Battery Issue

[rmdt4]

I have a single battery for my 17' Proline with a 90HP Force. Seems that I'm forever buying a battery, so i decided to bite the bullet and buy an Optima sealed battery. Found a new one on Craigslist for 100.00. It a marine blue top (D34M-1050) and it has 800 CCA which is more than the other battery of 520 CCA. I hooked it up the other day and cranked the motor quite a bit. The motor never started (may have other issues) but the two posts and both the positive and negative wires that connect to the battery were extremly hot. The wires connect to on on/off switch. Any ideas why?

If i get large ga. wire to the switch will that solve my problem or am in danger of hurting my electrical system?

rmdt4

 

[eurolarva]

Re: Battery Issue

You should never need to pulse a starter for more then 2 seconds. Do 2 seconds then wait like 5 seconds and try again. With motor fully primed and choked you should not have to do this much more then four times. When you engage that starter it is almost like putting a screw driver across both battery leads. The starter practically shorts the battery when starting. When you draw that much current for any period of time you are going to get heat. Figure out why the motor is not starting with minimal starter use. Typically when you buy a marine ignition harness it has the correct guage wire going from the key to the motor. I believe this is like 20 guage wire. Are you choking the motor when you try to start it?