Topic starter
09/04/2009 2:30 pm
We were wondering if running engines at full power at the dock would be hard on the machinery or other parts of the boat, especially if done for long periods of time, say, for hours.
10/04/2009 12:26 am
The steam engine don't know
As long as all cooling water and service pumps are kept operating and all engine lube systems are keeping the wear surfaces cool and lubed, there shoud be no problem.
The boat systems do not know there are tied up, just having to work hard. If your in shallow water, the trash and mud stired up from the bottem could cause problems with system intakes.
Stationary steam systems operate just fine and are subject to increase and decrease in speed, torque, steam demand. Just like a boat system, the above systems and conditions have to operate and be met.
I would not leave the system unattended. You need someone around to make excuses for why it did not work. :-).
When you get her tied off and think you have enough lines out to hold to the dock, find out how well the dock is secured to the bank.
Good Luck and hope not to see the outcome of this test reported on CNN.
Topic starter
10/04/2009 2:11 pm
Thanks, Fred. We try to be easy on the system as it is not that beefy. If need be we ask it for all it's got, but I always wory about something flying apart under the strain. Hasn't happened recently, but we had some design flaws that manifested themselves in the early years of operation. I noticed when I was on the DQ that engineers tended to be sensitive about rough handling. They were delicate with all that steel.