URGENT HELP! Knocking sound in engine

[denboy]

so you didnt know she is into black magic so when you left her boat she cast a spell and you took the problem home with you

[Malarky]

May be something to do with the alternator regulating?

[Sir Nibble]

Pop the regulator off the back and check the brushes and sliprings. Motorola's EAT them.

[Keeping Up]

Pop the regulator off the back and check the brushes and sliprings. Motorola's EAT them.

Thanks - I'll do that

[Keeping Up]

I decided to drop the whole alternator into my friendly local specialist (who knows it only too well) and ask him to give it a complete health check - brushes, slip rings, diodes, bearings, regulator, etc. I'll know what he finds tomorrow.

 

Meanwhile I contacted Adverc who recognised the symptoms as being precisely how the earliest Adverc units used to misbehave - working perfectly until the battery was almost fully charged, then giving a short blip of extra current every 2 or 3 seconds; having just received a blip of extra current the battery doesn't want to play when the alternator output returns to normal, so it takes no current for half a second or so, and then returns to taking a steady trickle. It was the result of back emf's on the negative supply (they said) and they cured the problem by duplicating the earth connection from the Adverc to the alternator so that there was one earth connection for the sensing electronics and a separate earth connection for the drive electronics (they said).

 

This sounded promising but doesn't actually help me, because mine was in fact one of the first Advercs to have been fitted with this duplicated earth connection, but it does make me suspect that maybe the problem is earth-related and is more likely to be an Adverc problem than an alternator problem. Perhaps the connections to the two separate earths are not too good for example, or maybe they are sharing a common resistance somewhere such as on the terminal post, so when I get the alternator back tomorrow I shall give all the negative connections an extra polishing, and then I'll probably have to wait until we set off on our travels again to see what happens.

[BlueStringPudding]

Guess what - the domestic ignition light chose to remain on while the engine was on last night. Oh joy! We'd missed it so!

 

It only stayed on for about 5 minutes but both the dial and the Mastervolt reading told me it wasn't charging (fan belt was turning fine). After five mintues it returned to normal. All through this the fan belt was turning fine. Hmmm....

 

Incidentally, the starter light is still flickering at low speeds and flashing on and off (2 seconds delay - ish) when the revs are up... but not al the time (that's be too easy)

 

Just thought I'd share that.

 

so you didnt know she is into black magic so when you left her boat she cast a spell and you took the problem home with you

 

Maybe I did without knowing it. Sorry Allan!

Edited May 21, 2008 by BlueStringPudding

[Keeping Up]

Pop the regulator off the back and check the brushes and sliprings. Motorola's EAT them.

Well, whether or not it was the cause of the symptoms I was getting, that was a good call Snibble; the brushes were almost completely worn down but the sliprings are still in good condition so that was a good (and cheap) bit of preventive maintenance. Thank you. I'll know to check them regularly from now on.

 

Oh dear Lisa, I can't think why your domestic alternator lamp stayed on; maybe it was celebrating the successful transference of some of its symptoms to mine!

[BlueStringPudding]

Oh dear Lisa, I can't think why your domestic alternator lamp stayed on; maybe it was celebrating the successful transference of some of its symptoms to mine!

 

Hope that's all it was... sorry it turned out to be contagious!

Edited May 22, 2008 by BlueStringPudding

[BlueStringPudding]

Well, having returned from our holidaying in Braunston, I thought I could dismay many a forum member by reviving this old and somewhat lengthy thread. Because, on the journey back, our damned f*cking, b*stardy, b*ggery, b*llocky domestic alternator died! AGAIN! It just simply stopped working altogether.

 

I noticed the relevant ignition light was on as we were nearing Stockton, so we pulled over to rule out any obvious problems like the fan belt or a loose wire. But nope, couldn't see owt wrong. So we phoned Kate Boats (who own Stockton Top Marina) and they came out to us and confirmed the worst - the alternator had indeed conked out and wasn't churning out any volts at all.

 

So £136 later we have yet another new alternator installed!

 

I offically hate alternators.

[Guest User]

Well, having returned from our holidaying in Braunston, I thought I could dismay many a forum member by reviving this old and somewhat lengthy thread. Because, on the journey back, our damned f*cking, b*stardy, b*ggery, b*llocky domestic alternator died! AGAIN! It just simply stopped working altogether.

 

I noticed the relevant ignition light was on as we were nearing Stockton, so we pulled over to rule out any obvious problems like the fan belt or a loose wire. But nope, couldn't see owt wrong. So we phoned Kate Boats (who own Stockton Top Marina) and they came out to us and confirmed the worst - the alternator had indeed conked out and wasn't churning out any volts at all.

 

So £136 later we have yet another new alternator installed!

 

I offically hate alternators.

 

My heartfelt sypmathies .... Maybe it'd be worth getting an autopsy on the deceased unit, if only to find out what it died of (and maybe its repairable) ? Mine recently decided to fail by means of a B- post partially unscrewing itself and so losing contact internally ... oh how we laughed

[BlueStringPudding]

My heartfelt sypmathies .... Maybe it'd be worth getting an autopsy on the deceased unit, if only to find out what it died of (and maybe its repairable) ? Mine recently decided to fail by means of a B- post partially unscrewing itself and so losing contact internally ... oh how we laughed

 

 

Yes, we've kept the old one, despite Kate Boats insisting it has to be taken by them as an exchange for the one they replaced it with. But when they've charged me £90 for the replacement and it doesn't even have the insulated earth the old one does, I told them I'm keeping it so I can contact the supplier myself!

 

I think they wanted to make a few bob out of repairing and reusing the old one.

[mayalld]

 

Yes, we've kept the old one, despite Kate Boats insisting it has to be taken by them as an exchange for the one they replaced it with. But when they've charged me £90 for the replacement and it doesn't even have the insulated earth the old one does, I told them I'm keeping it so I can contact the supplier myself!

 

I think they wanted to make a few bob out of repairing and reusing the old one.

 

Exchange units are pretty standard in the alternator world. Normally there is an exchange charge that you pay if you don't hand over the dead unit.

[Arnot]

 

Yes, we've kept the old one, despite Kate Boats insisting it has to be taken by them as an exchange for the one they replaced it with. But when they've charged me £90 for the replacement and it doesn't even have the insulated earth the old one does, I told them I'm keeping it so I can contact the supplier myself!

 

I think they wanted to make a few bob out of repairing and reusing the old one.

If you are going to be anywhere near Stone, give me a call and I will have a look and see if I can find out why it failed.

 

It is usually helpful to know just so that history doesn't repeat itself.

 

Regards

 

Arnot

[BlueStringPudding]

If you are going to be anywhere near Stone, give me a call and I will have a look and see if I can find out why it failed.

 

It is usually helpful to know just so that history doesn't repeat itself.

 

Regards

 

Arnot

 

Thanks Arnot.