A southerly gale blew through yesterday whilst we were safely tied up on the pontoon in Maniitsoq. Surf was crashing on the rocks at the harbour entrance so we were glad to set about our shore based jobs.
The generator needed some TLC. It had kept the batteries generously charged since our arrival but it faded away a few minutes after starting it on Tuesday night. Was it fuel, coolant, air or another faulty sensor? I spent most of the night thinking it over and attacked first thing Wednesday morning whilst the boat swayed with the wind.
First I drained some fuel from the fuel separator to make sure we hadn't got some contaminated fuel. The fuel looked fine. Then I inspected the filter at the generator's external fuel pump and that looked good too. Then I tested the voltage across the terminals on the fuel pump. 0 volts with generator ignition on rising to 0.3 volts when the starter motor was running. So fuel definitely wasn't getting to the engine due to an electrical problem.
The generator has a relay that controls the fuel pump and as I had spare relays on board the easiest thing to do was to fit a new relay.
To my surprise and Sally's amazement the engine purred into life and electricity was restored. I am sure Sally remains convinced it was a miracle!