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1982 Motor Yacht 46.6

Discussion in 'Bertram Yacht' started by Hkalan, Oct 20, 2013.

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  1. Hkalan

    Hkalan Member

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    Hello,

    I am days away from buying a 1982 Bertram 46.6 Motor Yacht.

    I have a few questions that I can't seem to find answers to, but I should give a bit of background first....

    Cosmetically She has been neglected, but the surveyor showed in his report that the hull to be sound. While it was on the slipway, the anti fouling was fully stripped off and 3 layers of fresh epoxy sprayed, then the anti fouling. It would be wise to replace all turbos and selected parts of the exhaust that show leaks at the joints. MTU will be out on Tuesday of this week to give the final inspection of the engines before I sign on the dotted line to make her mine.

    My first question is... How to remove the headliner to open the top hatch and drop in new furniture ?

    Second... I understand that under the galley floor is the fuel, fresh water, and black water tanks... But how does one find access to inspect the condition of the tanks ? Are they stainless steel or fiberglass tanks ??? The survey just says... No access to inspect.

    Third... I will be adding a 24v bank and slowly replace wires over time to have the house bank as 24v, and keep the engines at 32v until it is the last to convert to 24v... Until that time comes... Where can I buy 8v batteries as a few of them do not have overly healthy cells !!

    Thanks !

    Alan
  2. K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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    Hi,

    Did you ask for the survey yourself or was it arranged by the broker or such like?

    If I did a pre purchase survey and did not/could not get access to give a full report of the condition of vessel as requested I would advise against the purchase of the vessel in 99% of cases.

    In my experience there can be many reasons for exhaust leaks and they have nothing to do with the turbos unless the leaks are right from the turbo casings.
  3. Hkalan

    Hkalan Member

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    Hello,

    I hired the the Surveyor. I am buying directly from the owner (No Agents). The owner agreed to pay for the annual slipway visit, and had all the antifouling stripped, inspected for osmosis, enamelled, and new anti foul.

    The 8V92TI engines have 200+ hours on the rebuild, but the turbo's should have been replaced as per the mechanics recommendation, but the owner had expended his budget...

    I have hired MTU (the new owners of Detroit Diesel) to come and give a full engine inspection... I do not think a surveyor is 100% believable regarding engines...

    My questions are...

    First question is... How to remove the headliner to open the top hatch and drop in new furniture ?

    Second... I understand that under the galley floor is the fuel, fresh water, and black water tanks... But how does one find access to inspect the condition of the tanks ? Are they stainless steel or fiberglass tanks ??? The survey just says... No access to inspect.

    Third... I will be adding a 24v bank and slowly replace wires over time to have the house bank as 24v, and keep the engines at 32v until it is the last to convert to 24v... Until that time comes... Where can I buy 8v batteries as a few of them do not have overly healthy cells !!

    Thanks !

    Alan
  4. dennismc

    dennismc Senior Member

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    Good luck on the purchase, if you don't know where to buy 8v batteries, you may bigger issues in the future..as to the headliner it should be pretty obvious when you look at it..
  5. Hkalan

    Hkalan Member

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    I found that the 8v is special order at all of the suppliers around me, and takes 7 days to get. 6v and 12v is all anyone stocks. I guess 8v is a commonly used battery where you are... Sorry !
  6. dennismc

    dennismc Senior Member

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    6V thought you wanted 8V if you want 6 v just wait the 7days...
  7. K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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  8. Hkalan

    Hkalan Member

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    Hello,

    I called the golf course in Sai Kung. Spoke to the maintainance manager. Got the supplier info... Half the price then buying at the local battery retailer !!!

    That was the info I was looking for !!!

    Thank you !!!!!!

    Alan
  9. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Even though not all agree with me, don't be scared of the 32vdc systems. Thru the years it has come up a few times here at Y F. Do some searches and you will find a bunch of views and opinions from both sides of the isle. Most are valid thoughts, even the ones that don't agree with me. It's still good reading.

    Some times the 8v batteries are hard to get. Penn Battery (Eastern U S) only tools up once a year to make them during a 3 to 5 week run. It's not a high demand battery so other US Mfg's may operate the same way. Not a clue how battery Mfg's operate in your part of the world.

    We bought our Bert 8/2004. She had all new 8v batteries then.
    Seemed every 2 years, I would have to replace a pair of them. Last summer
    (2012) I replaced the last 2 of those batteries. With care, you might get many years out of your flooded batteries.
  10. dennismc

    dennismc Senior Member

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    You will probably need 8 per side in series parallel config. to be sure to have good cranking ability.
  11. K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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    Hi,

    For the OP.

    If the quoted section above is a bit confusing this is what he means.

    8 8V Batteries

    2 sets of 4 in Series ( positive to negative with one positive and one negative terminal free at the end

    Then join these two in parallel - positive to positive and negative to negative

    Make sure the cables connected to what the batteries supply are connected to one of these last positives and negatives.

    This will give you 32V and the most cranking ability they can.
  12. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    I have 2) 12v71TIs. 4 x 8v batts in series for each main works fine. The house shares these two banks for 32vdc service. There is a parallel switch / solenoid if a bank is low during mains starting.

    I assume the above kids are thinking 4x2x8v for double the current @ 32vdc is better. Makes more weight and more work when a batt does fail. Here is an another example of folks with great ideas that may not agree.

    Also on my Bert; Gen-sets are 12vdc. Old inverter was 12vdc but upgraded to a 24vdc inverter this summer.
    I have a battery switch on top of stb #3 bat to help the inverter if needed. The top of port #3 was to be my conversion starting point when I thought about changing to a 24vdc boat. Never happened. Now the top of port #3 drives the 10kw radar.

    The top of the #3 batteries are @ 24vdc (3x8vdc).

    I do recommend to stay stock for a while, get to know your boat. Keep all this in the back of your mind. A new TV, fuel and stocked bar may be of a priority. The stocked bar will help, allot.
  13. dennismc

    dennismc Senior Member

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    If the 4-8V are golf carts, you are really lucky getting good cranking out of those, I have 12 71's also and 4 just does not give any leeway at all specially if using any house load at anchor or in cooler weather, i.e below 60f, that 40w oil sure can drag if you don't have pre heaters.
  14. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    I would not call my 8v batts GolfCart type. They are 19 inches long.
    I would think a real golf cart battery would still deliver a punch of Amps.
  15. dennismc

    dennismc Senior Member

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    The 19" ones are true 8 volt and times 4 would deliver at least 1000 cc amps, 4 golf carts at most would deliver about 600. Interestingy enough here in Vancouver, 8 good golf carts cost the same as 4 of the big 8 volt jobs. Becomes a matter of choice from there, my last two sets of g.'cs lasted 8 yrs.
    YMMV
  16. Hkalan

    Hkalan Member

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    Good Morning,

    I ordered a full set of 8 batteries. They are 183Ah (C20 rate) deep cycle batteries. It does not say what the cold cranking amps are, but I am not worried too much about that. I plan to keep this vessel within the Hong Kong waters due to the current price of fuel, and use the sail boat to go to Singapore and back. The temp here rarely goes below 15 degrees Celsius. I have to watch the cells more then once a month due to the heat we have here in the summer. Good maintenance of the batteries on my 52 Dyna, has kept the same batteries for the last 7 years... I was sad to sell her, but I want something I can also fish from !!! Here is a picture of the ol' girl !

    The Bertram has the emergency parallel switch at the lower pilot house. It seems to be a newer BEP remote switch, with the manual dial switch at the battery box. The last owner was not very "hands on" and had it installed so he would not have to go below if he did not have a skipper driving. The vessel was mainly a "cocktail cruiser" and returned to the birth only after 3 or 4 hours of use. He has a new, and bigger SunSeeker.

    Thank you so much for the info !!

    Alan

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    Last edited: Oct 21, 2013
  17. Hkalan

    Hkalan Member

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    Hello

    I have the 32v Lifepo4 batteries, located the majority of parts needed to put the sparkle back in the old girl.

    One thing that has me puzzled is the aft cabin windows. I do not know if any of them were designed to open. This vessel has a very thick plexiglass that is on some type of hinge. It does not look like something that would come stock from the factory. There are one on each port and STBD, as one in the aft head.

    Are these normal, and where can I get the proper hardware to put it back to the original !

    Alan

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  18. Hkalan

    Hkalan Member

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    Another picture....

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  19. Hkalan

    Hkalan Member

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    Sorry... Goofed up here... The other picture..

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  20. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    yep, those are Bertram windows. Should have wing nuts on the bottom studs. Loosen the wing nuts, drop the bolts down and lift in & up. When open, a hanging chain with a T bar fits in the slot the bottom bolt was in to hold it open.
    Now the bad news; They are leakers. Usually they are sealed shut. Any parts and hardware is up to you to make and find at your fav hardware store.
    I had to make new studs from threaded stainless rod, square the end, fit a cold pin hinge. You also want thick & wide flat washers under the big wing nuts to save the plexi window.
    The frames are made from aluminum. Taking them off of the hull in one piece is not going to happen. There are no (new) replacements.
    I had to experiment with different gasket material. Found a nice grey D gasket with an adhesive back from somewhere.
    There is no channel to hold the gasket in place, it will usually start to fall off after a few uses.
    A few years ago, used up the last of that gasket stuff, bolted them down, have not opened them since and wont.