September 2008: South Pacific
Luganville, Espirito Santo, Vanuatu pt 6 (S 15.30.905 E 167.11.027)
Aore Island, Vanuatu (S 15.32.252 E167.10.810)
On September 20th at 7am on the mooring ball at Aore Resort the generator was turned on to replenish power to the batteries. After only a couple or maybe a few minutes Bob noticed the instrument panel for the generator was lighting up and indicating that it was overheating. At that moment he stressed that we had a serious problem. He then tried to turn off the generator at the panel as is the standard technique and the generator would not respond and turn off. Then he said we had an emergency.
The only way I know to stop a diesel from running is to interrupt and cancel the fuel flow. On this generator there is no big red button to push and no way to stop the fuel flow except at the fuel valve at the tank in the bilge. Since diesels don’t need electricity for a spark that is also a dead end.
While standing in the salon early on the other Dave heard water sloshing. After Bob removed half the lid it was immediately apparent where the water was coming from. The generator sits in a housing and the exhaust exits the engine, goes thru the case and is then picked up again to spill on the aft starboard side. The exhaust is mixed with water to cool it before it is expelled from the boat.
We were now dealing with a runaway generator that was overheating, spilling water and by this time producing a white cloud out the exhaust. The smoke alarm was going and apparently that is what got the attention of people on shore as well as other boats around us. This diesel is fuel efficient and took a long time to run the fuel out of the lines. We listened as it gradually ran slower and slower hoping it would stop running from fuel starvation as opposed to seizing.
During this ordeal for what it is worth there was not much risk from the engine ‘blowing up’ as diesel engines are built heavy and tough and it most likely would have seized before anything catastrophic happened. There was a big sense of relief once the engine finally stopped running. Since the incident we have had many conversations to figure out why and what happened. Here are some of the things we came up with; the hose clamp literally broke and allowed water in the housing; the water level was high enough or voluminous enough to come in contact with the internal electronics causing a short circuit making the automatic overheat sensor inoperative; the crankcase oil vaporized and was exhausted; there is no water in the crankcase oil; why did it overheat if the leaking water was after it had already circulated in the engine?
It’s nice to have backup systems on boats and this generator was our backup. We are now using the engine and should have no problems with it. The generator problem was a long shot as to the odds of that particular thing to break. For the record, it is an 8kv Fischer-Panda.
The good news is that there is still oil in the crankcase and the engine did not seize.
But, it will take a type-specific mechanic to determine what happened and what to do next.
We are planning to continue south down the Vanuatu island chain and then head to New Caledonia. There is a manufacturer rep in Noumea, New Caledonia and Bob will try to send him an e/m before we leave here to see if it’s worth having him look at it. The other option is to have it looked at in Brisbane. All things considered we carry plenty of fuel to motor from here to Brisbane if needed as well as we can make plenty of electricity.
No comments:
Post a Comment