Alternator very hot, funky smell & smoke

[srgentpepr]

Hi

I was having an issue with one of my engines (Volvo Penta 5.7 GSI). The alternator had a funky smell, smoke & very hot, it was only 2 years old. I replaced it thinking it was bad, well the brand new one did the same thing right away. My question is, anyone have any idea what might be going on?

Any help would be much appreciated

Todd

 

[alldodge]

I would start with checking your batteries, voltage and load testing. You might have one with a dead cell

 

[Silvertip]

And what was the voltmeter reading prior to, during, and after this was happened. Gauges are provided for a reason and they must be monitored often or you end up with very expensive repairs.

 

[srgentpepr]

volt meters on both engines when running are between 12 to 14 volts. Batteries are on their 3 season, all 3 batteries drained all the way down due to leaving power switches all on in parallel with lights turned on for a couple of days. That's when I decided to start and run the boat to recharge the batteries and the smell & smoke issue appeared. the batteries all prior to starting were at around 9 volts, I pulled one out brought it up to the house, put it on a charger for 3 hours. Installed it back on the boat, both engines were running to charge batteries when the issue popped up again. only the one engine alternator is doing the the other is fine.

 

[sam am I]

Some alternator's, depending on the alternator manu/type/age etc, etc, have overload protection (charging 3 dead batt's in parallel c/would be the wiki definition of "overloading") built-in to prevent this from happening....Yours didn't sounds. Probably should replace the stinky one for sure and test the other at the least..The smell is probably burnt enamel from the winding's/wires and perhaps diode's....

 

[alldodge]

all 3 batteries drained all the way down

When you drain a battery all the way down you basically kill it, and it would be a very rare occurrence if even one of them could be recharged. The reason the ALT is getting hot is that it is trying real hard to charge a dead battery. Just replace the bats

 

[Scott Danforth]

volt meters on both engines when running are between 12 to 14 volts. Batteries are on their 3 season, all 3 batteries drained all the way down due to leaving power switches all on in parallel with lights turned on for a couple of days. That's when I decided to start and run the boat to recharge the batteries and the smell & smoke issue appeared. the batteries all prior to starting were at around 9 volts, I pulled one out brought it up to the house, put it on a charger for 3 hours. Installed it back on the boat, both engines were running to charge batteries when the issue popped up again. only the one engine alternator is doing the the other is fine.

12 volts is a discharged battery. Below 12 bolts is either a severly discharged battery or a battery with a dead cell

 

[bruceb58]

Charge up the batteries with a charger...let them sit for 30 minutes...check their voltage.

Your alternator does not have an overload protection.

 

[srgentpepr]

I replace all 3 batteries with new ones, problem is gone!