1974 Mercury 50 H.P. Electrical Smoking

[Chia19]

Hey guys so I hook up my power to this boat I bought and the part I took a picture of begins to smoke. If anyone could tell me why this is happening please let me know.

 

[Texasmark]

Picture not that clear, for me anyway. Under what conditions is this "part" smoking? If you are attempting to, or actually are running it, do you have cooling water hooked up to the lower unit so that it can keep the water pump functional and keep the powerhead cool?

 

[jimmbo]

That's looks like the rectifier. If the wrong half of it were to short to ground you definitely could have smoke and worse. Get some good light on it and look and see if you can see it touching the cowl. There might be insulators on the mounting screws/bolts that are missing or worn through. Or it could be shorted internally

 

[Chia19]

It smokes the second you apply power to the boat with no key in at all. I'm very handy electrically and mechanically just boats aren't something I deal with daily. Was not grounding out to the cabinet I checked that.

 

[Chia19]

If it is what you think it is where would I get one?

 

[jimmbo]

How did you check it?

 

[Chia19]

Continuity test with the three wires disconnected then one at a time

 

[racerone]

That is the old style plate rectifier.--Your friendly dealer will help with a newer replacement.---Make sure you connect battery properly.