Make-A-BooBoo 8-23-19

Promised my Lead Carpenter we could take his 2 High School nephews from Santa Barbara fishing last Saturday 8-17 but alternator issues made us postpone it a week. I was going to enter us in the Make A Wish but I didn't want to spend the extra $100 each on the kids entry fees so we passed on it. Got out to the Parking lot @ 6AM and found a spot of fish downswell from a group of boats and I hooked and handed our first YFT by 7AM followed by another on bait then a 24# BFT on 20# test one of the kids hooked himself. That dried up and we went looking towards the 230 made several other stops for nothing then caught a smaller YFT around 9AM on 20# line and a 2 ounce torpedo getting the bait down 50-100'. Nothing else for us headed east after lunch found 3 foamers that sank out well before we got close enough. Noticed another alternator failure so we pointed her home and put the marlin jigs out saw nothing but bait the whole way home. Saw the biggest MAW Tourney Small Boat Division Total was 48# top tuna was 16; we weighed a 24# BFT, a 17# YFT, and 2 smaller YFT maybe 15 and 12# which would have totaled 58# and a Top Fish and Top Small Boat Honors. MAW doesn't have anything close to the payout Madrugador got last week but team jackets would have been nice! Yeah Yeah I know I'm a Cheap Bastard!

I fished it and sucked. Missed the yellowtail side pot by .02. My buddy ronson got 2nd . I believe 1st place in small boat was around a 90 # bluefin . Thats what they said at awards anyway. This tournament has really gone down hill since it started. I will still fish it for the cause because i like supporting it though.

What’s up with the alternator failures. Did you take them to Broadway Auto and get a diagnosis?

High Water in the Bilge 10 days ago killed the 1st one I bought online after the original went bad; I had Broadway rebuild my original when the bearing noise was loud so I would have a backup. They said they could only replace the bearings as internal electronic parts were not available so they replaced the bearings for $100. Early last week I put it on and when I started the motor it was even louder than before; it lasted 3 minutes then seized and snapped my new $80 belt. I told Broadway about it and they overnighted one for me in time to install Friday afternoon so I was good for Saturday. We ran it for 7 hours Saturday then it dropped down to 12.3 volts from 14.1. We headed in as I wasn't sure how much juice the glow plugs required and we made it in. I ordered another alternator online last week just to have a backup and we installed it tonight and its only putting out 12 volts so it must be something else I hope. I'm taking the overnighted alternator back to Broadway and have them test it, maybe they will have an answer.

I see the D4 alternators have a resistor on the back. I wonder if that is for excitation voltage. In the good old days that the excitation wire came from the gauge panel area. I went with a self excites alternator last time around and taped off the excitation wire. Now if my motor is turning 800 RPM or more, I'm making good voltage.

Mike

Took the Alternator back to Broadway and bench tested it; apparently the red wire with the inline Resistor should be producing 8.2 volts to the exciter on the alternator to make it ramp up to 14.2 Volts. When they applied the 8.2 volts to the alternator it kicked out 14.2; disconnected 0. Ordered the new resistor from Admiralty Marine for $90 plus $15.50 plux tax to have it overnighted to my house; best I could do online was $80.53 plus $49.83 overnight shipping so I saved $30 or so. Hope this works!

If you have a meter that reads resistance, measure the resistance of the new one for me. I'll bet it's 72 to74 ohms. I think you could make a dozen for a dollar. Save the old one for me too.

Yes that was the problem, no voltage through the resistor. I didn't get a chance to measure the resistance ; but I was getting 7.8 volts through it when i turned the key on and my new alternator is putting out 13.8-14 volts which works for me; I just hope its for a long time! I'll try to cut the shrink tube off the old resistor and see if we can solder a new one in its place. New Volvo package said Made in Poland so how hard can it be?

Under the shrink wrap, there should be some writing on the resistor that says how many ohms and the wattage.