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Electrical Leak??

willow

willow

Regular Contributor
Twin Crusader 350s
Between the engines is a Westerbeke 7.0 Gas Generator, just short of the firewall
Between the Westerbeke and the Transom are two stacked 8D house batteries
Between those batteries and the back of the Genset are two 12V standard batteries used for the stern thruster.

Question....
I noticed that on the starboard side of the Genset mounting rail I have a long line of "fuzz"..( you remember that stuff we used to get on car batteries at the terminals and we used to stick a penny in the battery top to attract that stuff away from the terminals??)

Yes there are quite a few electrical connections down there but there are no uncovered battery terminals....anywhere.

Would that line of electrically generated "fuzz" be the result of open spot on a battery cable (perhaps a ground cable)???

Any ideas??
 
On Steel...I think you are correct Dave and it is on the side where the genset mounting bar which has a grounding cable running over and attached to the starboard engine block.

I guess the only option is to check each and every cable "down there".
 
Don:

Your 'fuzz' may look like the lead sulphate frequently found on battery cables but isn't (steel doesn't have enough lead and there shouldn't be any of the hydrogen gas around the steel for any period of time)....I'm with Dave in that its likely due to unwanted current...

taking a sample to the local community college/high school lab may reveal its true composition....and could help in the diagnosis...

In either case, I'd suggest looking for a voltage drop in the ground side of the interconnects...especially around the generator....

going on memory, you are in 'fresh water' so that makes the 'normal causes' we see around the salt all NA....that said, electricity can induce all sorts of chemical reactions, especially when connections have degraded....
 
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