2019: One Lifeless Generator

2019 in Review

On Board Diesel Generator

In 2018, all efforts to get our Northern Lights generator to run were unsuccessful.  Whenever I had mechanics look at it, both in Antigua and then again in St Marten, they would turn it over but could not get it to start.  (The guy in Antigua offered to take it off our hands, so we had a suspicion that it was not completely worthless!!)  No one knew why and so it remained useless until we arrived in Deltaville in 2019.  I then made enquiries about having yet another mechanic check things out while in on the hard at Deltaville Boatyard.  I was asked if the motor was turning over and I had to answer that it appeared to have seized as, when I checked it that morning (some two months after St Marten), it would no longer turnover.  I then decided to not do anything (out of time that year) other than put automatic gearbox oil into the cylinders after removing the injectors and (as at 2023 in Trinidad) I am only now getting the generator seen to.  I’ll let readers know the outcome just as soon as I know.

Electrical Improvements

While on anchor opposite the Deltaville Marina for an extended period (before our friends arrived) I had a good opportunity to work on the boat’s electrical system.

Apart from purchasing and fitting the new alternator I tidied up all the wiring under the chart table seat.  Over the years, as various work was undertaken by numerous techos, the boat had accumulated a spaghetti like collection of cables which had become a bit of an eyesore and very imposing whenever an electrician saw it for the first time.  I basically tidied it up by cutting and shortening a bunch of the battery cables while at the same time fitting a couple of ACRs (automatic charge relays).  These things take power from the house bank when it reaches about 13 volts and send some charging to the start battery and also the bow thruster battery.  

You might recall that when the Sopromar Boatyard installed the bow thruster they also installed bow thruster batteries but they could only be charged when the engine was running! They could not be charged by the solar panels as the solar panel regulator could only charge two banks – house and starter.  The ACRs solved this problem and so when on shore power, engine alternator and/or solar all battery banks were being charged (providing everything else worked of course – read on).

To give me the capability to cut and fit new terminals on battery cables I purchased an hydraulic swager kit (for not much), a valuable purchase via Amazon/EBay.

Gasoline Generator

We purchased a gasoline/petrol generator, Powerhouse 2000, which we used  when bad weather settled over several days and the solar panels weren't generating sufficient power for our needs.  Didn’t use it much but useful to have as a backup.

Electrical Performance After Improvements

After these electrical modifications, everything seemed to work fine, particularly when testing over short periods of time.  However, while out cruising with friends and running the engine for several hours, I never seemed to get to the full charge that I expected.  Good weather, solar charging and staying at marinas more frequently, kept the batteries up to speed.  See 2023.