[gst]

Hi guys, I hope this is the right forum, I searched for this problem and could not find what I needed.It has to do with the battery not taking a charge, holding a charge, or not being charged. I just bought a used 1999 Sea Pro 170CC with a 90hp Yamaha. I took it for a run yesterday and stopped to do a little fishing. About 30 minutes later I tried to crank the engine but it did not have enough juice in the battery to crank. Luckily I was able to jump start it from the trolling motor battery. When I got back to the launching ramp I shut the engine off. A few minutes later I tried to crank the engine again, and it would not even turn over. My 1st question is, does a Yamaha 90hp generate enough from it's alternator to keep a 12 volt battery charged?2nd, could it be that the battery is bad (I was told the battery was almost new)??? 3rd, could I have a problem with the alternator???Any response would be appreciated. Thanks Guys, Gary

[rodbolt]

dude ya gotta buy a manual and a multi meter. the meter can be had at radio shack. get a digital model. look on the stbd side for the regulator rectifier. it should have a black wire 2 green wires and a red. make sure the fuse in the red wire is ok. test for continuity,less than 4 ohms or so, on the green wires. also test each green to ground, should have no continuity to ground. the procedure for testing the regulator is longer than I care to type tonight. make sure the black wire has a good ground.

[gst]

Thanks rodbolt,I have a multi-meter and this weekend will test the battery and the charging.I talked to a buddy of mine yesterday and he said if the voltmeter on the boat was indicating that there was a 13 volt charge and the fact that the boat ran fine all the way back to the dock, then the engine was charging.He said it sounded like the battery had died, and would not hold the charge. I hope it is that simple. The battery on my boat is hard to get to but I am going to pull it tommorrow and test it.Thank you so much, I appreciate the response.This is a great forum and I hope to be able to help someone else just like you have helped me.Thanks, Gary

[gst]

Just a follow up,I pulled my battery out, the water levels were ok.I had trickle charged it a couple days before and it held the charge.Took the wife fishing Sunday, it ran and cranked fine all day long, I am wondering if maybe there was a problem with a battery connection before I pulled and re-installed the battery and my re-connection fixed the problem.Or maybe the other day when I had the problem it was really a matter of "a Nut loose at the controls"???? :o Thanks so much for the help. Gary

[31900]

Sounds like a bad batery connection prior to taking it out to trickle charge. Remember to service your battery regularly. this means keeping the electrolite level correct with distilled water, removing the terminals to clean them in a bicarb soda solution and reconnecting them tight and with a coating of vasaline. If your boat is not used regularly you must recharge your battery regularly. I do it each 14 days or so.Just a trickle charge will do for half a day. Without a good battery you could be in serious danger.

[Silvertip]

If the battery has wing nuts remove them and send them along with the trash man. Use stainless nuts, internal or external tool washers and put a wrench on them. You simply can't get enough finger pressure on wing nuts to make a reliable connection.

[gst]

Thanks for the replies guys.I'll take all of your advice into consideration.I am really glad I found this forum, and I hope I can be of help to someone else someday.Thanks,Gary

[skiwake130]

I found my battery had a low charge so jump started it to get enough charge prior to heading to the boat ramp. Battery enough charge to start at the ramp and rest of the day. I did note the digital tach voltmeter was reading 13.8v.The following week, I checked the voltage before heading to the ramp. The voltage was 11.8 so I knew it was flat again. I ended up buying another battery. This time when running, the charge voltage was 14.4 volts.David

[gst]

skiwake,I also found that once I solved my problem, I think it was a connection, that the charge on the voltmeter was up to 14-15 volts.Thanks for the reply, Gary

[gst]

Hi Guys, Just thought I would follow up on my problem. Since I pulled and reconnected the battery everything has worked perfectly. So I guess it was just the connection. I love my new boat and motor and have already had several great fishing trips. This past Sunday I took a buddy of mine with me and caught several specks and reds. Before this boat,I had a Wellcraft StepV-20 with a Merc 150 Black-Max which I sold 2 months ago, I loved that boat, I had it for 13 years. The boat was great even in rough seas and the motor always started first try. I guess when you get older your body just can't take the pounding offshore. Anyway I hated to get rid of my old boat but I had caught everything offshore and decided it was easier on my body and my wallet to fish inshore. Anyway thanks for all of the help. Good Fishing, Gary