Wildly Intrepid Sailing · video

What this video covers

A Westerbeke alternator on the sailboat Wildly Intrepid stops charging while transiting the Pongo River, and Cory traces the fault through two separate alternators before finding the root cause.Watch On the first alternator, the grounding bolt had backed out of the casing, causing intermittent 30-amp shorts, sparking, and complete loss of charge — despite the loose ground, no diodes fried.0:26 Cory pulls the alternator to the bench, finds the bolt threads worn beyond use, and installs the spare alternator with a new dedicated ground wire run directly to the negative bus bar, doubling up wire gauge to meet the 100-amp ground requirement labeled on the spare unit.0:53 The spare then also fails to output.6:53 A corroded lock washer on the alternator bracket bolt had snapped, letting the entire alternator shift, loosening the belt, and simultaneously breaking the coolant seal on the same bolt — producing both the smoke smell and the loss of output.7:16 Cory replaces the lock washers on both ends, retensions the belt, and restores charging.10:19 Troubleshooting continues underway in a narrow channel with the engine running, which limits safe access.7:59 A loose alternator belt, not a failed alternator, was the second fault: insufficient belt tension prevented the regulator from receiving enough voltage to activate.11:06

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