Volvo I-30 15 amp fuse on circuit board blowing

[Winston]

The 15 amp fuse on the circuit board located in the black box on the port side of the DI-30 engine on my EC-21blew initially. After replacing fuse, the board smoked and got extremely hot. Turned off both batteries. Volvo replaced board and ran fine. Next use, fuse blew again. Any suggestions on problem. Prior to delivery (new owner) temp, oil pressure, and amp.gauges installed by selling marina. Also installed raw water flow alarm. Thanks.

 

[SGIDAVE]

The 15 amp fuse on the circuit board located in the black box on the port side of the DI-30 engine on my EC-21blew initially. After replacing fuse, the board smoked and got extremely hot. Turned off both batteries. Volvo replaced board and ran fine. Next use, fuse blew again. Any suggestions on problem. Prior to delivery (new owner) temp, oil pressure, and amp.gauges installed by selling marina. Also installed raw water flow alarm. Thanks.

Hello Winston,

WELCOME to Tugnuts! The 21EC is a great boat you will REALLY enjoy...especially after you get the bugs worked out

My advise is to take the boat back to the dealer. On the surface, this appears to be a "Volvo" problem, however, your dealer installed extra gauges which means they worked the engine. They should be able to coordinate needed repairs. A call to the factory would be good too so that they are kept abreast of problems. The Volvo D1 is a relatively new engine for Ranger Tugs. The 21EC started using that engine in model year 2014. I've not heard nor recall any posts to Tugnuts describing a problem with engine fuses blowing.

There was actual SMOKE? Did your engine gauges look OK when that happened? Does the engine continue to run when the fuse blows?

There is a LOT of interest in adding engine gauges to the 21EC. If you can post pics of your installation that would be great.

dave

Definitely post back to this thread regarding resolution of the problem.

 

[Winston]

Dave - Thanks for your Welcome and response. There was enough smoke coming out of the black box to.run for the fire extinguisher. When the fuse blew, I could not turn the engine.off.because the engine panel was not functioning. Had to use the yellow Stop lever. Volvo is returning to look at the boat but they think it may be related to the gauges. Since the gauges.worked for the first 20 hrs without blowing the fuse/board, the dealer thinks it is a Volvo problem. Unfortunately the boat is located about 2 hrs from the dealer and the Volvo rep. Thought I would see if anyone else.had the problem.

 

[CAPTCRUNCH]

Totally uninformed speculation suggests that it's the wrong ammeter, it's wired wrong, or both. VP's specs show the alternator on that engine can produce up to 115 amps, too many of which going through the wrong wire would create a toaster element and either a blown fuse or smoke or worse. The output varies with the demand from the batteries (and other 12v users). A fully charged battery draws very few amps; a discharged battery wants all the alternator can push out, all of which might explain why everything ran fine for a while until too many amps were in play. Of course, I could be completely wrong. We'll be anxious to see the end of the story. Good luck.

 

[SGIDAVE]

Dave - Thanks for your Welcome and response. There was enough smoke coming out of the black box to.run for the fire extinguisher. When the fuse blew, I could not turn the engine.off.because the engine panel was not functioning. Had to use the yellow Stop lever. Volvo is returning to look at the boat but they think it may be related to the gauges. Since the gauges.worked for the first 20 hrs without blowing the fuse/board, the dealer thinks it is a Volvo problem. Unfortunately the boat is located about 2 hrs from the dealer and the Volvo rep. Thought I would see if anyone else.had the problem.

Oh man that's a bummer. The dealer points at Volvo; Volvo points at the dealer. Well, maybe someone will respond to your thread with a solution.

Something is shorting out to cause the fuse to blow. I don't know what the problem is, but, hey it's a boat. Everything works until it doesn't. Just because the gauges worked for the first 20 hours doesn't mean they ARE NOT the problem now. How many gauge installations has that dealer done on the D1?

There is a recent thread about the D1 chafing it's hoses (viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6555)...could one or some of the new gauge wiring have become chafed so that it is now causing a short? At this point, before I would believe a technician (saying everything is A-OK) at the dealer or from Volvo, I'd put on my headlight and crawl around the engine and peripherals and see if any wiring looks loose, pinched or chafed. Look up at the panel from inside the console too; the gauge installation may have it's power coming from a switched source at the ignition switch. My Yanmar panel comes out with a few screws so I could look at it from above - maybe your Volvo panel is similar.

dave