Took Touche' from Mandeville, LA to Pensacola this past weekend. Fairly nice transit with 100% engine assist. We spent 2nd night in marina on ICW. After we returned to boat from a nice dinner, we smelled a weird odor in the boat. Only in the main cabin. Could not locate source until next morning. Dinner may have had effect on investigative skills.
The odor had a sulfide smell. Duh! Ruling out some sort of iron eating bacteria in the bilge I thought "where is only source of sulfur/sulfate/sulfide on the boat?" Batteries, of course. Yup. Cooked off a battery due to low electrolyte level. Darn! Battery was pretty hot to the touch. Second battery in the bank was warm but not hot. I typically get 7+ years out of these batteries (Delco Voyagers) without maintenance. That is, with no addition of electrolyte. However, the recent addition of refrigeration and running it 24/7 had greatly increased the number of charge cycles. I'll replace both batteries. Lesson learned. Check the electrolyte levels frequently if I'm running the refrigeration. Also, lost the temperature gauge for the engine. Sensor tested good. Wire tested good. Grounding the sensor wire showed no movement of the gauge's needle. Dead. Even grounded it on the back of the panel to further eliminate the wire. No movement. (As an engine temp sensor heats up, the resistance decreases. Grounding the sensor wire simulates high temp condition. The needle should deflect to max.) Not like Touche'. Boat is normally breakdown free. It was still a nice trip. Dennis C. Touche' 35-1 #83 Mandeville, LA
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