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LondonRascal

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HI Robin, Thanks for the reply, it made interesting reading.

I know it makes us sound boring but we find if we don't keep a running total sometimes it is easy to think you are spending more than you actually are and other times when you add it up you get a nasty shock. Last year it was £10,780 for us as we transported  the boat back to the Thames and replaced the bow thruster. Everything is twice the price on the Thames. One thing we would recommend (not the dreaded advice)  to anyone is to keep a note of all the costs then when the time comes to sell you can say 'all that enjoyment only cost us x amount' or 'OMG what was I thinking'. We find it helps us rationalize everything and we have always found the enjoyment v. cost a good equation.

Kind regards, Ken and Joan.

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Not a criticism as such but in general , can people please stop worrying about giving advice , there's nothing wrong with it and its an essential part of how a friendly forum works , learning form others experience's is no bad thing , if people get afraid of offering there knowledge or learning from others then that really is a bad situation .

Do like the idea of keeping a eye on costings , can be scary to look back over things but its the only accurate way of judging things .

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1 hour ago, Ricardo said:

Not a criticism as such but in general , can people please stop worrying about giving advice , there's nothing wrong with it and its an essential part of how a friendly forum works , learning form others experience's is no bad thing , if people get afraid of offering there knowledge or learning from others then that really is a bad situation .

Do like the idea of keeping a eye on costings , can be scary to look back over things but its the only accurate way of judging things .

just dont get upset if it is ignored :default_biggrin:

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Slightly off-topic but bear with me ...

Nothing on the tv this morning and a cry went up "Let's watch a Robin" ... plenty of those in the garden but that wasn't what was meant! 

Vintage Captain's Blog on the tv from YouTube. The oldest episode that we could find, six years ago on Commanding Light. Very interesting looking back at the early days of our Rascal. The boat was described as very big at 42ft. There were endless issues that required the yard's attention and the pilot squeezed the boat under Wroxham Bridge.

Best of all was hearing Robin comment towards the end that he would one day join all the other owners and have his own boat. Wonderful how things have turned out and so enjoyable to look back at how dreams can come true.

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The Yanmars has been serviced in August and a host of things changed like new Silicone high temp exhaust hoses along with new impellers, belts, and bunch of other engine room work that totalled some £15,000 this also includes a new carbon lifting wire for the RIB. 

 

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3 hours ago, grendel said:

just dont get upset if it is ignored :default_biggrin:

Oh exactly people are allowed to make their own mistakes :15_yum: but that said if people get frightened of offering advice then that to me is a negative thing forum wise , personally I don't discount anyone's advice instantly they may well know more than me on a subject or delt  with a particular problem in the past , and I certainly would never with put them off offering advice or ridicule them for doing so .

My point was very simple in that if people are put off passing on their knowledge on a subject then when that knowledge is called for then they may well be unwilling  to help .

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Robin,have you learned how to bleed the fuel system just in case its needed at sea. Its always a good skill to have and good fun when fuel goes everywhere.

Thanks for the costings its still a great topic.

paul

Edited by grendel
edited to remove confrontational statement
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There should not usually be a need to bleed a fuel system unless there has suddenly been a big issue when underway and air had got into it, like needing to suddenly change one of the racor fuel filter elements. However  the engines have a very easy to use and locate manual fuel prime pump to make getting air out of the fuel system easier than some engines.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

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7 hours ago, SwanR said:

Slightly off-topic but bear with me ...

Nothing on the tv this morning and a cry went up "Let's watch a Robin" ... plenty of those in the garden but that wasn't what was meant! 

Vintage Captain's Blog on the tv from YouTube. The oldest episode that we could find, six years ago on Commanding Light. Very interesting looking back at the early days of our Rascal. The boat was described as very big at 42ft. There were endless issues that required the yard's attention and the pilot squeezed the boat under Wroxham Bridge.

Best of all was hearing Robin comment towards the end that he would one day join all the other owners and have his own boat. Wonderful how things have turned out and so enjoyable to look back at how dreams can come true.

Ah, classic Captains Blog, great idea. I remember watching some of that video. You've given me the idea to do the same as you and revisit. 

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Not too much to report. Spent the weekend between Independence and Broad Ambition and a nice time was had onboard Broad Ambition as one of the new to be Skippers of our 'Lads Week' was getting hands on experience at the helm I got to sit and watch the world go past. We all headed over to Independence to show the lads around and fired up one of the engines (starboard) to show them how it sounded and wouldn't you know it more problems were found.

This damn 'fly by wire' system has a new problem the lower helm starboard throttle used to work perfectly, and then during the delivery trip (last leg thereof) it began to not want to increase of decease RPM's by small amounts, but more but large amounts - so the smallest increment was 200RPM. When I brought the boat round from Yarmouth, I noticed it would sync the engines but the starboard lever was not in the same place as the port (and it used to be) but now it is all over the place with the RPM's and return it to neural and the engine will stall. The problem is it is electronic, is it the head, is it the controller in the engine room is it the actuators?  I am fast running out of patience with the whole thing, once thing I do know sorting it is not going to be a cheap fix.

The other point was the air filters - there incredibly basic, thin foam bands that cover the air intake and lead on to the Turbo air intake side too. Linden touched one and said it felt 'damp'  so I put this down to the moisture in the air but then began investigating after the lads had left and I find both have a lot of oil on them, especially the bottom, black sticky oil. I took one off and had a look into the air intake which did not seem to have any oil there, but also was not as clean as I might like.

So it is a bit like when you have a headache and Google about your symptoms, you end up walking away from the computer diagnosed with brain Cancer. Do the same about the engine and oil around the the air filter and turbos and hey presto I may have bad oil seals on the Turbo or need a complete rebuild - on both since both suffer the same.

Well of course I am not going to trust an Internet search but this has gone on to the now two page email send to NYA for them to have a look at and come back to me - it may be nothing, and oil was put on the foam to increase its ability to capture airborne  particles or it may be something, and I am sure those with the know how here will have there ideas about what this could be.

 

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I saw you run up the starboard engine on Sunday, it seemed to produce quite a lot of smoke from my viewpoint across the dyke, but that could be normal for those lumps when cold. Surely first and cheapest thing to do is new filters and check them carefully after a bit of engine running?. I would have thought if you had any major issues with turbos etc they would have shown up on the delivery trip, so fingers crossed. The fly by wire sounds like a right pain though

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On 3/10/2018 at 21:03, LondonRascal said:

There should not usually be a need to bleed a fuel system unless there has suddenly been a big issue when underway and air had got into it, like needing to suddenly change one of the racor fuel filter elements. However  the engines have a very easy to use and locate manual fuel prime pump to make getting air out of the fuel system easier than some engines. 

That is usually the most likely cause of problems at sea and happens to the best maintained boats at times, if you make an adaptor for the last bleed screw in the system you can save a lot of pumping and mess by using an oil extractor to bleed the system, just hook it up and suck the fuel through.

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I have known foam air filters in other applications to be oiled (literally soak in oil, wring out then fit)so it might be fairly normal for yours to be oily too Robin. Also the intake tract from turbo to engine will usually be oily too(it is on cars/light trucks at least), this is due to the type of bearings and seals used for the turbos shaft(it spins in the region of 100k rpm) being unable to make a perfect seal.  Well that's what I was taught in any case....

 

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Robin, there's a great deal on this thread that I don't understand (technically known as most of it apart from the journey itself). I, along with everyone else just hope that things can be fixed easily and cheaply so you can get on with enjoying using the boat in whichever way you want to.

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I am not worried about the Turbo and engines because when there are issues with diesels they tend to be pretty obvious - they don't run very well or not at all. But it is better to be prepared so having a Yanmar trained specialist being able to go over things won't do any harm and why NYA have the edge.

They fire up right away, never had the need to touch the pre-heating yet either the problems I do most certainly have are with the commander heads and control system between mechanical engine and helm via bunch of electronics.

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...It seemed to produce quite a lot of smoke from my viewpoint across the dyke, but that could be normal for those lumps when cold...

They do smoke a bit until they are under load and up to normal running temperature so that is normal. I suspect too you heard the beast as well as saw it's breath lol.

They are pretty simple engines - no electronic management but are for their class very economical despite this - it is also why I like the Yanmars because the least amount of computers controlling engines that can (and often does) go wrong the better. It is a shame I have a bunch of electronics between simple engine and helm control!

Oh and in other news...Today I put an offer in on another boat. New thread to follow and more information in due course,  but let me see how things progress before I go public with the details just yet.

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Hi Robin, Sorry to hear you are having problems. Just a point - which I'm sure NYA will be aware of - it would be best to make sure that the turbo is not leaking oil down the induction as this could manifest in the way you are describing and it could be easy to blame the problems on the control unit/head instead. It would be a waste to replace the controller and then find it was the turbo all along. Here's hoping its the cheapest fix.

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1 hour ago, LondonRascal said:

Oh and in other news...Today I put an offer in on another boat. New thread to follow and more information in due course,  but let me see how things progress before I go public with the details just yet.

Oh and Charlie this ones in Ireland:default_coat:

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The issues really are with the controller heads, as uncouple the actuator controlled cable at the engine mounted throttle and all is fine, instant response - no bogging or lag - so we know the engine is okay. However there could be a seal on the turbo that has let some oil pass where it is not meant - as I say this is for NYA to inspect and come back to me - I have so far found them very good and fair and not trying to chase unnecessary work -e.g. I asked them to replace the float witch on bilge pump, they called to say was I sure as it was just a broken wire. They put some new wire in an job was sorted and saved me £30.00.

Nigel you will be pleased to hear that this one is already in Norfolk and is a very sensible, economical and tidy boat - I just think that I should keep cards closer to my chest until things are complete as no good getting excited only to find the deal does not go to completion.

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just a thought on the controller heads, there will be some form of resistor or position sensor on the throttles, if this has been sitting idle, it may just need proper maintenance with contact cleaning spray. resistors particularly can get iffy if not moved regularly to keep the track clean, then suddenly they are used a fair bit and dirt builds up on the contacts breaking the circuit occasionally, the upper helm has been sitting out in the weather, so will almost certainly have some corrosion somewhere.

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11 minutes ago, LondonRascal said:

 

Nigel you will be pleased to hear that this one is already in Norfolk and is a very sensible, economical and tidy boat - I just think that I should keep cards closer to my chest until things are complete as no good getting excited only to find the deal does not go to completion.

I could hazard a guess................but I won't :default_biggrin:

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