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| Originally Posted by BarryClay One reads quite abit about how well an engine room looks but very liottle about how functional the engine room is for maintenance or rebuilds at sea if required..  |
Most of the Engine-Room designers build their engine-rooms whitout ever having worked in one for a longer period of time, let alone rebuild an engine in one at sea or at a dock (not a dry-dock). The same goes for interior- and exterior designers, ... well basically most of the designers... You do not always hear or read about them, but they are out there....
That is why the most successfull yachts are built by owners and craftsmen who have actually lived and worked aboard large vessels.
I for one have a big interest in yachting, motors and ICT which means I am enthousiastic, but look at everything in a logical way. Not going from A to C without passing via B.
If I take a detailled look on how 99% of the yachts are equipped for Multi-media and Telecom, it is hilarious. Most designers think that because they slap in a big-screen plasma they have created a high-quality media-room. If you look at where the speakers are mounted it says enough. Even the location of the screen itself often says enough of the planning, most (and I really mean most) are mounted so that the sun will always reflect into the screen, especially at sea where you not only have top-light from the sun, but also reflecting glare from the water. Ceiling-mounted speakers are a bad idea for quality, especially on a yacht that has giant vibrating diesels on board creating 1000 - 1500 Hz resonances throughout the structure. let this frequency now be smack in the middle of where most conversation is replayed on a movie, TV. you won't hear the noise, but if you would listen to the same move in a solid structure with descent floor-standing speakers you would notice the different worlds of quality. even if they use the same amplifier, player, ...
The same goes for the engine-rooms. I have seen pictures and layouts of engine-rooms that really look nice, untill you have to do something in them. An absolute nightmare. A technique not used on yachts, but found in every single diesel car is to use a swirling air-intake so that the air creates a small vortex within the combustion chamber to get more air in at the same time with less noise and a stronger better combustion asa a result.
Why this isn't done ?
Simpel : The money is there for fuel and big-cube engines anyway.
Why generate more power from smaller engines while a slightly bigger one will easily sell as "more solid". take a look at modern diesel-cars. Who whould have imagined a 330 bhp diesel car 5 yrs ago ?
Why spend days and weeks of carefull planning on something invisible as the engine-room. it is not the owner that will spend his time in there, it is the crew. Do we built the boat for the crew? Nope, it is being built for the owner... it is sad to say, but I fear this is a well known fact. The only places in the yachting industry is in the hard-core racing yachts/boats. There everything must be strong, light, reliable and easy to maintain. Eventually some things will filter down from "racing-technology" into "common-technology" but this most of the time does take years, many many years...
Take a detailled look at loads of engine-bays and imagine what would happen in the case of a fire. Scary.
I must admit, this is all judges upon what I have seen and learned from video- and foto - coverages and visiting a few yachts (7 to be exact, ranged between 47 to 118 ft). But these yachts and captains where all about how well sorted it was. Now if I, a non-engine-room designer, can easily imagine a better and safer world, then why don't most of the designers really invest some time in it. It will definitly profit them in the long run, even in the short-run if they play their cards right.
Regarding battery-storage on yachts : All batteries are monitored (or definitly should be) on acid levels and pressure levels within the battery and casings. It is a well known fact that when the acid-gradient rises to high, vapours will be formed (lethal ones that is) and pressure builds up within the battery the point of explosion. This is a rather slow process and goes together with slowly reduced capacity and performance of the batteries. A good indicator to check the health of them.