volt meter reading high!!! HELP HELP!!!

[henry7o7]

hello everyone.. im new to this..

I just got a boat and the volt meter on the dash reads high.. theres yellow green and red on the meter ... when the key is out it reads nothing but once the key is put in and you turn it it spikes and gos high into the red.. ( the engine not running) .. I looked behind the dash and see a wire disconnected and traced it back to the alt. and i checked the volts from the wire and it read 26 volts... whats wrong??

oh yea forgot.. 1975 351w OMC

 

[Dshow]

Re: volt meter reading high!!! HELP HELP!!!

So the engine is not running and you read 26V? What's directly across the battery read?

 

[Don S]

Re: volt meter reading high!!! HELP HELP!!!

Does your boat have a 24V electric trolling motor and battery system for it?
Some boats are setup with both a 12V and a 24V system just for the trolling motor.

 

[dockwrecker]

Re: volt meter reading high!!! HELP HELP!!!

Did we look at whether your dual batts are parrallel or in series? Hmmm? They need to be positive-positive, negative negative for your engine. They would be Positive to negative for your trolling motor hook up (24v) only.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: volt meter reading high!!! HELP HELP!!!

Even with a 24 volt trolling motor system you are not likely to measure 26 volts static. You need to determine what you are looking at before you jump to conclusions. Fact is you cannot get 26 volts from either a 12 or a 24 volt system. And if it is a 24 volt system you are measuring it is not coming from a 70's vintage 351 Ford (running or not).

 

[stylesabu]

Re: volt meter reading high!!! HELP HELP!!!

fully charged battery 12.6 X 2 =25.2.. so where is 26 volts coming from? is your meter acurate?

 

[Don S]

Re: volt meter reading high!!! HELP HELP!!!

Don't get too excited about an answer from him guys, he was back about 3 hours ago, no reply, no questions answered, nothing. just crys for HELP HELP!!! in the title.

 

[henry7o7]

Re: volt meter reading high!!! HELP HELP!!!

sorry for not responding right away.. got a few replys so i went to do more checking and i found out it was the meter that was the problem... everyone was very helpful... thankyou all n have a merry xmas!!!! will replace the meter as soon as i get 1..