SoCal Jet Boats
Tech Talk => Engine Mechanical / Electrical => Topic started by: gqchris on June 11, 2008, 10:22:06 PM
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Hey Guys,
Took my boat out this weekend in Laughlin, (454 Chevy) and I noticed on my first couple runs, the Volt Gauge read 16+ amps, almost pegged :banghead:. Boat would continue to run, but when i turned off the key, my boat would be dead electrical wise. Went to the circuit breaker on the wiring harness in the engine room, pushed it back in (30a), and was fine. This happened three times or so. I noticed when my gauge read the normal 13-14 volts, I was fine. Do you guys think my Voltage Regulator in the Distributor is bad? Im gonna start there I think, and see if it fixes it. Also, not sure if it is realted, but when that happened, my tach is stuck not at 6500 RPM :screwy:. Power spike maybe? Thanks!
Chris
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Hey Guys,
Took my boat out this weekend in Laughlin, (454 Chevy) and I noticed on my first couple runs, the Volt Gauge read 16+ amps, almost pegged :banghead:. Boat would continue to run, but when i turned off the key, my boat would be dead electrical wise. Went to the circuit breaker on the wiring harness in the engine room, pushed it back in (30a), and was fine. This happened three times or so. I noticed when my gauge read the normal 13-14 volts, I was fine. Do you guys think my Voltage Regulator in the Distributor is bad? Im gonna start there I think, and see if it fixes it. Also, not sure if it is realted, but when that happened, my tach is stuck not at 6500 RPM :screwy:. Power spike maybe? Thanks!
Chris
Regulator in the ALTERNATOR perhaps, or possibly the 2 pronged plug shorted.
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Hey GQ, just to kid around with you for a second, a "voltmeter" won't read "amps" :-\and the "voltage regulater" is not in the "distributor" :-\, but all kidding aside, I don't think the problem is with the alternator or the voltage regulator, you have a dead short that is occurring while under way and the boat is running on the voltage supplied by the alternator, and not charging the battery or using battery load to regulate voltage, which in short is why the battery dies, for that matter could be a shorted battery.
Hope this helps and sorry for the teasing ;D
Keep us posted (but pick your words more carefully, these guys are brutal) ::)
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Try a new circuit breaker, those things get week after time. Also what is running through the breaker ? The alt should not be running through a 30 amp breaker. The alt can put out more than 30 amp to recharge the batt and should have its output going direct to the batt.
And be carefull , voltages that high can damage things like your tach , other gauges, stereo, ignition boxes, etc etc .
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Hey GQ, just to kid around with you for a second, a "voltmeter" won't read "amps" :-\and the "voltage regulater" is not in the "distributor" :-\, but all kidding aside, I don't think the problem is with the alternator or the voltage regulator, you have a dead short that is occurring while under way and the boat is running on the voltage supplied by the alternator, and not charging the battery or using battery load to regulate voltage, which in short is why the battery dies, for that matter could be a shorted battery.
Hope this helps and sorry for the teasing ;D
Keep us posted (but pick your words more carefully, these guys are brutal) ::)
Thanks GT, I appreciate all your input! ;D Even with the kidding! I knew I would mess that up with the Ampmeter and Voltmeter! So you think I should start with the Batterys? Would make sense. I have two but usually only keep the switch on one. Hmmm, I think next trip out I will just bring two new batteries and see if that helps!
Chris
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Try a new circuit breaker, those things get week after time. Also what is running through the breaker ? The alt should not be running through a 30 amp breaker. The alt can put out more than 30 amp to recharge the batt and should have its output going direct to the batt.
And be carefull , voltages that high can damage things like your tach , other gauges, stereo, ignition boxes, etc etc .
Thanks Propless! Will change that out as well, simple enough to do:) I dont think the alternator is running thru the Breaker, I am going to take out my back seat and get a good look at the wiring next trip out and see what is going on!
Chris