Re: age and adding charging system?
Hi didineedthat<br /><br />Not sure what brand of outboard you have but regardless of name, if you can see two yellow or similar coloured, identical, 2 wires originating from under the flywheel- you have a stator, part of the alternator which ultimately charges your batt. You'll need a digital multimeter to first check the stator is able to function. Switch it to "Ohms" and check continuity. Typically it should read less than 1 Ohms of resistance. If there is infinite resistance, the stator winding has broken- useless. If no resistance at all, the windings have shorted to ground- also useless!, there has to be around 0.5ohms. These checks are essential before proceeding. Now, those wires may not be connected to anything, in which case you'll need a bridge rectifier which converts the pulsating AC volts (useless for charging) to a steady DC (which charges!). ALL modern brands of outboard use rectifiers in most of their model line-ups and they cost around A$120 ($US40-50?). The two stator wires are connected to the input terminals of the rectifier which is usually connected to earth via the mounting lugs. The other terminal is your battery charge output. You'll then need to run a 4mm dia wire (cross sectional area of the actual strands of wire in mm- important that it handles plenty of current if need be!), with a 15Amp fuse near the rectifier to protect things. Run this between the positive (+) output terminal of the rectifier to your battery pos terminal- make sure this is correct or you'll be able to fry your eggs with your new rectifier!.<br /> Check the volts output with the engine running (faster the better- on the water of course, NEVER the muffs!), you should expect around 14V, maybe a little more. If its only 12 or so, something's amiss. Check connections, earths and battery condition- low powered alts have a hard time charged dead old batts!.<br />I'm an Auto Electrician so I may not know your motor but there are plenty of talented outboard people here to help with using those numbers.<br />As I said, I'm no hot-shot expert but premium gas is really only needed for highly stressed, big horsepower V6's where detonation may cause worries. <br />50 to 1 oil mix has been pretty standard since the very early 70's I'm certain. If yours is newer, you'll be running that ratio for sure.<br />Try to get a manual too- they really help!<br /><br />Hope this all helps<br />Nilsson
also wanted to know if a charging system could be added to this electric start motor. Someone said that this particular model could be bumped up to a 35 hp...<br />Is premium gas recommended..and a 50 to 1 oil mix?