February 12, 2020
what could be more exciting that a picture of a broken water pump pulley. It was an engine stopper. We were able to source a replacement part from Ben Gartside in Sidney BC and since Spencer was flying down to Cabo he brought it with him. It was installed in Cabo by noble crewmate Gerry Weisgerber and voila, the engine worked again.
Next step has been to repair the inverter than quit shortly after the engine overheated and we resorted to charging our batteries with the Honda Generator. Since the engine overheated at 3 in the morning we relied on the batteries to get us through the night and fired up the generator when daylight cane.
Inverter/ charger control worked initially but eventually gave us the “can’t charge a dead battery” message. Even on shore power in Cabo we couldn’t persuade the controller to change its mind and let the batteries charge. We tested the batteries in mid afternoon and they measured 12 bolts so it seemed that the charger portion of the charger inverter was working just not the inverter. Little did we know that the batteries were only being charged by the solar panels.
So today in La Paz Will the electrician stepped on board to trouble shoot the Magnum inverter. He quickly diagnosed one core problem, although over time each day the batteries could recharge to near full status using the solar panels but didn’t retain the charge. Will stress tested the batteries under simulated load and we discovered that the batteries were actually worn out.
Once the batteries were replaced we found another problem, the 250 amp fuse between the batteries and the inverter had blown. That likely happened when the very tired batteries were drained all night. Now with fuse replaced and a spare in the fuse kit it’s all working again !