Wildly Intrepid Sailingvideo

Troubleshooting a Westerbeke ALTERNATOR

18. september 2024 · 11 min · 1K visninger

Hva denne videoen dekker

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

Se på YouTube

Mer fra Wildly Intrepid Sailing

Our Time in Dominica Ends BADLY… Then the Sail Gets Worse! E400sep. 2026WORTH NO SLEEP? Dominica's hidden gem E399sep. 2026We Got LOST in the Pirates of the Caribbean Indian River! E398sep. 2026ROUGH Sail to Dominica But it's WORTH IT E397sep. 2026

Fra Wildly Intrepid Sailing – se kanalens båt, mannskap og alle analyserte videoer.

The Sailing Directory Newsletter

Én e-post med flåtens beste funn – øyeblikkene, båtene og historiene som er verdt din seertid. Skriv inn din egen adresse for å få din egen kopi.

Rapporter et problem