Envoy is currently in Dubrovnik Marina.
This unusual cruise ship was anchored off Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik from the sea as Envoy cruises past
This reproduced galleon takes tourists sightseeing
We left our mooring in Uvala Tiha in perfect conditions to cruise around the nearby Elaphite Islands, but we were only about 15 minutes into our trip when we both heard an unusual rattling noise from the engine room. I say “both” because sometimes it’s easy to imagine you hear some different sound, but there was no doubting this one. I stopped the engine to look for a cause but could find nothing, and when I re-started the engine the noise seemed to have gone – all good! A few minutes later I heard the urgent beep of the engine room smoke detector, and on poking my head into the engine room could definitely smell something different – just a hot smell. I grabbed our infra-red pyrometer to check temperatures in different areas of the engine room and found the Seapower alternator’s case reading about 105dC whereas it normally reads about 65dC. I came up to the pilothouse and shut the Seapower down – that means I stopped it producing power, although since the unit is engine-driven by vee belts it was still turning over. Then the smoke alarm sounded again and I rushed back to the engine room to see flames in the entrance way. I quickly determined that what was on fire was a hat that I leave in the engine room and wear to protect my head from bumps in the restricted engine room space. I grabbed the hat and snuffed the flames out, then peered into the engine room to see if there were more flames – fortunately there weren’t. What had happened was the Seapower alternator was emitting hot sparks (actually pieces of red-hot metal) and one of them landed on the hat, setting it alight.
We quickly shut down the main engine to stop the Seapower alternator from turning, started the Yanmar wing engine to get us moving again and headed for a sheltered bay on nearby Kolocep Island. There I was able to remove the vee belts and isolate the alternator. After that I checked the alternator, finding that the drive pulley would hardly turn at all – indicating failed bearings. I have to say the incident was a bit scary, and later a couple of strong rums and coke were called for.
What the Seapower alternator does is enable the main engine to deliver 115 volts AC current through a special in-line inverter, so that we can run the refrigerator / freezer while under-way. Without it, we have to run our generator to produce 115 volts AC.
The next day we returned to Dubrovnik Marina to remove the alternator and get it checked, and it has since been repaired at a cost of 600 Euros (about NZ$1,000) and awaits re-installation. In analyzing this problem, it’s at least nine years since the alternator was serviced, and this is too long – in future we’ll disassemble and check it every four or five years.
TECHNICAL – see above
This unusual cruise ship was anchored off Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik from the sea as Envoy cruises past
This reproduced galleon takes tourists sightseeing
We left our mooring in Uvala Tiha in perfect conditions to cruise around the nearby Elaphite Islands, but we were only about 15 minutes into our trip when we both heard an unusual rattling noise from the engine room. I say “both” because sometimes it’s easy to imagine you hear some different sound, but there was no doubting this one. I stopped the engine to look for a cause but could find nothing, and when I re-started the engine the noise seemed to have gone – all good! A few minutes later I heard the urgent beep of the engine room smoke detector, and on poking my head into the engine room could definitely smell something different – just a hot smell. I grabbed our infra-red pyrometer to check temperatures in different areas of the engine room and found the Seapower alternator’s case reading about 105dC whereas it normally reads about 65dC. I came up to the pilothouse and shut the Seapower down – that means I stopped it producing power, although since the unit is engine-driven by vee belts it was still turning over. Then the smoke alarm sounded again and I rushed back to the engine room to see flames in the entrance way. I quickly determined that what was on fire was a hat that I leave in the engine room and wear to protect my head from bumps in the restricted engine room space. I grabbed the hat and snuffed the flames out, then peered into the engine room to see if there were more flames – fortunately there weren’t. What had happened was the Seapower alternator was emitting hot sparks (actually pieces of red-hot metal) and one of them landed on the hat, setting it alight.
We quickly shut down the main engine to stop the Seapower alternator from turning, started the Yanmar wing engine to get us moving again and headed for a sheltered bay on nearby Kolocep Island. There I was able to remove the vee belts and isolate the alternator. After that I checked the alternator, finding that the drive pulley would hardly turn at all – indicating failed bearings. I have to say the incident was a bit scary, and later a couple of strong rums and coke were called for.
What the Seapower alternator does is enable the main engine to deliver 115 volts AC current through a special in-line inverter, so that we can run the refrigerator / freezer while under-way. Without it, we have to run our generator to produce 115 volts AC.
The next day we returned to Dubrovnik Marina to remove the alternator and get it checked, and it has since been repaired at a cost of 600 Euros (about NZ$1,000) and awaits re-installation. In analyzing this problem, it’s at least nine years since the alternator was serviced, and this is too long – in future we’ll disassemble and check it every four or five years.
TECHNICAL – see above
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