No matter how much you think your boat is ready, preparing to cruise brings a long list of needed improvements. We are about depart on a trip in celebration of our yacht club's centennial season, and it's the first long cruise we've done in 23 years. Some things needed to be checked!
I don't row our inflatable as well as I used to row the Dyer dinghy, so I acquired an 8-horse motor several years ago. We would travel on short hops from harbor to harbor, towing the rubber duck and its motor behind us.
As I planned our travel from port to port, I realized that the tow could be an annoying drag in the steep chop of Buzzards Bay, and a real hazard in tidal sluices like Wood's Hole. Therefore I plan to travel with the motor off and the inflatable stowed below.
I then realized how hard it wold be to swing the dinghy outboard to the deck while we're rolling at a mooring. Finally, I observed that the outboard would interfere with our mizzen if I mounted it on the push pit like everyone else does.
Consequently, I designed and constructed a deck cradle for the motor, and worked out a procedure for hoisting and rotating it with the mizzen boom. For many years, I've been worrying about this, but the cruise focused me on the problem.
BJ and I practiced the procedure for dismount, hoist and stow while we were at the dock last weekend. She was impressed with how smoothly it went, and she is rarely so taken with one of my inventions.
New technology has finally come to Search and Rescue in New England, so the Coast Guard's Rescue 21 equipment has been deployed. This means that if one registers one's VHF radio, and installs a link from a GPS to the radio, one can send a Mayday message with our instantaneous location at the push of a red "Distress" button. The nearest Coast Guard facility will, we hope, hear and respond directly to our location. I designed and installed the necessary wiring changes to feed the data using the NMEA 0183 wires and protocol.
Also, the Automatic Identification System (AIS) hardware is now available at reasonable prices for those who are are not compelled to carry it. I bought a Raymarine AIS-650 and installed it to pass data to our multi-function Raymarine chartplotter.
The new AIS is only set up as a receiver of AIS messages, because installing it as an active transmitter of our track and vector requires disabling the GPS we have used for ten years, in favor of the purportedly better machine integrated into the AIS-650 itself. I didn't want to risk our GPS distribution. just before leaving.
The data realignment required reworking the entire NMEA 0183 wiring on the boat. We use it for passing heading data to the radar display, compass information to the autopilot, GPS information to the plotter, and location to the VHF radio. I am hoping that all will work correctly as we head over our horizon. I can test everything but the autopilot, and that is somewhat of a worry.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Glow Plug Solenoid Failure
Now I have the resolution of the problem I found on 7/6/12.
When I turned off the battery selector switch (BSS) the shore power charge finally recharged the batteries. I kept looking, and I observed that when I started the engine, its generator was making 50 amps, but the battery monitor was seeing only 5 amps. I had never noticed this before, but it seemed quite suspicious.
The only load of such a size on my boat is the glow plugs, and I found that they were energized all the time while the engine was running. The glow plug solenoid (GS), it turns out, was burned out, and it it remained in the closed position, even though the energizing signal was removed.
Checking my records, I learned that the GS was replaced this spring, as part of a starting circuit troubleshooting procedure. They also replaced the corroded glow plug power bus and one or two plugs. Naturally, I called the mechanic and requested that the shipyard replace the defective part.
Mystic Shipyard consented, but suggested that some other defect might be behind both failures.
When the new GS arrived, I installed it, and I found that the GS was still energized all the time the engine was on, although it would turn off if I removed the wire from the "S" terminal; the defective one would not.
To investigate the problem further, I reviewed the circuit schematic that first came with the engine. I found that Westerbeke connected a wire to the "I" terminal on the GS which was connected to the "S" terminal on my engine. I checked my own documentation of the engine and other boat wiring, and saw that the wire had been connected this way for many years. Many mechanics, as well as I, had worked on various engine problems, but none had spotted this anomaly. Reviewing my records even more carefully, I saw that the GS had been replaced at one shipyard or another about every second year.
I called Hansen Marine, and Bob Hansen confirmed that the green wire between the 10A circuit breaker and the "S" terminal should have been connected to the "I" terminal.
As designed, while the engine is being started, the the "I" terminal feeds the green wire, which feeds the lift pump and fuel solenoid through a 10A self-resetting circuit breaker. The "I" terminal receives power through the GS, when the GS is energized by the "WARM" switch in the starting sequence. When the oil pressure (OP) switch closes, the lift pump and fuel solenoid receive power through the contacts of the OP, so they will shut off if the engine loses oil. The "I" terminal is not closed when the "S" terminal is not energized, so no current passes through the 10 A circuit breaker.
If the "S" terminal is connected to the green wire, the OP passes power backward though the 10A circuit breaker, so it latches the GS energized. This was the source of my problem.
According to Hansen, there are many generic GS models in the aftermarket, some of which do not have the "I" terminal. He thought that someone in the dim past did not understand its purpose, and bypassed it to make the engine go.
I went though this elaborate discussion, thinking that someone else may not have understood how this popular engine is designed, and may have the same error causing repeated GS failures.
Hansen also noted that a pull-down resistor has been added on terminal "I" in later versions of this diagram to prevent spurious alarms from the OP switch; I will do so if the problem occurs.
When I turned off the battery selector switch (BSS) the shore power charge finally recharged the batteries. I kept looking, and I observed that when I started the engine, its generator was making 50 amps, but the battery monitor was seeing only 5 amps. I had never noticed this before, but it seemed quite suspicious.
The only load of such a size on my boat is the glow plugs, and I found that they were energized all the time while the engine was running. The glow plug solenoid (GS), it turns out, was burned out, and it it remained in the closed position, even though the energizing signal was removed.
Checking my records, I learned that the GS was replaced this spring, as part of a starting circuit troubleshooting procedure. They also replaced the corroded glow plug power bus and one or two plugs. Naturally, I called the mechanic and requested that the shipyard replace the defective part.
Mystic Shipyard consented, but suggested that some other defect might be behind both failures.
When the new GS arrived, I installed it, and I found that the GS was still energized all the time the engine was on, although it would turn off if I removed the wire from the "S" terminal; the defective one would not.
To investigate the problem further, I reviewed the circuit schematic that first came with the engine. I found that Westerbeke connected a wire to the "I" terminal on the GS which was connected to the "S" terminal on my engine. I checked my own documentation of the engine and other boat wiring, and saw that the wire had been connected this way for many years. Many mechanics, as well as I, had worked on various engine problems, but none had spotted this anomaly. Reviewing my records even more carefully, I saw that the GS had been replaced at one shipyard or another about every second year.
I called Hansen Marine, and Bob Hansen confirmed that the green wire between the 10A circuit breaker and the "S" terminal should have been connected to the "I" terminal.
As designed, while the engine is being started, the the "I" terminal feeds the green wire, which feeds the lift pump and fuel solenoid through a 10A self-resetting circuit breaker. The "I" terminal receives power through the GS, when the GS is energized by the "WARM" switch in the starting sequence. When the oil pressure (OP) switch closes, the lift pump and fuel solenoid receive power through the contacts of the OP, so they will shut off if the engine loses oil. The "I" terminal is not closed when the "S" terminal is not energized, so no current passes through the 10 A circuit breaker.
If the "S" terminal is connected to the green wire, the OP passes power backward though the 10A circuit breaker, so it latches the GS energized. This was the source of my problem.
I went though this elaborate discussion, thinking that someone else may not have understood how this popular engine is designed, and may have the same error causing repeated GS failures.
Hansen also noted that a pull-down resistor has been added on terminal "I" in later versions of this diagram to prevent spurious alarms from the OP switch; I will do so if the problem occurs.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Charter Woes
ON 7/4, JAG borrowed the boat for three days. While he had her, two major problems occurred. First, he had a leak in the hot water system. Second, he was unable to start the engine on the third day, while anchored just outside Watch Hill harbor.
Troubleshooting: the leak appears to have been at the high pressure cold water input to the hot water heater. JAG removed the fitting where the leak appeared and thought that it was missing a sealing washer. I found an O-ring to see if that would stop the leak temporarily and delivered it to him while he was on the hook. While he was installing it, the fitting rolled into the bilge under the engine, from which nothing can ever be retrieved, so the leak repair had to be postponed.
I do not believe a sealing washer is required. I shall buy a new female 1/2-inch IPS to PEX adapter, and check if one is supplied. I shall install the new fitting with appropriate precautions.
The cause of the engine problem was that both batteries were dead. I brought two portable batteries to the boat, and it started quickly. JAG brought the boat back to the dock, and set it to charge over the weekend, while both he and I were away.
I returned Monday evening, and found that both batteries were dead again, even though the shore power charger was still on. The following loads were connected: potable water pump, the instrument panel, and the bilge pump. None seemed active. The battery #2 was selected by the BSS. I checked the battery voltages directly, and they were: 8.9 VDC for #1, and 6.4 VDC for #2. The analog battery voltmeter showed no voltage on either battery (its minimum is about 9VDC; its lamp was dim.
I set the battery selector to OFF, and turned off the automatic bilge pump. All the battery voltages increased to about 11.0 VDC. This was probably due to the shore power charging current. When I shut off the charger, they went back down dramatically. I restarted the charger and am leaving it overnight.
First question: Are the batteries damaged? Second: what drew so much current that the batteries died?
There are several problems in the DC system:
Troubleshooting: the leak appears to have been at the high pressure cold water input to the hot water heater. JAG removed the fitting where the leak appeared and thought that it was missing a sealing washer. I found an O-ring to see if that would stop the leak temporarily and delivered it to him while he was on the hook. While he was installing it, the fitting rolled into the bilge under the engine, from which nothing can ever be retrieved, so the leak repair had to be postponed.
I do not believe a sealing washer is required. I shall buy a new female 1/2-inch IPS to PEX adapter, and check if one is supplied. I shall install the new fitting with appropriate precautions.
The cause of the engine problem was that both batteries were dead. I brought two portable batteries to the boat, and it started quickly. JAG brought the boat back to the dock, and set it to charge over the weekend, while both he and I were away.
I returned Monday evening, and found that both batteries were dead again, even though the shore power charger was still on. The following loads were connected: potable water pump, the instrument panel, and the bilge pump. None seemed active. The battery #2 was selected by the BSS. I checked the battery voltages directly, and they were: 8.9 VDC for #1, and 6.4 VDC for #2. The analog battery voltmeter showed no voltage on either battery (its minimum is about 9VDC; its lamp was dim.
I set the battery selector to OFF, and turned off the automatic bilge pump. All the battery voltages increased to about 11.0 VDC. This was probably due to the shore power charging current. When I shut off the charger, they went back down dramatically. I restarted the charger and am leaving it overnight.
First question: Are the batteries damaged? Second: what drew so much current that the batteries died?
There are several problems in the DC system:
- The DC supply to the inverter is not fused.
- The Link 20 gets its power from Battery #1; it is unreliable if that is not good.
- If the inverter failed, it could draw one battery dead, but how could it do both unless the BSS were set to both? JAG says that was not the case.
- The generator is undersized. the stock Westerbeke generator is 50 amps; Nigel Calder recommends that the generator have the capacity to deliver the battery capacity in a quarter-hour (of course it can't, but that 's the size he wants). Since we have two 200 A-h batteries (1080 CCA) batteries, we need to supply 100 amps.
- The charger is also undersized for these wonderful 4D batteries. 20A will not cut it.
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