Thursday, April 18, 2013

How to troubleshoot a generator without really knowing what you're doing


Yawn alert for those of you who don't care about mechanical stuff.

Our Northern Lights generator, which (when it works) provides us with power for our water maker (and dive compressor) and a backup power source on cloudy days, was sick. When we started running it in the Bahamas to desalinate water, it would run for about 15 to 20 minutes and then stop. It wasn't clear whether or not it was overheating.

The mechanic looked at it and gave Matt some leads on troubleshooting it.

These are shots of the heat exchanger from our generator. Matt took apart the generator to get this piece out to see if it was blocked. He looked at it and told our mechanic that to the untrained eye, it didn't seem to be blocked. Well, after taking it to a place to have it ultrasonically cleaned, the professional there confirmed that Matt does in fact have an untrained eye when it comes to generators. He said we should buy a new heat exchanger, which we did. Although the tubes aren't really blocked, there are a number of pin holes that could be causing our issue.


Matt also took out the thermostat and boiled it to see what temperature the water reached before the thermostat opened up. It turns out that the water was getting much hotter than it should have before the thermostat opened. So we also purchased a new one of these, as well as various gaskets and switches.

We had the mechanic put everything back together because she has tools to clean everything really well beforehand (which is important). Matt observed and learned so that next time we (hopefully) can do it ourselves.

So now the generator is working. We also have the new transmission in. Unfortunately, there is an air leak somewhere in the diesel lines so the engine still needs some work. Matt is going to change a valve tomorrow to see if that is the culprit.

8 comments:

  1. No Yawns here. Matt will soon be a sought after boat "mechanic" if he continues to solve problems as above!

    Shawn

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    1. Thanks, Shawn. It's a great way to learn (I say while Matt's down in the engine room sweating away)...

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  2. Great to hear you've got your generator back and your (heavy) transmission installed. Sorry about the air leak... bummer!
    Fingers crossed for a speedy detection!
    Cheers!

    the Waterbugs

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    1. Thanks WBs! As you know too well, it wouldn't be a boat fix if something didn't go as planned.

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  3. If it's not one thing, it's another huh?

    How much water do you carry "just in case"?

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    1. 100 gallons of water--maybe a little more. Must seem weird to have to worry about water when Chicago/Rockford got so much rain a couple days ago.

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  4. We have plenty, but you wouldn't want to drink it!

    HEY! Lyrids are peaking tomorrow, if you're anchored somewhere darkish! Good lesson for the kids!

    I miss you! Please come back and help me with BS again! Who needs Caribbean blue water and palm trees when you can have BS and the Des Plaines River?

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    1. Yeah, unfortunately it's been cloudy here (although maybe not unfortunate--seems like every time we wake up in the middle of the night to see something, there's nothing). Sorry BS is giving you problems. But not sorry enough to come back. There's still a spot for you all here...

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