First cruise on new 52C

[Modman]

Closed last week on my 52C and spent yesterday moving it from New Rochelle NY to Deep River CT. Was a little worried about the small craft warning on LI sound, but everything went fine . Had a 2-4 foot chop on our bow the whole way. Boat crushed every wave without even noticing them. It was impressive.

Trip took five hours. About 4 hours running 19 knots at 1900 rpm, the rest thru no wake zones etc.
Two observations.
1. The main tank read 3/4 at start and 1/4 at the end. That equates to 350 gallons used. Does that seem right for 8v92ta's running as described? It seems high to me and I wonder if the tank gauge is not completely accurate.

2. The cold start of the engines was pretty good. Had some white smoke for about 10-15 seconds then not a puff of smoke (of any color) for the rest of the trip. It was only about 54degrees yesterday and there was a steady flow of steam off the exhaust the whole way when on plane. Is that normal? Engine temps were between 175 and 180 the whole way. Just wondering.

 

[MikeP]

"1. The main tank read 3/4 at start and 1/4 at the end. That equates to 350 gallons used. "

Assuming the gauges are working properly:

If you are basing the gallons on the gauge readings of a standard fuel gauge, there may be no direct correlation between the indices on the gauge and the actual amount of fuel used. The gauge simply measures depth of fuel, the shape of the sides of the tank determines how much fuel exists at any particular level.

IOW, there might be 6 gallons of fuel between one pair of indices on the gauge, and 25 gallons between another pair further up. I checked our 53MY's fuel level at every indices - basically every 1/16th of a tank. The 6 gal and the 25 gal were the extreme examples. So unless you calibrate the gauge when filling the tank, it doesn't tell you anything about actual fuel used. It's just telling you that the LEVEL of the tank was at 3/4 and now it's at 1/4. My forward fuel tank has 49 gallons of usable fuel remaining when the gauge hits "empty." On the opposite end, once the gauge shows full, 15 more gallons can be added to actually "fill" the tank. So until you calibrate the tank/gauge, you can't tell how much fuel you actually used.

 

[saltshaker]

All sounds good and I'd second what Mike said about fuel gauge readings. The lower half of the tank is most likely smaller than the top. I'd think you should have used around 200-250gls at that speed. Other 52C owners should be able to give you some accurate fuel numbers.

 

[capttonyf]

Like mentioned above, from the 52's I've run, I 'd guess low end 225 Gallons and on the high end 275 Gallons. The variable is depending on what percentage of load was on the engines to achieve 1900 RPM, "how clean your bottom and running gear are", to how long you idled pre/post trip and what RPM you ran through the Slow Zones. If this was "The Price is Right" I'd guess, "250 Gallons, Bob".

Tony

 

[RT46]

your owners book may have a section on the Detroit Diesel 8v92ta's

I have different Detroit engines. but my owners book had the fuel burn graph for my engines.

I understand that DDs generally burn on or very close to the DD fuel consumption graph.

After a few years of use, I would agree that the graph is very accurate or extremely close to my actual fuel burn.

if you don't have the graph for your DDs you may be able to search HF or a web search for your engines.

 

[Tim Powell]

Closed last week on my 52C and spent yesterday moving it from New Rochelle NY to Deep River CT. Was a little worried about the small craft warning on LI sound, but everything went fine . Had a 2-4 foot chop on our bow the whole way. Boat crushed every wave without even noticing them. It was impressive.

Trip took five hours. About 4 hours running 19 knots at 1900 rpm, the rest thru no wake zones etc.
Two observations.
1. The main tank read 3/4 at start and 1/4 at the end. That equates to 350 gallons used. Does that seem right for 8v92ta's running as described? It seems high to me and I wonder if the tank gauge is not completely accurate.

2. The cold start of the engines was pretty good. Had some white smoke for about 10-15 seconds then not a puff of smoke (of any color) for the rest of the trip. It was only about 54degrees yesterday and there was a steady flow of steam off the exhaust the whole way when on plane. Is that normal? Engine temps were between 175 and 180 the whole way. Just wondering.

I sorta doubt 350 gal the 250 sounds more in line. I have a 2.5 hour run to the stream and sometine a 3 hour run home fish from say 9 to 3 so 5.5 hours running and 6 hours trolling has equaled about 310 gal per trip sometime a little more. However i run mine at 2000 to 1950 making 19.5 kn ots to 20.5 to 21 when fuel gets low. MOST OF ALL WHEN BAD WEATHER SHOWES UP IT WILL WALK AWAY FROM THE FLAT TAIL CAROLINA AND VIKINGS OF LIKE SIZE AND MORE. iT IS A HECK OF A SEA BOAT WITH A SUPER SIZE COCKPIT. I REALLY LIKE MY 52C CAN YOU TELL?
The numbers i am giving you are from engines with less than 30 hours after rebuilt and they do have a little steam at cruise. I do not know but i belive that is about half normal.
Enjoy your 52. Tim http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDja4_jsKaM&feature=youtu.be

tHIS IS WHAT ONE LOOKS LIKE BEHIND A 52 THIS PAST WEEKEND

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEssw3dOd2c AND THIS IS WHAT THE SECOND ONE LOOKS LIKE


A BIG THANKS TO SPELLBOUNT !!!!!!

 

[Modman]

Thanks for the responses.

I did find the fuel burn curves and my quick calculation was it should have been between 200 and 250 gallons used for the trip. I'll need to "calibrate" the tanks next time I fill up.

It was my (and the admirals) first time running a big boat. We had a blast.

 

[Spellbound]

Glad you had a blast and now have the fuel burn figured out. Keep having fun like Tim does and all will be well.

Congrats Tim, I knew you would be successful, thanks for the kind words and keep up the good
effort.