Burned Yellow Stator/Regulator Wires, Failed Regulator? (2000 75HP ELPTO)

SuperEnzo

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Dec 11, 2014
Messages
32
Hello! I have a 2000 Mercury 75HP ELPTO of which I removed the cover today to find this!

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Now i have been reading relentlessly about the causes of this. The possible cause of this is the failure of the regulator/rectifier unit. I am looking for someone who has experienced this before. The yellow wires initiated the failure and the other 2 wires were witnesses to the extreme temperatures.

My motor has been running perfectly and the only reason I noticed this was because I looked under the cowl. I understand that regulator failure is certain if you disconnect the battery while it is running. I never did this as the leads are bolted right to the battery, wrench tightened.

My question is this: why did the wires overheat/fail at the bullet connector closest to the stator? Look at the picture below, why didn't the bullet connectors closer to the regulator/rectifier fail instead? Why at the bullet connector? (they show no signs of heat damage)

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Doesn't this suggest that maybe the bullet connectors that burned down was not fully seated? Maybe the electricity was arcing inside the connector and rapidly heated it up causing it to fail. What say you of this?

I don't want my or anyone else's motors to go up in flames (anymore than they have). Is the regulator/rectifier in good condition or is it on its way to burning down my boat? My plan is to just splice the wires together and solder; foregoing the use of any connectors. If this is all an indication that the regulator/rectifier is indeed garbage, I have heard that there is the possibility of using a yamaha regulator/rectifier over the mercury replacement, is that true?

Other than this the motor has been a dream. This is pretty frightening to find. Any help/discussion is appreciated. Let me know about your theories.


P.S. This may be unrelated but I had an event in August where I was cruising and my voltage gauge went past 18 volts and buried itself in the bezel and stuck there, even with the key off. What say you of this? I fixed the gauge yesterday and it indeed still works. Was this a voltage surge caused by a failing regulator- leading to the burned wires? Interesting...
 

SuperEnzo

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Dec 11, 2014
Messages
32
Anddddd.... nevermind, that other bundle of wires is also starting to melt. Regulator/Rectifier is indeed super hot fried!
 
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