Charge Alarm

[Bryan]

Hi everyone. My charge alarm started going off coming home this past weekend. We had been motoring for about 45 minutes when it started to go off. The only thing I did prior was to hook up a hella turbo fan (12v) to my battery. Do you think I could have shorted out something? Oddly enough, the engine started to smoke at the same time. The smoke was faint and I could not make out where it was coming from.Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks and happy sailing!

 

[Roy Mosteller]

May Be Overheating

Sounds to me to be typical of an engine overheating. I would start by making sure you see the usual amount of exhaust water and then insure it is not an overheated engine, especially if you start seeing dark smoke from the exhaust. If so you probably have a mixing elbow starting to clog with carbon. I would also suggest installation on the engine of a water temperature gauge. Gauges give you a much more accurate idea as to why an alarm has sounded which usually mean you have a problem and should be shutting down before you have big problems. If you ever add gauges make sure you leave the alarm operable.

 

[Bryan]

Thanks

Roy, thanks for taking the time to respond. I'll check it out. Take care.

 

[Bob Skipper]

maybe a belt

You didnt say what engine you have but if you have a fresh water cooled yanmar, sounds like the belt from the alt to the fresh water pump to the main pully may have broke it is seperate from the raw water pump.

 

[Bryan]

Thank You

Thanks Bob for the response. I will check that out. Take care!