voltage
Moderator: Jim Walsh
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Bob Loewenstein
Re: voltage
Could be the regulator is blown.jim wrote: Comming in to day I noticed that the voltage meter on the engine panel was pegged allthe way to the right, this was when I was under power, at the dock running at idle, it was in the center as usal. Do I have a problem?
rfl@yerkes.uchicago.edu
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sloopjohnl
Re: voltage
check your voltage regulator and/or alternator. too high a charge rate can blow your batteries - messy!!!!
Bob Loewenstein wrote:Could be the regulator is blown.jim wrote: Comming in to day I noticed that the voltage meter on the engine panel was pegged allthe way to the right, this was when I was under power, at the dock running at idle, it was in the center as usal. Do I have a problem?
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Mark Yashinsky
Re: voltage
What meter pegged, volt meter or was it the ampmeter??? If voltmeter, then start w/ the regulation circuit, if it is an ampmeter, then depending on meter direction, you have a short or the regulation circuit. WATCH YOUR BATTERIES, they may get cooked very quickly, depending on problem.
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Larry DeMers
Re: voltage
A pegged meter (you said it was the voltmeter) is not good. I asume that the meter was an expanded scale meter, so the top voltage reading on that meter is somewhere in the 16-18v area. This will quickly overheat the batteries, damaging the plates. If it is the current meter that was pegged, then there is a short in the system somewhere.
In either case..fix it before using the boat again, as the battery is a dangerous device to treat badly.
A story to that point. Two weekends ago, a friend in their Mason 33 had a battery form an internal short. The short drew a lot of current, which sagged the battery voltage, causing the voltage regulator to think the battery needed a large charge. It opened it's 'gate' , and allowed 125Amps to flow, as it should under normal circumstances. Unfortunately, the battery voltage did not respond upwards, so the charger still thought that it needed to output 125 Amps. THis continued for 20 minutes or so. Smoke was then boiling out of the lazarette, and the case of the Group 31 had actually shrunk 3 inches from the heat. The heavy 2AWG sized wire (big as your thumb) was glowing, the insulation charred and receded from the cable end by 5 inches. The electrolyte eventually all blew out of the battery or leaked out of the huge crack in the bottom it eventually formed. Meantime, the battery case was nearing it's flash point, and that would have been disastrous for the boat/crew.
Simply shutting off the alternators charging was the answer to the problem. But it scared the captain and crew a bit. They had pulled anchor at 2am to find a less rolly spot to anchor during a storm..so not knowing what the casue tof the smoke was, they shut off all electronics. No depth sounder, no radar, no knot/log..no lights for the compass or vessel. It was the worst possible time for this to happen, and it did. Using only DR plots, they sailed for 2 hours to a better protected bay.
A scenario like this could be waiting in the wings for you..if the voltage is as high as you said it was. Battery failures fool the charger into dumping tremndous amounts of current into batteries. But so can a defective regulator. So please check this out carefully.
Good Luck,
Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30
demers@sgi.com
In either case..fix it before using the boat again, as the battery is a dangerous device to treat badly.
A story to that point. Two weekends ago, a friend in their Mason 33 had a battery form an internal short. The short drew a lot of current, which sagged the battery voltage, causing the voltage regulator to think the battery needed a large charge. It opened it's 'gate' , and allowed 125Amps to flow, as it should under normal circumstances. Unfortunately, the battery voltage did not respond upwards, so the charger still thought that it needed to output 125 Amps. THis continued for 20 minutes or so. Smoke was then boiling out of the lazarette, and the case of the Group 31 had actually shrunk 3 inches from the heat. The heavy 2AWG sized wire (big as your thumb) was glowing, the insulation charred and receded from the cable end by 5 inches. The electrolyte eventually all blew out of the battery or leaked out of the huge crack in the bottom it eventually formed. Meantime, the battery case was nearing it's flash point, and that would have been disastrous for the boat/crew.
Simply shutting off the alternators charging was the answer to the problem. But it scared the captain and crew a bit. They had pulled anchor at 2am to find a less rolly spot to anchor during a storm..so not knowing what the casue tof the smoke was, they shut off all electronics. No depth sounder, no radar, no knot/log..no lights for the compass or vessel. It was the worst possible time for this to happen, and it did. Using only DR plots, they sailed for 2 hours to a better protected bay.
A scenario like this could be waiting in the wings for you..if the voltage is as high as you said it was. Battery failures fool the charger into dumping tremndous amounts of current into batteries. But so can a defective regulator. So please check this out carefully.
Good Luck,
Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30
jim wrote: Comming in to day I noticed that the voltage meter on the engine panel was pegged allthe way to the right, this was when I was under power, at the dock running at idle, it was in the center as usal. Do I have a problem?
demers@sgi.com