mjt

No, it wasn't a link as such, just a reference to Speedy Cables which I was able to find with Google. The curtain wire idea is quite neat but I guess it would be best to make sure that the direction of rotation tends to tighten the coils. It's a very long time since I looked at a speedo/tacho cable but I think a normal inner has a stranded core within the coils. Also on the cable I repaired all those years ago I seem to remember there was a collar fixed to the inner at the speedo end to prevent it slipping back down the outer.

That's a useful link Antares. I wonder if they would make up a new inner to fit the existing outer. That ought to be cheaper. I'd be interested to know if anyone has fitted an alternator-sensed tacho to a Lucas 11AC alternator and if so how it was connected and calibrated. Would it work on the 'AL' terminal that drives the field relay? I'm just waiting for the drive cable on mine to go and it would be useful to be prepared. Incidentally this thread would have been better raised in the Technical Questions and Answers section.

The tacho drive on the Perkins engine is by an old-style speedometer-type cable. It's driven at half-engine-speed from an extension of the oil pump shaft and is located on the left-hand side of the engine block just behind the alternator. It sounds like your cable has snapped. I don't know if it's still possible to get new cables but I'm guessing you might have to convert to an electronic tacho. I once, in the long distant past, repaired a speedometer cable inner by brazing. That had broken just below the speedo head very near to the squared end so the repair was quite successful but if it's gone at a bend that obviously wouldn't be likely to work, not for long anyway.

Most definitely. Once a lead-acid battery has been discharged to that extent it rarely recovers. Even if it could be charged it's capacity would be severely reduced.

Just a note that the Polevolt link fails because a trailing full-stop has got included:- http://www.polevolt.co.uk/acatalog/Single_Power_Fuse_Holders.html

Realistically the ceramic fuse cartridges used in 13Amp plug tops are extremely unlikely to rupture so any spark would be safely contained. Nonetheless it's obviously sound practice to keep mains outlets away from the engine bay in petrol boats. Switched outlets would be a definite no-no because the switches can spark even with resistive loads due to stray inductance and capacitance. Your sealed inline connector seems perfectly fine to me (provided you avoid disconnecting it whilst live, of course).

Strictly speaking your 12V scheme wouldn't be totally free because the power taken by the immersion heater ultimately comes from the engine and consumes some extra fuel, whereas plumbing in to the cooling circuit is free as it absorbs heat that would otherwise be chucked overboard. However I think you're right that this isn't practical with a raw-water cooled setup.

I had exactly this issue with the microswitches on my taps and resolved it by fitting a simple single-pole relay:-

If you can paste a photo JPEG into your post why not a screenshot JPEG? Getting screenshots in Windows is a bit more fiddly than in MacOS but you can do it thusly:- Capture your screenshot (Alt/PrintScreen) then paste into Windows' 'Paint' app. Marquee round the bit of the screenshot you want and 'Cut' or 'Copy'. Open a new window (answering NO to 'Save Untitled?') and paste the copy in. Then use Save As... and save as a JPEG.

This is the difference between common-rail and older mechanically-injected engines. Common-rails operate like petrol fuel-injection with a pressurised manifold feeding fuel to electronically-controlled atomisers. A relief valve returns excess fuel to the tank. With mechanical injection there is just a small "leakback" from the atomisers. This is designed to provide lubrication to the moving parts of the atomisers. I know that some common-rail cars are fitted with a fuel cooler in the return line.

That looks similar to Easy Start. They are normally based on Ether - model aircraft fuel. The problem I see with using such products is that introducing fuel into the inlet manifold means there is no control over the instant of ignition. My engine really clattered because it was pre-igniting and this is what caused the kick-back. In normal operation the timing of the injection is controlled to prevent this.

That's one way of describing it. The galling thing is that the engineer would probably have been able to sort my fuel problem today if I hadn't used the Easy Start. Now I'm going to have to wait at least another week. The season's already slipping away and I haven't had a run in the boat yet That can is going back in the cupboard - permanently! Incidentally when the starter jammed I had an exiting display for a few seconds - a shower of sparks from the terminal, which glowed orange!

A salutary warning......I've been having an almost identical problem to Frank. Having made several attempts to bleed the system but getting only a dribble of fuel from the injector connections I was advised to try Easy Start which I did. The result was the engine kicked back, damaging the Bendix mechanism and jamming the starter in engagement. The engine was locked solid and I was obliged to get the engineer out. I'm now waiting for the starter motor to be repaired. So, more expense which I definitely could have done without

Hi Frank, Thanks for the reply. The wiper switch is the chrome pull switch (forgot about that - four pull switches in all ) at the top of my photo next to the Seamaster badge (only one wiper on the 23). On our boat the instrument illumination is by a map light with it's own switch - don't know if that's original. None of the instruments are fitted with internal illumination. It's unfortunate there aren't any other 23's in our vicinity that I can compare with although there probably aren't many left in original condition anyway.

Thanks for the replies. I am a member of the Seamaster Club and have posted on their forum with no response so far. This isn't a major issue and I can obviously 'do my own thing' with it but I was just curious to know what the original arrangement might have been.

Our Seamaster 23 has 3 pull-type instrument panel switches. When we bought her two were broken and all the nav lights were wired to the third one. The only Seamaster wiring diagram (for 23/27 models) I have been able to view shows only two switches, with the side lights wired to one and the masthead and stern lights on the other. Since none of the nav lights would be used in isolation I can't see why they would have been controlled separately. Does anyone know what the original wiring arrangement would have been and what the third switch was used for? One of the switches has been wired to a socket in the deck at the bow, presumably for a headlight. I don't think this was original as the cable used is round rubber-sheathed stuff like old twin-core mains. The anchor light is controlled by a separate toggle switch located behind the console in the heads compartment. Would this have originally been on the third pull switch? The boat is 1973 vintage with a Perkins 4.108. Any help will be gratefully received.

That ought to be obvious from looking at the manifolds.

If I can add my twopenn'orth my understanding of 'rocking' is the point at which the exhaust valve is closing and the inlet valve opening, i.e. around TDC at the end of the exhaust stroke. In my 4.108 manual this is also referred to as 'valve overlap'. Thus if the valves of no.1 are at this point then no. 4 will be around TDC on the compression stroke and it's clearances can be set. with no. 2 valves 'rocking' no. 3 clearances can be set, with no. 4 rocking no. 1 can be set, with no. 3 rocking no. 2 can be set. On some engines I have worked on the method has been to turn the engine until one of the valves is fully open and then adjust the relevant valve in another cylinder (I can't remember the sequence). In this case 'rocking' would be the point at which the cam follower passes over the peak of the cam.

Talking of setting head tension and oiling the hard drive takes me back a few years to when I was responsible for servicing my employer's DEC computer equipment. Storage was on exchangeable disk cartridges, about 18" diameter, holding about 1MB of data if I remember correctly. The heads were driven by a massive loudspeaker coil and you definitely didn't want to get your fingers in the way when it was shifting! After changing the heads I would have to set the loading tension whilst they were retracted onto the ramps.

If you need to replace an old or obsolete component in your engine electrics it would be well worth contacting Wood Auto Supplies Ltd, Cromwell Works, Colne Road, Huddersfield, HD1 3ES. The 4TR regulator on my boat failed last week and they were able to supply a brand-new replacement, plus a set of brushes for my 11AC alternator. The regulator turned out to be a newly-manufactured pattern item, not an old-stock Lucas. At the moment their website only supports on-line ordering from business customers but they are happy to deal with private individuals by telephone and/or email. They were incredibly helpful. I ordered by email, paid by PayPal and received my order the next day. The boat was up and running again in less than a week. (I know it would probably have been better to look for a new alternator but by the time I'd found a suitable one then messed around modifying wiring and mountings I would have lost most of what remains of the season and Murphy's Law would ensure that while the boat was out of commission the weather would turn nice again.)

Hi folks, I have been having charging problems with my old Lucas 11AC/4TR/16RA installation and am coming to the conclusion that it's time to upgrade. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for a reasonably-priced alternator which can be fitted to my Perkins 4.108 without needing to modify the mountings.

Well, it turned out that the reason for the stiffness was that the gearlever shaft bearing is apparently water-lubricated and had dried out. However, after it had been freed off by dribbling water over it the cause of the problem of the dogs slipping in astern became obvious. The throw in the end of the cable was considerably less than the range of movement available on the lever so the dogs have not been engaging fully. Also the throw was slightly asymmetric so in astern the dogs were barely engaging at all. I've now made adjustments at the old Teleflex single-lever control to give the maximum possible cable throw and at the cable end to make it more symmetrical but the total cable movement is still somewhat less than the lever. The boat is now in the water and gear engagement seems to be ok in both forward and astern so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't get any more problems before it's lifted again. I was wondering if anyone has any knowledge of the type of Teleflex control fitted to my boat, which seems to be a standard original fitting for the Seamaster 23 of that age (1973). The casing is rectangular with a separate button for disabling the gearchange and the knob on the lever is rectangular with a plastic viny-effect inset. I'm afraid I don't know the model number of the control as all information on the label is worn away. If anyone knows where I could get an old datasheet for it that would be great. I've had a look on the Teleflex website but they don't appear to have an archive of old models and Googling for Teleflex didn't turn up anything.

Yes. I didn't realise that their capacity reduces quicker if stored fully charged until I read that entry. Up 'til now that's how I've tended to store them in my camera, camcorders and laptop but it looks like I'll have to change the habit of a lifetime now.

Jill, Your Canon 1000D will have a Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery. In answer to your query regarding charging and whether to fully discharge it you might like to have a look at this entry from Wikipedia:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion_battery#Guidelines_for_prolonging_Li-ion_battery_life

Thanks for your replies. I was aware of the gearchange rod weakness. I'll have a go at working some lubricant into the gearchange shaft, but my concern would be that once immersed the problem might recur and necessitate another (expensive) lift. I think I would feel happier to let the yard's contract engineer deal with it as he has experience with Enfields and if he has to strip it he would also be able to change the propshaft seal and fit the modified seal housing and gearchange rod if needed.