[Public-List] More engine follies...

[Ron Walker]

We done!

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 30, 2013, at 7:56 PM, Gordon Laco <mainstay at csolve.net> wrote:

> Hello gang - 
> 
> I¹ve just recovered from another engine folly.  This one¹s a classic.
> 
> Before going sailing last weekend, I went down to the boat to put ice in the
> icebox.  While there I thought to myself ³what ho, Gord, why don¹t you put
> the battery charger on for a few hours.²  When I connected it, I was shocked
> to see it drawing the full ten amps of it¹s capacity...as if the batteries
> were flat.   I said to myself as I walked away ³they can¹t be² and
> concentrated on feeling clever and seamanlike for not only remembering to
> put the ice aboard, but that it occurred to me to run a charge too.
> 
> We went away on our trip.  Not for the first time this season I noticed that
> the ancient ammeter in the factory-original engine gauge panel was slightly
> in the negative.  ³stuck again² I said to myself and thought no more about
> it.   We didn¹t do a lot of motoring on this trip.
> 
> This evening, I went down to the boat to potter about fixing things, and
> decided to have another go at the mystery of why the engine won¹t run on
> Tank 2 anymore. (it gave up the habit last summer, and it wouldn¹t tonight
> either)   I noticed that the idle is a bit low, so I jumped down into the
> cabin, opened up the motor cover and gave the idle set screw a slight
> turn... The revs came up a bit.  ³what a clever fellow am I² said myself to
> myself.  
> 
> While down there, with the engine running, on a whim I flicked on the
> voltmeter on the electrical panel.  Barely 12 volts were showing.  That got
> my attention.  With the engine running it should be 13.5.   Maybe the
> ammeter in the cockpit WASN¹T stuck.   I went up to the cockpit, shut off
> the engine, then started it again while watching the ammeter- it jumped
> negative while the engine was starting, then settled slightly negative as
> before.  So it isn¹t stuck....but why no charge?  Oh no, cried I, the
> alternator¹s shot.
> 
> I went down below again and looked at the top of the alternator pully ­ it
> seemed fine spinning away; no wait, there¹s nothing on it and it¹s not
> turning... There is no belt.
> 
> I found the belt in shreds under the engine; it had broken some time earlier
> this summer.  I bought another one about an hour ago and put it on, and that
> of course prompted the ammeter to behave properly.
> 
> Another problem solved.
> 
> Gord #426 Surprise
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