I used to own a boat repair facility in Seattle on Lake Union and I have to say that I am totally impressed with the skills you two exhibit. I would have loved to have had you ladies working for me!
Episodes like this are why your channel ranks among the top of the sailing channels. I can only stare at so much gorgeous coastline and turquoise water. Trials and tribulations. Struggles and triumphs. The everyday of what it takes to make it on the water. That's what we want to see. Keep um coming.
As usual, you are doing a fantastic job! The learn as you go method is daunting at times, and very intimidating when the stakes are so high. Your courage is amazing! So is your friend, Maria! A hearty well done for both of you!
I would like to see more of preventive maintenance, not replacement but inspection of equipment before it brakes, what to inspect in what period and what to look for; how to prepare for a long trip to avoid catastrophic failure. Keep up the fun, we love it.
Wow thats just wonderful , you may not believe this but the knowledge that you have gained over the past 3 years took me over 40 years to acquire , dam i wish i was just a bit younger
I am fascinated as to how you girls do an amazing job of changing engines over and doing all of the other things that need fixing or replacing on your boat. Well done. Sail down to Australia you would love in on our East Coast. Stay safe take care Mike x
Merry Christmas Ladies! I've got to hand it to you, you don't cry and you never quit. I think that's what I love about your channel, no matter what happens you just keep going forward. Good on you! God Bless and Happy New Year!
Very well done you manage to do what a lot of men would think twice about attempting,, you should be very proud of yourself ,, your parents must be very proud of you,,💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐
Great job. I was somewhat surprised that you didn't use the "leveling" screws on the engine brackets. We always got the engine and shaft "in the ball park" with shims the way you did, but then fine tuned it with the screws. Our engine brackets had fine thread screws for that very reason. Of course you have to secure the engine to the ways before you start jacking on it. I can't wait to see how it all turns out. Love your channel. The Panama Canal is really neat. Our ship, Canopus AS 34, USN, had special brackets on the hull. When we were leaving the pier on the Atlantic side someone gave a tug the order to go ahead instead of astern. One of the brackets caught on the pier. We ripped out about 100 feet of pier. The locals were not happy with us.
Oldham couplings,are a very easy way in engineering, fluid couplings too, but if you are using positive ones, get a DTI to true the flange coupling up, looks like you have got it good enough concentric.the shaft will give a bit,but you don't want vibration, am an old engineer now and sort of miss it,bloody hard work!
Interesting to compare your progress with my own. I'm sure I learn things. My Perkins diesel broke a con rod this summer and I decided to rebuild with a reconditioned 'short' engine, although I keep wondering if I should have gone for a complete new engine. Either way it's a lot of work. The Perkins are old tractor engines built to be refurbished forever so wear isn't a problem, but after all these years fatigue happens, and reconditioned short engines are still 'old' in that respect. Lifting the 250kg engine was an exercise in itself as I have a closed wheelhouse, so had to build a 'crane' inside it that could lift the engine above the floor in order to strip it and hoist it outside.
always fun, isn't it? Mine is about 240kg I think...but I am lucky I can just lift that cockpit floor right up...Good luck on your progress. My engine already has some 400+h on it by now and I am super happy I went for new rather than rebuild...
@@WhiteSpotPirates Not sure about fun, but it keep me occupied at weekends. We'll see how it goes: there are lots of other things I could spend the price of a new engine on.
Great to see the adventure continue, can wait to see Karls heart pumping again. Have a great holiday, hopefully you are back home in Germany celebrating with family.
Love how you write your 1's. Has that ever created interesting situations/misinterpretations? We ended up ordering 1400 trees from a nursery once when we had intended 100 of each kind by writing our 1's the german way. We now have a well treed yard...
Nike and Maria, my admiration for your sticktoitiveness and problem solving grows each week. Wishing you and your families a Happy Holidays and peace, love, health and happiness for 2018. Fair winds.
Looking good, best to spend some time getting the alignment right. Ask if you can borrow a dial test indicator DTI gauge with a magnetic base also known as a clock gauge from the engineering workshop. You can use this on the gearbox output shaft and the prop shaft to check both are running true. In the engineering company I work for we use a laser alignment tool however you can get pretty close using old school methods. PS make sure the shim material won't compress over time as this will put the alignment out. Hope you have a good Christmas.
hehe, maybe most places that you are used to...I have never been in a machine shop where I could not be that close ;). And I think it's just really awesome that you are able to watch them do their job. It really teaches you a lot.
I have seen a lot of DIY boat owner’s do this kind of work. WRONG ! Great job you did ! FYI this type of bolt / clamp on coupling is not the best, that is why you had the alignment problem. The best way to do this sort of job is to take the shaft out and sent it to a shaft / propeller shop. Have the shop supply a new coupling, have the shop fit and face the coupling to the shaft. O by the way before this is even started the shop should check the condition of the shaft both for wear and being out of alignment. When reinstalling the shaft in the boat you should check for wear at the cutlass. I would with out question install a new cutlass bearing due to the fact you are installing a new engine and you had the shaft out. It has been my experience when installing a new engine in place of an old worn out engine. Everything attracted to that old worn out engine is also worn out. FYI a very common over looked item that can cause a real problem is the shift and throttle cables. They should be replaced during the install. The shift / throttle cable may look fine on the out side of the red jacket, but inside the cable is worn out just like the engine. If the shift cable breaks when coming into a dock it could be catastrophic. Think about it you save 30.00 bucks from by not replacing the cable. But in the long run cost yourself 1,000.00 bucks in repairs to your bow pulpit because of the impact into the dock not being able to shift the transmission into reverse. Better yet you may really hurt someone on deck.
Hi BEAUTIFUL Nike using spacers under the engine mount is one way to do this which works very good. You can also use the long bolt and two nuts on each engine mount to adjust the height of the engine especially for small movements!!!! It’s time to check the engine alignment by now! Some how it changes in some set ups!!!!! Should be checked occasionally!
;) yes, the bolts are great for that. But there was not enough room on them to do the adjustment level that was needed. That's why we needed the "cheese blocks" before we could do the fine-tuning on the bolts. And yes again, alignment needs to be checked occasionally. Have done it already once but surely need to do it again! Thx for the reminder ;)
A tip about aluminum drilling or machining: Aluminum heats up and swells and grabs tool surfaces and breaks them. Keep them well lubed if you dont have some coolant. Also, two bladed cutters are best for aluminum.
sorry, we cannot post more frequently than once a week, but we try to keep that up at least :). You can follow more frequent updates on Facebook @WhiteSpotPirates or Instagram #WhiteSpotPirates if you want to. Ahoy, Nike
Nice job girls, there`s just one problem, the engine is rubber mounted and therefore jumps about when running, the shaft is solid mounted and doesn`t. This means that the engine will cause the shaft to bend as it turns, enough so that over a period of time the shaft will cause premature wear to the stern tube and stern gland if you have one, although I thought that I saw a PSS shaft seal arrangement but could not be sure. It will also cause premature wear on the tailshaft bearing in the gearbox and also wear on the drive flanges. The problems will not come to light straight away, the damage will be done by the time that you notice anything. I have been a boat owner for 20 years and an engineer for 45 years. To solve the problem you need to fit a flexible coupling between the gearbox flange and the shaft flange. Kind regards, Paul.
Hi Paul, thanks for your explanations and your recommendation to mount a flexible coupling. That's exactly what we did, you will see that in episode UTL III #36 (the white coupling you see in between the gearbox flange and the shaft coupling) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_Xvq41NENPw.html We just went through everything step by step and this was just the initial alignment. The flexible coupling should just be an extension of the existing coupling...so in theory, it should not change anything on the alignment. We did re-measure it, but it was all good. So no worries, all is as it is supposed to be and no harm done to any gearboxes or stern tubes :). Cheers, Nike
The lathe in the machine shop could reface the shaft coupling to get it perpendicular to the bore of the coupling. You don't have to use the very thin spacers. I used single edge razor blades When the two couplings are parallel to each other, the razor blade drags with the same feel all around the coupling.
i would think, considering vibration and weight and expansion coefficients one could not go too far wrong keeping materials that touch each other the same. aluminum to aluminum.
Its amazing all that you've done to Karl. There isn't and inch of that Boat you probably don't know and haven't worked on at some point. There may come a day you'll decide to Sell Karl if it fully served its purpose for you but now matter what. That will be a Sad day if it comes. I've followed you from the start. You & your Friend are Amazing and Inspiring and what Great Friends. I am so Jealous of your life but at least I can watch a dream I never filled and its to late now because of my Age and Bad Health. So Thank You for all your Wonderful Videos and Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. I'll be watching. Your never met Friend. Terry :)
Watching this video as a part time mechanic for over 30 years, i'm surprised that the engines don't use a Universal Joint to connect the engine to the shaft. That would eliminate all that precision aligning. Can anyone tell me why boats don't use those? Thanks for sharing Gals. Best Wishes & Blessings. Keith Noneya
Universal joints or some other types of flexible couplings are common on boats, but this ist the cheapest and simplest ( and also uncomfortablest ) way to connect the engine with the shaft. Universal joints for marine-use also need an additional support-structure, cause they do not only have to work with the torque, as also with the propeller thrust. www.krahwinkel-kpm.de/DE/pd_auf1blick.php
I just wonder if a universal coupling would do the trick for alignment. Also, a universal coupling can help preventing damage to the engine when the propeller hits something hard.
Perfecto for the spacers! Your process at the flange is good, my concern is about the other end of the shaft. If the tube or the cutless bearing add some side pressure on the shaft it will make it vibrate At least make sure it turn’s very free out of the water and in the water... With a job like that, you might use the motor more than your sails...lol😜
I’ve seen all your vids, at least I think I have, even some made for your German audience, not that I speak German. Man I wish I had 1/3rd of your “Go get’em, Get’er Done Bravado”! I look forward to each weeks vid release. I just wish they were a bit longer...”but more on that next week” 😢
Nike and Joana, you ladies are friggin' AMAZING! You rock!!!! I have the feeling the two of you should have studied engineering. You would have been at the head of the class.
buy a set of cadmium steel bits if you don't have some already, they are awesome, they go right through stainless if you can believe. not cheap but good thing usually aren't.
The Sigmadrive coupling really helps with alignment issues. Lots of noise and vibration reduction. You can't ever keep a marine engine lined up over the long haul. Buy the Sigmadrive coupling and things will work a lot better for you.
I wouldn't replace those engine mounts if they hold up. They seem perfect for this, as that thick plastic looks very solid and it will also adsorb some of the vibrations much better than any metal would...
Hm, maybe you misunderstood something...I did not change any engine mounts, I used the ones the engine came with. I just had to put a spacer made from Teflon (those yellow bits) between the metal and the mounts because the engine was still sitting too low and I had alread raised the engine bed with 2inch aluminum and another inch would have been a bit much pricewise / for drilling / bolts... Ahoy, Nike
Yeah, I was talking about those spacers. You said you want to maybe change them later. If they hold up fine, I would just leave them there. They will absorb some vibrations and not pass it directly through the hull of the boat...
oh really? That is so cool, thank you for the heads up. I had been in contact with Levi and he had told me that he was doing fine. But that's great that you looked out for him, thank you so much. I am not sure yet, when I will make it back. I am helping Marina with some charters now and then will head over there after. Ahoy, Nike
when drilling in aluminium rubbing alcohol aka isopropyl alcohol is a better cutting fluid than wd40 i think :) also hss-e drills cuts nicely in my opinion, i know they are a bit more expensive. Love the videos.
LOL. German people complimenting other countries for there engineering. WOW that's earnt a thumbs up from me. Well done .Have Great Christmas. xx (Thats one each)
buy yourself some cobalt steel drill bits, they go thru anything! Don't waste money on those titanium bits, that's only a plating and will wear off after a few uses.
Nike. Great to see the lead up to the fantastic engine start moment (saw it live streamed). Just curious how much it cost for the material and labor for all those shims? My guess if those shims were custom made in the USA, it would have been $300 or so. Happy sailing and was happy to see you and Maria pop up on Vet Tails' Sailing. I subscribed to their channel as well.
BobNarz I paid 40$ for the shims and the little bushing. That was mostly for the work, the material was some scraps they had lying around. But still, it was a super great price and I was happy as a clam 😄
I was told the actual PTFE plastic was very expensive. Maybe your machinist used a surplus version ? And, Nigel's book, is that a different one from the book I have, Boat Owners Mechanical and Electrical by Nigil ?
Because they were not high enough. The new engine needed to sit higher than the old one and it was above the range of what the adjustable mounts offered...
In a previous incarnation, I played industrial millwright. Although setting and aligning machinery isn't rocket science - depending on the application - it can be no less exacting. I must say, in less than ideal circumstances, y'all did an absolutely bang-up job. You just got on with the task at hand and knocked down each step with creativity and pluck. Good on ya. Apply this same open creative exacting methodical approach to any extended blue-water trek and I like your chances for success. Journey well ⛵️🏝⚓️👍
Well done ladies.......awesome work here......what are you doing for the rest of your lives?? ;-) Why not get you lathe friend to put your coupling on a shaft (same size as your propshaft) and face the shaft coupling? Absolutely love what you are doing. I hope 2018 is a great year for you. Neil
Perhaps the smartest solution to your problem I have seen is the use of a standard tractor pto shaft AND slipper clutch. It still pays to align the shaft as close as you can but it makes the whole job a lot easier, its easy to uncouple for maintenance, the slipper clutch reduces the chance of engine gear box damage dramatically, and the safety cover tube protects you from getting tangled up in the shaft and ripping your body parts off. Universal joints for PTO’s are inexpensive and available just about anywhere on the planet for far less than marine specific overpriced couplings that are often rather weak. You can remove it in seconds to grease the spiders, then slide it back on to the splined shafts and boom your back in business. But wait it gets better. You can buy them and cut them to your required exact length with a hacksaw ! The two part shaft is designed to slide because it has to on a three point hitch so you dont have to get the longitudinal position of the engine perfect. PTO shafts are designed to handle massive amounts of torque and abuse too so they are super tough. Why I asked the owner doesn’t everyone do it this way ? “To easy, to obvious and its one less thing they can charge you too much for !”
Yes, you are totally right, there is a flexible coupling that you can fit between the shaft coupling and the transmission flange. But when you do the alignment, you usually align metal to metal - meaning the shaft coupling directly to the tranny flange and then you enter the flexible coupling and recheck. At least that's how I was told and what I found out from my research. And since the coupling was not sitting square on the shaft, I needed to get a new one before even thinking of adding the flexible coupling. You will see that one being installed in #34 :) Ahoy, Nike
WhiteSpotPirates Awsome Nike! Looking forward to it. I suppose a straight line would be more energy efficient. This is why I enjoy your videos. I came for the sailing and stayed because of your personality and the mechanical parts.
Flexible couplings are a great choice to avoid forced oscillation to carry into bearings, shaft, tranny, engine and their mounts, while You usually do align with the fixed (non flex) combination to be able to reasonably measure at all. But You mustn't forget that a flexible coupling might require an additional thrust bearing mounted to the hull because the flexible coupling is not able (for obvious reasons, being a flexible link) to transfer the thrust from prop and shaft into transmission(->engine->mounts->hull).
This is expensive but works great. It's like a CV joint for boat shafts to allow for a little misalignment over time. 3 degrees in any direction of misalignment. www.ab-marine.com/bruntons-sigmadrive/
