1998 115 HP ELPTO Charging troubles

Hi there.

115 HP ELPTO
SN 0G678665

I have owned this motor on an 18' Bayliner for 3 years. This boat is only used during the summer months and is "put to bed" for the winter. Aside from the odd behavior of the 2+2 power engineering (poor idling, rough running on 2 cylinders below 1800 RPM), I have had very little trouble with the engine. However, this year very unexpectedly, the tach stopped working and at the same time the engine stopped charging the battery. My engine has the small voltage regulator/recifier unit mounted just over the four ingnition coils. Anyway, I understand that the internal rectifier may be the culprit. Is there an easy way to determine if the problem is at the VR or deeper in the circuit, like at the stator for example?
Thanks for any light you can shed ...

Re: 1998 115 HP ELPTO Charging troubles

The 2+2 engines are one of the BEST idlers. If it's idling rough, it has a problem.

As for the charging, if it was me, I'd head out to an electronics shop and buy a cheap 'full wave bridge rectifier' (cost about $3). I would then remove the VR and hook up the rectifier, with the tacho lead hooked to one of the stator wires and flash up the engine. DO NOT run it at more than about 2000 revs. If the tacho works and the battery voltage is rising, then the stator is ok, and you need a new VR. You can't use the bridge rectifier for normal operation because the output of the stator is too high, you will boil your battery. The bridge rectifier is just a diagnostic tool. It's a lot cheaper than a new stator or VR, but will tell you which one is crook....

Chris......
The bridge rectifier needs a minimum voltage rating of 50v and a minimum current rating of about 20 amps.