charging system

[pkrainert]

How can you tell if your outboard has a charging system. I really doubt that mine has one. The only reason I asked is because I saw another Johnson 8 that claimed to have one.

 

[HighTrim]

Re: charging system

What motor are we talking about here?

 

[Chris1956]

Re: charging system

If you have a Johnson 8HP, it may or may not have a charging system. There are optional lighting power kits as well as optional battery charging kits. You might publish the model number and year of the motor. You might also look for wires exiting from under the flywheel that do not run to the ignition system.

 

[phipps]

Re: charging system

Do most outboards NOT have a charging system?

 

[F_R]

Re: charging system

Most small non-electric start motors do not have a charging system. A few fairly new motors do as stated above. Sometimes came with the motor, sometimes added as an accessory kit. Look for an electrical plug.

 

[pkrainert]

Re: charging system

its a 2000 2 stroke. i am not at home so i will check for the wires when i get there. thanks.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: charging system

A 2000 2 stroke what? 8 hp?

 

[pkrainert]

Re: charging system

correct a 2000 2 stoke 8hp. I don't think it has a charger.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: charging system

The 2000 8hp Johnson has five offerings - three consumer models (15, 20 & 25 inch shft lengths) and two commercial models (15 & 20 inch shaft lengths). The consumer models have rectifiers and battery leads in them, even though they are rope start, indicating that they have charging systems. The commercial models do not have rectifiers and battery cables.

Here are the models:

J8RSSB: Rope Start, Tiller, 15" Shaft
J8RLSSB: Rope Start, Tiller, 20" Shaft
J8RXSSB: Rope Start, Tiller, 25" Shaft

J8WRSSC: Commercial Rope Start, Tiller, 15" Shaft
J8WRLSSC: Commercial Rope Start, Tiller, 20" Shaft


PS: I just looked at the parts explosion for the consumer model motors again and noticed that the parts description for the stator, rectifier and battery cable includes the word "Sail." Whether that means that there is a "Sail" version of the motor in each of the shaft lengths, or if they are all considered to be "sail versions," I don't know. This is an important distinction because your motor may not have a charge system, if there are actually "sail" and "non-sail" versions. I would think, however, that even if your motor doesn't have a charge system, you could add one easily.

 

[pkrainert]

Re: charging system

my next question is if it does have it could i use it to keep the trolling battery charged? or should i use it on an aux batter for lights and stereo.

 

[pkrainert]

Re: charging system

is this a model number? j8rvsie? I keep the boat at my brothers and thats the number he just told me... im not there so i cant go out and check.

 

[pkrainert]

Re: charging system

the manufacture date is 10/2000 i just looked it up so its considered a 2001

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: charging system

J8RVSIE is a 2001 rope start, tiller, 15" shaft, white paint. See the "PS" to my previous post, about the sail version versus the non-sail version. The easy way to find out if you have a charge system is to remove the hood and look at the motor. If it has a rectifier (small cylindrical object with a flat mounting base, probably on the starboard side of the motor) and battery cables running to the exterior of the motor, it has a charge system.

If so, I think I would connect the charge system to a small battery and let the combination power the nav lights and low power accessories. For the trolling motor, I would use a separate battery and keep it charged with a standard battery charger at home, or an onboard trickle charger.

If you use a regular charger, one trick that I have found, is to make a "pigtail" with round wire terminals on the battery end and a trailer type connector (two prong instead of four) on the other end. That wire can be run out of the battery box to a convenient location, so that you don't have to open the box every time you want to charge the battery. I do this with two batteries on my boat - I modified a small, electronic type charger by removing the alligator clips on the charge cord, and installed the other half of the connector on it. If you do this, just be sure to get the polarity correct when you splice the wire to the charger wires.