Electrical Fire - 2005 Merc 60hp 4 stroke - help in diagnosing please

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Willyjim

Recruit
Joined
Apr 6, 2013
Messages
3
A fire on the starter side of the motor fried several wires. Appears to have started at the voltage regulator or maybe at the starter. I plan to take this to a certified mech but would like to get it figured out as much as possible on my own. I'm fairly good with marine engines as an armature mechanic but this one is new to me. Have owned this motor for 11 years and it's been a great one thus far. Help would be appreciated. Thanks, Jim

PS. tried to attach a couple pics but unsuccessful.
 
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boscoe99

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
1,965
On your type of electrical generation system, rectifier/regulators produce heat as they do their magic. They are shunting current to ground and that produces heat. Particularly air cooled R/R's. Not unknown for them to get so hot they harm adjacent components, with or without flames at times.
 
stresspoint

stresspoint

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Sep 19, 2022
Messages
1,045
check grounds , regs in these motors don't take kindly to bad grounds,
yea defiantly reg had a melt down ,
due to an over load possibly caused from a bad ground or too much component draw , the stator/ alternator could have been the root cause , saying that, when a reg shorts and burns up its usually good practice to test or just replace the stator / alternator and reg as a set anyway and in your case the wiring harness section..
 
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