Generator Shutdown Alarm

[jaywoodz]

This past Sunday, I was coming back (literally pulling in the dock) after a long day on the water, about 7 hours. The trip was about 10 miles out, then anchor, party (run genny all day), then cruise back. The genny ran from when I disconnected shore power at the dock, to when I was 50 feet from my slip. It was a warm day, it was around 88 F or so for a few hours. Engines were *not running* while anchored out.

The alarm went off "generator shutdown", or "generator failure", whichever it says on the Sea Ray stock test panel at the helm. I immediately went down and shut the generator off. I didn't look at the output, or anything else, but the AC was still running, among other things, so I assume it was still working. I pulled in the dock, tied up, and roughly ~15 minutes passed before I tried to crank it again. To no avail, the genny just cranked and cranked, never turned over. I didn't hear anything abnormal, just wouldn't crank.

Any ideas? I have a gas wester, 3.5 kW. Came with the boat, and it's a '99. Just replaced impeller 3 weeks ago, less than 10 hours of use. Worked perfectly fine the last 2 times on the water.

 

[fc3]

I don't know of any 3.5kw westerbeke that was on-sale around 1999. The model designation would be very helpful. Also, would you please clarify "the genny just cranked and cranked, never turned over. I didn't hear anything abnormal, just wouldn't crank."

Does it crank but not begin to fire?
Does it crank, start to fire, then stall out?
Does it not turn at all?

Also, please clarify, "but the AC was still running, among other things, so I assume it was still working."
Did you receive a shutdown alarm but the generator was still running?
Did the generator engine shutdown?
Was the cabin air conditioning still operating normally while there was a generator shutdown alarm sounding?

 

[jaywoodz]

Does it crank but not begin to fire? Yes
Does it crank, start to fire, then stall out? No
Does it not turn at all? No

Also, please clarify, "but the AC was still running, among other things, so I assume it was still working."
The alarm went off, I went down below. The AC was on, pushing cold air.
Did you receive a shutdown alarm but the generator was still running?
Yes, the generator was still running after I heard the alarm and went downstairs.
Did the generator engine shutdown?
No, it did not.
Was the cabin air conditioning still operating normally while there was a generator shutdown alarm sounding?
It seemed to be, although I didn't analyze long enough.

I don't know of any 3.5kw westerbeke that was on-sale around 1999. The model designation would be very helpful. Also, would you please clarify "the genny just cranked and cranked, never turned over. I didn't hear anything abnormal, just wouldn't crank."

Does it crank but not begin to fire? Yes
Does it crank, start to fire, then stall out? No
Does it not turn at all? No

Also, please clarify, "but the AC was still running, among other things, so I assume it was still working."
The alarm went off, I went down below. The AC was on, pushing cold air.
Did you receive a shutdown alarm but the generator was still running?
Yes, the generator was still running after I heard the alarm and went downstairs.
Did the generator engine shutdown?
No, it did not.
Was the cabin air conditioning still operating normally while there was a generator shutdown alarm sounding?
It seemed to be, although I didn't analyze long enough.

 

[bahamabreisus]

Restarting so soon after shut down, will sometimes not happen because engine temp rises above the shut down temp. Let it cool, and try to restart.

 

[Boater420]

What's the fuel level of the tank that feeds the generator? The fuel pick-up for the generator sits higher than the fuel pick-up for the main engine. This is done to keep the generator from running the gas tank dry. On my boat the starboard tank feeds the generator and at about an 1/8 of a tank the generator will not pick up fuel and dies.

 

[fc3]

Okay. The shutdown alarm is triggered by a separate low oil pressure switch that grounds a connection from the alarm panel. So, the alarm fault was either because the wire disconnected and shorted to ground, abraded and shorted to ground, or the oil pressure sender for the alarm failed. The most likely is the last one. Those things just fail. There are two oil pressure senders. One has a wire that's obviously part of the generator's wiring. The other is the one at fault. You can match up at an auto parts store any oil pressure sending that looks like it fits and which will switch on when the pressure falls below 5 or so PSI. The exact PSI rating isn't all that critical but somewhere in the single digits is fine.

The no start condition is independent of the alarm condition. This is because if there was a true fault detected by any of the temperature or pressure senders on the generator, they would have caused a generator shutdown and the engine would have stopped. That didn't happen, so, it should be good to go.

If it's still not starting, check that the's fuel in the carb and that there is spark to the plugs. We can go from there. But I don't think you have a serious problem because the alarm was spurious.

 

[jaywoodz]

What's the fuel level of the tank that feeds the generator? The fuel pick-up for the generator sits higher than the fuel pick-up for the main engine. This is done to keep the generator from running the gas tank dry. On my boat the starboard tank feeds the generator and at about an 1/8 of a tank the generator will not pick up fuel and dies.

Both tanks have about ~40% fuel. I try to keep them even as much as possible, so I don't think it ran dry.

 

[jaywoodz]

Okay guys, I tried again, and it just cranks and cranks but never turns over. Is there any basic troubleshooting steps from here? I'm not savvy with genny's.


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