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Engine alarm oddity
About 10 minutes after departing from my first anchorage under power, there
was a shrieking sound like a slipping alternator belt or bad bearing from the engine area. I shut right down and investigated. Belt tension was proper, no sign of rubber powder or wear. Started the engine up and it was fine. About half an hour later, static like chirping noises began coming from the engine panel alarm speaker. These were intermittent and in a random pattern. The best explanation I could come up with was that something was trying intermittently to send an alarm signal to the panel but wasn't getting enough power through to light an alarm light or fully engage the buzzer. At the next anchorage, I rechecked the alternator belt tension and verified that it wasn't the coolant alarm by disconnecting that sender unit. I couldn't disconnect the oil pressure sender due to a corroded screw that will have to wait until I take the oil filter off. The prime suspect is the charging circuit. Battery voltage makes the alarm sound and the light go on. The voltage regulator in the alternator sends voltage through a diode to counteract this current. When they balance, the light and buzzer are off. If they don't balance, the lights and alarms go on. It seems therefore, that a slight imbalance occurring intermittently could cause the annoying chirps in the buzzer. This didn't re-occur during the remaining 7 days of the cruise but I'm curious if anyone has experience anything like this or if one of our battery and alternator experts can make anything of it. The big question is whether this is an early warning of something going south in the alternator or voltage regulator. -- Roger Long |
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