Giles and Paula's Great Retirement Adventure
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So, for any of you who are remotely interested in the fuel tank issue, today we got to try some shit out.
Basically, I was told that I needed to get the port engine to fail (which historically has occurred when the port tank gets to 30% full). I told them to get fucked, I was not going to knowingly take SAKURA out and force a situation where I lost an engine), so I came up with an alternative (and much safer plan). It relied on my getting both tanks to about 40% full. Over the last few weeks, I have got us to that point. Today we pumped fuel from the port tank outlet via a transfer pump and pipe, into the starboard tank - we could do that tied up to the dock, putting no one or nothing at risk. The theory was that when the port tank registered approx 30%, the transfer pump would start sucking air, and hey presto, we had proved that it was a tank issue.
Of course that did not happen. At approx 30% fule left in the port tank, it started sucking a bit of air, but still transferred fuel. This continued until the tank was registering 22%, at which point I got bored and said that we should hook up everything as it should be for normal running, and try and start the engine. That we did, and the engine ran for a few minutes and then shut down.
So we think that the fuel somehow gets throttled back at 30%, the transfer pump does not give a shit because it is unintelligent, but the engine management system senses a slower flow rate and shuts the engine down before any damage is done.
Next step, Volvo Penta guys come in next Tuesday to measure fuel flow rates on both engines at different fuel levels....
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Yes, there is, and all the work we are doing is under warranty, and I don't mind getting involved because it increases my sum of knowledge. But we have to work out what the problem is before we can fix it. Fuck all use replacing the engine and it turns out to be a tank issue or vice versa.....
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I thought about this a bit longer last night. Yes, I could be a complete prick about what has happened and where we are and how long it is taking to resolve. But, we can manage the situation. Our range currently is about 800 miles and not 1,100, so it's not a massive issue. Do we need to get it fixed? 100%, and I am sure we will.
But being reasonably reasonable is not an awful place to be. We've got 2 free lift-outs and another years free berthing (probably £15k altogether) and I am sure if I was being a complete pain in the arse about stuff, we would not be getting favours like that.
I liken it a little to our relationship with our retailers. If they are complete arseholes and make our life difficult when stuff does not go 100% to plan, or we make a mistake (yes, we are human), then when we release something special or super limited, guess who gets offered it last.....
"OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011
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@Giles It is interesting that you brought up that thought - I am following the thread for some time now, and it didn't even cross my mind that you could have been a total dick about it. Sure, you paid shitloads of money on that boat and can expect them to do better. But do you really want to be THAT guy?
That is probably because I'd look into the situation myself as someone who likes to tinker with stuff, and really understand everything involved in it.
It probably also has to do something with the fact that it's a boat. If it were a brand new luxury car, you would have brought it back to the dealer immediately. But in my eyes, buying a boat is not the final goal, it's the start of a journey... -
@tody said in Giles and Paula's Great Retirement Adventure:
and it didn't even cross my mind that you could have been a total dick
That'd be a first then
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SAKURA was built in The Mediterranean, where obviously they do not suffer from steamed-up windows (or at least it is obvious now I realise we do not have a window demister system installed
)...So today's job was to start the installation of the window demister system. I have bought a 24volt truck cab heater with 4 vents....
which I need to get installed by someone who knows what they are doing with relays and the like....
Vents and Heater ducting have been done....
There are 2 other vents that are sort of hidden, so useless to photograph....
"OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011
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@Giles said in Giles and Paula's Great Retirement Adventure:
I thought about this a bit longer last night. Yes, I could be a complete prick about what has happened and where we are and how long it is taking to resolve. But, we can manage the situation.
You’d never make it in America.
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The heater bit is not installed yet, all that is done so far is the ducting and vents. I need to wait for the electrician to install the difficult bit. That said, it has been so mild in the UK so far this Autumn, plus I have a dehumidifier and background heating anyway, so the windows have not really misted up yet. I sort of have a horrible feeling that our preventative measures may actually negate the need for the demisting system....
On PILGRIM, the windows constantly misted up, but she was an older boat, so better safe than sorry I guess.
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An update on the fuel issue.
We had Volvo Penta come to SAKURA on Tuesday. The aim was to take fuel out of the port tank so that we could recreate the port engine failure.
We transferred fuel from the tank outlet on the port tank to the starboard tank filler. My expectation was that when we got to about 30%, we would stop pumping diesel and start pumping air. Of course, that did not happen
, but we did start pumping some air. So we bled the engine and cranked her up, she failed once the fuel in the pipes and filters was used up. So the engine management system seems to recognise that there is less fuel than it is expecting, so shuts the engine down. I reasoned that if we had an unknown build issue with the port tank, we may have a similar issue with the starboard tank (but we had never seen it because when the port engine failed we topped up both tanks). So we did the same thing in reverse, and hey presto, the same thing happened with the starboard engine at about 27%.Well, holy fuck that could have given us a whole world of pain if we had lost both engines at any time coming back from Menorca or crossing the channel which we have done a few times.
None of us know what the issue is, loads of theories, but no definitive.
So @Matt , you will be pleased to know I have written to the MD of Sasga outlining my displeasure. We love the boat and have no regrets, and would buy the same again tomorrow, but the after-sales service has been shite, and I'm not sure he knows it - well he does now.....
On a positive note, the delays coming home due to this issue probably cost us between 4 and 5K Euros, as the evidence stacks up that it is a Sasga build issue, I think I am getting much closer to getting this repaid by Sasga
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Sails?
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would this be an engine design issue or just a one off engine issue you reckon?
