Overcharging

[tripacer]

Im sure this has been posted but cant find it
have a 92 70hp 3 cyl everything work great but it overcharges
we have had it for several years and the guy we bought it from just spent a lot of money fixing the electrical on the pontoon boat because it was overcharging and burned up things
the battery is about 3 years old and starts it up just great but it pegs the Volt meter when running and Im afraid now that we have damaged some of the boat assecories because the Horn quit

this unit has a Rectifier NOT a Voltage requlator on it
i have been told that as long as the batter is good it should self regulate

So what do i replace
Rectifer, or battery or both

I was told once that we could replace the rectifier with a later style requlator
i bought one but it has More Wires than the rectifier and not sure how to mount it

has any one done this if yes how do you mount it and what do you do with the extra wires

any help you can give me would be greatly apprecated

Thanks
Tripacer

 

[EN2]

Re: Overcharging

Are you using a maintenance free battery? if so switch to a battery with the removable caps to add water. Maintenance free bateries have a higher resistance to them making the voltage go higher.

 

[tripacer]

Re: Overcharging

NO its a reqular marine Battery with Threaded post
made bye Exide
this battery has been in there for maybe 3 seasons and it was fine till this year
Brother in law noticed it when he was using the Pontoon boat earlier this spring

 

[jonesg]

Re: Overcharging

I don't know the answer but I run everything except tach from a different battery on mine, it might save you from trashing the elecs in the meantime.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: Overcharging

If you have had the battery 3 years and it is still good, probably nothing wrong. An engine with a rectifier only will putout high voltage-once the battery is charged up. After starting and running a short period, both of mine will put out around 16.5 volts. This is normal. If yours is higher, you may want to replace the rectifier. With rectifier-only systems like these, keep your eye on the water level in the battery through the summer.

 

[Tomb77]

Re: Overcharging

I have the same problem with my 1984 omc seadrive 1.6l. The electronics do not like the high power so I have ordered a universal voltage regulator for mfgsupply.com part number 01-090-1. I have not got it yet but have read where several people have used it and solved the problem. I will let you know how it works. The high voltage will damage the battery and electronic in some cases. A second battery is an option but having 2 electrical systems in a boat has it hazards also.

 

[tripacer]

Re: Overcharging

Tomb77
please keep me informed of how this comes out and how you mounted it and wired it in

I have the later model Voltage Regulator and was told that at one time they actually made a retrofit kit that you could remove the rectifier and install this voltage regulator it had wireing instructions and everything with it
but i have not been able to locate anything on this so i could make a mount or wire it up

again any help you could give would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

 

[F_R]

Re: Overcharging

As said, it is normal for voltage on an unregulate system to go as high as 16 volts, or even more. Mine does. There are umpteen thousands of boats running around out there just fine that way. Without a voltmeter, one never knows. Ignorance is bliss, they say.

I would like to think that most mfr's of electronic accessories incorporate a voltage regulator and other protection in their equipment, because they fully realize the situation.

The rectifier will NOT cause overcharging. In fact, if it is overcharging, the rectifier is working. If it goes bad, it will undercharge or not at all.

 

[billy4hp]

Re: Overcharging

As said, it is normal for voltage on an unregulate system to go as high as 16 volts, or even more. Mine does. There are umpteen thousands of boats running around out there just fine that way. Without a voltmeter, one never knows. Ignorance is bliss, they say.

I would like to think that most mfr's of electronic accessories incorporate a voltage regulator and other protection in their equipment, because they fully realize the situation.

The rectifier will NOT cause overcharging. In fact, if it is overcharging, the rectifier is working. If it goes bad, it will undercharge or not at all.

Per my 1978 Johnson service manual, "if the charging system is overcharging, turn on more accessories"...

 

[tripacer]

Re: Overcharging

put in a new battery and that helped a lot but still wants to charge at 16 Volts but acording to all the people in the know that is Standard Operating Procedure for these thing
one thing we noticed was that the battery had a date code (build Date) of Aug 03 so that was getting old

next thing was that Nothing electrical worked had NO votage at the CB traced that backt to a Blown (AGC20 ) Fuse back were it primary Voltage hooks up to the battery Each terminal has both a Large (4 gauge ) and a smaller wire (10 Gauge) and the one on the + side is Fuse protected
Filled it up and took it for a spin the voltmeter climed right up to 16 Volts but did not go any higer and did not blow the main fues

I found a fuse (SFE 20) under the dash in the main wiring harness coming from the engine and did not think there would be another one
was getting ready to start Tracing backwards from the engine till the wife spoted it while she was hanging over the back of the boat