Typical Cooling System Maintenance Schedules*
June 7, 2012
* Check owners manual for engine-specific information, including maximum engine-hours between service.
* Check owners manual for engine-specific information, including maximum engine-hours between service.
As horsepower has increased over the years, so too has the importance and complexity of your engine’s cooling system.
How to make sure your batteries don’t go slip slidin’ away.
Interceptors can sharpen up a boat’s performance and efficiency.
For decades trim tabs have been the popular way to adjust a boat’s running angle. They work well on boats up to about 45 feet but on larger boats, you need some seriously big plates, which can create drag and don’t always deploy quickly. That’s why lately many manufacturers are turning to interceptors, such as those manufactured by Humphree and Naiad Dynamics. These blades mount to the transom and drop down vertically into the flow of water coming from beneath the hull to create lift without producing the drag of conventional tabs.
The owner of a Bertram 700 wanted to relax while at anchor in cool, quiet comfort. The cool part was easily covered thanks to a Marine Air chiller system comprised of four modular
Here’s a common, if unwelcome, sight for boaters: You go to pull your boat out of the water for winter lay-up or perhaps
Many years ago, because a now-defunct marine towing outfit I was working for at the time found itself a little short of qualified personnel, I became an instant chief engineer for a few months. I say chief, by the way, because there were no other
Just the other day, I received in the mail a device called a BW8 Bilge Pump Activity Monitor from British manufacturer Celectron. Manufacturers occasionally send me products in hopes I’ll feature them in this column and, after looking the little unit over (and reading the
Now and again, I serendipitously stumble across an onboard problem well before it snowballs into something expensive. For example, I was recently talking with my industrial-electrician brother and the subject of…
It was an interesting suggestion, really. Some weeks before, Heath Schuman of Nautic Air had UPS’d me an experimental version of his portable NA20 air purifier to temporarily try out on my trawler Betty Jane. I’d placed the thing on the dining table in Betty’s saloon straight off, plugged it into a nearby 110-volt outlet, and after securely closing all
All batteries have terminals and cable connectors that need to be periodically cleaned, preferably with a battery brush. I’m guessing I’m in the same boat as a few other folks these days. I’ve got three marine batteries salted away aboard my trawler Betty Jane…
Like lots of folks, I’ve got two diesel powerplants onboard, one for propulsion and the other for auxiliary power. And just a few months ago, the latter began showing signs of the creepin’ crud—it was overheating, sounding hoarse, and exhaling a greasy gray smoke under load.The most telling symptom, however, seemed to be that the cooling water that was supposed to be
Maintenance issues are constantly stalking boaters. The simple fact is that on a boat stuff breaks and things leak. Boats are complex mechanisms with dozens of systems and hundreds, if not thousands of components. But three issues seem to account for the majority of problems afloat. Here’s what they are and how to deal with them.Arguably, the most important component on your boat is her
Heading south for the winter? Life’s great under the swaying palms—until you get thirsty. Too often the drinking water in tropical paradises tastes funky. (Maybe that’s why so many folks in the Caribbean drink Mount Gay rum for breakfast.) Protect yourself by turning bad water into something you’ll actually enjoy swallowing with an onboard water-treatment system.In the United States,
FloScan’s TwinScan shows you how much fuel burn is occuring with both engines.Now that fuel is almost as expensive as vintage cognac, it’s time to keep closer tabs on how much your boat is using: A fuel-management system is an affordable way to do this and relatively straightforward to install. The simplest systems consist of an
* Check owners manual for engine-specific information, including maximum engine-hours between service.
As horsepower has increased over the years, so too has the importance and complexity of your engine’s cooling system.
How to make sure your batteries don’t go slip slidin’ away.
Interceptors can sharpen up a boat’s performance and efficiency.
For decades trim tabs have been the popular way to adjust a boat’s running angle. They work well on boats up to about 45 feet but on larger boats, you need some seriously big plates, which can create drag and don’t always deploy quickly. That’s why lately many manufacturers are turning to interceptors, such as those manufactured by Humphree and Naiad Dynamics. These blades mount to the transom and drop down vertically into the flow of water coming from beneath the hull to create lift without producing the drag of conventional tabs.
The owner of a Bertram 700 wanted to relax while at anchor in cool, quiet comfort. The cool part was easily covered thanks to a Marine Air chiller system comprised of four modular
Here’s a common, if unwelcome, sight for boaters: You go to pull your boat out of the water for winter lay-up or perhaps
Many years ago, because a now-defunct marine towing outfit I was working for at the time found itself a little short of qualified personnel, I became an instant chief engineer for a few months. I say chief, by the way, because there were no other
Just the other day, I received in the mail a device called a BW8 Bilge Pump Activity Monitor from British manufacturer Celectron. Manufacturers occasionally send me products in hopes I’ll feature them in this column and, after looking the little unit over (and reading the
Now and again, I serendipitously stumble across an onboard problem well before it snowballs into something expensive. For example, I was recently talking with my industrial-electrician brother and the subject of…
It was an interesting suggestion, really. Some weeks before, Heath Schuman of Nautic Air had UPS’d me an experimental version of his portable NA20 air purifier to temporarily try out on my trawler Betty Jane. I’d placed the thing on the dining table in Betty’s saloon straight off, plugged it into a nearby 110-volt outlet, and after securely closing all
All batteries have terminals and cable connectors that need to be periodically cleaned, preferably with a battery brush. I’m guessing I’m in the same boat as a few other folks these days. I’ve got three marine batteries salted away aboard my trawler Betty Jane…
Like lots of folks, I’ve got two diesel powerplants onboard, one for propulsion and the other for auxiliary power. And just a few months ago, the latter began showing signs of the creepin’ crud—it was overheating, sounding hoarse, and exhaling a greasy gray smoke under load.The most telling symptom, however, seemed to be that the cooling water that was supposed to be
Maintenance issues are constantly stalking boaters. The simple fact is that on a boat stuff breaks and things leak. Boats are complex mechanisms with dozens of systems and hundreds, if not thousands of components. But three issues seem to account for the majority of problems afloat. Here’s what they are and how to deal with them.Arguably, the most important component on your boat is her
Heading south for the winter? Life’s great under the swaying palms—until you get thirsty. Too often the drinking water in tropical paradises tastes funky. (Maybe that’s why so many folks in the Caribbean drink Mount Gay rum for breakfast.) Protect yourself by turning bad water into something you’ll actually enjoy swallowing with an onboard water-treatment system.In the United States,
FloScan’s TwinScan shows you how much fuel burn is occuring with both engines.Now that fuel is almost as expensive as vintage cognac, it’s time to keep closer tabs on how much your boat is using: A fuel-management system is an affordable way to do this and relatively straightforward to install. The simplest systems consist of an
