Inboard engine questions

[jssailem]

With @dmax. The engine should run
3000 rpm. Max power is reported by Westerbeke to be 3600rpm. At that rpm the engine produces 18hp.

https://www.westerbeke.com/advanced%20specs/20b%20two.pdf

80% would be a little over 2800rpm. Now if you’re only moving the boat in and out of the marina you may never get the chance to run at cruise speeds. Then you should take the boat out and do the occasional cruise speed run to keep the engine healthy. The alternative is the engine will never get up to temperature and there will be excessive carbon buildup in the cylinders. This will lead to a premature engine overhaul.

If you are getting hull vibration at 2000 rpm’s then several issues may be occurring.

• Engine mounts loose
• Prop shaft not aligned
• Strut loose
• prop fouled

To name a couple.

 

[john6206]

Well, add to the list of things on My boat that don’t work . . . The fuel gauge!

I‘m a little paranoid cautious about this crossing. My new plan is to have 4 gallons of diesel on board.
First I’ll top off my tank (carrying fuel from the gas station - no diesel at marina).

It won’t be super accurate, but I topped off before I left Manitowoc, motored 5 hours to Kewaunee, I should be able to top off tomorrow and estimate a gallons / hour consumption rate.

I think having a can or two of fuel onboard will make us a little less nervous anyway.

 

[Davidasailor26]

It won’t be super accurate, but I topped off before I left Manitowoc, motored 5 hours to Kewaunee, I should be able to top off tomorrow and estimate a gallons / hour consumption rate.

This is the better approach anyway. Fuel gauges are often inaccurate, either because of irregularly shaped tanks or just gauge limitations. After a couple rounds of topping off you’ll have a pretty good idea of your typical burn rate. If you have a diesel heater or anything else that pulls off the diesel tank that changes the equation, but with just an auxiliary engine counting hours is the most reliable way to go.

 

[jssailem]

Even if you have a diesel heater the company will give you a number for the burn rate. You just add the heater usage into your engine run time. Easy Peasy.

 

[kappykaplan]

I think having a can or two of fuel onboard will make us a little less nervous anyway.

When I brought my boat up from Fort Lauderdale, I carried four 5-gallon cans of diesel on deck because the fuel tank was too small. We used all of it. I've since changed the 17-gal tank to 27-gal tank.

 

[sailme88]

Wait … @sailme88

zinc in the heat exchanger?
I replaced the anode on the prop shaft (magnesium in fresh water) is there another anode I didn’t know about?
(more about that steep learning curve)

YES !!! Didn't pick up that you are a laker, so the battery effect with salt is not an issue. But, stray electricity is. Your heat exchanger should have caps on each end. Pop the caps and inspect the tubes. You're looking to see through without any obstructions. There should be a pencil zinc near the far end cap.

 

[jssailem]

Yes, there is a zinc that sacrifices itself to preserve the copper tubes in the HE (heat exchanger).

Here is the Westerbeke engine manual link. see page 67.

https://www.westerbeke.com/technical%20manual/37600_12c_20b_30b_technical_manual.pdf

And here is an image of the HE and the flow of raw water (lake water) and fresh water (water coolant mixed).

 

[Richard19068]

You can also see on page 12 of jssailem's above attachment the estimated burn rate of one gallon per hour, suggested cruise RPM of 2500-3000 and idle RPM of 1,000 -1,200.