She's alive!! Generator issue and how we got it going again!

Ok here we go! Our generator issue is RESOLVED!

One day after waking up, while on a mooring ball in HopeTown, I pressed the generator start button...and MIGHT have allowed my little finger to slip off the button during the starting process. The generator started for a second and then spooled back down. Then after allowing it to rest for 5 minutes I tried again and got the same result...No generator.

Jeremiah checked all over the unit during our trip further south...It looked fine! It was popping a code for No Voltage and No Speed Sensed but the unit looked fine. Belts, fine...Fuel, fine...Nothing seemed wrong. We tried emailing and we weren't getting much help from Cummins service. So we decided to pull into a marina in Spanish Wells to find a generator mechanic. Ugh!

Spanish Wells is a little island in the Eleuthras, the cool thing is that it's home to the Red Lobster fishing fleet! Its PACKED with fishing boats and little shops for boat stuff. Most mechanics were already reserved but one was recommended and he was able to come to the boat! He did and guess what...He couldn't find anything wrong with the unit either and said that he'd need new parts to try swapping with the unit in order to find the issue. Of course the island didn't have any of our generator parts so on we went...Back out to anchor and back to using our engines to charge the house battery bank as we motorsailed. We have a parallel system that allows the house batteries to pull from the engine batteries when they need. More on that later! 

After a few nights we pulled into Nassau, asked the marina office if they had a recommendation for a good mechanic for these generators and boom, they gave us Ulrics number. Within an hour he was at the boat...On a Saturday! He meant business and we loved it!

10 minutes later he was able to bypass a relay which allowed the generator to run...Not produce power, but run! Then it was down to the stator, a part that creates the actual AC power that the generator puts out. A little bit longer and he had a part in his hand called brushes. Basically two metal shafts enclosed in a housing, they are pushed towards the stator by an internal spring and they rub along the stators shaft as it spins to produce power (yes, Jeremiah has helped me with this post haha). One of the springs on the brushes had seized which caused a film of carbon to be burned onto the stator itself...That carbon film had built up enough to stop the contact between the brush and the stator...Which caused our problem! No AC power! The generator does a little check before powering up and if it's not getting AC, it shuts itself down. 

So it wasn't me slipping my finger off the start button that caused the issue! I was happy!! Jeremiah had told me not to worry about that but I couldn't help myself...I didn't want to be the cause! 

Now we needed the part, of course there were none in Nassau. Jeremiah got to contacting everyone he could in the states and finally found a authorized dealer in Miami that had the part. This was a Monday morning. The cool thing is that John was flying into Fort Lauderdale Monday evening for a night before flying here to see us on Tuesday morning...We just had to get the part into his bag!

A little help from the dealer and boom, we were able to get it delivered to Johns hotel. He arrived in the evening and was handed the part from the front desk (along with a spare)! 

The next day John flew into Nassau, we had arranged for Ulric to meet us at the boat. This is where it got tricky. When the old part failed it left that burned carbon on the shaft, it had to be removed. Pulling the shaft out would've been a huge deal so we took a very fine sandpaper and pressed it against the shaft while cranking the engine, causing the shaft to spin. While spinning, the sandpaper gently removed the carbon to the point that the shaft was visible again! 

New part installed and BOOYAW we have a generator again!

Let's recap that timeline!! We pulled into the marina on a Saturday, got the diagnosis within 2 hours. Had to wait until the part stores opened on Monday but found one and got the part to the Bahamas by Tuesday...The generator was running again on Tuesday afternoon.

Things do NOT happen that perfectly!! Ever!

We're happy and Jeremiah got to pick the generator mechanics brain a bit about how these things produce energy which is great for future problems! 

So an update for you! The kids have sailed on back to California, John wasn't able to come sail with us but we got to hang out for a few days together in Nassau where of course it got crazy.... He flew out yesterday, we've provisioned, got Bella her certs for the Turks and we depart tomorrow for the Exumas!

Don't forget that, as Patrons, you can track us while we are sailing! You can also message us directly through the tracking page which is neat so please do!!

Tracking link:

https://share.garmin.com/CalypsoLGStyle

As always, send your questions our way!