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Old 12-04-2017, 05:47   #16
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Re: Catalina [Unfortunately] Goes Common Rail

Common rail is one thing, but the turbochargers see to cause more problems. I wonder what the emissions value of turbochargers are when weighed against the roughly 5 tons of fiberglass in a 35' boat that may burn down...
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Old 12-04-2017, 06:34   #17
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Re: Catalina [Unfortunately] Goes Common Rail

The real advantage to a boat owner in common rail is not fuel economy which I'm sure is better, but bet you would be hard pressed to measure the difference or emissions, which is the reason that engine manufacturers are going common rail, cause they have to.
But as an owner the advantage is what is called in the automotive industry as NVH, an acronym of course that stands for Noise, Vibration and Harshness, the NVH of a mechanical direct injected Diesel is horrible, rattly noisy, shaky things.
A common rail can do magical things that a mechanical injected motor cannot, like vary injection timing and in particular do what is called pilot injection. What that is is a tiny injection of fuel to get the fire burning, just milliseconds before the main injection event. what that does is completely eliminate the Diesel clatter that is normal for a mechanical injected Diesel.
A common rail Diesel can be as smooth and quiet as a four stroke spark injected engine like your car or a modern outboard. The Big Mercury Verado outboard I had was so smooth and quiet the only way I knew it was running was the noise from the stream of water out the side.

How nice would it be to have a sailboat that in the Salon it was as smooth and quiet as the inside of a Luxury car on the highway?
I don't know if the manufacturers will, but with common rail, they could.
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Old 12-04-2017, 06:46   #18
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Re: Catalina [Unfortunately] Goes Common Rail

I get the sense that many of the folks posting responses here, didn't bother to read the article that I embedded in the original post. I trust Nigel Calder vis-a-vis common rail. Re-posting Yachting Monthly article link here: Reasons to be paranoid about Diesel
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Old 12-04-2017, 06:58   #19
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Re: Catalina [Unfortunately] Goes Common Rail

I read the article. Nigel has always advocated for a certain level of paranoia when it comes to the cleanliness of the diesel in your boat's tanks. He is basically just reiterating that, and saying that modern HPCR engines are yet another reason to be careful. Okay. Great.

Nonetheless, this is an issue that the auto industry has been dealing with for many years now, and seems to have overcome. Even traveling in third-world countries, HPCR diesel engines are pretty common, and seem to be quite reliable.

Yes, of course, be careful about keeping your diesel fuel clean. Nowadays that should go without saying. If you really don't understand the issues related to the need to keep your fuel clean, then you should probably emulate the Pardeys, upgrade your sailing skills, and just go without an engine at all.

Again, this is progress. It is not going to go away. You might as well embrace it, learn to deal with it, and move on.
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Old 12-04-2017, 08:00   #20
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Re: Catalina [Unfortunately] Goes Common Rail

Quote:
Originally Posted by a64pilot View Post
The real advantage to a boat owner in common rail is not fuel economy which I'm sure is better, but bet you would be hard pressed to measure the difference or emissions, which is the reason that engine manufacturers are going common rail, cause they have to.
Definitely get the NVH benefits. Any boater going from a 1 or 2 cylinder to a 4 cylinder engine should understand how important that is too Hopefully common rail will have those benefits to boaters.

I guess my original argument is kind of a moot point. No one is making diesels for the marine market specifically, so we get whatever is being pushed onto the tractor market. If common rail and turbochargers are being used there to meet efficiency requirements, we will see them as well as I doubt the tooling costs to make engines without those features will be supported by boats.

It was just that I had read in the latest boat US mag about a likely turbocharger caused fire. Spray the foam, but the turbocharger is still so hot it just reignites everything around it. Having poked around in a few engine rooms when buying a boat and figuring that the average owner stays clear of wedging themselves in there, I just imagine those are going to cause a lot more fires. The recommendation is 18" of clear space around a turbocharger, and I have rarely seen that much clear space in the engine room of a small boat. But, as you mentioned, the emissions regs are not for the boat market, but for the tractor and over the road market, so the contrast between fiberglass fires vs turbocharger efficiency doesn't really matter. Boaters are just the second order impact.
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