Honda BF8A - Charging system problem tracing

sriggan

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Joined
Jul 21, 2006
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I have a 1998 Honda 8hp outboard (on my sailboat) that is a pull start model, which has a 6 amp charging system. I wired the charge plug into my electrical system, but didn’t get any voltage increase in the battery. I checked the voltage at the charge plug and only read something around 0.1 volts.

I then ordered the factory shop manual for this model and got the specs for both the charging coil and the rectifier. The charging coil appears ok, since it had something like 0.1 ohms resistance. While the output spec for the AC current that the coil puts out isn’t listed in the manual, I read approximately 14-15 volts (AC) from the coil when the motor was revved up.

So I know that power is making it into the two blue wires that come out of the coil and go into the rectifier (which is supposed to convert AC current to DC), but wasn’t seeing any voltage or amps from the red and green wire that comes out of the rectifier. Having believed that I found the problem, I spent $125 on a new rectifier. When I fired the motor back up with the new rectifier and checked the voltage at the charging terminal outlet, I still am not getting any voltage (or amps). I’ve checked the fuse and for continuity in the wiring, both on the positive and negative wires, and everything looks good.

Help…. I am out of ideas on this one… Any ideas on why this system won’t provide even a small output? (My solar panel will at least raise the voltage to 13v on a sunny day)

Thanks in advance for any insight that the group can provide.
 
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