The last time, the engine was cranking with a starter battery hooked up – right up to when the battery terminal melted and the negative lead detached.
Consequently this time I expected to hook up a new battery, bleed the engine to the injectors and most likely have it running fairly easily after that.
So I installed the new battery:
Another day, another 8D
I hooked up my water supply to stop the raw water pump impeller from burning out:
It’s not much more than a toilet plunger with a hose connected to it.
I cracked an injector and primed the diesel system until diesel came out of it (which I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do without the engine turning, as that’s on the high pressure side, but it seemed to work fine).
Finally, I went to the helm and turned the ignition key for the moment of truth…
… and nothing happened.
Most likely I damaged something else last time I tried, but I didn’t bring either the tools or the time on this trip to do anything more with the engine this time.
The first objective for Tenacious is to get the engine running. One of the many lessons learned from Guanahani was to focus on core systems first and not branch out into too many different projects simultaneously.
Since Tenacious came with no batteries at all I needed at least 1 starting battery for the engine. An 8D battery is sufficient for this.
First one must install the battery. Simple enough – except that this 8D battery weighs 130lbs and must be carried up these steps, lugged through the vessel, man-handled into position in the engine room and securely fastened to the correct terminals.
With my never having run the engine before, prudence also dictates checking the fuel lines and valves, the coolant, the oil, the air filter and the control system.
Eventually (with the appropriate amount of swearing) the battery was installed by the engine and hooked up. So far so good:
8D battery installed in design location in engine room corner
Having checked over the engine, I tried operating the starter. The starter cranked the engine, but there were no sounds of it trying to fire. After a few tries, I realized I hadn’t bled the air from the fuel lines and looked up how to do this on this engine.
Having bled it as indicated (with a priming pump and a valve that opens until fuel is dumped out into the bilge), I tried cranking the engine again. It still did not want to start, but I figured it hadn’t run for a long while and there was likely air in the system so I kept trying, with suitable delays for the starter and cabling to cool down (or so I thought).
After a number of additional attempts I went below to inspect the relevant components in the engine room. The starter and cables were warm but not ridiculously hot. However, I noticed that the cable on the negative post of the battery was loose – on closer examination the terminal had failed (nearly completely; yet the engine had still cranked without obvious complaint the previous try).
Bad battery or user error?
This was the end of any attempts to start the boat, and rather frustrating. As always these things are learning experiences, and I learned:
Terminals on these batteries are lead, presumably to ensure they melt easily, I assume to protect everything else (and reduce the risk of battery heat/explosion)
Properly speaking it seems they should be tightened to torque, and checked periodically. None of the material listing the battery on Napa’s website mentions this however.
On a sea going boat, this mode of failure is a liability. This type of top post is therefore an unsafe choice as one might need to aggressively crank the engine to get out of trouble in some circumstances. I need a top post connection with more surface area and less chance of failure.
I believe heat built up in the terminal and gradually softened it until the lead was able to start pulling free. I decided to attempt to recast the terminal in lead at some later date and explore the possibility the battery could be used to power the anchor windlass instead (given these batteries are disturbingly expensive). The goal of starting the engine was not achieved, but it was at least confirmed that it could be turned by the starter with a suitable battery attached.
Battery acid on aluminium would react rather vigourously, so I am asking myself if I can construct some sort of secondary containment for the batteries just in case any should ever leak. This time at least, it didn’t explode.
