Before much fixing though, we needed to go fetch our car from the Severn Yachting Center. We also had a crew member that needed to see a doctor. Our eldest dog has been battling a condition where one of her ears has sores that don't want to heal (it is called ear margin vasculitis), and a specialist we have been seeing is in Richmond, Virginia. We decided to combine the trip to get our car with an appointment with this veterinarian. Our plan was to leave the day or so after we arrived, but a winter storm hit southern Virginia (as well as northern VA, MD, DC, and other nearby areas). So we pushed it off a few days while I investigated my house battery bank issue.
On Sunday, we started making our way to Richmond. We went to visit a friend of my wife in Chapel Hill and stayed with them that night. The next day we continued our trek to Richmond. Unfortunately, as we were driving, we got a call from the vet. I guess Richmond was having a hard time dealing with the 10 inches or so of snow and still hadn't cleared the streets after a few days. As a result, the vet was closed and had to cancel the appointment. We continued on to pick up the car and return both to Southport. We arrived at the marina, said our goodbyes to some friends we made there, and headed back to the boat.
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| Some of the snow we escaped. |
After getting back, the next task was to see if I could locate a small coolant leak in the starboard engine. I pump the coolant sitting in the bilge into a container to throw away and then look over the engine trying to find the leak. I find one hose that wasn't clamped all that well and fix that. Didn't see any other signs of a leak so we clean the engine and bilge, top off the coolant, and test run the engines. While looking over everything, I start seeing a drip. Not from the engine or the coolant tanks, but coming from the hose that leads to the overflow tank. No idea why it wasn't dripping when cold, but it didn't start until everything was warm. So I drain the overflow tank, pull the hose and check for a leak in the tank. I didn't find anything so I cut about a half inch off the end of the hose and reconnect it all. Refill and retest, and everything seems fine now.
While I was in the engine room, I also looked over the alternator. The tachometer was intermittent at times during the trip, so I checked the connections. I cleaned the connectors and used a little dielectric grease to help prevent further corrosion, then secured the wires better. During the test the tach seemed to behave better, so hopefully that is also fixed. I also took a little time to wire brush and paint the engine and generator as they were showing a little wear and chipping to their corrosion-inhibiting layers of paint.
One of the comments I received from my post on the battery house bank suggested that we might be able to recover the batteries if they weren't too damaged. I debated this for a while and looked online for information and finally decided to give it a try. Worst case I figured was that we would still have batteries that needed to be replaced, and best case is we might get a little more life from the batteries. If all it cost us was a dollar or two of distilled water, seemed like it would be worth the risk. I tried popping one of the dust covers off the battery and find that underneath was a plug that leads to the battery cell. The plug contains the valve and is sealed with an o-ring so all I had to do was unscrew it. We added a little distilled water to the cells to see if that would help. Unfortunately, adding a little water only uncovered the fact that the case was apparently cracked somewhere out of view and the water leaked out of one of the cells creating a bit of a mess. Guess we will need to replace the batteries before we continue our trip. I'm pretty sure we will go with golf cart batteries, but still debating the pros and cons of AGM versus wet cell versions (as well as trying to figure out how we can source them here).
So, that is where we stand. Some things we think are fixed, more to go. At least the weather has improved a bit and is warmer than where we were in Virginia.
Hi Mike,
ReplyDeleteWell adding water was worth a shot, but at least now you know. As far as finding source of golf cart batteries, no better place than contacting golf courses in area and see where they get theirs if they have electric golf carts. There are 12 within 15 miles of you in Southport(like Oak Island Golf Club), and another 10 towards Wilmington NC. Most courses may be closed, but maintenance guys may be there. Alternatively try marinas, boatyards. You're in a small town and larger cities might have availability- but at least you have a car.
Might be faster than having them delivered.
Doug In VT
Yep, that is what we are doing. Still debating the flooded versus AGM options. Everything is just a bit different in parameters (battery height is an issue with some GC2 batteries and amp hours) and of course there is some more wiring that will need to be done. It all takes time to get right.
DeleteYour coolant line didn't leak till the engine was warm because the thermostat didn't open till the engine was warm and then pressurized the system. Then the thermal expansion of the coolant pushed coolant out the overflow and there you had the leak. Just my .02 cents. LOL Maybe all those years in maintenance weren't a complete waste!!
ReplyDeleteHey Dave,
DeleteYou know I'd believe that if it was part of the pressurized system...but this is the hose to the overflow bottle...no pressure other than the weight of the coolant in the bottle. The bottle is half-filled with coolant at all times, the only thing I can think of is that the cap releases a small amount of coolant at 14 psi (cap rating) and the warm coolant in the hose causes the hose to expand more than the nipple on the bottom of the plastic overflow bottle creating the leak. That is why I cut the very end off of the hose and reattached it...hoping that the "fresh" end would seal a bit better. A strange failure mode anyway.
Like your golf cart battery idea, if you can service lead acid batteries with reasonable effort on a semi annual basis then hard to justify the additional expense gel, IMO. Seems you already use noOX on your terminals, and assume you have validated you're charging between 12.8 14.5 for a 12 v system. Perhaps the cracked cell may have prevented the battery from reaching the trickle charger's limit set and the charger kept pushing juice, overcharging the good cells. What do you suppose caused the crack? How low was the electrolite level? That's bad luck, I don't know how you or the charger could protect for that scenario. Costco or SAMs are a good source of batteries., SAMs website has golf cart batteries listed. In my DC battery plant days, we'd series 4 x 12v, I'd go big on the terminal straps, make the wire shine and grease them with noOx. As I think about it, you'll want to inspect those connections reasonably often for corrosion, those connections will be under attack in you environment.
ReplyDeleteHi Bill,
DeleteThe golf cart battery idea isn't really mine, a lot of boats go that route. Supposedly golf cart batteries are better deep cycle batteries than many ones labeled as deep cycle for the marine industry. You know the DC4 and CorrosionX are from my aviation days. ;-)
I think the crack was the result of overcharging or overloading. Now, why is a bit of a mystery. I found an incorrect setting in the charger, but I'm not sure if that alone would explain it. After 6 years, one battery could have developed an internal short and caused a load that heated them up. On AGM batteries, electrolyte level is impossible to judge since it is a starved electrolyte system anyway.
Very little corrosion was found. In the marine environment we use copper wire where each wire strand is tinned. This greatly reduces corrosion. A little CorrosionX or battery terminal spray on the connectors and they usually do pretty well, particularly if a sealed battery is used. For wet cells, monthly watering is necessary so keeping an eye on them is pretty much a matter of course anyway.
Hope you and 11U are doing well.
We used to own a L38, so I've enjoyed following along on you're blog! We also went the 6V golf cart batt route and had great success with them. We found good quality wet cell batts from Sams Club at the time, and I am sure they still carry them. In and out with a new house bank in a few minutes. Then stopped by a West Marine with a crimping tool (call ahead) and made up the cables right there. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHi David,
DeleteThe problem I'm currently trying to work through is that the GC2 size batteries seem to vary in height between just under the max size that will fit in the hold to just over the size. Do you recall if you had any fit issues when you made the switch?
Didn't know West could make cables...might have to give them a try (they are a couple hours away) if I can't find another option.
Hmmm. My memory is fading a bit, but I don't recall any fitment issues. I'll see if I have any pictures of it complete somewhere.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about it. I think I have a solution if there is an issue.
DeleteDon't worry about it. I think I have a solution if there is an issue.
Delete