RETURN

ME693
Blackout due to Looseness of Governor Link Mechanism for
Diesel Generator Prime Mover
Technical Committee
Type of ship PCC
Date of completion August 2004
Navigation route JapanEurope
Damaged machinery
Category Generator Prime Mover
Name Governor
Type UG10
Maker Woodward Governor
Date of trouble July 2010

1. Outline of breakdown
When crew members had set three generators in parallel operation to prepare for departure on board the
ship and they verified operation of the bow thruster, a blackout suddenly occurred.
Thenthe emergency generator prime mover was started about one minute after the blackoutthus restoring
the electrical power.
Howeverher departure was cance1ed to investigate the cause of the troubleImmediately after the
blackoutthe Nos.1 and 2 generator prime movers idledi.e., continued to run without a loadThe No.3
generator prime mover tripped on over-speed and then it could not be restarted after it was reset.

2. Cause of trouble
According to the alarm recordit has become clear that the ACBs of the Nos.1 and 2 generators tripped on
reverse power and then the No.3 generator prime mover tripped on over-speedMoreoveras a result of
on-site inspectionit has become clear that the bolt and the lock washersee Fig.1Part No.519 & 520
which fasten the governor output shaft and the governor leversee Fig.1Part No.5together on the No.3
generator prime moverhad loosed
Consequentlyit is presumed that the details of the blackout occurrence were as follows.
) When the bow thruster was used, the governor lever of the No.3 generator prime mover slipped
Thereforeit became impossible to adjust load of the concerned generator prime mover on heavy
load operation
) When load of the bow thruster decreased load of the Nos.1 and 2 generators abnormally decreased
and their ACBs tripped on reverse power
) As a result of the abovethe bow thruster tripped
) As the fuel rack of the No.3 generator prime mover moved toward the back of fuel injection pump
housing too much against decreased ships electrical loadi.e., the fuel rack moved in increased fuel
direction,the concerned generator prime moverthat it became impossible to adjust loadtripped
on over-Speed
The bleak out occurred

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The Marine Engineer. March, 2011
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3. RepairCountermeasure
In case of starting and periodic inspection of generator prime moversthe following counter measure
should be carried out surely
To inspect looseness of the bolt and the lock washer on the governor lever periodically
To replace the lock washer with new one when it loosed
To start the generator prime mover by engine-side control as far as circumstances permit and change
over the control system from engine-side control to remote control after verifying operation of the
generator prime mover

Photo 1 : Governor lever part of governor link mechanism

Photo 2 : Governor lever part shown from another angle

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The Marine Engineer. March, 2011
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As this part slipped, the governor

output was not transmitted to the
link mechanism

Fig. 1 : Governor link mechanism

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The Marine Engineer. March, 2011