Charging wierdness

You know the drill..

Moderators: Redneck_Randy, badmoonrising, lakerunner

Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
Drago
Posts: 552
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2008 5:00 am

Charging wierdness

#1 Post by Drago » Tue Jul 04, 2017 4:25 pm

I need some of you electrical wizards out there to put on your thinking cap. We went out yesterday and I started on both batteries. It had been a few weeks since we were out and I thought I might charge both a bit.

I forgot I was on both when we toured the lake and pulled the girls on the Big Mable. We were heading to a sand bar about 10-15 MPH (3000RPM) when I noticed the voltage falling. It got down below 12 and when I tweaked the trim, it dropped to below 10. At this point I switched it to Batt 1 but it still stayed below 12. I thought our day was over.

The motor would not start on Batt 1 but would with some sluggishness on Batt 2. We decided to head to the marina. After a period with all loads off (stereo), the charging voltage came back to just under 14. I switched to Batt 1 and charging continued to look good.

I ran around the lake near our marina and after a bit, both batteries would start the motor. We continued our day running stereo on Batt 1 and leaving Batt 2 to start only in an emergency.

Left it on Batt 1 rest of night while moored, playing stereo and watching fireworks till after 10pm. Motor cranked okay on Batt 1 and we motored on home.

Anybody have any thoughts on this issue? The charging system is rated 44 amps on our motor and I'm not real confident that it could be an intermittent problem.
Kenneth & Joy
Lake Conroe, Texas
2007 Bennington 2577RFSi
2006 Yamaha F225
Solas 14.25x17SS prop
Best ever top speed 69.2KPH

JLester273
Posts: 241
Joined: Wed May 10, 2017 10:23 am
Location: Cincinnati Ohio

Re: Charging wierdness

#2 Post by JLester273 » Tue Jul 04, 2017 8:34 pm

Sounds like the charging system was overloaded and not charging. Or maybe a connection or poor switch contact, maybe. Those are the things that will drive you nuts.

I'd check the battery terminals and anything else you can get to. You could start the motor and check the output voltage with a multi-meter (not that you voltage gauge is wrong) just that you can check it in multiple places to see if you can find a poor connection.
My rebuild thread.
http://www.pontoonforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=24807

User avatar
teecro
Posts: 1028
Joined: Sat Jul 12, 2014 7:23 am
Location: Sunset Bay, TN

Re: Charging wierdness

#3 Post by teecro » Wed Jul 05, 2017 5:48 am

Since you say the voltage returned to normal I'd suggest not only looking for a loose connection but actually taking your battery connections apart cleaning them with a wire brush till bright and shiny then apply dielectric grease to improve the bond. Corrosion even when you can't see it can do funny things...
T CRO
2017 Berkshire CTS 24 RFX with Yamaha F150/Simomized 200
2015 Caravelle 16 EBo with Mercury 90

User avatar
NonHyphenAmerican
Posts: 1379
Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2014 11:39 am
Location: South Central Kansas in Hooterville

Re: Charging wierdness

#4 Post by NonHyphenAmerican » Sat Jul 08, 2017 9:12 am

Check connections including both ends of the ground.

You'd be surprised how often that can cause issues.
[color=#FF0000][b]22' G3 SunCatcher V22F
Yamaha F-90
Tooning on El Dorado Reservoir[/b][/color]

Post Reply