Mike Maurice writes: >I picked this out of the URL above. The Shell Oil site does not have >any listing for Rotella T. There is one for Rotella DD 40. >I don't think this resolves the issues surrounding break oil, but it >does add some info to the discussion. You are right, it appears that Rotella is no longer listed on Shell's US site. Here's a helpful site from Shell Canada, which lists all of the Rotella oils: http://www.shell.ca/home/Framework?siteId=ca-en&FC2=/ca-en/html/iwgen/shell_for_businesses/oils_lubricants/products/zzz_lhn.html&FC3=/ca-en/html/iwgen/shell_for_businesses/oils_lubricants/products/product_name.html I run Rotella T Single Grade in my 6-110 Detroit. One thing I will mention is that I get mine from a commercial lubricant depot rather than a garage, mostly because that allows me to buy 5 gallon (actually 20 litre) pails. The 6-110 holds 32 litres so just dumping in a pail is much faster (please, no jokes about how fast said pail leaks out...). Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "The person who makes no mistakes usually doesn't make anything"

"John Boy \"Waka Waka\"" writes: >Does anyone know if there is a way to connect a 12V load "equally" to two >batterys in a 24V series system? > >I.e. I'm planning my conversion from 32V to 24V. If I have two 12V batterys >(two 12V sets) for my main house system (engines, alternators, inverter on >this as a 24V load) Is there a way to load both 12V sets as a common load >for my 12V needs? >Hope I asked this right. >Thanks John, I also converted Island Eagle from 32 to 24, so I have a good idea of the pain you about to experience :-) However on the particular subject of drawing a 12 volt load from a 24 volt battery bank, contrary to other posts there is in fact a way to do exactly this. First, a quick review of batteries: to get 24 volts, we run two 12 volt batteries in series (which is actually two sets of six 2-volt cells in series). Now, while it would be possible to just tap 12 volts of bank, this would be a Bad Thing (tm) because the lower bank would always be at a lower state of charge. What you need is a way to equalize the charge between the lower bank (the one you are drawing 12 volt loads out of) and the upper bank (the one which has no 12 volt load). The good news is that such a device exists and is called a "Battery Equalizer" (not to be confused with "battery equalization"). I used one from Vanner (see http://www.vanner.com/htm/pro_01.htm?series_sku=3195361503151112&a=a&pt=3 ). No connection, etc., just a satisfied customer. One very important point is that this is not a "Converter". A converter feeds all of the load through a stepdown process and is inherently inefficient. Plus, you need a converter which can handle your highest load. When you are using an equalizer, the load is drawn from the batteries and the equalizer is essentially the charges, so you can get by with an equalizes which handles the average load. Click here for the schematic of my house bank setup: http://www.islandeagle.net/systems/schematics/House%20Battery.pdf Scott Welch www.islandeagle.net "The person who makes no mistakes usually doesn't make anything"

Steven Dubnoff writes: >The question was about "equally", and the specs for the Vanmar >"equalizers" advertise a range between .1 volts and .5 volts at full >load. Now, half a volt is a very big difference in battery >voltage. A converter, in contrast, draws from the 24 volt supply and >guarantees that the batteries have the same voltage at any >load. That is a good thing. True. But on the other hand this is in a loaded condition, whereas most of the time the loads will be minimal and the voltage will be very accurately even (I know because I have digital meters on both banks). > >A well built equalizer is a switching power supply with 99% >efficiency. It will deliver solid, well regulated 13.6 volts from >any reasonable input voltage. True. But... >Plus, if the $500 prices quoted on >equalizers are to be believed, you can buy two 30 amp converters for >the same price. Also true, but.... >Put one in the pilothouse and another in the engine >room. Run thin 24 volt wiring to the converter and less fat 12 volt >wiring to your 12 volt electronics --- save money and copper all around. Also true, but.... > >However, I run my entire boat on one 30 amp converter. Raytheon >electronics do not care about their input voltage. It is only vhf's >and a few other odd things that require 12 volts. > >I may be dense, but I cannot see a good argument for choosing an >"equalizer" over a battery converter. Well, there are a number of arguments I could make. First, by using a converter you now have a single point of failure for all of your 12 volt electronics. That right there is pretty bad. With the equalizer, even in the case of total failure you can continue to draw a 12 volt load, since the load is being supplied by the battery, not the equalizer. The next thing is sort of related to the first, and that is that you can draw much higher loads. For example, I am going to add a few small 12 volt winches on my boat. These draw about 80 amps, which I can do no problem, even with a 50 amp equalizer. Why? Because the equalizer is effectively a *charger*. not a supply. I can draw a few hundred amps of 12 volts for short periods, and the equalizer will quickly use the 24 volt bank to charge the 12 volt bank. The final thing is that switch-mode power supplies are not totally benign. They are electrically noisy, they generate heat, and they do not always generate pure DC. All of those problems are eliminated using an equalizer. So, all in all, I think that the equalizer is the way to go. By the way, just as an aside, I also kept as many of my loads as possible (all lighting, SSB, windlass, starting, etc.) 24 volt in order to minimize 12 volt drain. One final note, there is one downside of using an equalizer, and that is that it is impossible to use a amp-hour based battery monitoring system. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "The person who makes no mistakes usually doesn't make anything"

oozercruzer@earthlink.net writes: >The windless on my boat is 32 volt.. I would like >to either run the windless on 36 volts or reduce >the windless motor voltage to 24 volts.. > My questions are, >Can the windless be rewound to run > on 24 volts? Mike, Having converted my 60 foot DeFever from 32 to 24 volts, I think I'm qualified to answer your questions. First, it is possible to rewind the motor, but a much simpler and easier solution is to just buy a new motor. Almost certainly your windlass is an Ideal, if you call them up with the model number they will have a new motor out to you within a few days (see www.idealwindlass.com). Expect to pay around $500 for the new motor. > >Will the windless preform adequately on 24 volts? Yes, with a 24 volt motor. Not if you try and use a 32 volt motor on 24 volts. > >Will it hurt the windless to run it on 36 volts like it is? No, with most electric motors you can generally go 20% up in voltage with no major problems. But... > >I was thinking since the battery bank is back in the engine room >and the wires run to the windless on the fore deck, a run of >maybe 25', a 36 volt bank would loose some voltage with this >long of a run... This is true, 36 volts will require 50% lower amperage for the same power. But.... >This brings up more questions, >Will the present wires be ok to use? Not for 24 volts, that's for sure. That will require 33% more amperage. 12 volts will require more than twice the amperage. > >I know it would be possible to us a voltage converter to >reduce the voltage from 32 to 24 volts but would prefer not >to make this any more complicated than I need to... This is the reason for the "buts". That's the major problem with 36 volts. It's a weird voltage, and then you will end up with a 36 volt bank and not much to use it for. Plus, getting an alternator to charge it will be somewhere between difficult and impossible. Way better to use a more common voltage such as 24 volts or even 12. > >The main reasons I want to change out the 32 volt bank >is, I am having a heck of a time keeping water in these 8 volt >batteries using a ferroresonant charger.. >There are very few 32 volt electronic chargers out there... >I would appreciate if one of you electrical gurus would give >a poor self proclaimed mechanical genius a hand here (:<)... Well, here's my two cents: First, you need to decide whether you keep or replace your 32 volt system. The battery charger issue is actually pretty minor. You can get good 32 volt chargers from the folks at Analytic Systems (www.analyticsystems.com). There is nothing inherently wrong with 32 volts, but the big issue is that 32 volt components are getting more and more rare (and expensive). If you do decide to replace the 32 volt system you will need to decide on either 12 or 24 volts. I happened to choose 24 volts (actually two paired 12 volt systems), but I have a friend with a 66-footer and he has decided to go with 12 volts throughout the boat, including the Cat 343 main and the Ideal windlass. However, in any event you will need to replace every 32 volt motor on the boat. This will include at least the starter(s) and windlass motor, and may include pumps, blowers, heads, lights, windshield wipers, etc. In particular regards to the windlass, if you have an Ideal you can easily get a 24 volt motor, and as my friend has just found you can also easily get a 12 volt one. You will also need to replace the alternators and of course the batteries. Add in a few hundred feet of 4/0 cable with the correct Ancor terminals, a few 400 Amp fuses, etc., etc., etc., and you are looking at 15 boat units or more, and that's without labour. Hope this helps, Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "The person who makes no mistakes usually doesn't make anything"

"B." writes: >Sorry for asking a dumb question, definitely out of my field : for a tank 22 >inches wide, 54 inches long and a height of 13 inches, how many gallons do I >have ? And how much weight a gallon of diesel ? Let me tell you about a great secret: Google will do this for you. First calculate the number of cubic inches by going to Google and searching for "22 X 54 X 13" (without the quotes). The answer is 15444 cubic inches. Then search for "15444 cubic inches in gallons". You'll get 66.8571426 US gallons. Scott Welch FirstClass Product Manager www.firstclass.com "The person who makes no mistakes usually doesn't make anything"

"K. Myers" writes: >The problems with the above goes beyond financial. The shaft on the >Seastars is standard 3/4" tapered and both my beautiful mahogany >wheels are 1" to 5/8" tapered! I can't find any "shaft adapters" on >the internet, and don't really want to replace them for another $800 >or so. When I was rebuilding Island Eagle, I installed a new hydraulic steering system and a purchased an antique wheel on eBay. Only problem was that the wheel did not mount up to the helm pump. I went to a local machine shop with the wheel and pump and for $200 they machined me a custom adaptor hub out of bronze. It looks and works perfectly. Scott Welch Product Manager, FirstClass Group "If we continue to take an eye for an eye, then surely the whole world will go blind." - Gandhi

jeff@activecaptain.com writes: >I'm surprised that no one has brought up Melmac or melamine (the generic >name). There are very cheap versions of this "old" type of plastic >dinnerware but there is a class of it that is much higher quality and very >appropriate for a boat. All of our dinnerware onboard is melamine. I use melamine on Island Eagle and it's been great. I bought two complete sets of cool 60s-era table settings on eBay, one was complete right down to the matching salt and pepper shakers. Price for both sets was under $200 including shipping. Click here to have a look: http://tinyurl.com/yuc2cn The only downside is that melamine will eventually deteriorate if you microwave it. Other than that it is completely and totally indestructible. Scott Welch Product Manager, FirstClass Group "If we continue to take an eye for an eye, then surely the whole world will go blind." - Gandhi

captiva@att.net writes: >Have any DD operators found a good source of the straight 40 weight oil? I >have to order it special and it's a pain to find it. Just wondering if >anyone knows a retail chain source that keeps it in stock? > >While we are talking about oil, how often do most of the operators change >the oil? I'm changing mine at every 100 hours and it is still transparent. >Overkill on my part? Just go to any commercial Shell Lubricants store and buy Rotella. Comes in quarts, gallons, 5 gallon pails, and 45 gallon drums. Scott Welch Product Manager, FirstClass Group "If we continue to take an eye for an eye, then surely the whole world will go blind." - Gandhi

By the way, while we are on the subject of lubricants, if you go to a commercial Shell store in Canada, be sure to also pick up some "SRS 2000 Extreme" grease. This stuff is a highly water-resistant heavy duty grease. It's incredible for stuffing boxes. The price is right too... I think that I paid about $25 for a case of 6 tubes. Sadly, it does not appear to be available in the US. Scott Welch Product Manager, FirstClass Group "If we continue to take an eye for an eye, then surely the whole world will go blind." - Gandhi

StWillett@aol.com writes: >Many of us use vacuum gauges to monitor the condition of the primary fuel >filter. Does any on know of a system to monitor the condition of the >secondary, >fine filter on the engine? Maybe by measuring pressure at the inlet or the >pressure drop across the filter? You can use a differential pressure guage from FW Murphy: http://www.fwmurphy.com/products/pressure_vacuum/20dp_25dp_a20dp_a25dp.htm Scott Welch Product Manager, FirstClass Group "If we continue to take an eye for an eye, then surely the whole world will go blind." - Gandhi