THE ENGINE

A 400 hp Cummins 855 engine powers the boat. The oil change interval is 250 hours and uses 15W40 motor oil. The transmission uses 15W40-weight oil with a change interval of 1000 hours. The engine has electronic controls, which can be overridden if problems occur. The engine is water cooled, using raw water and heat exchangers. Raw water exits the system through the exhaust and shaft seal. The engine supplies drive pressure for the stabilizers. Thus far only one problem has been noted. On occasion the transmission will not engage right after the main engine has been started. When this occurs the PTO will not produce output either. Simply rev the engine once with the shift disabled (see below) and all is well. .

ENGINE CONTROLS

The engine is controlled by a Mathers MicroCommander electronic engine control system. There are four control stations, pilothouse, flying bridge port and starboard, and boat deck. The MMC system is DC and the switch for it is found on the panel in the engine room. When turned on, an audible alarm sounds at all the control stations. Engage a station (press on the CTRL button at any station) to suppress the alarm and transfer control to that location. To increase RPM without engaging the transmission, press and hold the CTRL button while pushing the throttle/shift lever forward. The indicator light should flash on and off. To control engine speed, should the Micro-commander system fail, disconnect the throttle cable on the port side of the engine and operate the throttle lever by hand. Shifting can be accomplished by hand at the transmission. If left on for an extended time at the dock the engine controls have on occasion started to beep for no known reason. To solve this problem either turn the controls off at the breaker or press the CTRL button and push the throttle forward until the beeping stops. Strange but true.

GENERATORS

Starr has two 20KW units supplying around 80 amps each. Only one is required for the boats electrical needs. The both generators have power takeoffs connected to a hydraulic pump through an electric clutch The generators will automatically shut down if certain problems arise such as high water temperature or low oil pressure. The alternators on the generators charge their own starting batteries. Take note that the generators run on 12 volts. If needed, the starting batteries can be paralleled together. The rotary switch is between the generators on the port fuel tank. The generators can be started and shut down in the engine room and in the pilothouse. The start/stop switches and gauges are at the forward end of the main engine. Hold the bypass switch up through the starting procedure until the oil pressure comes up.

FUEL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Main engine fuel use is monitored by a Flow Scan system. This is a calculated number using the input volume and subtracting a theoretical return volume. To zero out the total, turn off the electricity to the Floscan unit at the breaker on the 12-volt DC panel in the pilothouse.

There are four fuel tanks, connected at the fuel manifold on the port side of the engine room. Two fuel tanks are located outboard of the engine room and have sight gauges at the forward end of the engine room. The third tank is located forward of the water tank in the forward bilge and the fourth tank is located under the main engine. The forward tank holds approximately 1426 gallons (5397 liters), the day tank (under the engine) holds about 120 gallons (454 liters), the port wing tank holds 1100 gallons (6056 liters), and the starboard tank holds 1200 gallons (4542 liters), for a total of 3846 gallons (14557 liters/14.5 tons). All of the engine's return lines run directly back into the day tank. There is a transfer manifold on the starboard side of the engine room which allows transfer and filtering between all of the fuel tanks. There are an AC and a DC backup pump and filter combination with both sediment and water filtration. A switch on the panel above the sink operates the AC pump and switching its breaker on the DC panel operates the DC pump.

Fueling is accomplished by one of two methods. The quickest is to use the cam lock fitting in the cockpit found on the port side of the bait tank, under the floor panel. There is a rather long horizontal run of hose that feeds to the aft end of the suction manifold in the engine room. Because of this fueling using a traditional nozzle does not work. At a minimum a nozzle must have a hose slide over the end and clamped on with a cam lock connection attached. Insure that the intake valve to the suction manifold and at least one tank shutoff valve are open. The second method of filling uses a direct deck fill to the forward fuel tank. The deck fill is located on the foredeck, port side. If this fill is used fuel must be transferred to the other tanks. The forward fuel tank has a vent on the foredeck next to the fill. The wing tanks have vents inside the bulwarks on either side on the main deck. The day tank vents into the vent for the port wing tank. There is a sight glass under the main engine on the port side that can be used to check when the tank has been "pressed".

The inspection plate on top of the day tank leaks and it is recommended that only about 80% of the tank be used. The feeling is that the tank leaks because it has been pressed in the past. The vent line for the day tank is too small to allow the tank to vent fuel into the port tank without pressure building up in the day tank itself and popping the seal on the inspection port. THE PREFERRED FILLING METHOD IS TO GRAVITY FEED THE DAYTANK FROM EITHER WING TANK.

OIL CHANGE SYSTEM

There is an oil changing system, consisting of connections to all of the engines and transmission, a pump and manifold, and a new and a used oil tank. The tanks hold about 100 gallons each. The new oil tank is located under the forward generator and the use oil tank is under the aft generator. There is a dipstick and fill cap for both. Each engine and the transmission have isolation valves. Additionally, the main engine has an isolation valve between the Murphy gauge on the port side and the exchange system. Also, there is a pre-lube setting for the main engine. In general the valves on the main engine and main engine Murphy gauge are left open to allow easy pre-lube.

The valve settings on the manifold, located forward of the forward generator, are fairly straight forward. All engines connect at the outboard manifold and feed to the inner selection of valves. The main engine and the transmission both feed to the main engine valve. Input to the pump can come from the engine manifold mention above, the new oil tank, or the used oil tank. Output from the pump can be directed to the used oil tank, pre-lube, or filler hose. Following are a couple of examples: Pre-lube: #1: Close the Murphy gauge valve by the main engine. If this valve is left open the alarm system will be tripped by a low oil indication. #2: Open the main engine valve and manifold valve on the engine manifold. #3: Set the valves on the inner set to feed from the manifold to the pump and output from the pump to the pre-lube. #4: Turn on the switch located above the electrical panel. After 30 seconds or so, shut off. #5: Close the main engine and manifold valves on the engine manifold. #6: Open the Murphy gauge valve. Transmission Pump Out: #1: Close the main engine isolation valve at the engine and the Murphy gauge valve. #2: Open the valve at the transmission. #3: Open the main engine and manifold valves at the engine manifold. #4: Set the valves on the inner set to feed from the manifold to the pump and output to the used oil tank. #5: Pump away. #6: Reset valves. The pump outputs less that 1-liter per minute so have patients. When adding oil it is advisable to put the output from the fill hose into the used oil tank until clear oil comes out, 10 seconds or so.

GASOLINE TANK

There is a gasoline tank located locker at the forward end of the boat deck, starboard side, used to fuel the small boats. Transfer is accomplished through gravity feed and gas station style hose and nozzle. This tank holds 30 gallons of gasoline. The vent for the tank is high up in the mast.

BILGE SYSTEM

There are bilge pumps for the bow area, pump room bilge, and the engine room. The pumps for the bow area and pump room are mounted on the aft bulkhead of the pump room. There are actually three pumps in the engine room. The forward section of the engine room bilge has a 1 inch submergible pump. A second ¾ inch pump, located in the starboard aft corner of the engine room, and a third 11/4 inch pump located in the well below the reverse gear. Pump controls with an automatic position are located at the top of the engine room electrical panel. There are indicator lights on the pump controls, on the alarm panel to starboard of the electrical panel, and on the upper pilothouse console. There are additional control panels for the forward engine room bilge pump and the 1&1/4 inch engine well bilge pump located at the top of the engine room electrical panel around the starboard corner. Other than on the control panel itself there are no other indicator lights for these pumps. The lazarette has no bilge pump but can be drained into the aft engine room bilge. There is a drain with a valve on it above the prop shaft in the engine room. There is a handle attached to the valve for easy access.