You didn't mention a solenoid for the glo-plugs. Did i miss that? Without a solenoid for the glo-plugs (and fuel pump) then just as the second article stated (which is supported by your description of the connector) the panel is providing all 24amps of current which is the choke point for the pullin voltage of the starter solenoid. When on the shore power charger you can see voltages of as much as 14.7v which must be high enough to meet the pullin voltage.
The solar charger is intentionally not going to go higher than 13.6v to prevent boiling the batteries off. You might see voltages less than that. Just to reiterate and clarify. You need 2 solenoids, one for the glo-plugs and one for the starter. Also replace the plug when you have a chance. There is a good likelihood that the previous owner experienced the same problem and because of the draw down of the voltage decided to rewire the starting button so that he could glow, release, and then start. Josh On Aug 13, 2015 11:21 AM, "David Knecht via CnC-List" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > We did some more testing yesterday. Batteries fully charged by solar > panel would not start the engine with both buttons held down after 20 > seconds of glow plugs. Started fine with start button alone. Batteries > read about 12.7v and rapidly went down to 12.5 after 15 seconds of glow > plugs. The voltage continued to drop over time as you hold down the glow > plug, so I did not push this for any longer. Fuel pump essentially stopped > when this happened. Plugged into shore power, at first got the same > result. After charging for a few minutes, we were able to start with both > buttons on the first try, but not the second try. After waiting a few > minutes, it again started on the first try and not the second. In general, > there was a correlation that the longer the charge, the longer the glow > plug button could be held in and still get the engine turning with the > start button. When removed from shore power, the battery would rapidly > return to not being able to start with both buttons. It seems clear that > there is not enough power in the batteries to power the glow plugs and > close the solenoid (or turn the starter) at the same time. At one point > we measured 4V at the solenoid with the glow plug button in and the start > button in when it did not turn over. > > Does shore power actually charge the battery to a higher state than the > solar panel? > > One thing I noticed while working in there is the wiring harness > connector. I had read the article that Josh pointed to on Maine Cruising > and while my connector does not look exactly like the one in the picture, > it also does not look good. I tried to get it apart and failed which is > not a good sign, but did not want to force it. I am thinking that a winter > project is going to be to either butt splice all 8 wires or put in a > terminal block as the writer describes (not sure where I would put this). > I also checked the connection to the solenoid and fuse and those looked > fine (cleaned them anyway). > > For now, the answer I am left with is: things work as wired, but not as > well as would be expected. There is a problem, but it is not a big one. Go > sailing. Have fun. Fix the wiring harness and see if that changes > anything. > > Aries > 1990 C&C 34+ > New London, CT > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Email address: > CnC-List@cnc-list.com > To change your list preferences, including unsubscribing -- go to the > bottom of page at: > http://cnc-list.com/mailman/listinfo/cnc-list_cnc-list.com > > >
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