I have a 20KW Kohler. For a few days it started throwing white smoke but never overheated. I cleaned the strainer, I opened the impeller and it looked perfect with less than 30hrs on it. Everything else looked fine. A few days later, the gen overheated and stopped. With my temp gun, the gen was at 210F & the impeller case registered 180F. I took out the impeller housing and the impeller was chewed up and looked like it melted. I cleaned & fished out its pieces. Installed a new impeller, filled the system with water to avoid potential airlock. I kept the end of the outlet hose from the impeller disconnected and started the gen. After a 90sec, I did not see any sea water being circulated by the impeller.
We are anchored in an area with real heavy kelp. Thought maybe something is blocking the through hull. I then removed the hose from the strainer and inserted it in a 5 gallon of water with a clear terminal hose to observe. The impeller was not able to pull any water. So unlikely that the trough hull is blocked. Next I opened the impeller plate to make sure that it’s turning. Observed it rotating fine.
My question is how long would it take the impeller to pull water across 3 feet of hose from a strainer that is 18” below the impeller? Should I give it more time see it will eventually pull water.
At this point I am just stumped. All hose connections are open & clear of debris, impeller is rotating but it’s not circulating sea water.
Any comments or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Streff
We are anchored in an area with real heavy kelp. Thought maybe something is blocking the through hull. I then removed the hose from the strainer and inserted it in a 5 gallon of water with a clear terminal hose to observe. The impeller was not able to pull any water. So unlikely that the trough hull is blocked. Next I opened the impeller plate to make sure that it’s turning. Observed it rotating fine.
My question is how long would it take the impeller to pull water across 3 feet of hose from a strainer that is 18” below the impeller? Should I give it more time see it will eventually pull water.
At this point I am just stumped. All hose connections are open & clear of debris, impeller is rotating but it’s not circulating sea water.
Any comments or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Streff