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 Post subject: Engine 'FIRE'
PostPosted: 06 Aug 2013 04:12 
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Skipper

Joined: 10 Dec 2006 15:14
Posts: 213
Location: London, Ontario
I had the very unpleasant experience of an engine electrical 'fire' due to a failure of my voltage regulator. I was in the middle of Lake Huron with 30 knot winds motor sailing in high seas and smoke started pouring out of my engine room vent. We shut down everything electric and motored on as we had no choice. Shutting down the engine would have resulted in us not being able to restart it.
The fire was more gases from a 'boiled' battery than flames although my wife and I had every fire extinguisher on board brought up to the cockpit until we made safe harbour in Tobbermory Ontario
We have found -so far- that almost every inline fuse was blown, the Raymarine multi functional will not start, some lights will not turn off (wierd) and all red wires in the engine room are now purple (not burned by heat). My Link system seems OK i think. This is now an insurance claim!
Does anyone have any comments as to cause (why regulartor failed) and secondly any thing I should have checked before signing off? I am having all electrical circuits checked and batteries replaced.
sad


 
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 Post subject: Re: Engine 'FIRE'
PostPosted: 06 Aug 2013 07:55 
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Skipper

Joined: 27 Oct 2006 10:32
Posts: 827
God, what a nightmare......At least you and your wife are safe and the boat didn't catch fire!
What set up is your alternator/ regulator? Factory?


 
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 Post subject: Re: Engine 'FIRE'
PostPosted: 07 Aug 2013 16:27 
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Skipper

Joined: 14 Jul 2012 20:36
Posts: 495
Location: Norfolk, Va
Sorry to hear about your fire, glad you made it safely to port. I've seen several boat fires and they can end badly. Here's some quick guesses. It started with a bad battery that was boiling and was very low on electrite. When a battery boils it giving off huge amount of hydrogen gas and heat (+180F) making them too hot to touch. I bet the regulator was mounted in the same space, maybe just a foot away or a pump or other device that could create a spark. Just a guess.

If you using lead acid batteries check them once a month. Keep distilled water on board. If lead acid batteries and getting close to 4yrs old, you need to watch them very closely. Test your battery off the charger, voltage and how do they hold up to a load. Sealed batteries are much safer. I have lead acid batteries and scared to death of them. I don't wait till they go bad, I replace them between 3rd & 4th year.

The damage wiring if you don't think was a direct cause from the fire, may of happen when the battery went into reverse polarity. That is SUPER dangerous and all but certain a fire or explosion.

_________________
Hull #208, Puff Card
Southern Chesapeake Bay


 
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 Post subject: Re: Engine 'FIRE'
PostPosted: 07 Aug 2013 19:17 
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Skipper

Joined: 10 Dec 2006 15:14
Posts: 213
Location: London, Ontario
Well after 5 days sitting in Tobermory Harbour (my wife hitched a ride home with a friend) waiting for parts and mechanics to do their thing we may be getting somewhere. It appears that we have very few fuses in any part of the boat that did not get zapped. Some of these were to items we rarely use and were turned off at the time (the vhf radio is our spare at the nav station). We have a regulator, stereo, vhf radio, Raymarine multi-functional display, a fan, 2 led cabin lights and a Link 2000-R interface all not functioning or only partially functioning. The marina feels we probably got either hit by lightening or were very near a lightening strike. We did have a severe lightening storm the night before. Once we got underway one thing lead to another and the failures spread and caused the battery to burn. Thus the very dense acrid smoke.
We will need to have a lot of wire replaced as it is acid burned (red turned purple but not by flame) and a bunch of equipment replaced. Insurance will probably cover most as lightening is a covered item. Smile I will keep you posted in the next few weeks as the bills pile in.


 
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 Post subject: Re: Engine 'FIRE'
PostPosted: 08 Aug 2013 08:08 
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Skipper

Joined: 29 Dec 2006 09:38
Posts: 656
Thanks for keeping us up to date on your situation. It is nice to learn from the experience of others rather than to have to go through all the trials ourselves.
I was trying to imagine a run away regulator starting a fire on its own, and it was not computing. The explanation of an unobserved lightening hit makes more sense. I do not share PuffCard's fear of wet cell batteries, though I agree that you need to check them periodically for levels and a lot of folks don't. I replace my golf cart batteries every 6 or 7 years (some of them with more than 1000 cycles) and they actually show fair capacity at that end of that period. I am leery of all "new" battery technology as---when I was out cruising for a few years--the high tech battery charging systems (glass mat, sealed, electronically sequenced, etc) seemed to be the number one problem for cruisers. Some folks converted back to golf cart batteries, and a high output, externally regulated alternator to simplify their lives.

My experience with Ray Marine stuff is that it is lightly and poorly fused so I am thinking you must get a new MFD and probably a lot more. When I was out cruising, a wire came loose on my RayMarine 6001 below deck autopilot computer and I shorted it reinserting it---blew all of my instruments (wind, speed , depth, autopilot head, computer), and my GPS. So much for inter connecting everything. I was in Mazatlan at the time and getting replacements was problematic. Fortunately, I had an old wheel pilot as backup and it steered fine for 1000 miles while I was getting replacements. My new instruments, GPS, autopilot not connected except through SeaTalk and the whole thing is fused on all ends. The value of interconnection is not worth the risk to me. My cruising years made me an advocate for simplicity in gear. Well maintained and simple. But there is nothing you can do about a lightening strike.


 
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 Post subject: Re: Engine 'FIRE'
PostPosted: 09 Aug 2013 13:42 
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Skipper

Joined: 10 Dec 2006 15:14
Posts: 213
Location: London, Ontario
Well I made it back home. A friend had is wife drive up and he and I sailed back (14 hours). We disconnected the Alternator as it was damaged and started the engine with jumper cables to a separate battery he brought with him. Our insurance adjuster has decided we had a lightening strike nearby and that blew some parts, one being the regulator. I am covered by insurance for that. Raymarine has fixed my E80 and it is on its way back ($1200). They are hauling the boat on Monday to inspect the hull and an electrician from Gozzard Yachts (great custom yacht builder) is going to go over everything electrical and they have agreed to replaced any damaged items. They think I may not have had a direct hit but just been near one, but I am covered. Cheers I will post a complete list of items when I know all the details


 
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 Post subject: Re: Engine 'FIRE'
PostPosted: 15 Aug 2013 17:38 
Offline
Skipper

Joined: 10 Dec 2006 15:14
Posts: 213
Location: London, Ontario
It is now confirmed we did not have a direct lightening hit but we have an eye witness to a nearby strike in the bay we were anchored in. Maybe we had the damage because we are unusual (for this area) and have an all chain rode and therefore a better ground. I don't know

GOOD NEWS My insurance is taking care of the damage and my season is not lost. Very Happy Very Happy (second Very Happy is for the wife) They have installed a new starter battery and an inexpensive auto charger. I can start the engine and operate the radio and so I can day sail. There will be no alternator for now. We were to haul out in 4 weeks and so they will wait and move the boat for the winter to Gozzard Yachts for repairs over the winter.


 
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