Jacobite Spirit has a minor hiccup
On Friday 6th on the 1530 return journey from Urquhart Castle to Clansman Harbour Skipper John Peterkin noticed the engine water temperature on the starboard engine was rising and soon the warning alarm sounded. A quick turn around and the Legend was on the 1600 run.
An initial investigation gave no clue as to the problem, cooling water was coming through the system, the header tank was hot but still had water, nothing was visible in the inlet strainer and all hoses were intact.
So back to the beginning and get the spanners out. Once inside the inlet strainer all became clear, or so I thought, a clear plastic bag which could not be seen in the water was blocking the water outlet. 30 minutes out on the Loch at full speed showed no serious problems.
Monday morning, seriously windy conditions and our overheating problem was back. By 1100 the conditions were so bad all sailing was abandoned for the day. Davie from Caley Marina the local Volvo Penta agents was called to give his expert opinion. Many Oohs, a few Aahs, differing opinions on the which engine had the greatest volume of cooling water coming though we came to the conclusion there were 3 possible causes. The Jabsco raw water pump which had seen 8500 hours service was not working as efficiently as it should be. The engine circulating pump was suspect or the thermostat was defective.
So perm any 1, 2 or 3 from 3 and we should have the answer. All the necessary spare parts are sourced, some from Ghent in Belgium and we were ready to start a repair on Wednesday morning. Which one do you start with? Our logic was it was possible to do the Jabsco without losing the circulating water so that was the first part to be replaced. No joy - 10 minutes of trial saw the temperature rising steadily. Off with the thermostat cover – Davie holding a specialist tool to deflect the seriously hot water away from his person, no, really just a redundant cupboard front. A quick test of the thermostat in a cup of boiling water and it appeared we had the culprit. In with the new thermostat, refill the engine with hot coolant and out for a further sea trial.
A good 30 minutes on the Loch at up to 2000RPM and all was well. Skipper John Askew then took Jacobite Spirit on the 1600 run.
An initial investigation gave no clue as to the problem, cooling water was coming through the system, the header tank was hot but still had water, nothing was visible in the inlet strainer and all hoses were intact.
So back to the beginning and get the spanners out. Once inside the inlet strainer all became clear, or so I thought, a clear plastic bag which could not be seen in the water was blocking the water outlet. 30 minutes out on the Loch at full speed showed no serious problems.
Monday morning, seriously windy conditions and our overheating problem was back. By 1100 the conditions were so bad all sailing was abandoned for the day. Davie from Caley Marina the local Volvo Penta agents was called to give his expert opinion. Many Oohs, a few Aahs, differing opinions on the which engine had the greatest volume of cooling water coming though we came to the conclusion there were 3 possible causes. The Jabsco raw water pump which had seen 8500 hours service was not working as efficiently as it should be. The engine circulating pump was suspect or the thermostat was defective.
So perm any 1, 2 or 3 from 3 and we should have the answer. All the necessary spare parts are sourced, some from Ghent in Belgium and we were ready to start a repair on Wednesday morning. Which one do you start with? Our logic was it was possible to do the Jabsco without losing the circulating water so that was the first part to be replaced. No joy - 10 minutes of trial saw the temperature rising steadily. Off with the thermostat cover – Davie holding a specialist tool to deflect the seriously hot water away from his person, no, really just a redundant cupboard front. A quick test of the thermostat in a cup of boiling water and it appeared we had the culprit. In with the new thermostat, refill the engine with hot coolant and out for a further sea trial.
A good 30 minutes on the Loch at up to 2000RPM and all was well. Skipper John Askew then took Jacobite Spirit on the 1600 run.
Just a little add on to Rod's blog:
The new RNLI Lifeboat was out training at the weekend with the RAF Air Sea Rescue helicopter and I managed to get a photo of it approaching the biggist vessel in out fleet, the Jacobite Queen.
It was interesting watching the crewman from the helicopter being winched on and off the lifeboat.
Robin
posted by Jacobite @ 11:16
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