George Pearson wrote: > I had often read that one should avoid running a diesel engine unloaded > (i.e. without the prop turning) as this will result in glazing of the > bores. This is usually mentioned relative to the idea of running the > engine for electrical needs.
Around the time we launched Quidditch (Mar 2002) I had a long discussion about this with an engineer at Beta (we have a 1903). He told me that he was with Lister for many years and bore glazing was a common problem. He said that since he had been at Beta he only seen a few. His recommendation was to use only Grade C oil. He recommended Listers which is conveniently stocked close by at Jannell and I have used it since. He theory is that the higher speed of modern engines helps and that coupled with using Grade C (i.e. no additives) should make it unnecessary to charge batteries whilst under-load. We have just under 4,000 hours on the engine and lived aboard for 10 months so my guess is that around half of that has been running the engine whilst stationary (and not in gear). The engine runs fine. Cheers Will -- Will Chapman Save Our Waterways www.SaveOurWaterways.org.uk
