richardbrennan
Well-Known Member
Sorry I put this on the wrong forum.
You might recall me posting on this topic before, I was having starting problems with a newly installed Volvo D1-30 which appeared to be solved by changing the starter motor. It now appears that I was prematurely optomistic as although the problem has become infrequent it still happened a few weeks ago on a particularly cold morning when the engine had been standing for several days.
What happens is that the start sequence appears to be proceeding normally with the blower coming on when the panel is switched on and the glow sequence is also normal, but when the start button is pressed the panel goes dead and the sequence shuts down almost immediately. What appears to be causing this is a low voltage although the Volvo agents who did the installation appear very vague about whether this is normal on this engine or a fault. If the domestic batteries are introduced into the circuit via the link switch, the engine then starts, pressumably as they help to hold the voltage up.
The start battery is a 105 amp AGM starting battery with thin plates designed for short duration high demand, the domestic batteries are 2X110 amp AGM deep cycle batteries with thick plates. all the batteries are four years old and have been load tested and found OK.
The suspicion is therefore falling on the cabling, the batteries are under the port settee in the saloon and the battery master switches are under the navigators seat at the chart table which is at the rear of the saloon on the starboard side. I estimate the cable run to be about 10 feet. The cable from the master switch to the starter motor goes through the heads around the rear of the engine and back to the starter motor which is on the port side, I estimate this run to be about 13 feet, and finally the cable from the batteries to the earthing point on the engine is about another ten feet. The cable is 4 AWG and I have been advised that this is inadequate for a run of this length and the best solution would be to move the batteries. However, this would be a major undertaking and not something I could consider lightly.
When I started the engine from cold this morning the voltage across the starter motor dropped to less than 8 volts although the battery was fully charged, but the engine did start without any difficulty. I am therefore inclined to think that a fairly modest increase in the starting voltage, whilst not the ideal solution, would probably be enough to eliminate the problem. I am thinking I might therefore go up two sizes in the cables on the engine side of things to 1 AWG and the same with the earth cable to the engine.
My question is would this be adequate and give a worthwhile gain and what thickness of cables are used for bow thrusters which must have the same problem; I would also like a definitive answer as to whether the shutdown of the starting sequence is a feature of some protective circuitry in the D1-30 or a fault?
You might recall me posting on this topic before, I was having starting problems with a newly installed Volvo D1-30 which appeared to be solved by changing the starter motor. It now appears that I was prematurely optomistic as although the problem has become infrequent it still happened a few weeks ago on a particularly cold morning when the engine had been standing for several days.
What happens is that the start sequence appears to be proceeding normally with the blower coming on when the panel is switched on and the glow sequence is also normal, but when the start button is pressed the panel goes dead and the sequence shuts down almost immediately. What appears to be causing this is a low voltage although the Volvo agents who did the installation appear very vague about whether this is normal on this engine or a fault. If the domestic batteries are introduced into the circuit via the link switch, the engine then starts, pressumably as they help to hold the voltage up.
The start battery is a 105 amp AGM starting battery with thin plates designed for short duration high demand, the domestic batteries are 2X110 amp AGM deep cycle batteries with thick plates. all the batteries are four years old and have been load tested and found OK.
The suspicion is therefore falling on the cabling, the batteries are under the port settee in the saloon and the battery master switches are under the navigators seat at the chart table which is at the rear of the saloon on the starboard side. I estimate the cable run to be about 10 feet. The cable from the master switch to the starter motor goes through the heads around the rear of the engine and back to the starter motor which is on the port side, I estimate this run to be about 13 feet, and finally the cable from the batteries to the earthing point on the engine is about another ten feet. The cable is 4 AWG and I have been advised that this is inadequate for a run of this length and the best solution would be to move the batteries. However, this would be a major undertaking and not something I could consider lightly.
When I started the engine from cold this morning the voltage across the starter motor dropped to less than 8 volts although the battery was fully charged, but the engine did start without any difficulty. I am therefore inclined to think that a fairly modest increase in the starting voltage, whilst not the ideal solution, would probably be enough to eliminate the problem. I am thinking I might therefore go up two sizes in the cables on the engine side of things to 1 AWG and the same with the earth cable to the engine.
My question is would this be adequate and give a worthwhile gain and what thickness of cables are used for bow thrusters which must have the same problem; I would also like a definitive answer as to whether the shutdown of the starting sequence is a feature of some protective circuitry in the D1-30 or a fault?
