I encountered a weird electrical "gremlin" this weekend.
History - '79 Wellcraft 196, Merc 228 I/0. I've had the boat out three times so far this Spring. In all respects, boat runs excellent. Starts well, idles well, loads of power, doesn't leak a drop. Great boat.
I bought the boat with the original one-battery wiring and kill switch. Took the boat out a few weeks ago for the first time this season, trim worked just fine. Went up and down, whether in the water or not, both when under power and when stopped.
Then, I bought and installed a two-battery setup, Perko 1-all-2-off switch, all wired exactly per instructions. Installed two new Marine Deep Cycle lead acid batteries. I have a manual battery charger, so I only left each battery on charge for a few hours (with the Perko switch in the off position). They both seemed charged up enough to take boat out, letting the boat top them off.
Took the boat out twice this weekend, and both times operating the trim either up or down when in the water stalled the engine. As in, stalled the engine like someone turned the key off - completely killed it, no sputtering, nothing. When this happened, I had no electricity on the boat and couldn't restart the engine UNTIL I cycled the batteries OFF then back on using the Perko switch. Once restarted, everything was back to normal. Trim worked fine with boat on trailer, before and after going out.
Sorry for the long winded expanation, but I suspect either :
1) I created an electrical issue with installing new batteries (although I'm positive everything is connected properly).
2) The batteries are charged up enough to run the engine, but not yet charged enough to operate the trim and run the engine at the same time. The alternator is a marine Delco-type one wire, with red wire connected to Perko + out terminal. Could the alternator be weak/shot?
3) Is it possible the cold water put extra load on the trim pump, caused it to overload and shut down the electrical system of the boat? The water both times out this weekend was probably in the upper 40's / lower 50's. Didn't seem to bother the engine at all, though. Ran great.
Thanks in advance for the help!
History - '79 Wellcraft 196, Merc 228 I/0. I've had the boat out three times so far this Spring. In all respects, boat runs excellent. Starts well, idles well, loads of power, doesn't leak a drop. Great boat.
I bought the boat with the original one-battery wiring and kill switch. Took the boat out a few weeks ago for the first time this season, trim worked just fine. Went up and down, whether in the water or not, both when under power and when stopped.
Then, I bought and installed a two-battery setup, Perko 1-all-2-off switch, all wired exactly per instructions. Installed two new Marine Deep Cycle lead acid batteries. I have a manual battery charger, so I only left each battery on charge for a few hours (with the Perko switch in the off position). They both seemed charged up enough to take boat out, letting the boat top them off.
Took the boat out twice this weekend, and both times operating the trim either up or down when in the water stalled the engine. As in, stalled the engine like someone turned the key off - completely killed it, no sputtering, nothing. When this happened, I had no electricity on the boat and couldn't restart the engine UNTIL I cycled the batteries OFF then back on using the Perko switch. Once restarted, everything was back to normal. Trim worked fine with boat on trailer, before and after going out.
Sorry for the long winded expanation, but I suspect either :
1) I created an electrical issue with installing new batteries (although I'm positive everything is connected properly).
2) The batteries are charged up enough to run the engine, but not yet charged enough to operate the trim and run the engine at the same time. The alternator is a marine Delco-type one wire, with red wire connected to Perko + out terminal. Could the alternator be weak/shot?
3) Is it possible the cold water put extra load on the trim pump, caused it to overload and shut down the electrical system of the boat? The water both times out this weekend was probably in the upper 40's / lower 50's. Didn't seem to bother the engine at all, though. Ran great.
Thanks in advance for the help!
