I just finished “Seized”, a book about a ship repo man (http://www.amazon.com/Seized-Captains-Adventures-Scoundrels-Recovering/dp/B008SLHD0S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368135523&sr=8-1&keywords=seized). One of their issues with making off with a ship quietly was “getting oil up”. I know large diesels use air to start and don’t have transmissions, but the “oil up” phrase was a puzzle. The only thing I can relate it too is running a pre-oiler to get oil pressure before starting an airplane engine. Those are pretty simple, you just hold the switch until you see oil pressure. You don’t HAVE to do it, it just saves some wear on the bearings. Is this the same thing? It seems to require starting the generator first, so it must be something larger than what can run off batteries.
[QUOTE=yacht_sailor;108729]I just finished “Seized”, a book about a ship repo man (http://www.amazon.com/Seized-Captains-Adventures-Scoundrels-Recovering/dp/B008SLHD0S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368135523&sr=8-1&keywords=seized). One of their issues with making off with a ship quietly was “getting oil up”. I know large diesels use air to start and don’t have transmissions, but the “oil up” phrase was a puzzle. The only thing I can relate it too is running a pre-oiler to get oil pressure before starting an airplane engine. Those are pretty simple, you just hold the switch until you see oil pressure. You don’t HAVE to do it, it just saves some wear on the bearings. Is this the same thing? It seems to require starting the generator first, so it must be something larger than what can run off batteries.
Thanks![/QUOTE]
I’m not an engineer but I think I got a handle on what your book is talking about. If it was a bigger ship, like an U/L tonnage cargo ship, the engine lube oil is often so thick that it has to be heated up just to be able to be flow through the engine. Even if it isn’t because of the viscosity, the oil it still has to be heated up and pumped through the engine block just to get the block hot enough so the engine will start when you turn it over. If the block is cold you can turn it over all you want and it still might not light off. Some ships can start this process days in advance.
Like I said, I’m not an engineer, but I’m not ignorant of engineering things either. It’s not my department but I try to listen intently when the engineers talk and this is a conversation that I’ve heard before. I might not have gotten all the details right but I think I just about got the gist of it.
the viscosity of the oil isnt the issue. on most large engines we run the oil pumps all the time at a temp of 160f or higher. you have main bearing oil pressure and cross head oil pressure which are interlocks for starting. Usually there is a different viscosity oil that is used for the piston lubrication, this is called cylinder lubrication. also usually on large slow speeds, the exhaust valves are actuated by oil pressure. when you have “oil up”, you have cross head pressure and main oil pressure which will close the exhaust valves making it possible start the engine, as soon as actuating air pressure has met the setpoint. the temperature of the engine is controlled by the jacket water heater, and will in turn control the temp of the oil.
Yeah, not even close, there Steamer, is it? Spring pressure closes exhaust valves. Main and crosshead lube oil pressure are necessary to prevent wiping bearings during start up and are crucial in direct drive/reversible slow speed diesels. . . .
Ya most large slow speed engines don’t use springs to hold the exhaust valves shut. The valves are pneumatically and hydraulically controlled. So when spring air is off the exhaust valve actually hangs on the open position.
The fwd and rev on slow speeds is controlled by a series of pneumatic relays that will, in the case of the engine I know, rotate the cam lobes.
Of course. I stand corrected. Now, the last slow speed diesel I operated was in 88, but hell, I have been around enough since then. Cam lobes? Those are becoming things of the past, too. And the hydraulic oil that operates the valve opening is not main lube oil.
[QUOTE=scup27mma;108820]I may be wrong but in pretty sure it is m/e lube off the crosshead pumps.[/QUOTE]
Depending on the make and model but on new engines it is M/E lube oil but it is delivered to the exhaust valve through a separate system which includes it own fine filters, high pressure (200 bar) pump and controls. The engine “sump” provides the oil but that is about the limit of the main engine lube system’s contribution to the effort. Once it is handed over from the dark side is is called servo oil or control oil.
Maybe the guy who wrote the book was like most sea adventure writers. They opened the “sea cocks” and scuttled her. I have never seen a sea cock in 32 years out here. A sea suction valve or sea strainer or sea chest vent maybe. I’ve seen plenty of cockeyed seaman over the years. A little blarney makes for good reading for the non seafaring type.
[QUOTE=Too bad steam is gone;108958]Maybe the guy who wrote the book was like most sea adventure writers. They opened the “sea cocks” and scuttled her. I have never seen a sea cock in 32 years out here. A sea suction valve or sea strainer or sea chest vent maybe. I’ve seen plenty of cockeyed seaman over the years. A little blarney makes for good reading for the non seafaring type.[/QUOTE]
I always thought “seacocks” were just in the wee young days of iron naval vessels, and they carried them around in their bilges like Germans carried around cyanide pills, not really intended to be used, but just waiting for that one day when their military prowess prevents them from living with the “shame” of defeat. To see seacocks on a merchant ship would indeed be utterly confusing.
On a boat, a seacock is a valve that controls water going in or out of thru-hull fittings. I think I have 8 on my boat. None of them will sink the boat unless I removed the plumbing from them first. They would make the engine overheat or the sinks back up if turned off though
I did see valves in the powder magazine of the Constellation designed to let water in and flood the magazine in case of fire.
[QUOTE=yacht_sailor;109056]On a boat, a seacock is a valve that controls water going in or out of thru-hull fittings. I think I have 8 on my boat. None of them will sink the boat unless I removed the plumbing from them first. They would make the engine overheat or the sinks back up if turned off though
I did see valves in the powder magazine of the Constellation designed to let water in and flood the magazine in case of fire.[/QUOTE]
I never called those seacocks, I always just called them thru-hulls. That could make sense though, if you could find a part on a boat that didn’t have at least two different names that would be unique as far as I know.
[QUOTE=PaddyWest2012;109062]I never called those seacocks, I always just called them thru-hulls. That could make sense though, if you could find a part on a boat that didn’t have at least two different names that would be unique as far as I know.[/QUOTE]
The seacock is the valve that’s attached to the thruhull just inside the hull. It’s a lever throw type as opposed to a gate valve.
Actually, Max Hardberger is the author. He’s the real deal, that is to say that he lived the life. I’ve read two of his books: “Seized: A sea captain’s adventures battling scoundrels and pirates while recovering stolen ships in the worlds most troubled waters,” and “Freighter Captain” which is an account of his time aboard one freighter: The Erika. I can’t speak to his credentials otherwise, but I can say that both of these were very entertaining reads. It’s a part of the industry I don’t know much about but it did ring mostly true.
[QUOTE=Traitor Yankee;109341]Considering he says he worked on a 300ft mud boat in the 80’s, that was actually 180ft, I’d say he’s full of his own shit.[/QUOTE]
I am always leery of those self aggrandizers. . . . might be good stories, but maybe not exactly the truth . . .
