Westerbeke BTDA 15.0 Operator's Manual & Installation Manual page 41

Engine Break-In Procedure
Atthough your engine has experienced a minimum of one hour of test operations to make sure
accurate assembly procedures were followed and that the engine operated properly, a break-in
time is required. The service life of your engine is dependent upon how the engine is operated
and serviced during its initial hours of use.
Your new engine requires approximately 50 hours of initial conditioning operation to break in
each moving part in order to maximize the performance and service life of the engine. Perform
this conditioning carefully, keeping in mind the following:
1. Start the engine according to the "Starting Procedure" section. Run the engine whiie
checking that all systen:s (raw water pump, oii pressure, battery charging) are functioning.
2. Start the generator and allow the engine to warm up untii the freshwater temperature gauge
moves into the 130" - 150" F range.
3. Use caution not to overload the generator. The presence of a gray or black exhaust with
loss of engine rpm (hertz) are signs of a possible overload.
4. Run the generator at 1/2 of its rated capacity for the first 10 hours then increase the load
to 3/4 of its rated capacity. For the remainder of the break-in period, the generator may
be run at different load intervals.
Breaking-in a new engine basically involves seating the piston rings to the cylinder walls.
Excessive oil consumption and smoky operation may indicate that the rings have not properly
seated. Which is caused by overloading the generator or operating the generator with little or
no load during the break-in period. (This can be confirmed with a compression test and an
oil sample analysis.)
As indicated above, operate the generator with a moderate load during the 50 hour break-in
period. (On one hand don't baby the engine, but on the other hand, don't abuse it.)
1SKW BTDA 39 Westerbeke Generators