Halon system

[fwebster]

The switch will just by pass the fire extinguisher system, it won't fix the problem. Your boat is 25 years old and is at the age where the Halon bottle may have leaked down.

 

[Arminius]

The gauges I have seen have toggle switches on the front covered by a black rubber weatherproofing membrane. just push the bump. Or, use a lightweight jumper wire from a grounded surface to the wire on the bottle's screw-in sensor. Must be grounded for your engine to run but sensor stops grounding when pressure falls. This gas pressure is very temperature sensitive so it will become erratic towards the end.

 

[Pirate Lady]

Hi again!!! So it has been a couple of long moths, and we finally picked up our boat from the marina.
Everything went well, until I put the boat on plane…that lasted about a minute! The Halon alarm came back on, I turned the engines off, and inspected the engine room.
Just as last time, nothing wrong…
I tried to start the engines, and only the port side engine starts now…the starboard engine turns, but won’t start….
So now I am trying to trouble shoot this at the marina (I had to get towed again). Could it be a fuel issue? I am looking at both engines, and I don’t seee anything different from one to the other. Is there a valve that the marina may have touched when they winterized the boat that the forgot to undo?
Also…if anyone knows of a good mechanic in the Baltimore, MD area, it’d be great if you could share the contact info.

Thanks!!

Try David Mearson, Old Line Marine. located in Pasadena but they travel.
Office - 410-402-1096 Cell - 443-418-4408
OLDLINEMARINE.COM
DAVID@OLDLINEMARINE.COM
You are prolly going to wait a while at this time of year.

 

[Arminius]

If your problem is the halon shutdown system, both engines should be inoperative. When the ground through the bottle is lost, both ignition leads are disconnected by separate relays in the shutdown box. You can bypass by putting both ignition leads on the same screw. Here's a picture of a box and a gauge. I agree that it would be best to have some help on this. This stuff is built to be bullet proof so loose wires are much likelier than bad components. https://www.fireboy-xintex.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Engine-Shutdown-18005-ES-ELS.pdf

 

[hughespat57]

hope you already solved this but as before, it is likely electrical not the fire bottle itself.

Not every boat had the full engine shutdown automated system. Many only had the basic horn and light.
When the horn went off you shut down the engines they did not shutdown on there own

If you have the full fire control system and the bottle discharges the system will shut down both engines and both blowers.
And the bypass switch will allow restart. Which you noted you cant locate, likely because you don't have the full system.

Since the port side starts this is not likely the problem.

Just ignore the fire bottle for now and focus on normal engine no start issues.
Does it have spark?
Does it have 12 volt at the coil?
Does it have fuel?
etc.

 

[Luis]

Hi again…here is the update, but first let me just thank you all for the advice.
“Hughespat57” definitely knows his stuff.
After having the mechanic take a look at the issue, here is the short version:
1. The halon system had nothing to do with it.
2. The alarm was the horn and light alarm which triggers for an engine malfunction. It happens to light up the light labeled as the halon system alarm.
3. The issue was a belt which needs replacement.

Once again, thanks so much everyone, and I hope that if this happens to anyone, maybe this info may help.