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Old 06-22-2021, 08:19 AM
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joe_db joe_db is offline
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Engine quits in reverse, so fix the alternator

This has to take the cake as the oddest issue I have had in some time:
I went to back out of my slip and the engine quit I tried a couple more times after running at full throttle forward against the lines with no issue. Third time was the charm, got out and went on our way. Our top speed was 3.8 knots at full throttle
As soon as we cleared the breakwater sails went up and we managed 6 knots or so. I concluded from this the bottom might be a little dirty but the prop had fouled for sure.
The next morning I cleaned numerous barnacles off the prop and noticed a large improvement in speed headed home. I also noticed that like the day before, the engine was surging. A quick loo showed the battery voltage and charge rate varying with the surge. My ARS-5 regulator has an LED display that shows the desired voltage and the actual voltage. These should be within 0.1 volts, but if you caught it at the right time the difference was nearing 0.8 volts or more
What the issue turned out to be was corrosion in the fuse holder for the sense line to the battery. This was causing the sensed voltage to read low, then the alternator would ramp up to "fix" it, and then the voltage would be too high - rinse, repeat. With the extra load on the alternator plus the barnacles on the prop, it seems like at idle in reverse it was enough to cause the engine to quit.
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Sam (06-22-2021), Surcouf (06-22-2021), TimBSmith (06-24-2021)
 

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