  In a previous paper, we developed a technique for estimating the inner
eccentricity in coplanar hierarchical triple systems on initially circular
orbits, with comparable masses and with well separated components, based on an
expansion of the rate of change of the Runge-Lenz vector. Now, the same
technique is extended to non-coplanar orbits. However, it can only be applied
to systems with ${I_{0}<39.23^{\circ}}$ or ${I_{0}>140.77^{\circ}}$, where
${I}$ is the inclination of the two orbits, because of complications arising
from the so-called 'Kozai effect'. The theoretical model is tested against
results from numerical integrations of the full equations of motion.
