WOW....Do I need help!!

[searay495]

Hello fellow members,
In desperate search of some guidance here. I am not on the boat or near the boat, so I can only pass along what has been explained to me.
Hired a qualified captain to move a boat from Destin, FL to CT. He began the first day of his journey today. Just received a phone call from him that he has a problem......boat ran beautifully from Destin to Apalachicola, FL. While throttling back to pull in to a marina the entire boat goes dead. No motors, no electrical systems, no generator....nada. He is without power and in the process of being towed to a marina with shore power.....if there is one available. He, and the people he has spoken to suggest some type of ground issue/failure.
Thoughts.......???? Wow.....what a way to start the season!!!!

 

[Air O'Nautical]

Following...

 

[PlayDate]

Sorry to hear that.....it is frustrating not being there. The only system common to both engines and the generator is ground. It is really hard to believe everything on the boat is dead. The likelihood of a common ground failing is very low.

Before you plug it into shore power....I would check a two things.

-Battery voltage if the batteries are depleted.....that points to a charging problem.
-Battery connections If the batteries have voltage then the connections are next. On your boat I believe their is a common ground cable that connects all the batteries together then to a ground terminal.

Don't plug into shore power before you have had those two things checked. I'm sure it is something simple. Did he mention any alarms prior to everything going dead?

 

[Sea Gull]

Electrical, or did he run out of fuel?

I find it hard to believe that 3 battery banks share a common ground. Each engine should have its own battery bank grounded through that engine.

I vote for fuel, and he’s trying to blame it on your systems to save face.

 

[searay495]

I don’t believe it’s s fuel issue. He stated tanks were st 1/2. He mentioned port motor showed voltage slowly dropping before everything quit. Again I’m not there. Definitely sounds electrical/grounding issue

 

[mnm99]

I don’t believe it’s s fuel issue. He stated tanks were st 1/2. He mentioned port motor showed voltage slowly dropping before everything quit. Again I’m not there. Definitely sounds electrical/grounding issue

Voltage slowly dropping sounds like the alternator crapped out and was running on batteries before it died. Both motors though??? Sounds weird.

 

[doozie]

Check the fire suppression system. had the connection to the bottle break loose and had the same thing happen

 

[Phasma]

Correct me if I am wrong. Bad ground prior to going dead should have placed engines in guardian mode. RPMs would be limited. I think the fire suppression idea sounds like a great place to start

 

[ttmott]

Check the fire suppression system. had the connection to the bottle break loose and had the same thing happen

Yes most probably, however a qualified captain should have known to look at the Fire Boy control and noted it red and in audible alarm then after inspection set it to bypass and logged the issue for repair at first stop. The fire system, however, will kill ignition and a capability to start engine, generator, and blowers but typically should not kill the navigation and house power; ie the VHF and other safety critical systems stay active. BTW all grounds must be tied to a common ship's ground buss along with the AC power ground and ship's bonding system which is an ABYC and NEC requirement. This boat has two independent DC power systems (if still wired as original); it is reasonable that one could have failed due to a loss of an alternator as an example (again the captain should have seen that coming) but highly unlikely for both to fail. It seems unreasonable that a complete failure of the ground network occurred but weirder things have happened..... Did the captain inspect the engine room / bilge? Smoke, smells, water?

 

[searay495]

Captain made no mention of alarms, and I'm pretty certain he would have mentioned something major like the fire suppression activating. He only mentioned that the boat ran perfectly until pulling back the throttles to enter the marina. He mentioned the port gauges showed voltage dropping. After that there was no power. He did say something that the generator would only run for 30 seconds at a time and shut down. Again not being there makes it difficult. He is a very qualified Captain and came highly recommended. The only other caveat is that the boat had been sitting for several months before the journey began yesterday, but he had been running the motors and generator periodically while it was awaiting departure.

 

[ttmott]

Hmmm - may not be electrical at all; could be a fuel issue except for the comment "no electrical". Seems the generator will crank up then shut down so there is cranking for the generator. If it was the fire system the generator would not even crank. Best, like you say, is to get into a repair yard and see what is going on.... I'm not knocking the captain but info is very sketchy and now even more suspect.
So, was the generator running all the time and shut down when the throttles were pulled back? Or, did he try to start it after the issues cropped up?

 

[endless seas]

Fuel filters??

 

[david leonard]

sounds like he ran out of rum, and found a way to get to shore.

 

[Keith Zibilich]

Captain made no mention of alarms, and I'm pretty certain he would have mentioned something major like the fire suppression activating. He only mentioned that the boat ran perfectly until pulling back the throttles to enter the marina. He mentioned the port gauges showed voltage dropping. After that there was no power. He did say something that the generator would only run for 30 seconds at a time and shut down. Again not being there makes it difficult. He is a very qualified Captain and came highly recommended. The only other caveat is that the boat had been sitting for several months before the journey began yesterday, but he had been running the motors and generator periodically while it was awaiting departure.

Mark, here are a few ideas for your captain to try.

Check port and starboard battery voltage at panel
Does your captain have a multimeter - if so check ground bus
Check the battery voltage at the battery with multimeter
Check battery connections
Check all breakers

Turn Fireboy off at helm (I'm sure this is not the problem but, you should eliminate the system)

Check vacuum gages on the Racors
Check fuel for water or contaminates
Replace Racors if necessary

What's the generator error code?
Easy test - I would have him switch the fuel source for generator (may help identify a fuel problem)​

 

[searay495]

Thanks Keith, I really appreciate your help here. I suggested the above things to the captain. He will follow up with a call to you. At this point I really need a mechanic down there. I passed along numbers for the closest Marine Max and Cummins Dealers. Does anyone know of any reliable independent mechanics in that area (Apalachacola, FL)? They may be more available than "scheduling" with a big box center!!

 

[fwebster]

Scipio Creek Marina has power, both 30A and 50A. They do have a shop but most boating there is outboard power.

The nearest Marine Max outlet is is Panama City Beach but they don't employ any mechanics. They are located at Treasure Island Marina who is a Sea Ray servicing dealer and regarded as one of their best. Treasure Island has about 10 full time mechanics, an electronics tech, etc. and they should be able to quickly diagnose your problem. The challenge will be that Panama City Beach is about 2 hours from Apalachicola and parts of the route between them are still closed due to Hurricane Michaels trip thru the area last October, so you have to take a detour adding time to the trip.

The phone number at Treasure Island is 850-234-6533..the service manager is Roland Cortes(who is very familiar with Sea Rays and with Cummins engines...his extension is #30.

Good luck with it..........

 

[Keith Zibilich]

Thanks Keith, I really appreciate your help here. I suggested the above things to the captain. He will follow up with a call to you. At this point I really need a mechanic down there. I passed along numbers for the closest Marine Max and Cummins Dealers. Does anyone know of any reliable independent mechanics in that area (Apalachacola, FL)? They may be more available than "scheduling" with a big box center!!

Mark, here's the schematics for your engine electrical system.

 

[searay495]

Thanks fwebster. I just called and no one answered so I left a message. Any other mechanic suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[fwebster]

They are a full working marina and boat yard with 600 boats in dry stacks and about 100 in the water (one of them is my 450DA) so their folks are all over 16 acres at any given time. They are usually pretty good about returning calls. They are the only mechanics I have used for about 30 years now. Cummins isn't very helpful in the area since Cummins South is in Mobile another 150 miles west.

 

[searay495]

Thanks, I heard back from Roland, while he can't do much from so far away, he was attempting to find a mechanic in the area with access to an alternator. Seems likely it is the alternator that is bad. Keith, the PO has been very helpful in talking with the Captain and diagnosing some issues. Kudos to Keith! Hope things fall in to place. Thank you to everyone with their suggestions!