Northern Lights Gen no power

[Eder]

Some friends of mine are offshore heading Hawaii to BC...the 6kw NL generator stopped on its own... when they went to start it there is no power to the gloplug and starter switches. Any ideas?

[smac999]

Is there power at the starter motor? There is probably a fuse or breaker between the starter and the switch panel.

[Eder]

I did pass on to check any DC breakers...haven't heard back.

[Eder]

We think the issue is the DC Circuit breaker, #16 in the manual. When we push it to engage it clicks off whenever we engage the glo plugs. We do get a flash of power to the starter instrument panel and then the DC Circuit breaker disengages.



No idea if bypassing the breaker is a good idea yet.

[Lepke]

You may have a short in the glow plug circuit. Disconnect the glow plugs at the plug, see if it still trips. Doesn't trip, probably bad glow plug. Still trips, maybe bad relay or wiring short.

Breakers wear out. If the breaker has tripped a lot, it's probably shot.

[Eder]

I managed to talk to NL support today...they think its a dead short...most likely one of the wiring harnesses.
I think you may be correct.
We got instructions how to start the gen without using controls just in case the crew cant find a short.

[Eder]

Problem solved


We removed the control panel from the nav station and hooked up to the plug at the genset and it worked. So I guess it is a problem with the cable from the nav station to the genset.


Oh...I guess the guys dont need to use the swim platform bidet anymore lol.

[BillKny]

Originally Posted by Eder

No idea if bypassing the breaker is a good idea yet.

This is NEVER a good idea! Ever. Never. Don’t even think about it.