2000 Yamaha 9 HP 4 stroke pull cord to charge battery?

[DjPro]

Can I charge my battery with my 9HP 2000 4 stroke pull cord engine? If so how? The engine is not electric start.

[dbs1]

I'm not certain whether your engine has the same capabilities but I added a rectifier to my 15 hp Suzuki which provided an output plug-in that would allow me to operate 12 volt devices and charge batteries. It cost approx. $80.00 and it provided marginal output. Running at full throttle for a sufficient length of time will charge your battery. I found it virtually useless at trolling speed. It didn't produce enough power to run a fish finder. If you run long distances at high thottle levels, it may keep your battery charged. If you are using your battery during the run, the drain from the battery may exceed the charge going into it. Check it out before you spend the money.

[dbs1]

Further to my previous comments, if keeping the battery charged is our only concern, I'd recommend the use of a small solar panel. I have been using two of them for a couple of years now and they work very well. There's an oufit called ITC (I think) that sells various small to medium sized solar panels. I use their 5 watt unit trickle chargers. You must realize that these panels will maintain a charge although, they will not charge a battery from a dead condition. I run a Humminbird XT400 fishfinder with a lawn tractor battery. I keep it charged by connecting the solar panel to it in the evening when I come back from fishing and let it charge the next day. Don't even have to take it out of the boat. Depending on the security of where you keep your boat, you can put the panel on/in the boat or, place the panel on a post at shore facing the sun. I also use the same set up for winter. I have three large deep cycle batteries that I leave at our cottage hooked up to the solar panels all winter. Six month later they're all charged up and ready to go. It really works great. Also, its easier to carry the solar panel to the battery rather than the other way around. If you do most of your boating activity during daylight hours, keeping the panel in the boat hooked up tho the battery will provide some charging providing the devices you are powering don't exceed the power supplied from the solar panel. I paid $80.00 Canadian for the panels at our Canadian Tire Store. It's likely a better deal than the rectifier.