1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and white smoke

Hi all, I have a 1986 Cal 33-2 with the engine referenced above. A few days back, I started the engine; it ran smoothly for several minutes, with raw water/exhaust exiting the stern as normal. Then, I heard the buzzer and saw white smoke coming out from under the starboard quarterberth cushions. I shut the engine down. The engine panel showed the low oil pressure light on. I've not run the engine since, but have changed oil/oil filter. The oil looked normal, and I did not notice anything abnormal about the filter, although I need to cut it open and see what I find. As well, the coolant in the heat exchanger looks OK. The exhaust system runs, on the other side of the plywood, along the quarterberth. An initial check of the muffler and exhaust hose did not reveal any splits or leaks. Diesel mechanics are scarce here, but I have an outboard mechanic coming over who has an oil pressure gauge, so we can check the true oil pressure. As an FYI, a few months back, I replaced the impeller on the raw water pump, and had to remove the front of the heat exchanger to check for rubber vane parts. But, I put it back together with new O ring, and the engine has run three-four times since then without incident, so I don't know if this could have any impact on my problem. Does anyone have any ideas of potential causes of this problem? Thanks, Travis Porter 1986 CAL 33-2 "Vital"

A few thoughts: 1. White smoke is more likely steam than oil smoke. 2. If the engine overheated it is possible the oil pressure dropped when the oil got very hot. 3. Remove the oil fill cap, release compression, crank the engine while watching for oil flow in the valve area. 4. Look closely at the various water and exhause pipes for signs of leaks and splits. 5. Run the engine and look for leaks and overheating. FWIW Ted Cal 33 Celebration Newport, RI From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2014 2:12 PM To: ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and white smoke Hi all, I have a 1986 Cal 33-2 with the engine referenced above. A few days back, I started the engine; it ran smoothly for several minutes, with raw water/exhaust exiting the stern as normal. Then, I heard the buzzer and saw white smoke coming out from under the starboard quarterberth cushions. I shut the engine down. The engine panel showed the low oil pressure light on. I've not run the engine since, but have changed oil/oil filter. The oil looked normal, and I did not notice anything abnormal about the filter, although I need to cut it open and see what I find. As well, the coolant in the heat exchanger looks OK. The exhaust system runs, on the other side of the plywood, along the quarterberth. An initial check of the muffler and exhaust hose did not reveal any splits or leaks. Diesel mechanics are scarce here, but I have an outboard mechanic coming over who has an oil pressure gauge, so we can check the true oil pressure. As an FYI, a few months back, I replaced the impeller on the raw water pump, and had to remove the front of the heat exchanger to check for rubber vane parts. But, I put it back together with new O ring, and the engine has run three-four times since then without incident, so I don't know if this could have any impact on my problem. Does anyone have any ideas of potential causes of this problem? Thanks, Travis Porter 1986 CAL 33-2 "Vital"

On 7/24/2014 2:11 PM, 'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net [Cal_Boats] wrote: > > > Hi all, > > I have a 1986 Cal 33-2 with the engine referenced above. A few days > back, I started the engine; it ran smoothly for several minutes, with > raw water/exhaust exiting the stern as normal. Then, I heard the > buzzer and saw white smoke coming out from under the starboard > quarterberth cushions. I shut the engine down. The engine panel > showed the low oil pressure light on. I've not run the engine since, > but have changed oil/oil filter. > ********** What brand filters are you using? What weight and brand oil? *Joe DeMers - owner* Sound Marine Diesel LLC SoundMarineDiesel.com <http://www.soundmarinediesel.com/>*phone & fax (860) 666-2184* > The oil looked normal, and I did not notice anything abnormal about > the filter, although I need to cut it open and see what I find. As > well, the coolant in the heat exchanger looks OK. The exhaust system > runs, on the other side of the plywood, along the quarterberth. An > initial check of the muffler and exhaust hose did not reveal any > splits or leaks. Diesel mechanics are scarce here, but I have an > outboard mechanic coming over who has an oil pressure gauge, so we can > check the true oil pressure. As an FYI, a few months back, I replaced > the impeller on the raw water pump, and had to remove the front of the > heat exchanger to check for rubber vane parts. But, I put it back > together with new O ring, and the engine has run three-four times > since then without incident, so I don't know if this could have any > impact on my problem. Does anyone have any ideas of potential causes > of this problem? > > Thanks, > > Travis Porter > > 1986 CAL 33-2 "Vital" > > > > -- *Joe DeMers - owner* Sound Marine Diesel LLC SoundMarineDiesel.com <http://www.soundmarinediesel.com/>*phone & fax (860) 666-2184*

Ted, Thanks for the tips; I looked closely over the engine and did not see any oil leaking-at least outside the engine. I'll use your idea to check oil flow in the valve area and examine the exhaust system more closely. Travis From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2014 1:36 PM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and white smoke A few thoughts: 1. White smoke is more likely steam than oil smoke. 2. If the engine overheated it is possible the oil pressure dropped when the oil got very hot. 3. Remove the oil fill cap, release compression, crank the engine while watching for oil flow in the valve area. 4. Look closely at the various water and exhause pipes for signs of leaks and splits. 5. Run the engine and look for leaks and overheating. FWIW Ted Cal 33 Celebration Newport, RI From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2014 2:12 PM To: ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and white smoke Hi all, I have a 1986 Cal 33-2 with the engine referenced above. A few days back, I started the engine; it ran smoothly for several minutes, with raw water/exhaust exiting the stern as normal. Then, I heard the buzzer and saw white smoke coming out from under the starboard quarterberth cushions. I shut the engine down. The engine panel showed the low oil pressure light on. I've not run the engine since, but have changed oil/oil filter. The oil looked normal, and I did not notice anything abnormal about the filter, although I need to cut it open and see what I find. As well, the coolant in the heat exchanger looks OK. The exhaust system runs, on the other side of the plywood, along the quarterberth. An initial check of the muffler and exhaust hose did not reveal any splits or leaks. Diesel mechanics are scarce here, but I have an outboard mechanic coming over who has an oil pressure gauge, so we can check the true oil pressure. As an FYI, a few months back, I replaced the impeller on the raw water pump, and had to remove the front of the heat exchanger to check for rubber vane parts. But, I put it back together with new O ring, and the engine has run three-four times since then without incident, so I don't know if this could have any impact on my problem. Does anyone have any ideas of potential causes of this problem? Thanks, Travis Porter 1986 CAL 33-2 "Vital"

Hi Joe, I use Shell Rotella 15w40 and Yanmar filters. Travis From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2014 1:47 PM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and white smoke On 7/24/2014 2:11 PM, 'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net [Cal_Boats] wrote: Hi all, I have a 1986 Cal 33-2 with the engine referenced above. A few days back, I started the engine; it ran smoothly for several minutes, with raw water/exhaust exiting the stern as normal. Then, I heard the buzzer and saw white smoke coming out from under the starboard quarterberth cushions. I shut the engine down. The engine panel showed the low oil pressure light on. I've not run the engine since, but have changed oil/oil filter. ********** What brand filters are you using? What weight and brand oil? Joe DeMers - owner Sound Marine Diesel LLC <http://www.soundmarinediesel.com/> SoundMarineDiesel.com phone & fax (860) 666-2184 The oil looked normal, and I did not notice anything abnormal about the filter, although I need to cut it open and see what I find. As well, the coolant in the heat exchanger looks OK. The exhaust system runs, on the other side of the plywood, along the quarterberth. An initial check of the muffler and exhaust hose did not reveal any splits or leaks. Diesel mechanics are scarce here, but I have an outboard mechanic coming over who has an oil pressure gauge, so we can check the true oil pressure. As an FYI, a few months back, I replaced the impeller on the raw water pump, and had to remove the front of the heat exchanger to check for rubber vane parts. But, I put it back together with new O ring, and the engine has run three-four times since then without incident, so I don't know if this could have any impact on my problem. Does anyone have any ideas of potential causes of this problem? Thanks, Travis Porter 1986 CAL 33-2 "Vital" -- Joe DeMers - owner Sound Marine Diesel LLC <http://www.soundmarinediesel.com/> SoundMarineDiesel.comphone & fax (860) 666-2184

I would check the oil level in the engine, then use a test gauge to confirm the actual engine oil pressure. If it is not within specs, I would suspect the oil pressure relief valve is stuck, or not functioning correctly. *Joe DeMers - owner* Sound Marine Diesel LLC SoundMarineDiesel.com <http://www.soundmarinediesel.com/>*phone & fax (860) 666-2184* On 7/24/2014 3:29 PM, 'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net [Cal_Boats] wrote: > > > Hi Joe, > > I use Shell Rotella 15w40 and Yanmar filters. > > Travis > > *From:*Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] > *Sent:* Thursday, July 24, 2014 1:47 PM > *To:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > *Subject:* Re: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light > and white smoke > > On 7/24/2014 2:11 PM, 'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net > <mailto:tr… [at] sbcglobal.net> [Cal_Boats] wrote: > > Hi all, > > I have a 1986 Cal 33-2 with the engine referenced above. A few > days back, I started the engine; it ran smoothly for several > minutes, with raw water/exhaust exiting the stern as normal. > Then, I heard the buzzer and saw white smoke coming out from under > the starboard quarterberth cushions. I shut the engine down. The > engine panel showed the low oil pressure light on. I've not run > the engine since, but have changed oil/oil filter. > > > ********** What brand filters are you using? What weight and brand oil? > > *Joe DeMers - owner* > > Sound Marine Diesel LLC > > SoundMarineDiesel.com <http://www.soundmarinediesel.com/>*phone & fax > (860) 666-2184* > > > The oil looked normal, and I did not notice anything abnormal about > the filter, although I need to cut it open and see what I find. As > well, the coolant in the heat exchanger looks OK. The exhaust system > runs, on the other side of the plywood, along the quarterberth. An > initial check of the muffler and exhaust hose did not reveal any > splits or leaks. Diesel mechanics are scarce here, but I have an > outboard mechanic coming over who has an oil pressure gauge, so we can > check the true oil pressure. As an FYI, a few months back, I replaced > the impeller on the raw water pump, and had to remove the front of the > heat exchanger to check for rubber vane parts. But, I put it back > together with new O ring, and the engine has run three-four times > since then without incident, so I don't know if this could have any > impact on my problem. Does anyone have any ideas of potential causes > of this problem? > > Thanks, > > Travis Porter > > 1986 CAL 33-2 "Vital" > > -- > > *Joe DeMers - owner* > > Sound Marine Diesel LLC > > SoundMarineDiesel.com <http://www.soundmarinediesel.com/>*phone & fax > (860) 666-2184* > > > > -- *Joe DeMers - owner* Sound Marine Diesel LLC SoundMarineDiesel.com <http://www.soundmarinediesel.com/>*phone & fax (860) 666-2184*

My engine does this when the raw water pump loses prime. I need to be careful to rev the engine a bit when starting to get water flow. The last time it happened, I just started the engine in gear and ran it. I heard the buzzer and saw white smoke. I reved up the engine and all was good again. But, my engine is raw water cooled with no heat exchanger so ymmv. I wish I knew why my pump acts this way as I would sure like to have it work like it should. This has been a problem on and off for several years across several water pumps. Allen On Thu, Jul 24, 2014 at 2:17 PM, Joe DeMers je… [at] mindspring.com [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > I would check the oil level in the engine, then use a test gauge to > confirm the actual engine oil pressure. If it is not within specs, I would > suspect the oil pressure relief valve is stuck, or not functioning > correctly. > > *Joe DeMers - owner* Sound Marine Diesel LLC > SoundMarineDiesel.com <http://www.soundmarinediesel.com/>* phone & fax > (860) 666-2184 <%28860%29%20666-2184>* > > > > On 7/24/2014 3:29 PM, 'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net [Cal_Boats] > wrote: > > Hi Joe, > > I use Shell Rotella 15w40 and Yanmar filters. > > Travis > > > > *From:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>] > *Sent:* Thursday, July 24, 2014 1:47 PM > *To:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > *Subject:* Re: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and > white smoke > > > > > > > > On 7/24/2014 2:11 PM, 'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net [Cal_Boats] > wrote: > > Hi all, > > I have a 1986 Cal 33-2 with the engine referenced above. A few days back, > I started the engine; it ran smoothly for several minutes, with raw > water/exhaust exiting the stern as normal. Then, I heard the buzzer and > saw white smoke coming out from under the starboard quarterberth cushions. > I shut the engine down. The engine panel showed the low oil pressure light > on. I’ve not run the engine since, but have changed oil/oil filter. > > > ********** What brand filters are you using? What weight and brand oil? > > *Joe DeMers - owner* > > Sound Marine Diesel LLC > > SoundMarineDiesel.com <http://www.soundmarinediesel.com/>* phone & fax > (860) 666-2184* > > > The oil looked normal, and I did not notice anything abnormal about the > filter, although I need to cut it open and see what I find. As well, the > coolant in the heat exchanger looks OK. The exhaust system runs, on the > other side of the plywood, along the quarterberth. An initial check of > the muffler and exhaust hose did not reveal any splits or leaks. Diesel > mechanics are scarce here, but I have an outboard mechanic coming over who > has an oil pressure gauge, so we can check the true oil pressure. As an > FYI, a few months back, I replaced the impeller on the raw water pump, and > had to remove the front of the heat exchanger to check for rubber vane > parts. But, I put it back together with new O ring, and the engine has run > three-four times since then without incident, so I don’t know if this could > have any impact on my problem. Does anyone have any ideas of potential > causes of this problem? > > Thanks, > > Travis Porter > > 1986 CAL 33-2 “Vital” > > > > > > -- > > *Joe DeMers - owner* > > Sound Marine Diesel LLC > > SoundMarineDiesel.com <http://www.soundmarinediesel.com/>*phone & fax > (860) 666-2184* > > > -- > > *Joe DeMers - owner* > > Sound Marine Diesel LLC > SoundMarineDiesel.com <http://www.soundmarinediesel.com/>*phone & fax > (860) 666-2184 <%28860%29%20666-2184>* > > >

Update pm today. Went to the boat with a local outboard mechanic who had an oil pressure gauge. Hooked it up; switched the batteries to "all" and proceeded to start the motor. Then, before we started the engine, the mechanic noticed white smoke from the quarter berth. Looked below and noticed the Balmar ARS III Regulator for the alternator-it was generating white smoke. Switched the batteries to "off." So the white smoke previously noted was electrical. Noticed softened, smoked plastic on the connectors from the alternator to the regulator. The mechanic said we could disconnect and disconnect the positive cable from the alternator to the batteries and start the engine. Not being an electrical person, I was reluctant to do this. So, now have to run this to ground. Faulty ARS regulator or alternator problem? At any rate, although I don't know how, perhaps this is related to the low indicated oil pressure problem. They occurred at the same time. Travis From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2014 1:12 PM To: ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and white smoke Hi all, I have a 1986 Cal 33-2 with the engine referenced above. A few days back, I started the engine; it ran smoothly for several minutes, with raw water/exhaust exiting the stern as normal. Then, I heard the buzzer and saw white smoke coming out from under the starboard quarterberth cushions. I shut the engine down. The engine panel showed the low oil pressure light on. I've not run the engine since, but have changed oil/oil filter. The oil looked normal, and I did not notice anything abnormal about the filter, although I need to cut it open and see what I find. As well, the coolant in the heat exchanger looks OK. The exhaust system runs, on the other side of the plywood, along the quarterberth. An initial check of the muffler and exhaust hose did not reveal any splits or leaks. Diesel mechanics are scarce here, but I have an outboard mechanic coming over who has an oil pressure gauge, so we can check the true oil pressure. As an FYI, a few months back, I replaced the impeller on the raw water pump, and had to remove the front of the heat exchanger to check for rubber vane parts. But, I put it back together with new O ring, and the engine has run three-four times since then without incident, so I don't know if this could have any impact on my problem. Does anyone have any ideas of potential causes of this problem? Thanks, Travis Porter 1986 CAL 33-2 "Vital"

You can safely disconnect the alternator and regulator and run your engine. If you have an electrical oil pressure gauge, whatever short is going on in your electrical system could easily cause the reading on your gauge to be low without the actual oil pressure being low. It could also potentially sound your buzzer but that is more of a long shot. It would really depend on how things are wired up. With a short in the system, some parts of your circuit that should be at 12 volts will be at ground. But the battery is strong enough to keep 12 volts on the rest of the system. That puts 12 volts across some poor wire which then gets very hot and smokes. The point is, if your oil pressure switch is some how connected up to the part that is ground that could complete the buzzer circuit. A little far fetched actually but who knows. The mechanic was correct and that is the next step. Disconnect the alternator and regulator and start up the engine. Allen On Thu, Jul 24, 2014 at 6:32 PM, 'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > Update pm today. Went to the boat with a local outboard mechanic who had > an oil pressure gauge. Hooked it up; switched the batteries to “all” and > proceeded to start the motor. Then, before we started the engine, the > mechanic noticed white smoke from the quarter berth. Looked below and > noticed the Balmar ARS III Regulator for the alternator—it was generating > white smoke. Switched the batteries to “off.” So the white smoke > previously noted was electrical. Noticed softened, smoked plastic on the > connectors from the alternator to the regulator. The mechanic said we > could disconnect and disconnect the positive cable from the alternator to > the batteries and start the engine. Not being an electrical person, I was > reluctant to do this. So, now have to run this to ground. Faulty ARS > regulator or alternator problem? At any rate, although I don’t know how, > perhaps this is related to the low indicated oil pressure problem. They > occurred at the same time. > > Travis > > > > *From:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] > *Sent:* Thursday, July 24, 2014 1:12 PM > *To:* ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > *Subject:* [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and > white smoke > > > > > > Hi all, > > I have a 1986 Cal 33-2 with the engine referenced above. A few days back, > I started the engine; it ran smoothly for several minutes, with raw > water/exhaust exiting the stern as normal. Then, I heard the buzzer and > saw white smoke coming out from under the starboard quarterberth cushions. > I shut the engine down. The engine panel showed the low oil pressure light > on. I’ve not run the engine since, but have changed oil/oil filter. The > oil looked normal, and I did not notice anything abnormal about the filter, > although I need to cut it open and see what I find. As well, the coolant > in the heat exchanger looks OK. The exhaust system runs, on the other side > of the plywood, along the quarterberth. An initial check of the muffler > and exhaust hose did not reveal any splits or leaks. Diesel mechanics are > scarce here, but I have an outboard mechanic coming over who has an oil > pressure gauge, so we can check the true oil pressure. As an FYI, a few > months back, I replaced the impeller on the raw water pump, and had to > remove the front of the heat exchanger to check for rubber vane parts. > But, I put it back together with new O ring, and the engine has run > three-four times since then without incident, so I don’t know if this could > have any impact on my problem. Does anyone have any ideas of potential > causes of this problem? > > Thanks, > > Travis Porter > > 1986 CAL 33-2 “Vital” > > > > >

Allen, Thanks for the info. The Balmar voltage regulator is clearly blown (a $300+ part!), and I don’t want to replace it until I can find out what caused it to fail. I talked to a Balmar tech rep, and said indicated that there wasn’t a failure mode of the regulator itself (1997 vintage) that would cause this problem. He suggested that I have a was likely a dead short in the system somewhere, and suggested I make sure I have a good ground. Then he made some suggestions on how to check alternator output w/o the regulator, so I can see if I have a blown alternator as well. This will be my next step. Thanks, Travis From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2014 10:08 PM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and white smoke You can safely disconnect the alternator and regulator and run your engine. If you have an electrical oil pressure gauge, whatever short is going on in your electrical system could easily cause the reading on your gauge to be low without the actual oil pressure being low. It could also potentially sound your buzzer but that is more of a long shot. It would really depend on how things are wired up. With a short in the system, some parts of your circuit that should be at 12 volts will be at ground. But the battery is strong enough to keep 12 volts on the rest of the system. That puts 12 volts across some poor wire which then gets very hot and smokes. The point is, if your oil pressure switch is some how connected up to the part that is ground that could complete the buzzer circuit. A little far fetched actually but who knows. The mechanic was correct and that is the next step. Disconnect the alternator and regulator and start up the engine. Allen On Thu, Jul 24, 2014 at 6:32 PM, 'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: Update pm today. Went to the boat with a local outboard mechanic who had an oil pressure gauge. Hooked it up; switched the batteries to “all” and proceeded to start the motor. Then, before we started the engine, the mechanic noticed white smoke from the quarter berth. Looked below and noticed the Balmar ARS III Regulator for the alternator—it was generating white smoke. Switched the batteries to “off.” So the white smoke previously noted was electrical. Noticed softened, smoked plastic on the connectors from the alternator to the regulator. The mechanic said we could disconnect and disconnect the positive cable from the alternator to the batteries and start the engine. Not being an electrical person, I was reluctant to do this. So, now have to run this to ground. Faulty ARS regulator or alternator problem? At any rate, although I don’t know how, perhaps this is related to the low indicated oil pressure problem. They occurred at the same time. Travis From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2014 1:12 PM To: ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and white smoke Hi all, I have a 1986 Cal 33-2 with the engine referenced above. A few days back, I started the engine; it ran smoothly for several minutes, with raw water/exhaust exiting the stern as normal. Then, I heard the buzzer and saw white smoke coming out from under the starboard quarterberth cushions. I shut the engine down. The engine panel showed the low oil pressure light on. I’ve not run the engine since, but have changed oil/oil filter. The oil looked normal, and I did not notice anything abnormal about the filter, although I need to cut it open and see what I find. As well, the coolant in the heat exchanger looks OK. The exhaust system runs, on the other side of the plywood, along the quarterberth. An initial check of the muffler and exhaust hose did not reveal any splits or leaks. Diesel mechanics are scarce here, but I have an outboard mechanic coming over who has an oil pressure gauge, so we can check the true oil pressure. As an FYI, a few months back, I replaced the impeller on the raw water pump, and had to remove the front of the heat exchanger to check for rubber vane parts. But, I put it back together with new O ring, and the engine has run three-four times since then without incident, so I don’t know if this could have any impact on my problem. Does anyone have any ideas of potential causes of this problem? Thanks, Travis Porter 1986 CAL 33-2 “Vital”

Travis, I had some problems with our yanmar starter, and another boat owner, had problem with his alternator on a universal diesel. (Catalina). He located a starter/alternator repair shop that was able to repair each, for a fraction the replacement cost. In my starter, they were able to modify a bushing for the motor to replace a part that was unavailable from yanmar. (Except as a "rebuilt" starter) We have had years of service since the repairs. It may be worthwhile to research a similar shop in your area. No, this was not a "marine" shop. Check in your automotive sections. Or check with local truck/tractor repair shops for a recommendation. Finding the source of the original short will be imperative to prevent similar failures. John Raxter 336-210-8073 (m) > On Jul 26, 2014, at 10:45 AM, "'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > Allen, > > Thanks for the info. The Balmar voltage regulator is clearly blown (a $300+ part!), and I don’t want to replace it until I can find out what caused it to fail. I talked to a Balmar tech rep, and said indicated that there wasn’t a failure mode of the regulator itself (1997 vintage) that would cause this problem. He suggested that I have a was likely a dead short in the system somewhere, and suggested I make sure I have a good ground. Then he made some suggestions on how to check alternator output w/o the regulator, so I can see if I have a blown alternator as well. This will be my next step. > > Thanks, > > Travis > > > > From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] > Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2014 10:08 PM > To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and white smoke > > > > > > You can safely disconnect the alternator and regulator and run your engine. If you have an electrical oil pressure gauge, whatever short is going on in your electrical system could easily cause the reading on your gauge to be low without the actual oil pressure being low. It could also potentially sound your buzzer but that is more of a long shot. It would really depend on how things are wired up. With a short in the system, some parts of your circuit that should be at 12 volts will be at ground. But the battery is strong enough to keep 12 volts on the rest of the system. That puts 12 volts across some poor wire which then gets very hot and smokes. The point is, if your oil pressure switch is some how connected up to the part that is ground that could complete the buzzer circuit. A little far fetched actually but who knows. > > > > The mechanic was correct and that is the next step. Disconnect the alternator and regulator and start up the engine. > > > > Allen > > > > On Thu, Jul 24, 2014 at 6:32 PM, 'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > > Update pm today. Went to the boat with a local outboard mechanic who had an oil pressure gauge. Hooked it up; switched the batteries to “all” and proceeded to start the motor. Then, before we started the engine, the mechanic noticed white smoke from the quarter berth. Looked below and noticed the Balmar ARS III Regulator for the alternator—it was generating white smoke. Switched the batteries to “off.” So the white smoke previously noted was electrical. Noticed softened, smoked plastic on the connectors from the alternator to the regulator. The mechanic said we could disconnect and disconnect the positive cable from the alternator to the batteries and start the engine. Not being an electrical person, I was reluctant to do this. So, now have to run this to ground. Faulty ARS regulator or alternator problem? At any rate, although I don’t know how, perhaps this is related to the low indicated oil pressure problem. They occurred at the same time. > > Travis > > > > From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] > > Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2014 1:12 PM > To: ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > > Subject: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and white smoke > > > > > > Hi all, > > I have a 1986 Cal 33-2 with the engine referenced above. A few days back, I started the engine; it ran smoothly for several minutes, with raw water/exhaust exiting the stern as normal. Then, I heard the buzzer and saw white smoke coming out from under the starboard quarterberth cushions. I shut the engine down. The engine panel showed the low oil pressure light on. I’ve not run the engine since, but have changed oil/oil filter. The oil looked normal, and I did not notice anything abnormal about the filter, although I need to cut it open and see what I find. As well, the coolant in the heat exchanger looks OK. The exhaust system runs, on the other side of the plywood, along the quarterberth. An initial check of the muffler and exhaust hose did not reveal any splits or leaks. Diesel mechanics are scarce here, but I have an outboard mechanic coming over who has an oil pressure gauge, so we can check the true oil pressure. As an FYI, a few months back, I replaced the impeller on the raw water pump, and had to remove the front of the heat exchanger to check for rubber vane parts. But, I put it back together with new O ring, and the engine has run three-four times since then without incident, so I don’t know if this could have any impact on my problem. Does anyone have any ideas of potential causes of this problem? > > Thanks, > > Travis Porter > > 1986 CAL 33-2 “Vital” > > > > > > >

I am suspicious of the comment that it could not have been the regulator. It would help to know which wire smoked. A little theory in case you are interested. Pass a wire through a magnetic field and you will get a current in the wire. An alternator just has a bunch of wires that spin inside another bunch of wires. Spin it and nothing happens as there is no magnetic field. If you apply 12 volts to that other bunch of wires, the field windings, you get a magnetic field and the alternator starts to put out current. Because of the spinning, you get an alternating current out. Positive first comes out of one of the wires, then the other. Because you want DC out of the thing, they put in diodes that steer the positive current from whichever end of the wire it is coming out of to the positive terminal on the alternator. The job of the voltage regulator is to apply that 12 volts to the field wire. When the battery voltage gets to 14 volts, its job is to remove that voltage. Your voltage regulator thinks it has a more complicated job to do and charges your batteries in a more sophisticated way in an attempt to make them last longer or to deal with more temperamental batteries. The voltage regulator has at least 3 inputs. It needs plus and ground both to work and to know what the battery voltage is. Maybe it thinks it needs separate +12 inputs for the working part and the sensing part. It needs ground, and it needs the output to the alternator. Maybe the regulator has an output to light some warning lamp. Maybe it even sounds your buzzer, I have no idea. It looks like your wiring harness has 6 wires so perhaps they figured out they can only charge $50 per wire so figures out something else they can do, perhaps sense the temperature of the battery. I have no idea why you would need a $300 regulator unless you have some exotic sealed batteries. I have a 3 terminal marine grade regulator that was about $100 but I just have regular marine batteries I bought at Costco. So what can go wrong? Diodes can go bad. The alternator itself could short out (except the company said that never happens). You could have a short somewhere else. Again, it would be very helpful to know which wire was smoking. I am trying to think what could fail and cause the wires to smoke. If it was the field wire, it might be the alternator. If it was the +12 wire, then the regulator is probably shorted. Ground wire, regulator or perhaps the alternator ground is missing, which is unlikely if the starter works but worth checking. Anyway, if you can tell which wire melted I would be curious. Allen On Sat, Jul 26, 2014 at 9:15 AM, John Raxter jr… [at] triad.rr.com [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > Travis, > > I had some problems with our yanmar starter, and another boat owner, had > problem with his alternator on a universal diesel. (Catalina). > > He located a starter/alternator repair shop that was able to repair each, > for a fraction the replacement cost. In my starter, they were able to > modify a bushing for the motor to replace a part that was unavailable from > yanmar. (Except as a "rebuilt" starter) > > We have had years of service since the repairs. > > It may be worthwhile to research a similar shop in your area. No, this was > not a "marine" shop. Check in your automotive sections. Or check with local > truck/tractor repair shops for a recommendation. > > Finding the source of the original short will be imperative to prevent > similar failures. > > > John Raxter > 336-210-8073 (m) > > On Jul 26, 2014, at 10:45 AM, "'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net > [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > > Allen, > > Thanks for the info. The Balmar voltage regulator is clearly blown (a > $300+ part!), and I don’t want to replace it until I can find out what > caused it to fail. I talked to a Balmar tech rep, and said indicated that > there wasn’t a failure mode of the regulator itself (1997 vintage) that > would cause this problem. He suggested that I have a was likely a dead > short in the system somewhere, and suggested I make sure I have a good > ground. Then he made some suggestions on how to check alternator output > w/o the regulator, so I can see if I have a blown alternator as well. > This will be my next step. > > Thanks, > > Travis > > > > *From:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>] > *Sent:* Thursday, July 24, 2014 10:08 PM > *To:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > *Subject:* Re: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and > white smoke > > > > > > You can safely disconnect the alternator and regulator and run your > engine. If you have an electrical oil pressure gauge, whatever short is > going on in your electrical system could easily cause the reading on your > gauge to be low without the actual oil pressure being low. It could also > potentially sound your buzzer but that is more of a long shot. It would > really depend on how things are wired up. With a short in the system, some > parts of your circuit that should be at 12 volts will be at ground. But > the battery is strong enough to keep 12 volts on the rest of the system. > That puts 12 volts across some poor wire which then gets very hot and > smokes. The point is, if your oil pressure switch is some how connected up > to the part that is ground that could complete the buzzer circuit. A > little far fetched actually but who knows. > > > > The mechanic was correct and that is the next step. Disconnect the > alternator and regulator and start up the engine. > > > > Allen > > > > On Thu, Jul 24, 2014 at 6:32 PM, 'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net > [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > > Update pm today. Went to the boat with a local outboard mechanic who had > an oil pressure gauge. Hooked it up; switched the batteries to “all” and > proceeded to start the motor. Then, before we started the engine, the > mechanic noticed white smoke from the quarter berth. Looked below and > noticed the Balmar ARS III Regulator for the alternator—it was generating > white smoke. Switched the batteries to “off.” So the white smoke > previously noted was electrical. Noticed softened, smoked plastic on the > connectors from the alternator to the regulator. The mechanic said we > could disconnect and disconnect the positive cable from the alternator to > the batteries and start the engine. Not being an electrical person, I was > reluctant to do this. So, now have to run this to ground. Faulty ARS > regulator or alternator problem? At any rate, although I don’t know how, > perhaps this is related to the low indicated oil pressure problem. They > occurred at the same time. > > Travis > > > > *From:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] > > *Sent:* Thursday, July 24, 2014 1:12 PM > *To:* ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > > *Subject:* [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and > white smoke > > > > > > Hi all, > > I have a 1986 Cal 33-2 with the engine referenced above. A few days back, > I started the engine; it ran smoothly for several minutes, with raw > water/exhaust exiting the stern as normal. Then, I heard the buzzer and > saw white smoke coming out from under the starboard quarterberth cushions. > I shut the engine down. The engine panel showed the low oil pressure light > on. I’ve not run the engine since, but have changed oil/oil filter. The > oil looked normal, and I did not notice anything abnormal about the filter, > although I need to cut it open and see what I find. As well, the coolant > in the heat exchanger looks OK. The exhaust system runs, on the other side > of the plywood, along the quarterberth. An initial check of the muffler > and exhaust hose did not reveal any splits or leaks. Diesel mechanics are > scarce here, but I have an outboard mechanic coming over who has an oil > pressure gauge, so we can check the true oil pressure. As an FYI, a few > months back, I replaced the impeller on the raw water pump, and had to > remove the front of the heat exchanger to check for rubber vane parts. > But, I put it back together with new O ring, and the engine has run > three-four times since then without incident, so I don’t know if this could > have any impact on my problem. Does anyone have any ideas of potential > causes of this problem? > > Thanks, > > Travis Porter > > 1986 CAL 33-2 “Vital” > > > > > > >

I guess I never sent this link but here are the notes I took when I want from a 5 terminal regulator to a 3 terminal one. http://L-36.com/regulator.php <http://l-36.com/regulator.php> Again, I have conventional marine batteries like this one. Your $300 regulator would be for fancy batteries. On Sat, Jul 26, 2014 at 9:55 AM, Allen Edwards <al… [at] gmail.com> wrote: > I am suspicious of the comment that it could not have been the regulator. > It would help to know which wire smoked. > > A little theory in case you are interested. Pass a wire through a > magnetic field and you will get a current in the wire. An alternator just > has a bunch of wires that spin inside another bunch of wires. Spin it and > nothing happens as there is no magnetic field. If you apply 12 volts to > that other bunch of wires, the field windings, you get a magnetic field and > the alternator starts to put out current. Because of the spinning, you get > an alternating current out. Positive first comes out of one of the wires, > then the other. Because you want DC out of the thing, they put in diodes > that steer the positive current from whichever end of the wire it is coming > out of to the positive terminal on the alternator. The job of the voltage > regulator is to apply that 12 volts to the field wire. When the battery > voltage gets to 14 volts, its job is to remove that voltage. Your voltage > regulator thinks it has a more complicated job to do and charges your > batteries in a more sophisticated way in an attempt to make them last > longer or to deal with more temperamental batteries. The voltage regulator > has at least 3 inputs. It needs plus and ground both to work and to know > what the battery voltage is. Maybe it thinks it needs separate +12 inputs > for the working part and the sensing part. It needs ground, and it needs > the output to the alternator. Maybe the regulator has an output to light > some warning lamp. Maybe it even sounds your buzzer, I have no idea. It > looks like your wiring harness has 6 wires so perhaps they figured out they > can only charge $50 per wire so figures out something else they can do, > perhaps sense the temperature of the battery. I have no idea why you would > need a $300 regulator unless you have some exotic sealed batteries. I have > a 3 terminal marine grade regulator that was about $100 but I just have > regular marine batteries I bought at Costco. > > So what can go wrong? Diodes can go bad. The alternator itself could > short out (except the company said that never happens). You could have a > short somewhere else. Again, it would be very helpful to know which wire > was smoking. I am trying to think what could fail and cause the wires to > smoke. If it was the field wire, it might be the alternator. If it was > the +12 wire, then the regulator is probably shorted. Ground wire, > regulator or perhaps the alternator ground is missing, which is unlikely if > the starter works but worth checking. Anyway, if you can tell which wire > melted I would be curious. > > Allen > > > On Sat, Jul 26, 2014 at 9:15 AM, John Raxter jr… [at] triad.rr.com > [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > >> >> >> Travis, >> >> I had some problems with our yanmar starter, and another boat owner, had >> problem with his alternator on a universal diesel. (Catalina). >> >> He located a starter/alternator repair shop that was able to repair each, >> for a fraction the replacement cost. In my starter, they were able to >> modify a bushing for the motor to replace a part that was unavailable from >> yanmar. (Except as a "rebuilt" starter) >> >> We have had years of service since the repairs. >> >> It may be worthwhile to research a similar shop in your area. No, this >> was not a "marine" shop. Check in your automotive sections. Or check with >> local truck/tractor repair shops for a recommendation. >> >> Finding the source of the original short will be imperative to prevent >> similar failures. >> >> >> John Raxter >> 336-210-8073 (m) >> >> On Jul 26, 2014, at 10:45 AM, "'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net >> [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: >> >> >> >> Allen, >> >> Thanks for the info. The Balmar voltage regulator is clearly blown (a >> $300+ part!), and I don’t want to replace it until I can find out what >> caused it to fail. I talked to a Balmar tech rep, and said indicated that >> there wasn’t a failure mode of the regulator itself (1997 vintage) that >> would cause this problem. He suggested that I have a was likely a dead >> short in the system somewhere, and suggested I make sure I have a good >> ground. Then he made some suggestions on how to check alternator output >> w/o the regulator, so I can see if I have a blown alternator as well. >> This will be my next step. >> >> Thanks, >> >> Travis >> >> >> >> *From:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com >> <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>] >> *Sent:* Thursday, July 24, 2014 10:08 PM >> *To:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com >> *Subject:* Re: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and >> white smoke >> >> >> >> >> >> You can safely disconnect the alternator and regulator and run your >> engine. If you have an electrical oil pressure gauge, whatever short is >> going on in your electrical system could easily cause the reading on your >> gauge to be low without the actual oil pressure being low. It could also >> potentially sound your buzzer but that is more of a long shot. It would >> really depend on how things are wired up. With a short in the system, some >> parts of your circuit that should be at 12 volts will be at ground. But >> the battery is strong enough to keep 12 volts on the rest of the system. >> That puts 12 volts across some poor wire which then gets very hot and >> smokes. The point is, if your oil pressure switch is some how connected up >> to the part that is ground that could complete the buzzer circuit. A >> little far fetched actually but who knows. >> >> >> >> The mechanic was correct and that is the next step. Disconnect the >> alternator and regulator and start up the engine. >> >> >> >> Allen >> >> >> >> On Thu, Jul 24, 2014 at 6:32 PM, 'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net >> [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: >> >> >> >> Update pm today. Went to the boat with a local outboard mechanic who had >> an oil pressure gauge. Hooked it up; switched the batteries to “all” and >> proceeded to start the motor. Then, before we started the engine, the >> mechanic noticed white smoke from the quarter berth. Looked below and >> noticed the Balmar ARS III Regulator for the alternator—it was generating >> white smoke. Switched the batteries to “off.” So the white smoke >> previously noted was electrical. Noticed softened, smoked plastic on the >> connectors from the alternator to the regulator. The mechanic said we >> could disconnect and disconnect the positive cable from the alternator to >> the batteries and start the engine. Not being an electrical person, I was >> reluctant to do this. So, now have to run this to ground. Faulty ARS >> regulator or alternator problem? At any rate, although I don’t know how, >> perhaps this is related to the low indicated oil pressure problem. They >> occurred at the same time. >> >> Travis >> >> >> >> *From:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] >> >> *Sent:* Thursday, July 24, 2014 1:12 PM >> *To:* ca… [at] yahoogroups.com >> >> *Subject:* [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and >> white smoke >> >> >> >> >> >> Hi all, >> >> I have a 1986 Cal 33-2 with the engine referenced above. A few days back, >> I started the engine; it ran smoothly for several minutes, with raw >> water/exhaust exiting the stern as normal. Then, I heard the buzzer and >> saw white smoke coming out from under the starboard quarterberth cushions. >> I shut the engine down. The engine panel showed the low oil pressure light >> on. I’ve not run the engine since, but have changed oil/oil filter. The >> oil looked normal, and I did not notice anything abnormal about the filter, >> although I need to cut it open and see what I find. As well, the coolant >> in the heat exchanger looks OK. The exhaust system runs, on the other side >> of the plywood, along the quarterberth. An initial check of the muffler >> and exhaust hose did not reveal any splits or leaks. Diesel mechanics are >> scarce here, but I have an outboard mechanic coming over who has an oil >> pressure gauge, so we can check the true oil pressure. As an FYI, a few >> months back, I replaced the impeller on the raw water pump, and had to >> remove the front of the heat exchanger to check for rubber vane parts. >> But, I put it back together with new O ring, and the engine has run >> three-four times since then without incident, so I don’t know if this could >> have any impact on my problem. Does anyone have any ideas of potential >> causes of this problem? >> >> Thanks, >> >> Travis Porter >> >> 1986 CAL 33-2 “Vital” >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > >

All this talk of smoke and 12v wiring… Reminds me of a British car I had with Lucas electrical systems. Nothing related to sailboats I hope. John From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2014 12:55 PM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and white smoke I am suspicious of the comment that it could not have been the regulator. It would help to know which wire smoked. A little theory in case you are interested. Pass a wire through a magnetic field and you will get a current in the wire. An alternator just has a bunch of wires that spin inside another bunch of wires. Spin it and nothing happens as there is no magnetic field. If you apply 12 volts to that other bunch of wires, the field windings, you get a magnetic field and the alternator starts to put out current. Because of the spinning, you get an alternating current out. Positive first comes out of one of the wires, then the other. Because you want DC out of the thing, they put in diodes that steer the positive current from whichever end of the wire it is coming out of to the positive terminal on the alternator. The job of the voltage regulator is to apply that 12 volts to the field wire. When the battery voltage gets to 14 volts, its job is to remove that voltage. Your voltage regulator thinks it has a more complicated job to do and charges your batteries in a more sophisticated way in an attempt to make them last longer or to deal with more temperamental batteries. The voltage regulator has at least 3 inputs. It needs plus and ground both to work and to know what the battery voltage is. Maybe it thinks it needs separate +12 inputs for the working part and the sensing part. It needs ground, and it needs the output to the alternator. Maybe the regulator has an output to light some warning lamp. Maybe it even sounds your buzzer, I have no idea. It looks like your wiring harness has 6 wires so perhaps they figured out they can only charge $50 per wire so figures out something else they can do, perhaps sense the temperature of the battery. I have no idea why you would need a $300 regulator unless you have some exotic sealed batteries. I have a 3 terminal marine grade regulator that was about $100 but I just have regular marine batteries I bought at Costco. So what can go wrong? Diodes can go bad. The alternator itself could short out (except the company said that never happens). You could have a short somewhere else. Again, it would be very helpful to know which wire was smoking. I am trying to think what could fail and cause the wires to smoke. If it was the field wire, it might be the alternator. If it was the +12 wire, then the regulator is probably shorted. Ground wire, regulator or perhaps the alternator ground is missing, which is unlikely if the starter works but worth checking. Anyway, if you can tell which wire melted I would be curious. Allen On Sat, Jul 26, 2014 at 9:15 AM, John Raxter jr… [at] triad.rr.com [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: Travis, I had some problems with our yanmar starter, and another boat owner, had problem with his alternator on a universal diesel. (Catalina). He located a starter/alternator repair shop that was able to repair each, for a fraction the replacement cost. In my starter, they were able to modify a bushing for the motor to replace a part that was unavailable from yanmar. (Except as a "rebuilt" starter) We have had years of service since the repairs. It may be worthwhile to research a similar shop in your area. No, this was not a "marine" shop. Check in your automotive sections. Or check with local truck/tractor repair shops for a recommendation. Finding the source of the original short will be imperative to prevent similar failures. John Raxter 336-210-8073 (m) On Jul 26, 2014, at 10:45 AM, "'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: Allen, Thanks for the info. The Balmar voltage regulator is clearly blown (a $300+ part!), and I don’t want to replace it until I can find out what caused it to fail. I talked to a Balmar tech rep, and said indicated that there wasn’t a failure mode of the regulator itself (1997 vintage) that would cause this problem. He suggested that I have a was likely a dead short in the system somewhere, and suggested I make sure I have a good ground. Then he made some suggestions on how to check alternator output w/o the regulator, so I can see if I have a blown alternator as well. This will be my next step. Thanks, Travis From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2014 10:08 PM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and white smoke You can safely disconnect the alternator and regulator and run your engine. If you have an electrical oil pressure gauge, whatever short is going on in your electrical system could easily cause the reading on your gauge to be low without the actual oil pressure being low. It could also potentially sound your buzzer but that is more of a long shot. It would really depend on how things are wired up. With a short in the system, some parts of your circuit that should be at 12 volts will be at ground. But the battery is strong enough to keep 12 volts on the rest of the system. That puts 12 volts across some poor wire which then gets very hot and smokes. The point is, if your oil pressure switch is some how connected up to the part that is ground that could complete the buzzer circuit. A little far fetched actually but who knows. The mechanic was correct and that is the next step. Disconnect the alternator and regulator and start up the engine. Allen On Thu, Jul 24, 2014 at 6:32 PM, 'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: Update pm today. Went to the boat with a local outboard mechanic who had an oil pressure gauge. Hooked it up; switched the batteries to “all” and proceeded to start the motor. Then, before we started the engine, the mechanic noticed white smoke from the quarter berth. Looked below and noticed the Balmar ARS III Regulator for the alternator—it was generating white smoke. Switched the batteries to “off.” So the white smoke previously noted was electrical. Noticed softened, smoked plastic on the connectors from the alternator to the regulator. The mechanic said we could disconnect and disconnect the positive cable from the alternator to the batteries and start the engine. Not being an electrical person, I was reluctant to do this. So, now have to run this to ground. Faulty ARS regulator or alternator problem? At any rate, although I don’t know how, perhaps this is related to the low indicated oil pressure problem. They occurred at the same time. Travis From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2014 1:12 PM To: ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and white smoke Hi all, I have a 1986 Cal 33-2 with the engine referenced above. A few days back, I started the engine; it ran smoothly for several minutes, with raw water/exhaust exiting the stern as normal. Then, I heard the buzzer and saw white smoke coming out from under the starboard quarterberth cushions. I shut the engine down. The engine panel showed the low oil pressure light on. I’ve not run the engine since, but have changed oil/oil filter. The oil looked normal, and I did not notice anything abnormal about the filter, although I need to cut it open and see what I find. As well, the coolant in the heat exchanger looks OK. The exhaust system runs, on the other side of the plywood, along the quarterberth. An initial check of the muffler and exhaust hose did not reveal any splits or leaks. Diesel mechanics are scarce here, but I have an outboard mechanic coming over who has an oil pressure gauge, so we can check the true oil pressure. As an FYI, a few months back, I replaced the impeller on the raw water pump, and had to remove the front of the heat exchanger to check for rubber vane parts. But, I put it back together with new O ring, and the engine has run three-four times since then without incident, so I don’t know if this could have any impact on my problem. Does anyone have any ideas of potential causes of this problem? Thanks, Travis Porter 1986 CAL 33-2 “Vital”

Allen, Thanks for the very helpful information. The boat has had two POs, and one installed gel batteries many years back and the upgraded 100 amp Balmar Alternator coupled to this Balmar ARTS III voltage regulator (not necessarily at same time as batteries). The regulator is one of these devices with an aluminum case that is filled with epoxy(?) resin and has five male Ford type terminals protruding from the epoxy. As well, there is an alternator harness with color coded wires and corresponding labels on the regulator. They are black (grounds-2 wires), red (batt/sense—this connects to the battery selector switch), brown (labeled “+ switch”), and blue (field). I’m at home now and don’t recall where the brown wire went. The male connectors for the blue and brown wires are adjacent on the regulator, and the most damage appears to be to the blue connector, with the brown one damaged some as well. This regulator has a diagram showing the times and voltages for delay/bulk/absorb/float, and, I assume, was selected for the gel batteries. Note that I replaced the gel batteries with conventional flooded cell deep cycle batteries, and this problem took placed when I started the engine the first time with the new batteries. I had previously checked and rechecked that I had the battery cables installed properly; this was easy to do, because the heavy cables had assumed a set position over the years, and it would actually be difficult to cross them. On Saturday, I went to the boat and verified tight connections of the heavy electrical wires around the alternator/engine/starter. I also switched the batteries on and verified 12 volts at the alternator (engine not running). Next, I traced the heavy black cable back to the battery bank and discovered that the wing nut securing this cable to the terminal was not really tight. It was tight enough to show 12 volts back at the alternator, but was a bit loose. Don’t know if this could have been a problem or not. Anyway, it is tight now. I noticed in the manual for the alternator/regulator that it lists six common system problems responsible for charging system problems. No. 1 is, in large bold type “Bad ground somewhere in the system.” I don’t know if my slightly loose wire classifies or not, and if this could cause the problem. John, Thanks for the tip on getting starters/alternators overhauled. If the alternator is bad, I’ll look to get it repaired. Travis Travis From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2014 11:55 AM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and white smoke I am suspicious of the comment that it could not have been the regulator. It would help to know which wire smoked. A little theory in case you are interested. Pass a wire through a magnetic field and you will get a current in the wire. An alternator just has a bunch of wires that spin inside another bunch of wires. Spin it and nothing happens as there is no magnetic field. If you apply 12 volts to that other bunch of wires, the field windings, you get a magnetic field and the alternator starts to put out current. Because of the spinning, you get an alternating current out. Positive first comes out of one of the wires, then the other. Because you want DC out of the thing, they put in diodes that steer the positive current from whichever end of the wire it is coming out of to the positive terminal on the alternator. The job of the voltage regulator is to apply that 12 volts to the field wire. When the battery voltage gets to 14 volts, its job is to remove that voltage. Your voltage regulator thinks it has a more complicated job to do and charges your batteries in a more sophisticated way in an attempt to make them last longer or to deal with more temperamental batteries. The voltage regulator has at least 3 inputs. It needs plus and ground both to work and to know what the battery voltage is. Maybe it thinks it needs separate +12 inputs for the working part and the sensing part. It needs ground, and it needs the output to the alternator. Maybe the regulator has an output to light some warning lamp. Maybe it even sounds your buzzer, I have no idea. It looks like your wiring harness has 6 wires so perhaps they figured out they can only charge $50 per wire so figures out something else they can do, perhaps sense the temperature of the battery. I have no idea why you would need a $300 regulator unless you have some exotic sealed batteries. I have a 3 terminal marine grade regulator that was about $100 but I just have regular marine batteries I bought at Costco. So what can go wrong? Diodes can go bad. The alternator itself could short out (except the company said that never happens). You could have a short somewhere else. Again, it would be very helpful to know which wire was smoking. I am trying to think what could fail and cause the wires to smoke. If it was the field wire, it might be the alternator. If it was the +12 wire, then the regulator is probably shorted. Ground wire, regulator or perhaps the alternator ground is missing, which is unlikely if the starter works but worth checking. Anyway, if you can tell which wire melted I would be curious. Allen On Sat, Jul 26, 2014 at 9:15 AM, John Raxter jr… [at] triad.rr.com [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: Travis, I had some problems with our yanmar starter, and another boat owner, had problem with his alternator on a universal diesel. (Catalina). He located a starter/alternator repair shop that was able to repair each, for a fraction the replacement cost. In my starter, they were able to modify a bushing for the motor to replace a part that was unavailable from yanmar. (Except as a "rebuilt" starter) We have had years of service since the repairs. It may be worthwhile to research a similar shop in your area. No, this was not a "marine" shop. Check in your automotive sections. Or check with local truck/tractor repair shops for a recommendation. Finding the source of the original short will be imperative to prevent similar failures. John Raxter 336-210-8073 (m) On Jul 26, 2014, at 10:45 AM, "'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: Allen, Thanks for the info. The Balmar voltage regulator is clearly blown (a $300+ part!), and I don’t want to replace it until I can find out what caused it to fail. I talked to a Balmar tech rep, and said indicated that there wasn’t a failure mode of the regulator itself (1997 vintage) that would cause this problem. He suggested that I have a was likely a dead short in the system somewhere, and suggested I make sure I have a good ground. Then he made some suggestions on how to check alternator output w/o the regulator, so I can see if I have a blown alternator as well. This will be my next step. Thanks, Travis From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2014 10:08 PM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and white smoke You can safely disconnect the alternator and regulator and run your engine. If you have an electrical oil pressure gauge, whatever short is going on in your electrical system could easily cause the reading on your gauge to be low without the actual oil pressure being low. It could also potentially sound your buzzer but that is more of a long shot. It would really depend on how things are wired up. With a short in the system, some parts of your circuit that should be at 12 volts will be at ground. But the battery is strong enough to keep 12 volts on the rest of the system. That puts 12 volts across some poor wire which then gets very hot and smokes. The point is, if your oil pressure switch is some how connected up to the part that is ground that could complete the buzzer circuit. A little far fetched actually but who knows. The mechanic was correct and that is the next step. Disconnect the alternator and regulator and start up the engine. Allen On Thu, Jul 24, 2014 at 6:32 PM, 'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: Update pm today. Went to the boat with a local outboard mechanic who had an oil pressure gauge. Hooked it up; switched the batteries to “all” and proceeded to start the motor. Then, before we started the engine, the mechanic noticed white smoke from the quarter berth. Looked below and noticed the Balmar ARS III Regulator for the alternator—it was generating white smoke. Switched the batteries to “off.” So the white smoke previously noted was electrical. Noticed softened, smoked plastic on the connectors from the alternator to the regulator. The mechanic said we could disconnect and disconnect the positive cable from the alternator to the batteries and start the engine. Not being an electrical person, I was reluctant to do this. So, now have to run this to ground. Faulty ARS regulator or alternator problem? At any rate, although I don’t know how, perhaps this is related to the low indicated oil pressure problem. They occurred at the same time. Travis From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2014 1:12 PM To: ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and white smoke Hi all, I have a 1986 Cal 33-2 with the engine referenced above. A few days back, I started the engine; it ran smoothly for several minutes, with raw water/exhaust exiting the stern as normal. Then, I heard the buzzer and saw white smoke coming out from under the starboard quarterberth cushions. I shut the engine down. The engine panel showed the low oil pressure light on. I’ve not run the engine since, but have changed oil/oil filter. The oil looked normal, and I did not notice anything abnormal about the filter, although I need to cut it open and see what I find. As well, the coolant in the heat exchanger looks OK. The exhaust system runs, on the other side of the plywood, along the quarterberth. An initial check of the muffler and exhaust hose did not reveal any splits or leaks. Diesel mechanics are scarce here, but I have an outboard mechanic coming over who has an oil pressure gauge, so we can check the true oil pressure. As an FYI, a few months back, I replaced the impeller on the raw water pump, and had to remove the front of the heat exchanger to check for rubber vane parts. But, I put it back together with new O ring, and the engine has run three-four times since then without incident, so I don’t know if this could have any impact on my problem. Does anyone have any ideas of potential causes of this problem? Thanks, Travis Porter 1986 CAL 33-2 “Vital”

If it is true that most of the damage was on the blue wire then that would indicate a bad alternator. Basically, the regulator can put 12V or nothing or ground on the field winding and all those possibilities should be just fine for the alternator. In other words, the system should be happy no matter what the regulator puts on the alternator field winding. On the other hand, the regulator wants to see a field coil there and if it sees a short instead, it might toast the wire. You should be able to take an ohm meter and measure the resistance of the field winding. It should be a few ohms. Maybe Balmar can tell you the number for your alternator. If it is less than 3 ohms, for sure call Balmar and get the spec from them. As far as your ground goes, if you smoked the blue wire, ground should not matter as again, no matter what is connected to the blue wire, no smoke would be expected. Unless you hooked it up to your 110V system ;-) On Sun, Jul 27, 2014 at 7:56 PM, 'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > Allen, > > Thanks for the very helpful information. The boat has had two POs, and > one installed gel batteries many years back and the upgraded 100 amp Balmar > Alternator coupled to this Balmar ARTS III voltage regulator (not > necessarily at same time as batteries). The regulator is one of these > devices with an aluminum case that is filled with epoxy(?) resin and has > five male Ford type terminals protruding from the epoxy. As well, there is > an alternator harness with color coded wires and corresponding labels on > the regulator. They are black (grounds-2 wires), red (batt/sense—this > connects to the battery selector switch), brown (labeled “+ switch”), and > blue (field). I’m at home now and don’t recall where the brown wire went. > The male connectors for the blue and brown wires are adjacent on the > regulator, and the most damage appears to be to the blue connector, with > the brown one damaged some as well. This regulator has a diagram showing > the times and voltages for delay/bulk/absorb/float, and, I assume, was > selected for the gel batteries. Note that I replaced the gel batteries > with conventional flooded cell deep cycle batteries, and this problem took > placed when I started the engine the first time with the new batteries. I > had previously checked and rechecked that I had the battery cables > installed properly; this was easy to do, because the heavy cables had > assumed a set position over the years, and it would actually be difficult > to cross them. On Saturday, I went to the boat and verified tight > connections of the heavy electrical wires around the > alternator/engine/starter. I also switched the batteries on and verified > 12 volts at the alternator (engine not running). Next, I traced the heavy > black cable back to the battery bank and discovered that the wing nut > securing this cable to the terminal was not really tight. It was tight > enough to show 12 volts back at the alternator, but was a bit loose. > Don’t know if this could have been a problem or not. Anyway, it is tight > now. I noticed in the manual for the alternator/regulator that it lists > six common system problems responsible for charging system problems. No. 1 > is, in large bold type “Bad ground somewhere in the system.” I don’t know > if my slightly loose wire classifies or not, and if this could cause the > problem. > > > > John, Thanks for the tip on getting starters/alternators overhauled. > If the alternator is bad, I’ll look to get it repaired. > > > > Travis > > > > Travis > > > > > > > > *From:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] > *Sent:* Saturday, July 26, 2014 11:55 AM > > *To:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > *Subject:* Re: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and > white smoke > > > > > > I am suspicious of the comment that it could not have been the regulator. > It would help to know which wire smoked. > > > > A little theory in case you are interested. Pass a wire through a > magnetic field and you will get a current in the wire. An alternator just > has a bunch of wires that spin inside another bunch of wires. Spin it and > nothing happens as there is no magnetic field. If you apply 12 volts to > that other bunch of wires, the field windings, you get a magnetic field and > the alternator starts to put out current. Because of the spinning, you get > an alternating current out. Positive first comes out of one of the wires, > then the other. Because you want DC out of the thing, they put in diodes > that steer the positive current from whichever end of the wire it is coming > out of to the positive terminal on the alternator. The job of the voltage > regulator is to apply that 12 volts to the field wire. When the battery > voltage gets to 14 volts, its job is to remove that voltage. Your voltage > regulator thinks it has a more complicated job to do and charges your > batteries in a more sophisticated way in an attempt to make them last > longer or to deal with more temperamental batteries. The voltage regulator > has at least 3 inputs. It needs plus and ground both to work and to know > what the battery voltage is. Maybe it thinks it needs separate +12 inputs > for the working part and the sensing part. It needs ground, and it needs > the output to the alternator. Maybe the regulator has an output to light > some warning lamp. Maybe it even sounds your buzzer, I have no idea. It > looks like your wiring harness has 6 wires so perhaps they figured out they > can only charge $50 per wire so figures out something else they can do, > perhaps sense the temperature of the battery. I have no idea why you would > need a $300 regulator unless you have some exotic sealed batteries. I have > a 3 terminal marine grade regulator that was about $100 but I just have > regular marine batteries I bought at Costco. > > > > So what can go wrong? Diodes can go bad. The alternator itself could > short out (except the company said that never happens). You could have a > short somewhere else. Again, it would be very helpful to know which wire > was smoking. I am trying to think what could fail and cause the wires to > smoke. If it was the field wire, it might be the alternator. If it was > the +12 wire, then the regulator is probably shorted. Ground wire, > regulator or perhaps the alternator ground is missing, which is unlikely if > the starter works but worth checking. Anyway, if you can tell which wire > melted I would be curious. > > > > Allen > > > > On Sat, Jul 26, 2014 at 9:15 AM, John Raxter jr… [at] triad.rr.com > [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > > Travis, > > > > I had some problems with our yanmar starter, and another boat owner, had > problem with his alternator on a universal diesel. (Catalina). > > > > He located a starter/alternator repair shop that was able to repair each, > for a fraction the replacement cost. In my starter, they were able to > modify a bushing for the motor to replace a part that was unavailable from > yanmar. (Except as a "rebuilt" starter) > > > > We have had years of service since the repairs. > > > > It may be worthwhile to research a similar shop in your area. No, this was > not a "marine" shop. Check in your automotive sections. Or check with local > truck/tractor repair shops for a recommendation. > > > > Finding the source of the original short will be imperative to prevent > similar failures. > > > > > John Raxter > > 336-210-8073 (m) > > > On Jul 26, 2014, at 10:45 AM, "'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net > [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > > Allen, > > Thanks for the info. The Balmar voltage regulator is clearly blown (a > $300+ part!), and I don’t want to replace it until I can find out what > caused it to fail. I talked to a Balmar tech rep, and said indicated that > there wasn’t a failure mode of the regulator itself (1997 vintage) that > would cause this problem. He suggested that I have a was likely a dead > short in the system somewhere, and suggested I make sure I have a good > ground. Then he made some suggestions on how to check alternator output > w/o the regulator, so I can see if I have a blown alternator as well. > This will be my next step. > > Thanks, > > Travis > > > > *From:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>] > *Sent:* Thursday, July 24, 2014 10:08 PM > *To:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > *Subject:* Re: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and > white smoke > > > > > > You can safely disconnect the alternator and regulator and run your > engine. If you have an electrical oil pressure gauge, whatever short is > going on in your electrical system could easily cause the reading on your > gauge to be low without the actual oil pressure being low. It could also > potentially sound your buzzer but that is more of a long shot. It would > really depend on how things are wired up. With a short in the system, some > parts of your circuit that should be at 12 volts will be at ground. But > the battery is strong enough to keep 12 volts on the rest of the system. > That puts 12 volts across some poor wire which then gets very hot and > smokes. The point is, if your oil pressure switch is some how connected up > to the part that is ground that could complete the buzzer circuit. A > little far fetched actually but who knows. > > > > The mechanic was correct and that is the next step. Disconnect the > alternator and regulator and start up the engine. > > > > Allen > > > > On Thu, Jul 24, 2014 at 6:32 PM, 'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net > [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > > Update pm today. Went to the boat with a local outboard mechanic who had > an oil pressure gauge. Hooked it up; switched the batteries to “all” and > proceeded to start the motor. Then, before we started the engine, the > mechanic noticed white smoke from the quarter berth. Looked below and > noticed the Balmar ARS III Regulator for the alternator—it was generating > white smoke. Switched the batteries to “off.” So the white smoke > previously noted was electrical. Noticed softened, smoked plastic on the > connectors from the alternator to the regulator. The mechanic said we > could disconnect and disconnect the positive cable from the alternator to > the batteries and start the engine. Not being an electrical person, I was > reluctant to do this. So, now have to run this to ground. Faulty ARS > regulator or alternator problem? At any rate, although I don’t know how, > perhaps this is related to the low indicated oil pressure problem. They > occurred at the same time. > > Travis > > > > *From:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] > > *Sent:* Thursday, July 24, 2014 1:12 PM > *To:* ca… [at] yahoogroups.com > > *Subject:* [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and > white smoke > > > > > > Hi all, > > I have a 1986 Cal 33-2 with the engine referenced above. A few days back, > I started the engine; it ran smoothly for several minutes, with raw > water/exhaust exiting the stern as normal. Then, I heard the buzzer and > saw white smoke coming out from under the starboard quarterberth cushions. > I shut the engine down. The engine panel showed the low oil pressure light > on. I’ve not run the engine since, but have changed oil/oil filter. The > oil looked normal, and I did not notice anything abnormal about the filter, > although I need to cut it open and see what I find. As well, the coolant > in the heat exchanger looks OK. The exhaust system runs, on the other side > of the plywood, along the quarterberth. An initial check of the muffler > and exhaust hose did not reveal any splits or leaks. Diesel mechanics are > scarce here, but I have an outboard mechanic coming over who has an oil > pressure gauge, so we can check the true oil pressure. As an FYI, a few > months back, I replaced the impeller on the raw water pump, and had to > remove the front of the heat exchanger to check for rubber vane parts. > But, I put it back together with new O ring, and the engine has run > three-four times since then without incident, so I don’t know if this could > have any impact on my problem. Does anyone have any ideas of potential > causes of this problem? > > Thanks, > > Travis Porter > > 1986 CAL 33-2 “Vital” > > > > > > > > >

I should have added that it could be a bad wiring harness. That would be the best case and seems just as likely as a bad alternator. At least you can hope that is what it is. On Jul 27, 2014 9:26 PM, "Allen Edwards" <al… [at] gmail.com> wrote: > If it is true that most of the damage was on the blue wire then that would > indicate a bad alternator. Basically, the regulator can put 12V or nothing > or ground on the field winding and all those possibilities should be just > fine for the alternator. In other words, the system should be happy no > matter what the regulator puts on the alternator field winding. On the > other hand, the regulator wants to see a field coil there and if it sees a > short instead, it might toast the wire. You should be able to take an ohm > meter and measure the resistance of the field winding. It should be a few > ohms. Maybe Balmar can tell you the number for your alternator. If it is > less than 3 ohms, for sure call Balmar and get the spec from them. > > As far as your ground goes, if you smoked the blue wire, ground should > not matter as again, no matter what is connected to the blue wire, no smoke > would be expected. Unless you hooked it up to your 110V system ;-) > > > On Sun, Jul 27, 2014 at 7:56 PM, 'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net > [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > >> >> >> Allen, >> >> Thanks for the very helpful information. The boat has had two POs, and >> one installed gel batteries many years back and the upgraded 100 amp Balmar >> Alternator coupled to this Balmar ARTS III voltage regulator (not >> necessarily at same time as batteries). The regulator is one of these >> devices with an aluminum case that is filled with epoxy(?) resin and has >> five male Ford type terminals protruding from the epoxy. As well, there is >> an alternator harness with color coded wires and corresponding labels on >> the regulator. They are black (grounds-2 wires), red (batt/sense—this >> connects to the battery selector switch), brown (labeled “+ switch”), and >> blue (field). I’m at home now and don’t recall where the brown wire went. >> The male connectors for the blue and brown wires are adjacent on the >> regulator, and the most damage appears to be to the blue connector, with >> the brown one damaged some as well. This regulator has a diagram showing >> the times and voltages for delay/bulk/absorb/float, and, I assume, was >> selected for the gel batteries. Note that I replaced the gel batteries >> with conventional flooded cell deep cycle batteries, and this problem took >> placed when I started the engine the first time with the new batteries. I >> had previously checked and rechecked that I had the battery cables >> installed properly; this was easy to do, because the heavy cables had >> assumed a set position over the years, and it would actually be difficult >> to cross them. On Saturday, I went to the boat and verified tight >> connections of the heavy electrical wires around the >> alternator/engine/starter. I also switched the batteries on and verified >> 12 volts at the alternator (engine not running). Next, I traced the heavy >> black cable back to the battery bank and discovered that the wing nut >> securing this cable to the terminal was not really tight. It was tight >> enough to show 12 volts back at the alternator, but was a bit loose. >> Don’t know if this could have been a problem or not. Anyway, it is tight >> now. I noticed in the manual for the alternator/regulator that it lists >> six common system problems responsible for charging system problems. No. 1 >> is, in large bold type “Bad ground somewhere in the system.” I don’t know >> if my slightly loose wire classifies or not, and if this could cause the >> problem. >> >> >> >> John, Thanks for the tip on getting starters/alternators overhauled. >> If the alternator is bad, I’ll look to get it repaired. >> >> >> >> Travis >> >> >> >> Travis >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> *From:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] >> *Sent:* Saturday, July 26, 2014 11:55 AM >> >> *To:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com >> *Subject:* Re: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and >> white smoke >> >> >> >> >> >> I am suspicious of the comment that it could not have been the regulator. >> It would help to know which wire smoked. >> >> >> >> A little theory in case you are interested. Pass a wire through a >> magnetic field and you will get a current in the wire. An alternator just >> has a bunch of wires that spin inside another bunch of wires. Spin it and >> nothing happens as there is no magnetic field. If you apply 12 volts to >> that other bunch of wires, the field windings, you get a magnetic field and >> the alternator starts to put out current. Because of the spinning, you get >> an alternating current out. Positive first comes out of one of the wires, >> then the other. Because you want DC out of the thing, they put in diodes >> that steer the positive current from whichever end of the wire it is coming >> out of to the positive terminal on the alternator. The job of the voltage >> regulator is to apply that 12 volts to the field wire. When the battery >> voltage gets to 14 volts, its job is to remove that voltage. Your voltage >> regulator thinks it has a more complicated job to do and charges your >> batteries in a more sophisticated way in an attempt to make them last >> longer or to deal with more temperamental batteries. The voltage regulator >> has at least 3 inputs. It needs plus and ground both to work and to know >> what the battery voltage is. Maybe it thinks it needs separate +12 inputs >> for the working part and the sensing part. It needs ground, and it needs >> the output to the alternator. Maybe the regulator has an output to light >> some warning lamp. Maybe it even sounds your buzzer, I have no idea. It >> looks like your wiring harness has 6 wires so perhaps they figured out they >> can only charge $50 per wire so figures out something else they can do, >> perhaps sense the temperature of the battery. I have no idea why you would >> need a $300 regulator unless you have some exotic sealed batteries. I have >> a 3 terminal marine grade regulator that was about $100 but I just have >> regular marine batteries I bought at Costco. >> >> >> >> So what can go wrong? Diodes can go bad. The alternator itself could >> short out (except the company said that never happens). You could have a >> short somewhere else. Again, it would be very helpful to know which wire >> was smoking. I am trying to think what could fail and cause the wires to >> smoke. If it was the field wire, it might be the alternator. If it was >> the +12 wire, then the regulator is probably shorted. Ground wire, >> regulator or perhaps the alternator ground is missing, which is unlikely if >> the starter works but worth checking. Anyway, if you can tell which wire >> melted I would be curious. >> >> >> >> Allen >> >> >> >> On Sat, Jul 26, 2014 at 9:15 AM, John Raxter jr… [at] triad.rr.com >> [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: >> >> >> >> Travis, >> >> >> >> I had some problems with our yanmar starter, and another boat owner, had >> problem with his alternator on a universal diesel. (Catalina). >> >> >> >> He located a starter/alternator repair shop that was able to repair each, >> for a fraction the replacement cost. In my starter, they were able to >> modify a bushing for the motor to replace a part that was unavailable from >> yanmar. (Except as a "rebuilt" starter) >> >> >> >> We have had years of service since the repairs. >> >> >> >> It may be worthwhile to research a similar shop in your area. No, this >> was not a "marine" shop. Check in your automotive sections. Or check with >> local truck/tractor repair shops for a recommendation. >> >> >> >> Finding the source of the original short will be imperative to prevent >> similar failures. >> >> >> >> >> John Raxter >> >> 336-210-8073 (m) >> >> >> On Jul 26, 2014, at 10:45 AM, "'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net >> [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: >> >> >> >> Allen, >> >> Thanks for the info. The Balmar voltage regulator is clearly blown (a >> $300+ part!), and I don’t want to replace it until I can find out what >> caused it to fail. I talked to a Balmar tech rep, and said indicated that >> there wasn’t a failure mode of the regulator itself (1997 vintage) that >> would cause this problem. He suggested that I have a was likely a dead >> short in the system somewhere, and suggested I make sure I have a good >> ground. Then he made some suggestions on how to check alternator output >> w/o the regulator, so I can see if I have a blown alternator as well. >> This will be my next step. >> >> Thanks, >> >> Travis >> >> >> >> *From:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com >> <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>] >> *Sent:* Thursday, July 24, 2014 10:08 PM >> *To:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com >> *Subject:* Re: [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and >> white smoke >> >> >> >> >> >> You can safely disconnect the alternator and regulator and run your >> engine. If you have an electrical oil pressure gauge, whatever short is >> going on in your electrical system could easily cause the reading on your >> gauge to be low without the actual oil pressure being low. It could also >> potentially sound your buzzer but that is more of a long shot. It would >> really depend on how things are wired up. With a short in the system, some >> parts of your circuit that should be at 12 volts will be at ground. But >> the battery is strong enough to keep 12 volts on the rest of the system. >> That puts 12 volts across some poor wire which then gets very hot and >> smokes. The point is, if your oil pressure switch is some how connected up >> to the part that is ground that could complete the buzzer circuit. A >> little far fetched actually but who knows. >> >> >> >> The mechanic was correct and that is the next step. Disconnect the >> alternator and regulator and start up the engine. >> >> >> >> Allen >> >> >> >> On Thu, Jul 24, 2014 at 6:32 PM, 'Travis Porter' tr… [at] sbcglobal.net >> [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: >> >> >> >> Update pm today. Went to the boat with a local outboard mechanic who had >> an oil pressure gauge. Hooked it up; switched the batteries to “all” and >> proceeded to start the motor. Then, before we started the engine, the >> mechanic noticed white smoke from the quarter berth. Looked below and >> noticed the Balmar ARS III Regulator for the alternator—it was generating >> white smoke. Switched the batteries to “off.” So the white smoke >> previously noted was electrical. Noticed softened, smoked plastic on the >> connectors from the alternator to the regulator. The mechanic said we >> could disconnect and disconnect the positive cable from the alternator to >> the batteries and start the engine. Not being an electrical person, I was >> reluctant to do this. So, now have to run this to ground. Faulty ARS >> regulator or alternator problem? At any rate, although I don’t know how, >> perhaps this is related to the low indicated oil pressure problem. They >> occurred at the same time. >> >> Travis >> >> >> >> *From:* Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] >> >> *Sent:* Thursday, July 24, 2014 1:12 PM >> *To:* ca… [at] yahoogroups.com >> >> *Subject:* [Cal_Boats] 1986 Yanmar 3GM30F Low Oil Pressure Light and >> white smoke >> >> >> >> >> >> Hi all, >> >> I have a 1986 Cal 33-2 with the engine referenced above. A few days back, >> I started the engine; it ran smoothly for several minutes, with raw >> water/exhaust exiting the stern as normal. Then, I heard the buzzer and >> saw white smoke coming out from under the starboard quarterberth cushions. >> I shut the engine down. The engine panel showed the low oil pressure light >> on. I’ve not run the engine since, but have changed oil/oil filter. The >> oil looked normal, and I did not notice anything abnormal about the filter, >> although I need to cut it open and see what I find. As well, the coolant >> in the heat exchanger looks OK. The exhaust system runs, on the other side >> of the plywood, along the quarterberth. An initial check of the muffler >> and exhaust hose did not reveal any splits or leaks. Diesel mechanics are >> scarce here, but I have an outboard mechanic coming over who has an oil >> pressure gauge, so we can check the true oil pressure. As an FYI, a few >> months back, I replaced the impeller on the raw water pump, and had to >> remove the front of the heat exchanger to check for rubber vane parts. >> But, I put it back together with new O ring, and the engine has run >> three-four times since then without incident, so I don’t know if this could >> have any impact on my problem. Does anyone have any ideas of potential >> causes of this problem? >> >> Thanks, >> >> Travis Porter >> >> 1986 CAL 33-2 “Vital” >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > >