7.5Kw Quicksilver Genny Problem

Hi John (PlayDate), do you have any thoughts about my oil level and the fact I was only able to add about an ounce? What would the next steps be?
 
Mark,

An ounce of oil should not have changed the behavior of the governor. For clarity:

1) if you start the unit now does it immediately rev up or does it do it gradually over a few minutes?

2) if it is the latter, what does the voltage read on an outlet in the cabin using a VOM? Also check the hertz using a VOM capable of reading hertz.

-John
 
John,
I will have to check this Friday since the boat is about 70 miles North of my home. In your experience, what SHOULD be normal? Example at no-load:

1) Should the genny start up, rev up briefly then stay at a constant rpm or
2) Should the genny start up, then stay at a constant rpm no fluctuation.

I will also check the outlets as you say, however I do not believe I have a volt meter capable of checking cycles/second (Hz). I will ask around, maybe someone has one...


One thing that is in the back of my mind....i have been reading the service/owners manuals and I am second guessing myself on the installation of that V-Belt. On the diagrams that Wilee and Ron have provided (their genny is 1 year older btw). Would I be correct in saying that the engine drive belt (water pump, cam and crank) are an entirely separate belt/pulley system then that of the governor & seawater pump? I just want to be clear on that...

From the "Quicksilver Maintanance and Troubleshooting" document Section 2.1 (Basic Engine Mechanical) under 2.1.4 it refers to Checking Drive Belts.... There appears to be a V-belt with 3 pulleys in a triangular shape. This is the belt I had changed. There is also another section (Section 2.2) that refers to a Timing Belt and its removal (under 2.2.2). This picture depicts the same belt guard/knob that I removed to get at the belt. This is confusing since the latter shows that same guard covering the cam/crankshaft and waterpump pulleys???? What gives
 
MarkD said:
John,
I will have to check this Friday since the boat is about 70 miles North of my home. In your experience, what SHOULD be normal? Example at no-load:

1) Should the genny start up, rev up briefly then stay at a constant rpm or
2) Should the genny start up, then stay at a constant rpm no fluctuation.

I will also check the outlets as you say, however I do not believe I have a volt meter capable of checking cycles/second (Hz). I will ask around, maybe someone has one...


One thing that is in the back of my mind....i have been reading the service/owners manuals and I am second guessing myself on the installation of that V-Belt. On the diagrams that Wilee and Ron have provided (their genny is 1 year older btw). Would I be correct in saying that the engine drive belt (water pump, cam and crank) are an entirely separate belt/pulley system then that of the governor & seawater pump? I just want to be clear on that...

From the "Quicksilver Maintanance and Troubleshooting" document Section 2.1 (Basic Engine Mechanical) under 2.1.4 it refers to Checking Drive Belts.... There appears to be a V-belt with 3 pulleys in a triangular shape. This is the belt I had changed. There is also another section (Section 2.2) that refers to a Timing Belt and its removal (under 2.2.2). This picture depicts the same belt guard/knob that I removed to get at the belt. This is confusing since the latter shows that same guard covering the cam/crankshaft and waterpump pulleys???? What gives
Click to expand...

Look at diagram B in section 2.2.2. You can see a better picture, and it shows where the cover that you removed would be. The timing belt is under a much larger 2 piece cover where the bottom half is partially under the crank pulley. The belt goes on sort of in a triangle. The first illustration is not to scale, just a image to show belt deflection. Diagram B shows the governor at the top with seawater pump just below, and crank off to the side slightly. My belt was loose, and I tightened it but it didn't help. My problem is different than what you guys are having.
 
MarkD
The timing belt is buried and extremely time consuming to get at. The cover you took off is a plastic decorative cover for the garden variety v-belt.
 
Thats what I thought Ron, but the manual was a bit confusing. I had to ask the "dumb" question..LOL.
 
Nice new Sig pic Ron, was that taken by someone during the AC trip? I'm guessing that was one of the pics as people blew past the "slow mover"!
 
Thanks Mark
That was taken on the bay (notice Barnegat Light in the way background) whilst we were returning home from Ocean City, NJ. JamesV was heading south and we were two ships passing in the day. Here's the video I got of our crossing...

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S-pMQz7th8[/YOUTUBE]

Now back to our regularly scheduled generator problem.
 
OK... update. I replaced the temp v-belt with a real one. That was easy. I then checked the oil in the governer. There was only a small amount (basically empty). When we added it last week, we must have had an air bubble which prevented the proper fill. I took off the entire fitting and added what I thought was about 3-4 oz of oil. I started the genny and it ran better. The engine did not surge or increase rpm. I turned on the electric again, only to find the same voltage reading as last week. I put a volt meter in the outlet and read it. It showed about 7.26 volts. That is way low. No one has a Hz meter yet.

Any ideas as to what to do next????
 
Mark
Did you put a load on it or are you unable to b/c of the low voltage?
 
Mark,

As I said at the beginning of the thread....you have a few things going on. I am pleased that you got the engine stabilized. That means we can focus on power generation. A few questions:

1) How many hours are on the generator?

2) How long have you owned the boat?

3) When was the last time it operated well with a load on it?

4) Do you have a service history for it?


-John
 
rondds said:
Thanks Mark
That was taken on the bay (notice Barnegat Light in the way background) whilst we were returning home from Ocean City, NJ. JamesV was heading south and we were two ships passing in the day. Here's the video I got of our crossing...

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S-pMQz7th8[/YOUTUBE]

Now back to our regularly scheduled generator problem.
Click to expand...

Cool Ron!
 
John,
Here are the answers to your questions:
1) I have 385 hours on the genny.

2) I have owned the boat for 9 years. Original owner had in for 10 years prior. when i got the boat, the genny had about 80 hours on it. Almost brand new!

3) The generator last worked (perfectly) last Sunday 8/16. It was hot that day, so we had the air cond. going, fridge, water heater, outlets and even the stove (1 burner) doing some inside cooking. It was operating normal at the time since I have to manually transfer power to the genny side of the switches and voltage was completely normal.
4) I dont have any service records other then what I have done. My regime has always been to change the oil/filter each year, change fuel filter (inline) every few years. I also have a Fram bulkhead one dedicated for this unit. Changed the plugs every other year. Check fluids regularly (other than that darn governer), clean strainer etc. Nothing major has EVER gone wrong and it has always operated as expected.

Is it possible the rpm might still be off? I recall you mentioned that if the rpm is off, the control panel wouldnt send power to outlets??? If not, whats the next step(s).

Thanks again John!
 
Mark
I just put about 4 more ounces in my governor! Damn thing is leaking at the mating surface just behind the pulley. tTere are 4 bolts that hold this surface togeether. There's an o-ring btwn them I wish I had my camera - i'd be able to shoot you a pic. Jon and I spent about 45 min on the phone yesterday going through the diagram and trying to find out where these things could fail. Could be that yours ran for many hours w/o oil and the inner workings are worn beyond function. Do you feel any rouge oil in/around the bottom of the gov or on parts beneath (motor mount, etc?) I'm going to start mine up in a minute so see how it behaves now that it's filled to the observation plug.
 
i probably should check mine too. maybe it let go? i actually twisted off (i.e. broke) the brass oil fill at the top of the governor. my buddy is getting me an easy out at HD and i also asked him to get me a brass plug to seal it up... they dont have to be ventilated i assume. I am just waiting for John to come up with suggestions as to next steps but in the mean time, i have been reading old posts. some apply.... i also priced that voltage regulator and circuit board thingie... looks like about 150 and 260-ish... not too bad if it does the job. keep me posted. you can always call me. Just use my work cell phone (i forgot my personal).
 
Ran the genny for 1/2 hour after the oil fill. Ran fine. Only prob - oil was bubbling/vibrating out the fill plug as it ran. Made a bit of a mess that 2 sheets of paper towel handled. Don't get it. I filled it til the observation plug started spitting the excess. Even waited for all the excess to drain out before plugging it back up and starting the motor. Man these things are so tempermental.
 
Ron.. I simply took off the whole oil fill with fitting with a wrench. Then you can get at it much better. Just dont do what I did and twist it off with "king Kong Gorilla strength" :) Easy out worked and i was able to use a brass plug to seal it. FWIW, mine was spitting at the base too, so i tightened it. Thats what caused the breakage. They are a pain in the butt.

Just need more next steps from those in the know..... I even took apart the control panel housing to expose the circuit board and other components.
 
Mark
I filled with a oil can sort of like this one. I just held back the spring loaded cap during filling. Mine wasn't leaking from the base. It was bubbling out from the cap. That oil DOES get hot as things are running.
090_021.jpg
 
Mark
Ran the genny out on the hook for about 45 min today with EVERYTHING on - AC, converter, fridge, ice maker, toaster oven. Only thing I didn't do was run a big-ass hair dryer. Worked like a champ. I did NOT climb down to see if the oil was still bubbling out of the fill cap.
 
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