Wooooohooooo!!! Finals are DONE, papers are DONE, presentations are DONE, and it is officially summer! There was a period there where I didn't think I would make it. The past several weeks have involved some long, long nights at the library, but it paid off. I found out that I aced my big final and I feel good about the papers I wrote and presentation I gave. I should have my grades in a few weeks, but I feel like I did alright in both classes.
So now that I am done with finals I can finally focus on Creeky a bit more. Last week I sold my bed, which was a big step towards moving aboard. I have started packing some things up, and as soon as I have my motorcycle back from the shop I plan to start spending most nights on Creeky. The next big goal is to have everything else that I don't need sold or given away by the end of June (if anybody needs/wants any stuff please let me know). Pretty exciting.
Unfortunately, the issue with the propulsion persists. I have triple confirmed what I already knew about the transmission; that it cannot be run in reverse. I also found out that the V-Drive can be run in either rotational direction based on the input, but that doesn't help me very much. As for the prop, I still have not been able to get any information from West Mekan, but I did manage to get in touch with Gunner at Scandia Propeller Service, where it looks like the system originally came from. He is working on doing some more research on the system but was able to give me at least some valuable information in the meantime. He confirmed that the prop blades can only be installed in one direction and that they can't just be flipped around, which makes sense. He also thought the easiest thing to do would be to replace the V-Drive to get the right rotation at the prop. He thinks that will be cheaper than getting new blades, but is looking into whether or not they are available just in case.
So it looks like I need to do some hunting for a used V-Drive that will fit the bill. I can't afford to drop $3,200 on a new one right now, and I don't think it would be right to put something new and fancy in with the current setup. I'm going to try to find a rebuilt Walter RV-20 with the opposite rotation and see if that takes care of everything.
Despite all this seemingly productive research I am still in the same place I was a few weeks ago. Let's not forget the other major mechanical projects like the steering, diesel tank installation, permanent control mounts, etc... Then there are also the critical things to make the boat inhabitable, like getting the deck plate put on for the forward head (which is disgustingly over-full), getting water sorted out, and getting the propane system installed. Obstacles or not, progress will continue!
Brendan,its Bill K.. a little hard me to follow all this, and I know very little about marine propulsion; but what about the transmission itself ?
ReplyDeleteI found the following posted on a site about maybe it means something to you. no one has replied to his question.
http://www.marineengine.com/boat-forum/showthread.php?379990-Walter-V-Drive-RV-20
Good news, with help from a local mech learned that on my 2 trannys there is a plate facing the bell housing with "top and a arrow pointing either clockwise or counter clockwise" at the top on the bottom also is the word "top" (upside down) with arrow facing the other direction.... bottom line is either tranny could have been used by removing the bolts and spinning cover to the other orientation. What i did was just match up my tranny only with the full up tranny/ v-drive combo and am now good to go.
does this mean that the tranny could be used for left hand or right hand drive thanks
Brendan, what about the drive pump. When facing the engine is it LH or RH. What direction are the arrows on the pump facing, is it the same direction.
ReplyDeleteFrom what i have assertained, your C71 tranmission will work with LH or RH engines.
Bill K
Hey Bill,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. I think I saw that same post a few weeks ago, but have resolved the question about at least the transmission since then. I spoke with VelvetDrive and they explained that the indexing allows the transmission to be used with either rotation engine, but that the direction of rotation in forward will always be the same as the engine. So from the back of the engine (flywheel side) it is rotating in the LH direction, which is the same for the driveshaft from the transmission going into the V-Drive. This results in the prop turning in the LH rotation when viewed from behind the boat. The problem is that the prop is a RH prop.
So my options are to either replace the prop, which will require pulling the boat out of the water, or replacing the V-Drive with one that has an idler gear to reverse the direction. I have been in touch with the Norwegian prop manufacturer who said that they can make new blades that will fix the problem for $1,000-1,500, but I don't know how long it will take. Walter Gear Company quoted me ~$3,200 for a new V-Drive. Either way it won't be cheap.
- B