Melted positive Battery Terminal

[Cougar_Bait]

Hey everyone,

I was out boating the other day and had no issues starting the boat. I did a 20 minute stint down the river and as I put the boat into neutral, it died. I tried to start it and was at a loss of power. I went straight to the battery and noticed that the bolt on the positive side of the battery melted out of its casing that holds it in.

I was able to clamp the wire to the positive post and get the boat fired up. The first time it fired over, I had it throttled up a bit because I thought it was flooded. While it was running in a high idle, I backed the throttle control to neutral so I could engage the drive. In doing so, the engine died. I got it started again, had it in a really high idle and quickly moved to neutral and then throttled up high to get moving. The motor sputtered and then kept going and I was moving. I ran it to the dock quick and shut it down.

I got the boat trailered by hand (which sucked with the river current) and got the boat home.

I checked the wing nut and noticed that it was loose. After doing a search here, my thoughts is that the loose connection caused that positive side to get really hot and melt. I have checked all my connections from battery to ground and battery to starter and they are all tight and secure. Now that I think about it, I did not check wires going to and from the alternator.

Is there anything else I should be checking given the positive post melting?

My other question is that I was curious why the motor died when going into neutral. I always thought that once a motor was running, it did not need a battery to run...even at a idle speed. I also noticed that after running the boat for a few, the motor is slow to turn over sounding like a weak battery. Cold starts are no problem, but hot starts suck. So because of those issues, my thinking is that maybe the alternator isn't performing at 100 percent. At higher speeds and idles, the motor can run off of the alternator because it's pumping out what it needs, but at low speeds and low idle the boat is running off the battery.

Sorry for the long post, but I'd rather give more detailed information compared to "My boat died tell me what is wrong". Haha

Thanks,
Mike

 

[timfives]

Re: Melted positive Battery Terminal

If your melting wires etc, you have an extreme draw on your power system.

First though check to see if the wire get hot when everything is tightened as you mentioned. Always good to start with the easy things. Also be sure and clean every connection throughout the system, Dirty and corroded connections can cause high continuity connections, which require more draw, hence melting wires.

If after that you still have the problem, it is time to start looking at the components on the boat, alternator, starter, etc. Get the manuals for them and a multimeter to measure how many amps they are drawing. Typically one of those will be drawing much more thus an indication that it is time to be replaced or rebuilt. My guess is your starter is drawing way to many amps, and may need to be either rebuilt or replaced.

But check those connections first!

Tim

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Melted positive Battery Terminal

It got hot because of the voltage drop caused by the bad connection at the battery. Because of the voltage drop, more current was flowing through the connection.

Ditch the wing nuts and get the stainless steel locking nuts and you won't wave this problem again. Also, check the cable carefully that these is no corrosion building up in the cable itself. Check all connections of both the negative and positive cables.

 

[wire2]

Re: Melted positive Battery Terminal

Right on, Bruce. Ohm's law will apply several hundred watts of heat to the loose bolt and loose wing nut. More than enough to melt lead.

 

[jonesg]

Re: Melted positive Battery Terminal

Using wingnuts can cause hundreds of dollars damage to elec components such as power pack and rectifier.

Seriously , buy the factorey service book, it states very clearly, do not use wingnuts. Use nylon insert locknuts, washers and a wrench.
www.outboardbooks.com

 

[Cougar_Bait]

Re: Melted positive Battery Terminal

Hey Guys,

Thanks to everyone for getting back to me. I checked over the wires and all my connections look and feel solid. All of the wires look in good condition as well.

I'm going to take the battery back to autozone and see if maybe they will exchange it or if I will have to purchase a whole new battery.

Once I get the new battery in, I am going to start checking everything else as well. Also I am going to head to the hardware store and get a better set of nuts for the battery.

Thanks again for everyone's help

 

[SORIANO]

Re: Melted positive Battery Terminal

I had the same thing happen to mine just yesterday and i couldn't get it started anymore i'll have to check the baterry