Blog 86 - Ventilation Flaps Without Flaps - Negating the Angularity of the V-Type Engine

WORK IN CAR DECKS :

Ventilation for Car Decks:

All the Ventilation Motors, Fans and their flaps were located on the outboard side of the top deck, on both port and starboard sides. They were all rectangular shaped boxes, some containing one and some containing two fans in them.

This made it pretty convenient for maintenance purposes.

There were a large number, 25? 30? I am not certain.

The ventilation dampers seemed well greased and free, as the Chief Mate took me around to show me. I felt perhaps a bit too free, as even I could move them with ease.

The ventilation dampers were the ‘venetian blinds’ type with one lever connecting about 10 rods, a plate being welded on to each rod. (Imagine the many skewers across a barbecue pit, all connected to one another). On operating the outside handle, either the plates come to a vertical position (Open) or to a horizontal position (Closed), where each plate seals against the next, like ‘venetian blinds’.

The dampers were all set inside a housing, under the impeller and motor of the blower.

All seemed too free. I called the Fitter and opened one of the inspection doors provided and, using a flash light, peered in. Then we checked all of them.

There were only rods, no steel plates, in most of them. The steel plates had eroded away, leaving only the centre rod that ran through from one end to the other, parallel to each other. It was akin to a cat cleanly eating all the flesh of a fish, leaving behind the bare bones.

This was the kind of job that should, under normal circumstances, be done in a ship yard. But the dry dock was more than 18 months away and, now that we knew the extremely bad condition of the dampers, we had to consider serious action.

With this kind of a condition of Fire Dampers, we would be badly compromised in case of a fire. I estimated that it would take at least 9 to 10 months time to renew all dampers, using ship’s staff and a sailing repair team , provided all supply of gases, welding material, the correct steel plating were supplied in smooth succession.

As the Chief Mate was close to his promotion, I helped him send a report of the condition of Fire Dampers, the condition of which compromised Fire Safety in various ways and the necessity to repair them forthwith.

Mr. Mehta’s inspection visit in Hong Kong was also instrumental in expediting our needs for the repairs.

A ‘Repair Team’ of 3 was asked for. They joined in Japan.

More material was requisitioned, 10% supplied in Singapore, the full requisition being supplied in Japan after a show down with the Superintendent on the phone, as described above.

The Chief Mate and I worked together on this.

He would blank that particular trunking. The Electrical Officer - all working together - would remove the motor, overhaul it, renew the bearings, improve the insulation readings, assemble and keep ready. The motor would be wire brushed and painted.

The Deck Crew would lift up the trunking below the motor and swing it away for chipping and painting. Two others would remove the housing of the Fire Dampers and take it out on deck.

The Repair Team, using the removed housing as a template, would fabricate whatever was needed. In some cases it was only the fins of steel plates of the ‘venetian blind’. In some the whole housing had to be fabricated.

For Fire Safety reasons, in the event of a fire in the Car Decks where the ventilation needs to be shut off, we cut canvas sheets to size, made eyelets, for ropes, in them and kept them on standby to cover the ventilators with a canvas shroud, as a temporary measure. Luckily, it did not need to be used.

The Engine Room Fire dampers and casings were also in poor condition and became part of the ‘to-do’ list.

This work was in progress when I got off the ship in January 1990 and was completed nearly a month after I joined the same ship in Sept 1990.

The Main Engine: Every Problem Has a Solution

This was my first V-Type Engine. Being a trunk engine, it was four stroke. I had a lot to learn. Fortunately, the Second Engineer had worked on V-type generator engines as a junior and knew what he was doing.

It took a little time to find my way around the different parts of a V-type engine.

Except for the main bearings in the crankcase, all the other parts were in multiples of sixteen.

Sixteen cylinder heads, with various fittings, 64 valves total on the cylinder heads (or covers), 4 for each head.

As far as overhaul of the cylinder heads were concerned, the procedure for overhaul - after they were removed - is just the same as an in-line engine.

The problem was in the removal and assembling processes.

The pistons being of a much smaller diameter and stroke and the cylinder head only slightly larger than a diesel generator head, one would assume that Units’ overhaul would be quick and easy.

But, due to the angularity of the cylinder itself - due to the V-shape - the lift (for removal) is not a straight forward operation, as it involves an angular lift. The 2 mono rails on top were at the angle required, above each bank.

Please note where the vertical centre line of the crane is and the angularity of the cylinders.

When I saw one piston being removed for the first time, I only observed the various operations. The overhaul of one unit was completed in 7 hours which, the Second assured me, was par for the course.

Splitting up each operation into a component, I found that the maximum time spent was on removing and refitting the piston and cylinder head because of the angularity, with more time spent on reassembling, with more time for the cylinder head and a little less for the piston.

The second on the list of time consumers was the crankcase job which, being small, could not be entered into, like the 2-stroke slow speed engines. All work had to be done through and from outside the crankcase doors, as on a generator, with only the hands going into the crankcase but not the entire torso. These parts were much heavier than generator parts and also included hydraulic tensioning of the bottom end bearing bolts.

I felt that the parts being relatively small compared to 2 stroke engines, this job should not take more than 4 to 4 ½ hours.

The Second Engineer was adamant that it could not be done in less than 7 hours.

I sat on the cylinder heads, when the ship was in one of the ports, with the Main Engine stopped, and pondered.

How to beat the angularity and obtain the steady degree of tilt needed was the question, so that the piston or the cylinder head can be raised and lowered easily, without stopping the operation several times to adjust for the angularity, using crow bars and brute force.

As a solution shaped up in my mind, I started checking the feasibility of carrying it out.

I checked the spare cylinder head. The lifting device is fitted on to studs for the fuel injectors, which are centrally placed on the head. The lift is slightly angular and wobbly as long as the head is guided by the 4 main studs, hence takes time and effort to remove completely and swing it away. Fitting back is even more time consuming, as alignment is difficult.

Most of the cylinder heads have blind, threaded holes on the sides, so did these.

When the next unit was being done, I asked the Second Engineer to add a second chain block to the trolley on the rail above and used a wire sling and an eye bolt fitted into the blind threaded hole in the side of the head.

So, one chain block lifted the head by hooking on to the centrally placed lifting device. The second chain block was hooked on to the eye bolt at the side to negate the downward thrust due to the weight of the cylinder head and give the tilt necessary.

Manipulating both chain blocks at the same time, the lift was given on one, the angular tilt was given on the other. It halved the time for removal and refitting. As the staff became more adept at manipulating the two chain blocks, the job was done faster.

As far as the crankcase job was concerned, time was consumed because of not having the right type of tools, the sizes being okay.

I requisitioned some small handled impact spanners of the needed sizes, in place of the more long handled ones. The torque spanner’s ratchet head teeth were widely spaced, due to which it became difficult to use in the confined space. More finely spaced teeth was required. I got them an attachment to use with the torque spanner that had more number of teeth for the ratchet. The time saved was 30%.

I also taught them logistics - laying out only the tools needed - and motion and time study - efficiency in movement.

By the time I left the ship, we were decarbonising one unit in about 4 ½ hours.

My second tenure on the Anna was from Sept of 1990 to May of 1991, with nothing much to do.

Miscellaneous Musings:

Even before I had joined this ship, there had been a circular from the Office that all Officers who had acquired 10 years or more of ‘Article Time’ in the Company were to be give gold watches for meritorious service. They had to fill in an application form, listing each ship and length of service on each ship, total the periods and request to be awarded a gold watch.

I do not know how many sent in their applications, but I bided my time and did not send in any application.

When serving on the ‘Anna’, the Hong Kong office asked me to apply for the gold watch. I politely told them that it is for them (the Office) to be gracious enough to acknowledge the longevity of service of that particular Officer and give him his gold watch. To me, it did not seem right that I fill in an application and ‘request’ for it. I did not apply.

About 3 months later, they quietly sent me the gold watch through a visiting Superintendent, a ‘Tudor’ by ‘Rolex’, with the Company logo engraved on the stainless steel strap base.

During the first tenure, Jaggi joined the ship a few days after me. He had been newly promoted to Captain. He had sailed with me on a previous ship as Chief Mate, where I had helped him in not being a target of an over zealous but less competent Master.

He had his wife and two year old son join him after a couple of months. This youngster used to waddle out of his cabin, enter my cabin and go to sleep on the sofa. On the first few occasions, his mother would frantically search for him, till she found him in my cabin. The boy and I became very fond of each other.

A typical chubby Sardar boy, with a tuft neatly tied. When leaving my cabin, he would pick up all the 4 cakes of Lux soap that the steward had kept on the cabinet by the door. When waddling back to his cabin, he would drop one, bend to pick it up and, in doing so, drop the others. But he persevered and would do this again and again, till he reached his cabin which was up the corridor, about 10 metres away. He would, then, give all the soaps to his mother, who would immediately return it to the same place. He never got tired of the same game, again and again.

On one occasion, there was an empty carton lying in front of my desk. He got into it and refused to come out. I put a rope on it and started dragging the carton around the alleyways. He used to be thrilled.

Jaggi’s wife was a wonderful lady. I never kept count of the numerous cups of excellent tea that she made and would insist I drink.

On my leaving the ship, Jaggi signed my Seaman’s Book and said that he was honoured to do so.

On my next tenure on the Anna, I had a Captain who would come into the Smoke Room and, thinking he was being jovial, would say “How ya doing you f—--- stokers?” This continued for many weeks. I did not take umbrage at it and let it be. But it bugged the other Engineers. One day, when I was not present, there was a war of words on this topic, after which the Captain complained to me and said that he had been abused by the Engineers and will seek their dismissal. I told him “You provoked them for a long time and now that they gave it back, you are complaining? The Office will also ask me why the Captain wants to dismiss three of the Engineers and I will tell them the truth. So, either put up or shut up”. End of story.

My second tenure on board the “Anna” was a very smooth one, one in which my hard work of the first tenure was bearing fruit. For the first time, I was reaping the fruits of my own labour. The Second Engineer, Matthew also rejoined the ship and I helped him get his well deserved promotion when I left the ship in May 1991.

NYK, the Owners of the vessel, were gracious enough to send me a letter of appreciation prior my signing off from the ship. 2 NYK bath towels, a tie and a tie pin were presented to me.

Rangan

===== Continued in "Marine Musings 24" =====