Dead Canaline 70T

[Te taniwha]

My son purchased a wide beam boat prior to Covid to live on in a Marina.. It has never been used on the canals and has 6.3 hours engine usage. Approx 2 months ago - March - There was a problem with the Invertor, which after resetting came clear, and the leisure batteries appreared fully charged. Tried the engine which fired up and was left for 30 minutes to run. Late afternoon i decided to try the engine again - Nothing apart from a clicking noise.. Checked the 100aH battery with a charger and noted that the voltage was 14.4 volts and current drrawn 500mA steady. added my car battery and tried again - Engine tried to rotate but failed. Battery voltage during start process was about 12.2volts. Surely not the starter motor.

Any suggestion please - The canals are calling

 

If any information is missing my apologies - Complete newby

[rusty69]

If you are sure you are measuring the starter battery voltage, and are happy it is good, I would be checking for voltage drop between the starter battery and starter motor, and the isolation switches. Checking all connections are good clean and tight at the starter battery, isolator and motor, before investigating any fault with the starter motor itself.

Edited May 19, 2023 by rusty69

[BEngo]

Having done the connection checks rusty suggests, put your multimeter across the main starter motor terminals.  You should see battery voltage.  Then turn the key to start/push the start button. If the voltage does not fall to about 9 or 10 V, suspect the starter motor internals.  If it does, and the motor is not turning, bypass any battery isolator switches and try again.  The isolation switches with a red plastic key are renowned for being carp.  They may be in either the positive run  or the negative.

 

N

[Te taniwha]

Hopefully this reply will go to rusty69 and administrator  - When measuring the starter battery volts, i disconnected all other wiring and put a 300ohm resistive  load across it expecting to see a serious drop in volts..not so.and the battery isolator connections appear solid..... I have checked the connections for security but not the voltage measurements - Thanks for that - I would hope that with so little use any hardware would not fail - However !! The voltage reading on the control console indicated 12.2 after the glowplug heating light goes out. NOTE - the  gauges in the console have some condensation inside - surely not a wiring problem?

 

What is it that makes the clicking / claking noise when it first failed - sound like a relay contact.??

 

Can you recommend any web site for information on the correct wiring for the battery charging, connections to the alternator and starter motor - I have some info but dont fully comprehend. I am back at the marina next weekend and will try all recommendations

 

thanks

 

[ditchcrawler]

2 minutes ago, Te taniwha said:

Hopefully this reply will go to rusty69 and administrator  - When measuring the starter battery volts, i disconnected all other wiring and put a 300ohm resistive  load across it expecting to see a serious drop in volts..not so.and the battery isolator connections appear solid..... I have checked the connections for security but not the voltage measurements - Thanks for that - I would hope that with so little use any hardware would not fail - However !! The voltage reading on the control console indicated 12.2 after the glowplug heating light goes out. NOTE - the  gauges in the console have some condensation inside - surely not a wiring problem?

 

What is it that makes the clicking / claking noise when it first failed - sound like a relay contact.??

 

Can you recommend any web site for information on the correct wiring for the battery charging, connections to the alternator and starter motor - I have some info but dont fully comprehend. I am back at the marina next weekend and will try all recommendations

 

thanks

 

Its the isolator contacts that go, not the cable connections

[rusty69]

13 minutes ago, Te taniwha said:

What is it that makes the clicking / claking noise when it first failed - sound like a relay contact.??

It could be a relay, or if coming from nearer the starter motor, the solenoid.

 

Tony B's site is always worth a read, and he is a very helpful poster on here too:

 

http://www.tb-training.co.uk/no start.html

Edited May 19, 2023 by rusty69

[MtB]

5 minutes ago, Te taniwha said:

Can you recommend any web site for information on the correct wiring for the battery charging, connections to the alternator and starter motor - I have some info but dont fully comprehend.

 

Each boat is made up on the spot by whoever does the electrical installation. There should be a wiring diagram of what's actually been done in the RCD manual for the boat but don't bank on it as RCD compliance is self-certified by the builder and no-one checks.

 

More likely, there will have been a manual supplied with the engine which will give this info. See if you can find it within the boat manual.

 

 

 

[matty40s]

If you have had the boat for 4 years and the engine has been run for only 6 hours, then it is likely the starter solenoid is jamming, or the starter itself. Widebeam engine bays are vast  condensation traps in Winter, and everything not used much or at all will have started to corrode...internally as well as externally.

 

Try tapping the starter solenoid gently with a mooring pin or small hammer, whilst someone is trying to start the engine.

[jonathanA]

4 hours ago, Te taniwha said:

Hopefully this reply will go to rusty69 and administrator  - When measuring the starter battery volts, i disconnected all other wiring and put a 300ohm resistive  load across it expecting to see a serious drop in volts..not so.and the battery isolator connections appear solid..... I have checked the connections for security but not the voltage measurements - Thanks for that - I would hope that with so little use any hardware would not fail - However !! The voltage reading on the control console indicated 12.2 after the glowplug heating light goes out. NOTE - the  gauges in the console have some condensation inside - surely not a wiring problem?

 

What is it that makes the clicking / claking noise when it first failed - sound like a relay contact.??

 

Can you recommend any web site for information on the correct wiring for the battery charging, connections to the alternator and starter motor - I have some info but dont fully comprehend. I am back at the marina next weekend and will try all recommendations

 

thanks

 

300ohm is as good as open circuit on 12V. So won't tell you anything useful you need a much bigger load on your battery. Try measuring whilst the glow plugs are on. 

The clacking sound suggests a relay or the solenoid trying. 

 

And 12.2 volts after the glow plugs switch off seems a bit low to me. This could be a case of batteries sat on a charger in a marina and as soon as they need to anything they are buggered...  but lots of other possibilities of course.

Edited May 19, 2023 by jonathanA
Batts

[Te taniwha]

Thanks for all of the responses and information - I will apply this next week when i visit the boat at MK