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
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