Mercury 115hp Tower Power Inline 6 High Voltage Question

CRJDriver

CRJDriver

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I have a 1984 Mercury 115hp Tower of Power Inline with a high voltage problem. The rectifier passes the diode resistance check. All connections seem to be tight and clean. The battery is a new (June) 650cc deap cycle lead acid type. Voltage shows almost 16 volts on gauge and voltmeter at high idle.

Any ideas or other things to check?

I have read I can put a voltage regulator inline with the battery, or replace the recifier with a combo rectifier / regulator? Which is prefered? Any specific model regulator?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks

John
 
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wired247

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Re: Mercury 115hp Tower Power Inline 6 High Voltage Question

It works. Turn a few lights on. Mine did the same thing. I stopped worrying about it.
 
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Dave1027

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Re: Mercury 115hp Tower Power Inline 6 High Voltage Question

Normal for an unregulated motor. Mine is the same. You only need to periodically check the battery water level.

If it bothers you then you can install a regulator.
 
CRJDriver

CRJDriver

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Re: Mercury 115hp Tower Power Inline 6 High Voltage Question

Dave1027 said:
Normal for an unregulated motor. Mine is the same. You only need to periodically check the battery water level.

If it bothers you then you can install a regulator.
Click to expand...

Thanks. It does bother me some. I have a Garmin and a depth finder that I dont want to fry. Any idea what regulator will work? Auto or marine, etc.

What is considered too high voltage?
 
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wired247

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Re: Mercury 115hp Tower Power Inline 6 High Voltage Question

Normal automotive charging rate is 14.5 ish. Check your electronics owners manuals. 16 volts may be well in operating range. Garmin can use a range of 6-40 VDC or so.
 
CRJDriver

CRJDriver

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Re: Mercury 115hp Tower Power Inline 6 High Voltage Question

wired247 said:
Normal automotive charging rate is 14.5 ish. Check your electronics owners manuals. 16 volts may be well in operating range. Garmin can use a range of 6-40 VDC or so.
Click to expand...

Thanks Wired.

I am going out Sunday. I will keep an eye on it.

If anyone knows of a voltage regulator that will work either as a splice in or as a replacement to the OEM rectifier please let me know.

John
 
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wired247

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Re: Mercury 115hp Tower Power Inline 6 High Voltage Question

Most low voltage DC powered electronics use Zeiner diodes to knock the voltage down to a 5 VDC control voltage that the board operates off of. Thats why the Garmin stuff specifies supply voltage of at least 6 VDC.
 
Texasmark

Texasmark

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Re: Mercury 115hp Tower Power Inline 6 High Voltage Question

You are fine sir. 16 is normal and most electronics mfgrs these days put in over voltage protection. Costs them about 5 cents and saves a lot of warranty rework due to customer adaptation variances. If you don't have a regulator, it's just something less to fail.

Mark
 
CRJDriver

CRJDriver

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Re: Mercury 115hp Tower Power Inline 6 High Voltage Question

Texasmark said:
You are fine sir. 16 is normal and most electronics mfgrs these days put in over voltage protection. Costs them about 5 cents and saves a lot of warranty rework due to customer adaptation variances. If you don't have a regulator, it's just something less to fail.

Mark
Click to expand...

Thank you Mark.
 
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