Boat has been delivered in one piece!

[Carolena]

Congrats! Our NT was also bought in Ft Lauderdale and trucked to us (albeit a much shorter trip up I95 to VA). In addition to the stack and mast, we also had to remove the upper deck rails (ours has the tall rails up top). The TV antenna was under the height restriction, so that stayed on the boat - until it blew off somewhere on I95. Apparently they are not designed for 65 MPH. Also did a lot of the same repairs you are doing. Re the genny, our battery had to be replaced. there is no charger for the genny battery becuase, as I understand, it can interfere with the alternator when the genny is running. If you run the genny a lot, you will be fine, but I do suggest putting a small portable smart charger on the battery every now and again to make sure it gets to full voltage. As for starting, assuming it is the same Northern Lights one we have, make sure you hold the glow plug switch for at least 10-20 seconds before trying to start. That made it much easier to get going once we figured that out. Finally, if you haven't subscribed yet, I strongly suggest joining the SENTOA list serve. It is the most active forum for NT owners, and the factory monitors the list. Best factory support I've ever enountered. I asked a question about wiring in a second chart plotter, and the response from the factory was let us check the original schematic for your boat. the then identified an extra DC wire that was already in place that we could tap into without running any additional wires. And this on a 10 year old boat that we didn't buy from them. Did you get the full factory documentaton, including the pictures of when she was first launched and sea trialed?

 

[C lectric]

You probably know this but When you reassemble the wipers put waterproof [resistant] grease on the hub and spline. you don't need gobs, just wet the mating parts with the grease.
Then they won't freeze like that even if the surronding metal corrodes.

 

[Tunajoe]

Congrats! Our NT was also bought in Ft Lauderdale and trucked to us (albeit a much shorter trip up I95 to VA). In addition to the stack and mast, we also had to remove the upper deck rails (ours has the tall rails up top). The TV antenna was under the height restriction, so that stayed on the boat - until it blew off somewhere on I95. Apparently they are not designed for 65 MPH. Also did a lot of the same repairs you are doing. Re the genny, our battery had to be replaced. there is no charger for the genny battery becuase, as I understand, it can interfere with the alternator when the genny is running. If you run the genny a lot, you will be fine, but I do suggest putting a small portable smart charger on the battery every now and again to make sure it gets to full voltage. As for starting, assuming it is the same Northern Lights one we have, make sure you hold the glow plug switch for at least 10-20 seconds before trying to start. That made it much easier to get going once we figured that out. Finally, if you haven't subscribed yet, I strongly suggest joining the SENTOA list serve. It is the most active forum for NT owners, and the factory monitors the list. Best factory support I've ever enountered. I asked a question about wiring in a second chart plotter, and the response from the factory was let us check the original schematic for your boat. the then identified an extra DC wire that was already in place that we could tap into without running any additional wires. And this on a 10 year old boat that we didn't buy from them. Did you get the full factory documentaton, including the pictures of when she was first launched and sea trialed?

I have the Onan Gen.
I will try holding the glow plug/primer switch for a bit longer.
It starts and then as it starts to rev up, shuts down. Does that everytime.

I did get the factory documentation which was neat! Showed the results of the initial seatrial, etc.
I didn't get any pics though. I'd love to see those.

You probably know this but When you reassemble the wipers put waterproof [resistant] grease on the hub and spline. you don't need gobs, just wet the mating parts with the grease.
Then they won't freeze like that even if the surronding metal corrodes.

I plan on using this product:
TEF-GEL - Ultra safety systems - Home page

In the past, I've always used dielectric grease but plan on using this in the future

 

[Carolena]

On the generator, have you changed the fuel filters? We had similar symptoms last year, and changing the filters curred it. The filters didn't have many hours on them, and the tank fuel was clean, so we assumed it was becuase the generator hadn't really been run in about a year causing the fuel in the filter to go bad. Asside from filters, it could be one of the shutdown sensors. If a sensor, it should run as long as you are holding the override switch during start up, then die as soon as you let the switch go.

Our documentation included a picture of the boat in the slings when it was first launched, as well as one of the shop employees at the helm. It indicated that they invite someone from the shop for each sea trial to given them a sense of what they are working on. The guy who was invited on our boat was from the woodshop. Kind of neat to see the interior all wrapped up in plastic. The original sea trial numbers are a great resource to compare as the boat ages. Until he retired a few years ago, the founder, Jerry Husted, was known to have sea trialed almost every boat that left the factory. Wonderful company.

 

[Tunajoe]

On the generator, have you changed the fuel filters? We had similar symptoms last year, and changing the filters curred it. The filters didn't have many hours on them, and the tank fuel was clean, so we assumed it was becuase the generator hadn't really been run in about a year causing the fuel in the filter to go bad. Asside from filters, it could be one of the shutdown sensors. If a sensor, it should run as long as you are holding the override switch during start up, then die as soon as you let the switch go.

Our documentation included a picture of the boat in the slings when it was first launched, as well as one of the shop employees at the helm. It indicated that they invite someone from the shop for each sea trial to given them a sense of what they are working on. The guy who was invited on our boat was from the woodshop. Kind of neat to see the interior all wrapped up in plastic. The original sea trial numbers are a great resource to compare as the boat ages. Until he retired a few years ago, the founder, Jerry Husted, was known to have sea trialed almost every boat that left the factory. Wonderful company.

The generator ran prior to be shipped. This was part of closing the deal. I had an independent Onan mechanic go to the boat and run it. Plus the broker sent me a short video of it running so I don't think it's bad fuel.

I think it could be some sort of shutdown sensor as you mentioned.
Because it does the same thing every time it starts to rev up.
Where would the override switch be?

Thank you for your help!

 

[dach side]

On my northern lights 4.5k genny, there were 3 sensors: one oil pressure and two temps. The second one was in back of the genny, just before the elbow. Needing to hold the override switch to keep running is proof positive of a failed sensor. On mine they were tied together with a grey wire.

 

[Carolena]

"The generator ran prior to be shipped. This was part of closing the deal. I had an independent Onan mechanic go to the boat and run it. Plus the broker sent me a short video of it running so I don't think it's bad fuel.

I think it could be some sort of shutdown sensor as you mentioned.
Because it does the same thing every time it starts to rev up.
Where would the override switch be?

Thank you for your help! "

Ours ran as well, but after it was delivered the first time we used the genny it shut down after about an hour. Could have been that the filters were getting clogged, or maybe the fuel got stirred up during the trip. Can't hurt to change out the filters.

The override on our Northern Lights is a toggle swich that you hold to heat the glow plugs. There is a second toggle switch that you flip to start the unit, while continuing to hold the overide/glow plug switch. once it starts, you let the overide switch return to its middle position. Both switches are spring loaded so they return to center on their own when you let go. To test the sensors on ours, you would simply continue to hold the override after she starts. If it stops when you let go, that would indicate that one of the sensors is causing the shutdown. Hope this makes sense. Keep us posted.

 

[bligh]

Try holding the glow plug switch another 5 or 10 seconds after she fires up so that the genny warms up enough to combust the fuel on its own. Sometimes i start mine and let go of the glow plug switch too soon and it dies.
Of course make sure your raw water is open too.

 

[Tunajoe]

Well, *ahem*, I was down on the boat today and went down into the ER to see about the generator and as I looked around, I noticed the raw water intake valve to the generator was CLOSED!
I'm not sure how I missed that, but anyways, once I opened that, she started right up.
Where's the "embarrassed " emoticon ?
Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[psneeld]

That's good because there are definite time limits on holding the glow plug switch on many gensets.

The point of holding it is to let oil pressure build and overcome the low oil shutdown safety, not to get the glow plug hotter...especially if it's already started.

If I remember the Onans on the Sea Rays had something like a 10 second limit, anything over that and you may damage the plugs.

Always check each manual to make sure what the proper procedures are and if you are goig to deviate for troubleshooting, that you are creating a bigger problem then when you started.

 

[sunchaser]

Tunajoe

Best you change your genset RW impeller. Since it ran dry even for a few seconds no telling the damage the impeller could have suffered. Be sure the RW pump isn't dripping water, seals can fry too when run dry.

 

[Tunajoe]

Tunajoe

Best you change your genset RW impeller. Since it ran dry even for a few seconds no telling the damage the impeller could have suffered. Be sure the RW pump isn't dripping water, seals can fry too when run dry.

Wow.
Never even thought of that.

I definatly started the gen multiple times ( around 8 times) where it would run from 3-10 seconds.
I'm pissed at myself for not taking a better look.
This will be the 4th impeller change on the generator this year.
Except, looks like I'll be doing this one. And good call on the water pump.
The last mechanic said there was a very small drip from it and it should be changed out in the future.

 

[FlyWright]

Some pumps can be rebuilt to resolve a dripping seal at a fraction of the cost of a new pump. I bought the seal kit for mine and had a local pump repair shop replace the seals that needed to be pressed into place. It cost about $150 vs. $550 for a new pump.

Don't chuck it in the trash too soon.