Tuesday 12 May 2015

Aquadrive

I figured it would be of interest to some readers to discuss the aquadrive I've ordered, and why.

Firstly, what are the reasons?

I have a set of engine bearers in the engine bay that will certainly be in the wrong place... they were put in for a large and heavy old engine. They will be too far apart and too low for the new engine. I will address this via some new feet, but these will need careful measuring. The less I need to do this to an exact tolerance the better. The aquadrive reduces the need for millimetre accurate location.

Secondly, I can make the feet slightly shorter as the aquadrive can accomodate a misalignment, so shorter feet will face less leverage related loads.

Last, but not least, the engine compartment is virtually impossible to insulate against sound transmission as it, along with the gearboxand propshaft sits in a long a deep bilge that runs right under the aft cabin. So, the more that the shaft can be isolated, the lower the levels of sound transmission from it through the hull, especially as it also allows the use of softer engine mounts reducing vibration transmission from the engine too.

Next is the question of which aquadrive.

There were two choices, the 10.10 rated to 65Hp and its bigger brother the 15.10, which is rated to 100Hp.

I have chosen the latter. While the smaller one would be within tolerance, the vendor did some life time calculations for me, that rated the 10.10 at 1800hrs and the 15.10 at 8000hrs. It's a sensible decision for the extra £150. Furthermore, it allows more angular misalignment, so an no brainer.

All I need to do now is make up a bulkhead to mount the aquadrive to... I've bought a sheet of 18mm ply, thatI will shape and then glass completely to make it water tight, as well as obviously to fix securely to the hull.

I do have the luxury of being able to mount the bulkhead (within reason) where its easy to fit and then measure the feet to fit, unlike many owners who need to position it precisely to their existing engine installation.

More engine bay cleaning this weekend, before starting the paint up and glasswork!

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