continually being clogged with debris then the fault may lie with the raw water intake filter, rather than the exchanger itself ? Quantity doesn't always represent quality, in fact it seems to me that a smaller company that lives on it's reputation must have to work harder to retain it. Tranona I believe the rudder cutaway on a Vic 800 is slightly different to the Frances/Vic 26. I replaced my two bladed prop with a three blader shortly after I bought the boat, which I believe is 13". I remember it being overpitched, my error, and had it reduced, but I cannot remember what it is now. Beta offer a huge number of options and were helpful when I owned my Beta 18, though it's been the same with a well know East Coast Volvo dealer. I'll let you all know the outcome. Thanks again.
G12
Well-Known Member
I didn't have a problem with debris as such other than from the anode decaying, I had a proper strainer and nothing other than the general marine growth/slime that you'd expect on the salt water side of the stack. If the thing wasn't spotless then it'd overheat if pushed hard. It didn't do it at cruising revs (2500) but I like to be able to have full power available as when you need it there's going to be an important reason for it.
I actaully acid dipped the stack one year, made a very big difference and came out like new.
I actaully acid dipped the stack one year, made a very big difference and came out like new.
sailorman
Well-Known Member
and when that protective plaque has been cleaned away it will gobble-up anodes until the plaque returns
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