Welcome to Youngblud

[coliholic]

Saw a post on another web forum over the weekend, won't say where, and this post was from a guy called Youngblud. Seems he's in the Philipines and has just bought a Princess 44 and is having some trouble with it. Now this fother orum was US based and they weren't overly helpful to him, so I suggested he pop in here and have a look.

Long and short of it is that the "other forum" sinbinned my post 'cos I recommended this forum. So I sent him an e-mail telling him to come here and have a look. And he did. And he just sent me an e-mail saying he'd had a look and what a terrific site this is.

So c'mon Youngblud, post here and tell 'em all about your boat and your problems.

And I'm sure you'd all like to welcome him in before he actually makes a post.

How's that for "being proactive" eh?

 

[YoungBlud]

Thanks Coli, I really appreciate that Thought i'd copy my post from other forum and see what info I can dig up. I have yet to meet someone with the same boat, gen setup.

I call her My Princess...

Here's a little collage of the maiden voyage, i'm the guy in the bottom left. What a great day that was... truly unforgettable.

http://www.millenniumpicks.com/princessmaiden.jpg

This is me just venting during downtime, introducing myself, and wondering if I got a good deal...

First, the boats specs: Princess 440 (48ft), I think they call em Viking's in the states. Year 1996, Twin Cat 3208 (900 hours each), 6kw Panda gen (1000 hours) and 12 KW Panda gen (10 billion hours . 3 Air cons, radar, autopilot, dinghy new merc, 2001 XP1200R waverunner included. Added Transas Digicharts and some other goodies. We're just now getting into the hardcore engine maintenance and repleacement. She's really solid and in excellent condition aside from the main cats blowing some black smoke (hopefully injectors) and the gens needing overhauling. Paid appr. $220,000 US.

1st owner kept it immaculate (Japanese guy), sold it to his best friend who use it for a year and that's when the deterioration really started.

I know, big boat, for a first boat... boy am I learning a lot fast. Went into this as realistic as possible, knowing i've got 6 years of wear and tear. About the time when things start breaking and BOY ARE THEY STARTING TO BREAK

Also, she's based in the Philippines so it's real tough to get expert advice here, kinda glad I ran into this forum.

Got 4 wonderful, exciting, beautiful trips out of her until the Panda 12 genset stopped. It threw a rod and made a big hole in the block, oil and smoke, thought we had a fire. She's out for a long term rebuild, new Panda PMS 9000 ND on its way from germany, 11K installed, should be cake since it's already all wired up.

Found out the raw cooling system on the 6 is leaking but she still runs. Found a couple good guys from the USA to do the work... hope it fires up today. It will take a couple weeks for the new panda to get here from germany. Also, the boys replaced the windlass with a lewmar, the old one was corroded and about to die IMO.

It's making a big dent in the wallet but so far I can keep up and I prepared myself for a few major expenses. However, I might just pop a vain if one of those big cats goes. Left engine lacks power and puts out lots more black smoke than the right. But they start up right away and i've done the obvious maintenance and had that engine room detailed 3 times now. I hope she lasts another 6 months until I have the engine taken apart and inspected. The real hard part is finding a cat specialist out here that speaks english.

There's a voltage draw somewhere that slowly depletes the aux battery bank. Will have someone try and track it but am adding 4 Siemens 50watt solar panels in place of the bow sun bed (We never seem to use it). They will actually look good there I think. At least then i'm not so completely reliant on the gensets all the time. Should be enough to run the radio and some lights on cool days/nights. All battery banks are 24 volt, panels and voltage reg are 12 but i'll figure out some way to get them wired properly. I was thinking 2 panels to the aux banks and 1 to each engine bank. Still reading up on it.

It's been 3 months since I took her out. I suppose sharing this helps. I keep telling myself it will be worth it... it's almost done. I just keep wondering if I got a good deal? comments? Flame away?

Chris aka YoungBlud
7,100 islands and I intend to explore every one!

 

[byron]

Yo Youngblud! I have a Princess 435. Welcome to our merry band of lunatics. Now that you and I are best buddies... can I pick one of the girls out of the pictures to be my soulmate?
I can't answer your other tech. problems but your battery problem sounds suspiciously like one of your batteries is knackered and drawing the others down. Get each one tested if you find one battery is weak I'm afraid you will have to change all of them because it is not a good idea to only change one.
Don't forget there is also the PBO forum where there are a lot of tekkie do-it-yourselfers who are great at answering questions.

http://www.alexander-advertising.co.uk

 

[claymore]

Above and Beyond the call...

Well -when you consider the things that people are getting honours for, ColiOBE cannot be that far away.

regards
Claymore

 

[NorthernWave]

Re: Above and Beyond the call...

Nice Boat.

If you ever need it cleaning I don't mind helping out!! )

Chris

Buy my Fletcher please!!!!!

 

[tcm]

Hi youngblud. I agree with byron, sounds as though the batteries are on the way out. There should be no need for solare powered wassernames with all those gennys and alternators - spend the money on new batteries - otherwise yet another thing to go wrong mebbe? Manky batteries may have resulted from that year or so of no maintenance - without them topped up.

The secondhand route is the way to go, I think; it is not cheap like a secondhand car, but if you have a decent boat (and you do) then you'll have to allow for a fair old lump of maintenance.

Engine wise- have you run the thing for a distance? Like, 50-100 miles? That's when the engines are working properly, they are hopeless for 10 mins here, 20 mins there. They need a good run at 75% load for over an hour or more.

 

[longjohnsilver]

Welcome Youngblud, strange way to find your way onto this forum!

Presume you've done the obvious like oil changes on the cats, presume they have air filters also, one of them blocked could also cause smoke. Shouldn't really need taking apart after only 900 hours, do as tcm suggests, give them a good blast (watch the water temps) and see if that clears the smoke, big engines don't like slow speeds for long periods.

Anyway, good luck and keep in touch.

 

[LeytonC]

Hello & Welcome!!! (Dont forget to check out BoatOnes Chatroom)

Once you have given the engines a blast, check what the colour of
the smoke is from the exhausts at tickover. If its grey in colour thats a
sign that the injectors are worn (or blocked with carbon) or the injection pump timing is a bit out since overfueling is happening.

(A poor spray patten from injectors will cut performance as well)

Hope this helps!!! <Insert Flames Here>



Thanks

Leyton
(River Severn / Bristol Channel)

 

[sailbadthesinner]

Re: a question for coli

Coli
did you find this other web site searching under boats? or phillipine adventures???????

by the way weclome yung blud

Maybe, just once, someone will call me sir without adding, you're making a scene

 

[EME]

Sailbad ..

Welcome... lived in Manila for a time and apent some great times in the Islands .

But no boating, only boats were considered a nuisance then.

P.S. Do notworry about sailbad, he's heard about the Phillipines but will have to look on a map to find them, you will learn he's a raggie and very ... rude. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif

<font color=blue>I am WHAT I say I am</font color=blue>

 

[sailbadthesinner]

Re: Sailbad ..

i have looked on the map
manila is about 6800 miles from where i am sat . its main export is envelopes

oh and by the way Learner's reference to raggie means i practice the art of sailing ie use a rag and a stick as propulsion. Learner is a closet raggie.

Maybe, just once, someone will call me sir without adding, you're making a scene

 

[EME]

Sir

..now please remove your tag line.. it's outdated.

(Flips...envelopes ...ROTFLMFHO)

<font color=blue>I am WHAT I say I am</font color=blue>

 

[sailbadthesinner]

Re: Sir

done

This isn't an office, its hell with strip lighting

 

[byron]

Re: a question for coli

Maybe, just once, someone will call me sir without adding, you're making a scene

Sir Sailbadthesinner. Yep! has a certain ring about it.

http://www.alexander-advertising.co.uk

 

[oldgit]

Well done chris .Very beautilful boat,but then again it is Princess.There is always a feeling of have I done the right thing when buying and new boat but once a few (hopefully) teething troubles have been sorted.You will have loads of fun.By the way the outside temperature here is 34F,sort no boating around here at all at the moment.

NV.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Hi, Chris, Princess are a well respected make in Europe and the 440 is one of their most popular models, so once you've sorted the inevitable teething problems, you should have a sound boat and $220k is a good deal by UK standards. The same boat would cost approx $280k here including tax
The Cat 3208 engines also have a good reputation so I'd be surprised if there's anything wrong with them other than needing injectors servicing.
Agree with the others re batteries. If they are in good condition, they should be plenty strong enough to run radio and lights for 2-3 nights but NOT fridges which consume a lot of 12V electricity so check the batteries out before you spend thousands on solar panels

 

[nicho]

Re: Above and Beyond the call...

Nice pic of the BTCC MG - I run the vauxhall Team. You may be interested to know Anthony Reid is a boat owner - got a Sealine on the upper Thames.

Cheers

Mike N

 

[jimg]

Hi Youngblud,

A good website for engine problems is :
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://boatdiesel.com/index.cfm?CFApp=19&&Red=NRU>http://boatdiesel.com/index.cfm?CFApp=19&&Red=NRU</A>
I found the users there very helpful with an engine problem. Just click on Forums and navigate to the CAT 3208 section.
Cheers
JimG

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by jimg on 11/12/2002 10:26 (server time).</FONT></P>