On Sat, 07 May 2005 21:44:17 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:

e.. I can start this little engine with a portable emergency
battery. It's even been done with a handful of flashlight batteries.
So, if I want a dead ship except for the bilge pump, I have to decide
which battery to use. That means that a long run of pumping with the
charger off, as could happen with the boat unattended in a storm,
would drain one battery down. I also would only have half the battery
capacity for bilge pumping under the same circumstances. That is not
ideal. Worse, if one battery did die, I would have to get into the
panel and switch the bilge pump. That's not good.

Roger, I haven't read all this thread, so this may be repetitious, but
why not abandon the starter battery altogether? Your set-up sounds
like a good idea for these "crankable" starters

http://www.startwell.com/

http://www.springstarter.com/index.htm

http://www.dieselproducts.com/spring...r/pentham.html


To my mind, I would use this as the primary starter on a small marine
diesel (40 HP or less=over 50% of rec. sailboats), and keep the
"traditional" solenoid-style starter vacuum-packed in the bilge.
Subtract the requirement to turn over a cold diesel or even an Atomic
4 like mine (which I hand-crank once a year to keep in practice...),
and you can rethink a lot of your electrical needs.

Food for thought, anyway.

R.