'97 200 EFI constant electrical draw

[sangerwaker]

I spent most of the afternoon today tracing wiring on my motor and I'm stumped.<br /><br />I've had this issue for quite a while, but I've just charged my battery before I take the boat out. I'm tired of having to do that.<br /><br />It's definitely not the battery. It held a charge all winter sitting in my basement. Only took 5-10 minutes to charge up today. I put my voltmeter in between the positive terminal on the battery and the positive batter lead and was showing a 2.05 amp draw. I started disconnecting things to try to isolate the draw. In a nutshell, I couldn't find it. <br /><br />I'm wondering if anyone has had a similar problem and/or where I might look further. <br /><br />I pulled the pin connector for the controls, all power trim bullet connectors, the stator wires to the voltage regulators, the outpt wires from the regulators, tach wire, temp sensor and a few more. <br /><br />I also checked both cables for shorts by a continuity test and the motor block. Nothing leaking there. <br /><br />Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: '97 200 EFI constant electrical draw

You said you used your voltmeter and saw 2.05 amp draw. Are you measuring volts or amps? A 2 amp draw is a fair amount of current. A bad rectifier/regulator can cause a high current draw. Any accessories left on, bilge pump stalled, etc. Other than the bilge or live well pump motors and regulator, nothing on the average boat draws that much current. Pull fuses one at a time at the fuse panel. If there is no change, the problem is either in the control harness or engine. If your boat has a voltmeter, does it indicate the charging system is working. If not, the rectifier/regulator is the likely culprit.

 

[sangerwaker]

Re: '97 200 EFI constant electrical draw

Thanks for the reply Upinsmoke.<br /><br />I disconnected everything up front (accesories). I have two wires for each terminal on the battery. The motor wires (roughly 4 ga) and the other stuff (radio, lights, bilge pump, all run off the other two wires. I did not have them (accesory wires) connected and the control harness was completely disconnected in the cowl via the multi pin connector.<br /><br />I also disconnected both sets of stator wires going to both voltage regulators/rectifier units on my motor. I also disconnected the outputs. If they were the culprits, wouldn't my draw have disappeared by disconnecting them? <br /><br />I still showed the draw. Yes, I had my meter set to amps. The battery was fully charged to 12.6 volts. <br /><br />EDIT-Last year I did verify I was showing 17 volts at the battery at higher RPM, and roughly 12.5 at idle. I think the charging system is working properly. Boat is not equipped with a volt meter.<br /><br />Could my stator be grounding out? How would you recommend testing the voltage regs/rec units? I have a Clymer manual, and according to the resistance specs, both tested good. Tach works off either output, too.

 

[glen357]

Re: '97 200 EFI constant electrical draw

I had the same problem of the battery running down in storage on my 1993 200 efi. Mine turned out to be a bad battery. What I wanted to tell you is what I learned about efi, mine had what I though was a short as the terminals would sparkle when touched to battery post. Shop said this was normal that the electronics stay hot even in when key is off. very little draw, but a week or to small a battery or in storage to long could run it down. You may have found your problem, and what you are looking at now is normal. I thought I had charging problems. Turned out to be a anouther bad battery (2 yrs later). Went with HD this time, no problems yet 3mounts. Hope this helps, G

 

[sangerwaker]

Re: '97 200 EFI constant electrical draw

Thanks G. Rained here all day put I played under the cover. Found out my meter auto-ranges no matter the setting. Turns out I have 20 MILIamp draw. Oops. Didn't think the spark was that big.<br /><br />My battery has been too far drained too many times now. I'm sure it's toast since It's not a deep cycle, only a marine starting.<br /><br />Now for my next question: what battery to go with? I have no trolling motor, only my 200 and small amounts of accesories: lights, stereo, bilge pump, and depth gauge. Do I need a deep cycle or a starting? I'm going to put a cut off switch on the positive terimal to eliminate the draw of both the engine elctronics and the stereo memory.<br /><br />My manual does not specify type, only that it requires at least 490 CCA. I only have room for a group 24 size.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: '97 200 EFI constant electrical draw

You need a "marine starting" battery. There are combination "Starting/Deep Cycle" batteries on the market but they are dual purpose and they don't do either job as well as the single purpose. You cannot have too much battery so buy the largest capacity that will fit in the available space. By the way, if you have a stereo on your boat, the radio memory and clock also cause a small current draw that can drag down a weak battery.

 

[glen357]

Re: '97 200 EFI constant electrical draw

Right on Upinsmoke, You realy should not have to disconnect battery if all is OK. I just hook up the battery charger before i go out. Another thing do not charge a weak battery with the motor charger. Make sure battery is charger & motor will keep it up. Some recifiers & stators are weak on mercurys. Clean & tighten all battery connections with pliers. G

 

[sangerwaker]

Re: '97 200 EFI constant electrical draw

Thanks guys. I'll be replacing the battery with a new starting battery this week. As many CCAs as I can find in a group 24.<br /><br />I also did some reading on another forum, and they recommend a cut-off switch on all EFI motors due to the slow current draw. I'm going to install a switch just for peace of mind if nothing else. I'll wire it to shut EVERYTHING off, even the stereo memory. Mine is easy to program the presets.